@KevTastic84 It is fair that some still prefer NTSC over PAL and that's cool. There are some mechanics that are good on NTSC, but mainly it is more forgiving on some off road sections. Some of the water tracks in particular make a difference. We did try an NTSC tournament in the 2012 championships as an extra special due to the 20th anniversary, the zoom starts were awful in the Time Trial one try, i didn't participate in that, but it was hilarious to watch

@unrandomsam
Super Mario Kart's PAL version has better turning mechanics, trust me fast enough speed can be made on this beast, just need to use the right characters. There will be some great action there this August on the twitch channel at the World Championships.

@JamieO Much appreciated Jamie, was great catching up with you and sharing some of the techniques at Play Blackpool. You have my card still yes? Please drop me an email to my yahoo on there then we can discuss the other projects / write-ups offline. Thanks again.

By the way here are my two new World Record improvements which I set at Play Blackpool this weekend:

NTSC Ghost Valley 3 5-lap: 1'12"27*
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iTX3S4rUcE

NTSC Ghost Valley 3 1-lap: 0'14"28*
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_xBJCA8lFY

@Jazzer94 Yep CRT will be the best option... zero lag.

@WiiLovePeace

Hopefully will get some news up nearer the time with a reminder of the twitch link so people can watch during the week it happens

@Jazzer94
If you want to join the Time Trials, play on either a snes or the original wii vc. SNES preferred.

@KevTastic84
There'll be some news on this soon

@Kobeskillz No it is only marginally slower, like a second or two on a total track time. I feel the turn angles are better, but it is argued to be harder where the off road slowdown is worse and the length of the jumps is shorter making platforms harder to reach. But all in all it is similar difficulty, we do the championships in PAL as it is the home version for Europe. Plus most people play that by default. Though many of us have NTSC snes's as well and compete on both. Which leads on to my next comment...

@Excep7ional

Cheers mate, would be great if you got involved in the time trial and racing scene. Play BP has been good so far, some casual racing and record demonstrations tomorrow probably. Then got to prepare for August's world championship pretty much. Keep me posted on FB / twitter when you will do a time trial set on a snes and plans to do any racing.

@Excep7ional Yep the Championships are a big thing now and hoping to grow, check out the related articles as they have been put up recently. More news on the World Championships soon.

All: Much appreciated for the rest of the comments, if you have any further questions please feel free to ask.

@Blue-Thunder
It would be great if it was made. Multiplayer is possible via emulators online however many people round the world meet up to play vs on the classic SNES SMK. The world championships are a yearly event where it all happens. You can read about it here : http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2014/03/feature_a_look_at_the_super_mario_kart_snes_world_championship_2014

Will enjoy Time Trialing this one like the original The technicality of it was great, especially hopping over the last corner tight by the wall.

@arizvega Hiya, do you have a SNES + SMK, would you be keen to join in some competition for either Time Trial / Multiplayer or both?

@JamieO Yeh it does go quite deep. Since the magazines in 1992 / 1993 most people wrote the same things; the black borders being the first. Then "omg PAL is way too slow", and put a sticker on it straight away saying "I don't like it". Most people will be used to the versions they grew up with. The game has a lot of technical differences that do come into play as explained above. Definitely for Time Trialing most of the tracks the PAL feels more real for me, NTSC seems to slip off. I really wish they had the ability back then even with the 50hz / 60hz TV system difference to have made one generic version for the world, then we could all really compare times on one list. As a result we have separate PAL and NTSC rankings, and those from PAL who wanted to give NTSC a shot or vice versa can order an import console and try the other system. For the UK players as an example, pretty much everyone competes on PAL so if you wanted to know your true UK rank it would be best to try there, we have a number of the top players having competed on NTSC but there isn't as extensive a list to compare to. Fun to see where you rank regionally as well or in your local town / city

