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MARIO KART IN NAME ONLY... WHEN NINTENDO CHOOSES FANTASY OVER PRECISION
HSL reacts to Sakharu Baguette’s documentary: "Mario Kart, 30 years of fun and madness". Original video: https://youtube.com/watch?v=6tMbgg7tJCE
From Super Mario Kart to Mario Kart 8, the series drifted away from kart racing and into magical nonsense. It’s not that Nintendo can’t reconcile fun and challenge... it’s that they don’t want to.
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PART 1: INNOVATION OVER CONTROL
If Mario Kart 8 was developed by Namco and Mario Kart Super Circuit by Intelligent Systems, then of course those games are very different from the rest of the series, and in a way, that’s what helped refresh the concept. I don’t see driving on walls or underwater as an improvement. I prefer a "real game" where obstacles say "stop", rather than one that becomes increasingly permissive, where the player is never really interrupted in their progression. Miyamoto is an inventor, everything he touches is original. Whether it’s F-Zero, Mario Kart, or even Wave Race, none of those games have believable gameplay. They shine thanks to their innovation and whimsy, but never because of gameplay. Because as much of a legend as Miyamoto is, he doesn’t even come close to Yu Suzuki in that specific domain.
In F-Zero, you have to press down to land. But the D-pad also steers the vehicle. That’s intentional, Miyamoto wanted landings to come with the risk of not landing straight and flying off the edge.
It’s clever, it’s fun, but when you want to clock a proper time in time trial mode, it becomes impossible to drive precisely. In Mario Kart, they removed the landing mechanic, because it’s no longer spaceships, but instead added speed boosts before jumps. So you end up being launched into the air at full speed, and again, you never know where or how you’re going to land, and you might fall off. Just like in F-Zero, it’s innovative and fun, but even though time trials can feel "sim-like", all these flights and landings destroy driving precision.
#MarioKart8 #Nintendo #GameDesign #GameCriticism #FZero
