Topic: Episode 14: Big M and the Kids Table

[NdIGiTy]

A heaping helping of Mario Kart, Ambassador games, and Jeopardy on this week's episode!

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/connectivity/28788

The holidays are upon us, and in the spirit of giving, we at Connectivity are presenting you with a king-sized episode this week! Save the receipt in case it doesn't fit.

Neal sits down by a crackling fire, gaudy Christmas sweater worn proudly, alongside Karl Castaneda and, making his Connectivity debut, Mr. Jonathan Metts! As chestnuts roasts, the boys discuss the history of the Mario Kart series and debate time's oldest mystery: is Double Dash the best entry in the series? Short answer: yes. Long answer: yes, stupid.

From there, Neal, Mike, and Scott hop on a one horse open sleigh and ride through the quiet, nighttime streets of a small snow-adorned town. While on their way, they eagerly discusses Nintendo's gift to all the good boys and girls who bought a 3DS when it was crazy expensive, the GBA Ambassador games! The boys could be heard chanting "old games, old games!" as they went beyond the outskirts of the small town, disappearing behind a shroud a wet, falling snowflakes.

Sitting on the floor in front of the NWR Christmas tree, with legs crossed in front of them, Nicholas Bray and Pedro Hernandez remember fondly the oft-overlooked entry in the Mario Kart series: Super Circuit. Pour yourself a glass of eggnog and enjoy the trip down memory lane.

Bedtime approaches at the NWR household, and as the staff listens intently for the sounds of Santa and his Reindeer landing on the roof with presents in tow, Neal, Scott, Pedro, and Nate Andrews sneak out of bed and play one final game of NWR Jeopardy before their eyes grow heavy in want of sleep. 

Enjoy this extra long episode of Connectivity as you make your travels this weekend. Be sure to send us listener mail by clicking here. Have a wonderful holiday, and we'll see you back for our final episode of 2011 next week.

[nintendo1945]

I've never given connectivity a listen, but the allusion to Big D and the Kids Table is enough to get me started.

[NWR_Neal]

Whoever did the write-up for this deserves lots of accolades. I love these (and the Big D reference!).

[oksoda]

I had to think of a way of spinning kids table into a positive thing. Glad you guys liked it!

[house3136]

 My two brothers, who are over eight years older than me, got an N64 for Christmas back in 1997. I was about 11 and remember getting up early and taking my brothers’ nametag of the gift and throwing it in the garbage to claim it as my own. Although the N64 was for all of us kids, and the nametag was clearly visible on the top of the garbage, I was busted. I still remember this because we all got Super Mario 64, Mario Kart, and Goldeneye.  We played those games until all hours of countless mornings; and I’m still proud to say I have the same N64, games, and I still play them. Mario Kart 64 is still one of my favorites, not only because it’s what I grew up on, but because it introduces the slide mechanic that provides the control that I missed in Mario Kart Wii, but I am enjoying in Mario Kart 7. I’ve been playing Super Circuit on the 3DS as well for the first time, which is different, but essentially Mario Kart at it’s soul. Considering 2012 is the 20^th anniversary of Mario Kart, I would be surprised if Nintendo didn’t release a title for Wii U. It would certainly be a system seller and Nintendo’s not inventing a new concept so it should be easy to develop. Let’s all look forward to another great year, the launch of another Nintendo console, and some prosperity for everyone. I understand Nintendo had a few stumbles in 2011, but there is no denying they also released some of their best games; all in all, their little black eye doesn’t look so bad. And a very special thank you to everyone at Nintendo World Report. Merry Christmas.
 

[TrueNerd]

Double Dash!! IS the best Mario Kart.

[pureval]

Thanks for the points card guys, Pushmo rocks. I never would have heard about the game if not for you guys.


I am not sure your first Mario Kart clouds the picture as much as you seem to think it does. I played the first one a lot, but never owned it. Mario Kart 64 is still my favorite of the franchise, every other game in the series has something in it that just ruins the game for me. I do enjoy Double Dash a lot though as that is the first game I really got my wife into playing with me.

[NWR_insanolord]

I just started this, and I wanted to say that Mario Kart DS' battle mode is far superior to Mario Kart 64's, if only because it's the same thing with twice as many players, far better controls, and more arenas, including the best one from MK64.

