Mario Kart 7: Final Thoughts
I’m going to get this out of the way right at the beginning. My favorite Mario Kart is still Mario Kart 64. To be fair Mario Kart 7 never really even had a chance, as I have such a long history with the 64 version, I can’t say it’s even possible to unseat the game atop my list of favorite games anymore. Objectively though, Mario Kart 7 is without question the most advanced game in the series.
Honestly I wasn’t expecting much from 7. Perhaps that’s why I’m so blown away by its awesomeness. Where to start…
Some of the most obvious changes to the series are some of the least exciting to play in my opinion. Karts can now fly or dive into water. Flying is somewhat fun as it’s more of a controlled float back to the ground after you launch off a big ramp. The fun part is aiming for multi-tiered paths on the track. Some are higher than others and if you miss, you’re forced to take an alternate route that you hadn’t planned on. The underwater driving though, isn’t as exciting, as you’re still driving a kart on a course, only with far more floaty physics. While you’re underwater, there’s nothing particularly unique about it compared to driving that it just feels unnessicary.
One obvious new feature that does work well is the 3D display. For the most part the effect isn’t used in extreme. The tracks are rendered beautifully and tastefully. And while driving, especially going around tight high banked corners, you really “feel” the 3D effect. I use the word feel because it’s not something you’re really actively paying attention to while you’re playing, but especially in certain moments, you get that feeling of “whoa” when you know there’s a different perspective that you aren’t used to getting from a normal screen. Other 3D effects are pulled off very well. One of the best executed is Blooper’s ink that splotches your screen. The 3D brings that ink out infront and on top of the rest of the display, and really gives you that sensation that you get when a big truck goes by on the highway and sprays your windshield. If only there were a windshield wiper effect to clear the ink. Over all the 3D effect is used modestly and appropriately.
Kart customization makes its debut in Mario Kart 7. It’s a novel feature, but one that I appreciate. I remember when Double Dash came out and I was not excited at all by the goofy kart designs. There’s always been a more traditional go-kart available, but this time around the classic Mario Kart 64 kart is back as the “Pipe Frame” kart! Of course you can customize any of the karts with big monster truck type wheels that have better offroad speed, or tiny shopping cart like wheels that have good handling. I prefer the old fashioned wheels that match the kart. You also have the option to pick different gliders which have slightly different flying characteristics. Before each race/cup you select your character, kart frame, wheels, and glider. It’s not a feature I’d say is mind blowing, but it’s fun to play with and fun to unlock more stuff as you gather coins.
For me, the things that make Mario Kart 7 so great, are the things that have made Mario Kart great from the start, just done better. The controls on the 3DS are amazingly solid. It strikes that perfect balance between easy to pick up and play, and skilled finesse beneath the surface. Turboslides are performed by drifting around corners. The tighter your turn, the faster you build your turbo, so you are rewarded for taking the right line around any given curve, or punished for not doing so.
The tracks are phenomenal. 16 brand new courses and 16 retro courses. I always find myself wishing I could pick my own retro courses as my favorites never tend to make the list. (I want Royal Raceway!) But the new courses are absolutely fabulous. Detailed, alive, and fun to drive. They take advantage of the 3D screen to its fullest to really make you feel like you’re driving at some crazy angles sometimes. And everything runs super smooth. You will be turbosliding, jumping, gliding and boosting almost constantly. Additionally there are some tracks that instead of running 3 laps, you will actual race a long course from point A to point B.
Graphics are very nice for a portable!
Online multiplayer has been a blast. It’s fun to know you’re not just racing against the computer, and when you win it makes the victory that much more satisfying. That said, it’s much harder to win! Everyone is holding on to those items until the last stretch, and that’s when all hell breaks loose. Coming around the last corner in 1st place is about the last thing you want to do in Mario Kart VS mode! The frantic chaos is what makes it so great. And for me, the most enjoyable part is you don’t get to chat with any of these people. So they could be screaming adolescents on the other side of the internet for all I know, but I prefer to think that they are all sophisticated folks like myself. It works for me.
Mario Kart 7 is probably everyone else’s favorite Mario Kart game. And for good reason. It takes everything that has made the previous installments great, does it better, makes it portable, and does it in 3D. But for me, until they release Mario Kart 64HD3D with an authentic N64 throwback controller with analog sticks that don’t grind to powder… Mario Kart 7 will be an extremely close second.
Come on, Nintendo. Look at that ramp, if that doesn't say "Glider" what does?