@remivir @Andyliini @mandlecreed @JamieO

The PAL version was reprogrammed as it would have been way too slow with the 17% difference. They also adjusted the mechanics a little. However I have to say I don't like the turn angles on NTSC. It is more sluggish on some of the later tracks whereas the PAL one is better for fine tuning. Also NTSC has some extra shortcuts which are more extreme and easier to hit but also cut too much off the tracks. Donut Plains courses are an example. Getting round hairpins on MC4 and DP3 on NTSC 150cc are a nuisance, whereas you can do it on PAL. There is better dodging ability on PAL for red shells, however that can be both an advantage and disadvantage depending what you prefer. Longboosting is too aggressive to get round some corners with the shrooms on NTSC and worst of all, the mini turbo length on NTSC is too short in distance! PAL is longer and helps cut across the amount of dirt to you want to The boost starts are a nuisance on PAL but awful on NTSC, we done a few small NTSC tournaments in 2012 and it was frustrating experience for everyone, thankfully I didn't take part in the Time Trial section of that Theres lots more but il post that later as I remember it.

@luke17 This does have online competition, via the use of emulators. There are also yearly World Championships, check out this article: http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2014/03/feature_a_look_at_the_super_mario_kart_snes_world_championship_2014

@ledreppe Cool mate cheers, looking forward to hear from you with your full timeset soon

@PachterStation Probably harder for us to see as weve played it semi regularly through the years. But it is technically better for tournaments as the item probabilities are not over-done and you can see much closer edge to edge racing between close ranked players that aren't decided by the usual blue shells and lightnings.

@MadJay1664 We do have some UK Super Mario Kart SNES meets from time to time in London, let me know if you are keen to attend any.

@ledreppe Great to hear you are taking part, are you playing on a snes btw? Currently the Wii U version has a save state ability apparently which renders it like an emulator. Please make sure you are doing the timeset on snes console. And don't worry about your initial level, there are a wide range of players on there, tonnes to compete with on wherever you enter plus easy to improve when we show you some routes on a few vids. Looking forward to hear from you.

@NikkiChu Thank you for your post
To answer your questions, we both use either D.K.Jr or Bowser as they have identical stats. Normally we have a favorite for time trial. For racing we don't mind using either.
We have had some more female competitors in the last few years, and another joined from the UK last year. 2012 edition had a couple of ladies from France join with their partners.
Training... short bursts and semi regularly works best. We have a lot of commitments including work and family so that must come first. But we mix up Time Trial and multiplayer training to keep it balanced. I think in the last week or two before the World Championships a lot of the players have some mini meets to practice together.

Hope that helps

@MarkS27 Keen to attend one of these?

@xj0462 It is a 2D game, but because of the clever invention of Mode 7 graphics it gives the look of a 3D racer when you are driving. Very clever as it has tricked us into asking why the walls are flat, and things like that. The kart only pivots on the spot or moves up with jumps / items.

@James1993 It would be great, not sure if it will be done at least yet but we hope. But you don't need to wait for that if you want to try online racing. Get a snes to PC usp adaptor on ebay and you can compete on SNESOT via Hamachi. Can be set up to race quickly. Are you UK / London based? As per your first post asking if there is UK competition... we can organise something locally very easily vs one of the Top 5-10 players in the UK. They are ready when you are for some new competition

@James1993 Although it is not as smooth as on a CRT TV it is possible to race online via emulators. Other than that, do get involved on the Time Trials site listed in the article, as that you can do from home if you have a snes /smk and can record some replays of your records. Easy to do.

@Nintenjoe64 I don't have a Wii U, but a good friend of mine has one, I have only had a brief go on it so far. Ooh Mario Kart Wii, it is the one I played the least of the series, and I have barely touched it since 2010. Even before then probably a few goes on all the tracks. Funny you mentioned the retro MC3 track though as it is one of a few that I could get into as well. I have a very old time on the site which I did beat some years ago on a random go but don't seem to have posted so I may have to dig it out. It is probably at least 1'20" - 1'21 now. The UK record is 1'18"425; and World Record is still 1'18"107 held by a gentleman in USA.

@Luigifan141 Hi there, in the original SNES, Donkey Kong Jr, although Bowser is identical on driving stats. So normally using one or the other in a race is fine.