EDIT: I was right there with Karl until he started talking **** about the battle mode.

EDIT 2: Neal, how could you even begin to suggest Kirby: Nightmare in Dreamland when Kirby's Adventure is available as a 3D Classic? As for me, I'd go for Mario Golf: Advance Tour all the way. That game was number one on my list when we did the GBA top 10 for a reason; I sank so much time into that back in the day, and I'd continue to ignore my already massive 3DS backlog in favor of sinking even more time into it now if it were available. Even better, give me Mario Tennis for GBC on the VC (but not the GBA one which was awful).

[NWR_Neal]

How could you recommend Tetris for Game Boy when Tetris Party Live exists? Same reason some people might prefer NiD to the 3D Classics game.

Also, I'll just submit to "heat of the moment" podcasting where I didn't fully think of everything at the moment.

[Shaymin]

I still think they should have trolled everyone by putting Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire Pinball as an Ambassador. Free advertising for the inevitable 3rd gen remakes + having a pinball game at hand all the time? Win.

I could've lived without one of the racing games (probably Super Circuit, sorry Nicholas/Pedro) if it meant pinball.

[Halbred]

Fun fact! I didn't write any questions or categories for this episode of Jeopardy. I like to think that's noticable. ;-)

[TJ Spyke]

I liked listening to the conversation, but I could not disagree more with Pedro and Nicholas. I have not played the original SNES game, but Super Circuit is by far the worst game in the series IMO and the only game I would tell fans to avoid playing. The controls are terrible, courses so-so, and even by GBA standards the graphics are not that amazing. If Nintendo ever makes the game for sale, I would have to put this under the "Not recommended for anyone" category.

[Traveller]

The controls are good once you adjust. It does not play like the 3D games.

[TJ Spyke]

The controls in the 3D games are great, and even with a brand new Mario Kart game I can master the controls within the first lap. I do not care enough about the GBA one to get used to it when I hated it after a full race. Maybe it's because I have no nostalgia for the 2D ones since I never played them before, but I just have no love for it. I know you and Pedro loved it, but I honestly can not think of anything I liked about it during the brief time I played it, but that's OK since we don't have to like the same games.

[NWR_pap64]

I must mention that even though I defended Super Circuit in this podcast it isn't my all time favorite Mario Kart, that honor goes to Mario Kart 64 as it truly is the most balanced of the bunch. My least favorite is of course Mario Kart Wii. Rarely have I ever been disappointed by a Mario Kart game, but lo and behold there is a first time for everything and Mario Kart Wii is it.

I keep hearing that Mario Kart 7 is similar to it, so my expectations are very low for it.

[NWR_insanolord]

I was also disappointed by Mario Kart Wii, but now I think MK7 may be my favorite in the series. It's a lot more similar to MK DS than MK Wii.

[NWR_Neal]

I was also disappointed by Mario Kart Wii, but now I think MK7 may be my favorite in the series. It's a lot more similar to MK DS than MK Wii.

How is it similar to MK DS? I see MK7 as a pretty concrete follow-up to MK Wii. Sort of like MK Wii but more focused.

Resisting very hard to go on a MK DS dislike/nonpreference rant...

[NWR_insanolord]

I don't have any specific examples, but it just feels more like MK DS to me. Maybe it's just because Mario Kart is Mario Kart and I didn't like MK Wii but I'm a big fan of both DS and 7.

[Halbred]

Seriously? MK7 is MKWii, but...portable.

[NWR_Neal]

Seriously? MK7 is MKWii, but...portable.

What Zach times infinity. Yes, MK7 tweaks things, but the game is MKWii with tweaks.

You just think it's like MKDS because it's not cool to like MKWii, and it is cool to say MKDS is awesome. And if you think MK7 is awesome, then it must be like MKDS and not MKWii. Right?

[NWR_insanolord]

I don't care what's "cool," I absolutely loved DS and didn't care for Wii. Aside from the online implementation, most of MK Wii felt mediocre at best to me, and 7 seems like a huge step up. As I said, that's probably got something to do with my feelings on the matter, and also the fact that they're both handheld games probably contributes