Starting a Busy Stretch
Wednesday kicked off what is going to be a long busy week and a half. I suppose I should say late Tuesday night. It began at about 10:30pm when my phone got a text message from a co-worker saying that a station was off the air. Of course I was asleep early getting ready for the morning show shift at 5am the next day. But I rarely sleep for a long period of time at night and happened to wake up about an hour after that and saw the message. Usually its not too big a deal. Either log-in remotely to the studio and fire the programming back up, or the transmitter is down and the engineer will take care of it.
This time though the transmitter was on, and no matter what I did, I couldn’t get the satellite to come back on. So I had to drive into town and physically “unplug it and plug it back in”. Which is always at the top of the trouble shooting list no matter what you’re working on! Haha. That did the trick. But by the time it was all said and done it was 12:30am, and rather than drive back home. Sleep a couple hours, get up and drive back in I just crashed on the couch in the basement. It was some pretty crappy sleep, but better than none.
If a station goes off the air in the forest, and no one is around...
I woke up at 5am and threw on a hat and got ready prepping for the morning show. It actually wasn’t too bad of a show. But as soon as it was over I got the heck out of there and went home at about 8:45 am.
I kicked back and relaxed for a while, but didn’t take long for the tiredness to creep up on me. I zonked out and slept for about 2 hours. I should have gotten up then, but I was so comfortable that I decided… “I’ve got some more time… I’ll sleep a couple more hours before going back to work.” That was a mistake. I woke up rested, but somehow had an awful headache that bothered me for the rest of the day. By the time I got off work for the second time at 7:30pm, it was to the point I almost couldn’t think straight. So I did something I hardly ever do. Popped a couple pills, and within an hour or so the headache was gone. Guess my stubborn ass should have done that when I woke up…
Yesterday wasn’t too bad, though I feel like I could have gotten more accomplished. Some of that was waiting on other people, but I surely could have had better use of my waiting around time. So we’ll see how today goes. It shouldn’t be too bad at all. A lot to do, but there’s not much on my calendar that will keep me from doing it.
I’ve found that I have to keep track of everything, and I mean darn near EVERYTHING in my personal life and my work life organized on Google Calendar. Otherwise I just plain forget stuff. So next week’s schedule looks like a friggin mess. But since I’ve started using Google Calendar to organize it all, it’s a lot less intimidating because I can look at that and answer just about any question from anyone as to whether I’m available to help, or what’s going on with a particular station, or who is working when.
Next week's schedule.
Next week is a big week for High School basketball tournaments. And that’s what takes up alot of my calendar next week. It usually doesn’t look that crazy, and not all of that requires my presence at work. So I guess you could say it’s not as bad at it looks.
I’m hoping to have some free time in there somewhere. Take some naps with Luke, play some games, and watch Andrea watch football. She’s pretty excited that the 49ers are in the playoffs this year. So she’s been pretty fanatical about all things football as her team continues to do well. My team was in a fierce battle for last since the beginning of the season, so my interest in football really waned this year. Hopefully the Vikings will make a rebound next year and I can get into it again. I just didn’t watch much this season, because I didn’t want to sit around pissed off for three hours every Sunday.
In other news, I beat all the 150cc Cups in Mario Kart 7 last night. Now they have the Mirror Class which I never enjoy the mirror classes. I usually just hurry to beat them then never play again. Online play is still fun. I dunno if I would say it’s challenging, or just hard to win because of the way the game is. You can’t just ride around in 1st place all race because you’ll just get pounded on. So the best strategy is try to hang in a close 2nd or 3rd until the very end and jet your way to the front. Of course everyone else is trying to do the same. I’ve finished several matches in 7th place after being in 1st going around the last corner. It’s crazy, but it’s sure as heck fun!
Progress in Zelda is more slow and steady. It is a game that does take a good chunk of time to make any meaningful progress in, but it’s such an amazing experience so far, and one that I’m trying to savor every moment. There’s nothing like playing through a Zelda game for the first time and having a brand new experience. After that, every time you replay it isn’t the same. I wish I could go back and experience so many of my games for the first time all over again. After all, it’s that first lasting experience with a game that truly makes it memorable. So playing through Skyward Sword feels like a privilege every time I turn it on. And for that reason I am truly in no hurry to finish because the long it will take, the longer it will last.
So that’s that. I’ll try to keep blogging more through out this busy stretch. And I’ve been trying to hit Twitter a little more too since that doesn’t take much time out of my day. But if I go missing, know that I’m okay.
01.12.12Phoenix Down’d
Well I successfully revived the case I had destroyed in my last post. The restored case is the one on the right, and the one that is all original is on the left.
The clear plastic doors on these 4 disc cases are exactly the same as the larger half of a standard CD jewel case. So I swiped a couple old cases from work which were being used to store old station imaging discs from 1993. So now this copy of Final Fantasy VIII is actually in a case that is in part over five years older than the game itself! Kinda ironic.