@VolcanoFlames Great to hear you are keen to take part This event is exclusively for Super Mario Kart SNES, however a lot of the competitors are also World Ranked on some of the other Mario Kart games so there will be an opportunity to have some races vs them on the side. I am sure a handful of the guys will give Mario Kart 8 a whirl when it is released but more for fun. We are linked up with a lot of guys who will do Time Trials in MK8 though. I think Nintendo of France will eventually give some of these items out as prizes, we don't have any conformation yet though as this info usually appears nearer the summer.

@James1993 You may be pleased to know that a number of the Top UK Super Mario Kart SNES players have meets in London from time to time. We did host a UK championship in South London four years ago which was good but haven't organised one since as we normally put our energy and focus into making the Worldwide event the best it can be. A lot of players are planning to visit in the next years from other continents, so remember that France is very near for us too Aside from that if you have a SNES on the go, you can join us on the Time Trial World Rankings, plenty of fun competition on there vs the globe.

@JamieO Yes there are off road boosting techniques that the Japanese players discovered many years ago. It is basically the same as the turbo powerslides you do in all of the other Mario Kart games. Have you played Super Circuit on GBA? Exactly same as when you get the blue spark out + boost except it is hidden a bit more as they couldnt animate the graphic back then. We enjoy a number of tracks. Vanilla Lake 2 is a favorite also, Leyla's video is on there as another example, she has improved it to 51 seconds since. With the times you said you have hit you would be a good contender at an event like this. Each year we take wide spread of skill level as there will also be the same at the event; there are people for everyone to compete with.

@fluggy It would need to be rebuilt from scratch probably, i heard some years ago that someone out there was testing something out with a rom but it never came to be in the end. Nothing beats the original handling though.

@JamieO and everyone, you may have seen already, an article has just gone up regarding the Super Mario Kart (SNES) World Championship 2014. A huge yearly event, something you would definitely enjoy being a part of If you have any questions feel free to ask me there.

Sami Cetin

Hi everyone,

Just a note; I will be around for any Questions and Answers regarding the Championships, so please let me know.

Best Regards,

Sami Cetin

Hi guys, just watched our interviews on there. As mentioned, the game was in early demo stages at this point, so there will probably be lots of surprises.

@ledreppe If you are keen on Time Trialing for Super Mario Kart SNES please let me know. Always solid on original consoles; we have a Time Trial World Rankings website plus Official World Championships held annually in France. So the original game is widely active

It was a very good choice, and as Lobster says, there are different ones at other events so there is an even spread over the long term. I had a few friends doing some speed running there, was great to watch on twitch, wish i was there tho!

@Damo
Il see what I can do regarding finding any candidates. Will it be just on the original GB platform or is the VC download one on the 3DS a viable option aswell? Might be worth listing the options and how the validation process must be done (e.g live recording as there is no replay option etc).

I have a few friends that may be keen on this, will make some enquiries.

@chibichibi @WiiLovePeace
No the lap splits are not possible to get 4 lots of 11"23. That is the final lap strategy, which is faster as you finish in the sand, and the kart would slow down just after where the finish line is. So there is an opener lap which can be done just under 12 at max, then middle laps which are in the high 11"4x to low 11"5x and the fast lap for the final lap only which at the moment World Record is 11"23. The max potential is nearer a mid 57 but the zig zag charges to generate boosts makes it extremely difficult to stay on the shortest racing line as well.

@1337man1233 Bowser was the fastest in Super Circuit. A number of records are driven with him.

@1337man1233 In this game, Bowser and D.K.Jr have precisely the same driving stats. The only difference is their design. Some prefer using one or the other. Similarly, Mario / Luigi are indentical, Yoshi / Princess and Toad Koopa. So there are four character types. Always the heavyweights will get the best times. You may only want to use the lightweight characters for Battle mode.

@Rosalina Infact we don't have a lot of time... wish we did. I am 31 now and busy with work and family, so when I was in my teens I had a lot more holidays etc. So I probably play on and off for short sessions of 30-60 minutes sometimes maybe a few times a week, and then train with my niece Leyla Hasso who is also setting records actively. Most of the competition are aged 25-40 so a lot of them have busy careers, families and children of their own. But they probably limit their gaming just to this and maybe a couple of things on a handheld console for chillout when they are out and about.

