No, I'm not talking about the resolution bump or the LAN play or the multiple item slots or even the Battle Mode...
I'm talking about automatic acceleration, baby! It's in! Finally! Masahiro Sakurai showed us the true future of arcade racing games 14 years ago, but even Nintendo didn't realize it. Until now.
Gone are the days of mindlessly mashing down the same button for the entire race! Gone are the days of discomfort and hand cramps!
I still haven't gotten Gold in 150cc SMK Special Circuit. I gotta respect the game for being difficult and not leaning too heavily on items, though. That and pretty much inventing the kart racer genre.
I actually don't think the AI's as much a cheater in it as in MK64. Talk about rubber-banding! At least I can lap the last place guys in SMK (well, in the lower difficulties).
@TriforceBun MK64 is easily the worst, in terms of the AI teleporting half a lap ahead, but the AI in Super Mario Kart cheats in a different way. They basically have an infinite supply of their item. In Mario and Luigi's case that means on-demand invulnerability.
I still love that game, though. It's hilariously infuriating. And I love the tight 1v1 Battle Mode.
The problem I have with returning to Super Mario Kart is no fault of the game's: I can no longer play a racer with a D-pad. I'm just too used to the superior steering control that analogue sticks and other options offer. This is part of the reason why I'm not a big fan of Mario Kart DS, since there's no stick control there either.
My thumb does cramp up from holding the A button down if I play MK too long. I might use this for a break for a few minutes on tracks that I never have to brake on. I really wish they'd just let us customize the controls so I can use the trigger to accelerate like every other racing game. It's so much more comfortable.
Having spent a lot of time in single player, the AI is still as ruthless as ever with items. However, brake-drifting is improved and makes 200cc much more do-able. I finished all twelve cups with three stars, and the only track that was overly difficult, even with brake-drifting, was Rainbow Road (MK8), and even that wasn't too bad once I re-learned the course.
@ludist210 I've had the opposite experience with the AI in 150cc and Mirror. I haven't been screwed out of a championship yet. I don't really remember how cruel the AI was in vanilla MK8, but Double Dash was insane.
What do you guys think about the motion controls? I thought that they'd be a nice option for single Joy Con mode, but the tuning doesn't feel quite right to me. I preferred the Wiimote for motion steering. That said, I haven't tried the wheel yet.
(The biggest motion issue is still initiating a drift in the wrong direction.)
@ludist210 After writing that, I got totally screwed in Mirror Mode...
If you're trying to three-star a cup, you can always get screwed.
I've three-starred all of them...most of 150cc and Mirror weren't an issue, but 200cc was, for the most part, very difficult and I had to run most of them multiple times (though I would quit following a non-first place finish).
To your post, we bought the wheels, mostly so my daughter could play with us. We played with it with motion controls, and they worked well enough. I still prefer playing with the Pro Controller, but they work okay on 50cc. I'd never dare try them on 200cc.
