Topic: Things to make Mario Kart a wii bit better

I gave Mario Kart another rental, and I have to say online is pretty fun. Unfortunately, when you have a good lead and then get KO'd by a blue shell, get hit by four red shells in succession, and all of the sudden you're in 12th, that's a pretty big sign that the game has some balancing issues. Here's what could and should be done to make the next Mario Kart better:

1) Blue shells should be very rare, and only should appear if the lead racer has a huge lead.
2) When you're hit you should have a few seconds of invincibility time, where you can still be bounced around by karts, but are invulnerable to items

Those two things would reduce frustration a ton. Otherwise, it's pretty enjoyable. I'll either buy this or Excitebots this summer.

Nintendo is trying to appeal to people who suck at video games, though, so they are intentionally making the game unfair. There is a distinct trend with each sequel. If you want a balanced game, just wait for the original on VC. Otherwise, you'll be waiting a long time for such a game, methinks.

Of course, if you are playing with friends there are item options. I am pretty sure you can turn blue shells off, just not for random match-ups, of course.

I will probably get Excite Bots some time. It seems much more fair. Not sure if I need another racer though when SMK is likely coming to VC soon and can play the same amount of players local, and Mod Nation or whatever for PS3 looks much better than anything else out there.

Heh, yeah, you're probably right. And yes, I'm incredibly excited for Super Mario Kart. Best racer ever.

I've played Excitebots and, while it is fairer, you have to be constantly performing tricks to actually win. It's impossible to straight out speed through the level and actually win, which is a shame, since speeding through levels at breakneck speed is AWESOME.

The only item I hate are those @@### lighting clouds!

On paper that sounds very unappealing and I agree, but I enjoyed doing tricks in Excite Truck. Is it about the same, or is it overboard?

The bad part about Excite Trucks's tricks is it spoils the pick up and play-ness of it. Even though the controls are quite intuitive, someone new to the game needs to know about the tricks and such to even have a chance, so that means a good bit more learning than something like Mario Kart.

As much as the game concept appeals to me, I have to choose my multiplayer games based on what friends will want to play, which makes it a hard decision.

@ SuperSonic
I'm with you there... in fact, I think everyone who has ever played Mario Kart Wii is with you there. What a pointless and obnoxious item. When I'm doing well, I actually avoid item blocks for fear of getting the cloud.

I have excite bots, and your right, you have to constantly preforming tricks to win. But I actually like that. Its hard at first but you get good at it after a while. Plus, 50 stars are awarded when you get first.

As far as mario kart goes, I find that the better person usually wins regardless of the items. And it only happens on rare occasions that you lose because of items, atleast for me.

@superweirdadam: I haven't played Excite Truck. The trick thing only bothered me online, when people would usually finish in third place and "get" first since they stayed back and did tricks the whole time. The local multiplayer is pretty bad - It's only 1 on 1 versus, which sucks. That said, I spent a ton of time playing it, and the online betting system was incredibly addictive.

Yea, I know it's only 2-way splitscreen. I love 1on1 for SMK, and I don't think more players would benefit the game, but Excite Truck and Bots seem like they'd be more fun due to their more over the top nature.

And yea, the third place thing bothers me, too. I don't like the points system. Tricks should just make you speed up a bit if used at all.

Well, the framerate takes a hit in multiplayer too.

I'll probably end up getting Mario Kart. The items aren't as bad as they could be, and the local multiplayer is really good.

Online multiplayer is way better with two people. The item balance might be a little better on there I think.

I enjoy racing ghosts in MKWii. My friend sends me some and I download random peoples from the MK channel too. It makes a nice change and is a lot more fair.

I much prefer the time trials in MKDS. It was generally a faster and tighter game.

I went through a delusional phase when I wanted to get close to the world record for Yoshi Falls (possibly my favorite MK course across all systems), and I time trialed it for hours. Got closer than I'd have expected, but I forget how close. Eventually I just couldn't improve it any.

Say what you will about snaking in online races, but it really intensifies time trials.

Here's a very simple idea that would vastly improve the game. Nintendo included this option in Brawl for crying out loud! It is baffling why they didn't include it in Mario Kart Wii as well.

The ability to turn on/off specific items!

Yeah, I should get back into MKDS too. I don't have a problem with snaking other than the fact that my fingers get sore from doing it excessively, lol.
I like that in MKWii you can watch the leaders videos to get tips though. That's a bonus. Also, drifting and finding weird places to get trick boosts keeps me amused. Like that little corner before the cave in Wario's goldmine.

@Edwin: Great idea! It'd be like the blue shell had never existed... bliss.