@PinkSpider Hello, please read my replies to the various comments above, I explain the boosting in the game, which you all would have done on regular hairpins. It is just generated before some off road and the boost keeps your speed up for a bit, you just have to judge how much you can cut max.

@treeofmana
No problem at all, feel free to ask.
In answer to your questions, 1. Are you referring to the boost start? On PAL version it is roughly half way between the first and 2nd lights, on NTSC a little earlier. 2. Official SNES controller, probably one of the greatest controllers ever made. The R buttons can crack though if pressed too hard so handle them with care... a number of players compete on virtual console aswell to set records but maybe the wii classic controllers etc aren't as precise for the L and R button indentations. The official championships are all done on original SNES's. Have a look at this video, from the 2009 World Championships, we were featured on French television http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzlfWwCcrYY

We will be on twitch tv again live streaming in August 2014 hopefully. More news on that in the new year.

@ULTRA-64 I am mainly focused on the original Super Mario Kart only, though I used to compete for records on 64 well over 10 years ago and Super Circuit some years back. The reason mainly is time and availability around work, family and friends. Plus there are yearly world championships in the original SNES SMK so a lot of the available goes into training for that. Leyla and I were kindly interviewed by Nintendo at Eurogamer and also had a go at Mario Kart 8. I feel the driving will be similar to the Wii and MK7 however, but I am sure it will catch on well and there will be some great competition here also on Time Trial. I am good friends with a lot of record holders and pro gamers in different titles, and I definitely respect the time and focus they have put into their games. Main thing is to always make time for family, friends and other important things first, but if you have competitive video gaming as a hobby, it can be a lot of fun. Set realistic goals step at a time and see what you can hit. Definitely pick a game that you really enjoy and can excel at, more often it will be just one game in particular that stands out And enjoy it above all!

@Gioku Donkey Kong Jr and Bowser have the exact same driving stats, it is just down to choice who the player prefers. But at the moment, Guillaume, Karel and I prefer the famous ape over Bowser for Time Trialing so yes he will have a majority for now until another rival does something about it

@KevTastic84
GEEK 2014 is in Margate from 21st to 23rd February (end of the sch half term week if i am right). Eurogamer will be in London, usually late September (get tickets early as poss as that always sells out. One of the best events is also Play Expo 2013 in Manchester which usuall happens in October, dates TBA online sometime in 2014. Look us up on those as we will be running some things.

@gsmaciel @Peach64 @Shiryu @KevTastic84 @Falco @WiiLovePeace Another example on a different track that you may be keen to see is where normal hop jumping is the only way as opposed to off road boosts. The Ghost Valley and Vanilla Lake 2 tracks are a prime example where it is about timing jumps across gaps. You will have seen my niece Leyla Hasso mentioned; she drove a live record on twitch tv at the World Championships in August 2013 on the Vanilla Lake 2 track in 52.53 seconds. She is doing some attempts here, then at around 9:40 on the video she does the actual run, nice to see the reactions as well as the driving level. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHyMKrObDOQ

Leyla and I will be attending some of the major Gaming / retro gaming events in the UK during the year also to do some more live demonstrations, races and tournaments for the visitors.

@Shiryu
That sounds great, i will check it out. Let me know on facebook if there are any music projects like that going. Quite a few I know may be keen to hear some

@Falco Yep im around for Q&A's today

@Shiryu F-Zero was actually the very first SNES game i played, didn't know anything of it at the time, but it was in 1992 in a Blockbuster video store locally to where i live. Great memories. I got that with Super Mario Kart that Christmas. The tunes are great in it also. As it was Mode 7 i picked up the driving techniques, but it is harder on some tracks. Unlike SMK which was reprogrammed for PAL, there is a direct conversion on F-Zero SNES between 50hz to 60hz so the times from all regions can be converted for comparison. The World Record (1'57"99 on NTSC 60hz) is insane and would match around 2'37"32 there on PAL. Different strategy though. Anyways, back to Super Mario Kart questions, il be around today if you have any more

@Shiryu I used to compete on F-Zero SNES on and off aswell; there is an extensive Time Trial community for all of the series; I reached the UK record on Mute City 1 there a couple of years ago (sorry for video quality, i was using an old camera then) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXX2x38YKFA