So all is right in the gaming world again. I’ll move forward with the plans of selling one of them on eBay and maybe put that money towards a Vectrex… or something like that.
01.10.12Well Crud
When Andrea picked up the PlayStation off of eBay a while back she also picked up a copy of Final Fantasy VIII. Which is totally awesome… but was also the only PS1 game I already owned! What are the odds?
So with two copies of the game, I figured I’d keep the nicest one, and sell the other on eBay. So I went to take the stickers off the one I was to sell. Let me tell you, taking 10 year old stickers off is no fun at all. So I figured I’d bust out the trusty GooGone. That was a bad idea as it turns out.
GooGone not only dissolves the sticky gunk you can never get off from stickers… but also dissolves the very plastic CD jewel cases are made of. Turns out they warn you about this in very fine print on the bottle.
It doesn’t look too bad in some angles. But when the light hits it right, it’s awful.
Good news is I think I can rob a few empty jewel cases from work and replace the pieces I screwed up. But tell all your friends. GooGone is some serious stuff.
01.9.12Matthew 20:16
Weekend Concluded
Today was much more laid back than yesterday, and that is always a good thing. Even when things are laid back… they could always stand to be more laid back. Part of having a good day is making sure you get a good start. Pancakes and bacon is a good start all right!
My day was mostly highlighted by playing Skyward Sword in between keeping Luke entertained. He’s really starting to develop his personality and become inquisitive. Andrea had a scary moment when we were in the computer room when she looked over at his blanket and he was GONE! Only took a couple seconds to realize that he had rolled his way over to the door. Guess he was trying to make a break for it!
The new Zelda game is pretty darn amazing. I’m about 15 hours in now and I’m still impressed by how well the combat works. There’s puzzles everywhere. You almost never just go from point A to point B anywhere in the game without having to untangle some kind of brain buster. And the story so far is fairly engaging. This is no Final Fantasy here, but the few cutscenes there are tend to be quite powerful. I think the part that ties it all together is the amazing soundtrack. I really think this game has it all. As good as Ocarina of Time? I’ll reserve that judgement for later.
01.7.12Lots of work on a day off
I don’t want to come across as complaining, but rather just reflect on a day that didn’t turn out anything like I had expected.
I really only had one thing to get done today which was get the oil changed on both cars.
I woke up about 8:30 and noticed I’d missed a text on my phone. It was one of our part timers informing me that they forgot to inform me that they were out of town and were scheduled to work today… well that’s nice. So I’m filling in for that now today.
As I’m checking that message (I haven’t even got out of bed yet) I get another message from another co-worker saying we’re having issues with one of our Saturday morning shows. So the next 45 minutes are spent getting that around. After fixing that I suddenly realize I haven’t made any coffee yet! Better get on that before this day becomes a complete disaster!
I grab a cup of coffee and head down to the computer to make the morning internet rounds. Figure I’ve got quite a bit of time since I don’t have to be to work until 5PM so I decide to fire up some Minecraft and played for a good hour or so.
I embark on the oil change of both cars which goes pretty un-eventful until I realize… I got the wrong filter for my car. I dunno how I did… I’ve been changing the oil on that car for 5 years now. So even an oil change can’t go flawless today!
The good news is, since I went to work, the rest of the day has been pretty smooth! It’s almost over now and the good news is I only have one thing planned to get done tomorrow… oh no.
01.4.12An unlikely sight
You can feel the tension in the photo above. The Nintendo 64 looking down on the PlayStation with much distain. Back in the late 1990’s I was more likely to buy a PlayStation to crush before Sony fanboys than to add it to my own collection. Now, 15 years later, their stories having been written and their rivaly irrelevant I can safely add this console to my collection.
Much like the GameCube is now, this console is really an unnecessary machine thanks to backwards compatibility in the PlayStation 2. So even though this doesn’t enable us to play any games that we couldn’t already play before, there’s just something about using the hardware of the era to complete the retro experience.
The PlayStation was really more a part of Andrea’s history than my own. She had one as a kid and still has a small collection of games to go with it that have outlived the consoles that met their end either through the rigors of play or the unsuccessful “modifications” performed by her Dad. She was as excited, if not more than I was to get this in. Infact she ordered it as my Christmas present. Which I’m totally cool with.
I don’t have a whole lot of personal recollection of the original PlayStation. I remember my first impression was in a Toys R Us which had one on display. I remember seeing the controller and thinking it was a pretty blatant ripoff of the Super Nintendo controller, thinking that they just changed the lettered buttons to symbols and added handles to be “different”. But while I didn’t express it I remember thinking that the thing was pretty damn cutting edge just because it played CDs.
