I picked this up today. The first thing I did was check GameFaqs and find out how to unlock Daisy. Then, I spent the next hour or so cursing at Mushroom Cup 150CC for being annoying. Yes, that's how long it took. I finally unlocked Daisy and now, I'm going through the game normally. I went back to Mushroom Cup 50CC with Daisy on Birthday Girl and annihilated that.
It's standard Mario Kart. The gliding mechanic had the potential to really change the game but it doesn't. It's fun to use but so far, it's underutilized. Unfortunately. And driving underwater adds nothing to the game except some neat-o locations.
There were moments in 150CC where I wanted to drop kick a small child out of anger. You get bombarded by items from all directions. They should just change the title to Item Kart. The game relies so heavily on the items to "balance" the game that it makes the game less fun. Nintendo really hasn't gotten that right since Mario Kart 64 and even then it wasn't right; just the best it was. In that game, there was a learning curve and the game didn't punish you for being good. If you got hit with an item, you could usually recover. In MK7, I already had an instance where I was hit with a blue shell, then a lightning bolt, then a fireball within like 5 seconds. This happened when I was trying to unlock Daisy.
The sad part is that I'm now used to this in Mario Kart. It's no longer the exception. It's just what happens when you play 150CC. I remember how appalled I was back when I played Mario Kart: Double Dash when I got hit with a blue shell, then a red shell, then Bowser ran over me with a star, all within the span of a few seconds. When I mentioned this on message boards, I was told that that never happened to them and it was a fluke. Except it did happen. A lot. Not that string of events specifically but the act of getting hit one after another until winning the race was no longer a possibility. I could only limp to the finish line, dragging what was left of my kart behind me. And it makes Mario Kart worse. The AI is awful. Always has been but instead of just miraculously coming out of no where even if you hit them with the lightning bolt right before they were about to cross a jump, the AI miraculously comes back with a bevy of items with which to **** your day up with. How is that fun?
I feel like I say the same things when a new Mario Kart comes out. It can be fun, but it's often needlessly frustrating. I like the random elements. I like how hectic the races can be. But, sometimes (usually) it's too much. I'd still like to see Nintendo step back and re-evaluate the series. The AI needs to be fixed. Getting blitzkrieg'd by items until it's a close races again or you're losing badly is not only poor/lazy programming and design, but it's the opposite of fun.
Topic: Mario Kart 7 (Read 36543 times)
