The Most Overrated Games of All Time.
Super Mario Kart
Mario Kart is not only a beloved series by many fans; it's also a huge money maker for Nintendo. Ever since the original Mario Kart was released for the Super Nintendo back in 1992, the series has made countless millions for Nintendo. It has also garnered a legion of fans that will probably go crazy on countless message boards and blogs once Nintendo announces the inevitable version for the Nintendo Wii. Unfortunately, if that game is anything like the previous Mario Kart games, I will not be among those people, why? Because the simple reason is that I believe that Mario Kart series is completely overrated... Now don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that the entire series is crap. I'm just saying that the series many faults have been completely ignored by the gaming press.
Fault # 1
The game is a test case of "rubber band" gameplay gone horribly wrong.
For those of you that don't know what "rubber band" gameplay is. Certain games (most noticeably racers) have what is called "rubber banding". It gives a player in last place a boast so that he/she doesn't get left too far behind during a race, usually in the form of a boast in acceleration and top speed.
Personally, I think that "rubber banding" in racing games is absurd. What other game genre gives the losing player such an obvious boast in performance? Do you see a player losing in a fighting game suddenly getting a boast in character stats? Or a player in Gears of War suddenly given a special "shield" just because he/she keeps on getting killed in the game?
The "rubber banding" is even more absurd considering that not only do you get a free boast in performance for sucking. You also get rewarded with more powerful weapons to reward your crappy driving. So not only do you get a faster kart, you also get a extremely powerful weapon that can directly affect the outcome of who wins a race, despite the fact that person has no chance of contending for a win. Which leads us to point number two...
Fault # 2
The longer you stay in first place, the LESS likely you will eventually win the race
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f14/funnydale/blueshell.jpg
Unlike in most racing games, there is no advantage to driving well and staying in first place. Not only do you get the worst power ups, but your opponents also get that annoying speed boost. So there is no way to separate yourself from your opponent, no matter how well you drive. So you can drive the perfect race...but still lose because some asshole in last place launches one of those spiky homing shells, which then hits you 40 feet from the finish line. While you're still tumbling form that hit, the person in second place (who you've been leading the entire race) races right on buy and takes the trophy. Which takes us to fault number three...
Fault # 3
The game encourages you to use techniques that would be called "cheating" in any other game.
Want to win a race in Mario Kart? First, move back a couple of places and get a decent power up (those three red turtle shells will do); then just race well enough to stay in second or third place; wait until the final lap, when the opponent ahead of you is about to cross the finish line, then launch one of those red turtle shells at your opponent...then proceed to fly past him/her, knowing that they will never have enough time to recover. I've seen this done countless times in Mario Kart, so much that it's the number one reason why I can't stand the game. I'm driving in first place, then just as I'm about to cross the finish line victorious...BAM, I suddenly end up in second or even in third place!
In Conclusion
It's amazing that whenever a new Mario Kart game is released that it gets so many glowing reviews. Which leads me to ask a simple question? If you take all of the characters in this series, and replace them with generic circus clown characters and rename the game "Clown Kart", how well would the reviews be for the game (keep in mind that "Clown Kart" still would have the same game play and levels as Mario Kart)? Would the obvious gameplay flaws be so easily overlooked? I would bet that if Super Mario Kart didn't have the popular Nintendo characters or the "Mario" brand as a whole attached to it, the series would likely lose two points on a ten point review scale.
Disagree? Well, then speak up and tell me your opinion.
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Super Circuit on GBA was fantastiche but Mario Kart DS is the pinnacle of the genre in my opinion. Nice combination of everything that works from the games.
If as you say, it weren't a Mario game then I certainly wouldn't be playing DiddyDoddyW/E Kong Racing or any of the other Kart racers for DS, as they all blatantly suck. I don't often play single player Mario but your strategy of hanging back does nothing online or on multiplayer and that's how Mario Kart is best served, with at least one other person.
Mario Kart has the right combination of speed, weapons and pure fun gameplay for me, making it a stand out game for quite a few generations.
I stopped playing MKDS cause my fingers would hurt just thinking about racing someone online. Damn wiz kids.
Blue shell for the win!
Mario Kart DS however, is the absolute pinnacle of the series. It's a grab bag of all the best bits, refined to perfection, and wrapped up with the magic bow of digital steering. Until the Wii edition comes out, and maybe even after that, digital will be the only way to control MK.
But seriously, if you're looking for a serious racing game, don't play MK, because it's a lot more fun with rubber banding - because it's just plain fun to rape your friend with a red shell and pull into first at the last second.
If you're looking for a game that has some serious single player and some boring multi, I would probably look somewhere else than Mario Kart. If you want to have a stupidly fun multiplayer experience, play MK.
Anyway, the rubing band in mk64 is way too much, i will give you that.
The ds version of the game is genious.
It just doesn't have anything to make me want to keep playing.
However, the Cube and DS versions are ridiculous fun, with the DS definitely being the best of the best. Can't wait for more.