It was in pretty good condition when it showed up. Just a few smudges and finger prints, but it cleaned up pretty well with just some soap and water. And the good news is, it works flawlessly. We played each other in a game of Madden 98. Tell ya what, football games have come a long way since 1997. I honestly couldn’t figure out how you run the ball in that game because as soon as you come within reaching distance of a defender the ball carrier simply falls flat on his face tackled.
Holding the controller was a very foreign experience. It’s similar to the PS2/PS3 controller, but just different enough to feel very strange. Most obviously there’s no analog sticks on the controllers, but overall the controllers felt smaller than the later controllers. Just different enough to be awkward.
It’s not a system that will see a ton of play from here forth, but when I get around to playing some of the Final Fantasy games of the PlayStation era this will be how I play them! Thanks, Andrea for adding to the collection!
Holidays are over, it’s 2012.
Well I’m finishing up my last day off before getting back into the regular world. This time of year is always crazy with all the people there are to see, so there’s just not much of a routine. It will be nice to get back into something consistant and being able to spread out all my work over a whole week. It just doesn’t pay to take time off because I have to do all the work either before or after I leave anyway. But anywho.
It was a really nice holiday season as far as I can ascertain. Doesn’t seem like as stressful as those of the past few years. Even with Luke here, it just felt like everything kinda fell into place. We made it out to Cimarron, Wichita, Kansas City… all in less than a month. It kinda blew our gas budget, but we made a little extra money with side jobs to come up with the difference. Seems like the Lord still finds ways to provide!
This last quarter of 2011 has really rekindled my excitement for gaming. I got Zelda around Thanksgiving and the new Mario Kart for Christmas. On top of that I got back into Guild Wars for the Wintersday, getting hundreds of holiday items that I need to consume now. Let’s just say I’m not too worried about Death Penalty for a while! I still need to get Super Mario 3D land, but I think that can wait while I work my way though Zelda and Mario Kart.
I’ve been having more fun with Mario Kart 7 than I’ve had with any game for a real long time. Honestly after the Wii and GameCube versions being so similar, I really didn’t expect this to be so compelling. But I’ve really been enjoying the new courses.. a lot. Online mode has been pretty fun too. There’s no communication between you and the other players, but it’s clear that you’re not just racing the computer. Mostly because there’s so many more cheap shots in Muliplayer. In the context of Mario Kart though that’s a good thing. For everytime you get screwed at the finish line, there’s an equal chance that you’ll be able to screw over somebody on the next race, and really that’s what Mario Kart is all about. Haha. I haven’t played a whole lot of Time Trials yet… but the couple ghosts I raced were very fun. I’m not quite ready to give a final review of the game yet, but initial impressions are very good and I’d already recommend it if you have a 3DS.
I’ve been getting into retro gaming more too. I’d like to bolster my collection some dating back to the Super Nintendo and before. I have the N64 pretty extensively covered, and besides a few more brand new controllers, there’s really not a whole lot else I’m looking for right now. I want to go real old skool. In fact at the top of my “retro list” right now is an old “Vectrex” console from the early 80’s. I never had one. And until a few months ago I didn’t even know one existed until I started watching some reviews from Classic Game Room on Youtube. I think I like it because it’s so far and different from anything that is still around today. It really hearkens back to the day when the real games were in the arcades, and if you had something at home that could approximate that experience… man you were living.
Well, happy new year. Hope yours is a good as mine is going to be. I’ve pretty much made up my mind it’s going to be awesome.
12.27.11Maintaining my KartMaster ‘Cred
I can’t believe there’s been seven Mario Karts… Makes me realize how long I’ve been playing games.
I got this for Christmas from my Brother in Law Josh for Christmas, and so far it’s pretty awesome. I’m still working through 50ccs and haven’t had a whole lot of time with it, but I can once again say I have every Mario Kart game! I actually just got the original Super Mario Kart on Wii Virtual console a couple weeks ago for 100 Nintendo Club points! If you aren’t registering your Wii games at club.nintendo.com, you’re really missing out on some cool bonuses. And if you aren’t going to make a Club Nintendo account… can I have your registration codes inside the boxes!?
It was really cool though, because my nephew Nik wanted me to open my present so bad. He even wanted me to open it before he opened up his own presents. I thought that was just too awesome that he was getting that happy about giving a present, when so many kids you see are just gimmie, gimmie, gimmie. He’s a pretty awesome guy!
I’ll write some more about the game after I’ve had some time to sit down an play it to a greater extent. Which will be right after I publish this post!