Topic: Mario Kart Arcade GP: Wii edition?

[NWR_pap64]

I was reading the latest IGN N-query when a reader asked why Nintendo hasn't ported any of the Mario Kart Arcade games to the Wii, or why hasn't Nintendo or Namco made the announcement of a Wii version in the works.

I'll admit that I fall on the camp of people that think Mario Kart Arcade GP should be on the Wii. We all know that arcades are nearly dead, so there's a good chance that people don't even know the game exists. The Mario Kart series is also a really popular franchise, so it would be very unfortunate if a version of the series was left to die in an arcade somewhere.

The game is already made, all it needs is a medium that is actually popular!

Here's the reason why I believe the game can be ported over to the Wii:
Tri force hardware: The tri force hardware (which was created by Nintendo, Sega and Namco if I am not mistaken, feel free to correct me here) is essentially based on Gamecube hardware. And part of the Wii hardware is GC hardware, so porting the game should be a breeze. The actual game isn't a graphical powerhouse so its not like the Wii is so severely underpowered that it can't handle Mario Kart Arcade.

Its a Nintendo franchise: And a really popular one too. If there's one thing Nintendo loves to do is to squeeze the life out of its franchises, so once again it would be stupid of them to not port part of the game to the Wii.

Before moving on, I KNOW there are some pessimists that believe that this will never happen, simply because other Arcade exclusive Nintendo titles have never been released. But keep in mind this: The arcade content of F-Zero GC could be unlocked, making it so that both the GC version AND the AC version was on the same disc, so technically the AC version WAS released.

I also know that Namco was planning on an AC version of Star Fox Assault, but that got canceled way before it was put into motion, so that doesn't count.

The only thing Nintendo should trim down for the Wii version is the stupid arcade rules (you don't even get a free game if you finish second), maybe try to trim down some of the Namco influences (as much as I like Pac-Man, its weird that Pac Man and Tamagotchi characters are all over the place) and work on the controls a bit (I didn't have any problems on my initial playtests, but some of my friends felt they were too loose).

Don't get me wrong, though. As much as I believe that a Wii version of Mario Kart Arcade GP is possible my money is on Nintendo developing its own version of Mario Kart for the Wii. In fact, the chances are far more higher.

But still, considering the facts I just posted it would be weird if we never got the game.

Don't bite my head off, though. I know I am the minority here, but that's no excuse.  

[Kairon]

But wouldn't that amount to yet another Wii port?

Besides, Mario Kart has almost become a flagship franchise for Nintendo. I'd think if it were to arrive on the Wii, Nintendo would want it to be something built from the ground-up to support everything the Wii could do, as well as something exciting and new.

I'd think Nintendo would try to make the next Mario Kart a game that erases from some people's minds the staleness of last-gen.

~Carmine "Cai" M. Red
Kairon@aol.com

[NWR_pap64]

Quote
Originally posted by: Kairon
But wouldn't that amount to yet another Wii port?

Besides, Mario Kart has almost become a flagship franchise for Nintendo. I'd think if it were to arrive on the Wii, Nintendo would want it to be something built from the ground-up to support everything the Wii could do, as well as something exciting and new.

I'd think Nintendo would try to make the next Mario Kart a game that erases from some people's minds the staleness of last-gen.

~Carmine "Cai" M. Red
Kairon@aol.com

Hence why I said that my money is on Nintendo making a brand new version for the Wii.

In fact, let me put it this way: I wouldn't be surprised if they take the Arcade GP engine and give it one major overhaul, so the game is like the arcade version, but is essentially a major Wii title.

So I see a little bit of both happening.

[Smash_Brother]

I wasn't a fan of the arcade version at all so I won't lose sleep over it.

[Bill Aurion]

The arcade version isn't very good, and it REALLY doesn't feel like Mario Kart...New Mario Kart made from the ground-up please... =\

[Dasmos]

I agree, it isn't really an entertaining game. The items and the courses are crap, and the Namco characters are pretty crap too.

[NWR_pap64]

Looks like I was right, I am the minority in this situation.

Maybe its just me, but I quite enjoyed the game. Its true that its not quite Nintendo MK level, but it wasn't that terrible either.

There's a good chance that many of you only played this once, and since the requirement to keep playing is steep (like I said, if you win first place you don't get a free game), it makes it even harder to enjoy it more.

This is why I believe the game should be given a chance on the Nintendo consoles since the game is quite good. It just need to be stripped off its stupid arcade rules and regulations and let the player enjoy it as much as they want.

[GoldenPhoenix]

I agree with Pap, so he is no longer in the minority. Recently I played the game and it was alot of fun and would like to see a port of sorts for the Wii!

[that Baby guy]

I played it for maybe ten minutes at the most, but from what I played, I didn't like so much.

[NWR_pap64]

Quote
Originally posted by: GoldenPhoenix
I agree with Pap, so he is no longer in the minority. Recently I played the game and it was alot of fun and would like to see a port of sorts for the Wii!

We are still the minority, though.

Seriously, the game is very hard to find right now, and it severely limits gameplay time, so how can ANYONE hate this game if the game time is too short?

The same apply for those that enjoyed it, which is why I want to try the game even further without any of the stupid arcade rules and regulations.

In fact, this might be perfect proof as to why many of the Nintendo franchises don't work well as Arcade games. Many of them are tailored to be enjoyed at home at one's discretion. If you were to add in rules and a fee it greatly ruins the experience.

Let's be honest here, lets say that instead of making this an arcade game, Nintendo and Namco released it on the GC or Wii first. Would people hate as much?

The proof is in the pudding, and if in other to try another spoonful of pudding you must insert four more quarters, then its hard to come to a conclusion.

[Adrock]

Quote
pap64 wrote:
so how can ANYONE hate this game if the game time is too short?

Maybe that's one of the reasons why people hate it.  Who wants to pump hard-earned quarters into a game you play for such a short amount of time?

Also, the last few Mario Kart games have sucked hard. They're not even skill based any more. The over-reliance on the utterly cheap items and absurdly cheap AI have ruined Mario Kart for me. It's no longer a pay before I play series anymore. I'm definitely renting the next one before I deem it worthy of a purchase.

[Smash_Brother]

I thought the controls were really bad and it didn't capture anything that was great about the original games.

[NWR_pap64]

Quote
Originally posted by: Adrock

Quote
pap64 wrote:
so how can ANYONE hate this game if the game time is too short?

Maybe that's one of the reasons why people hate it.  Who wants to pump hard-earned quarters into a game you play for such a short amount of time?

Also, the last few Mario Kart games have sucked hard. They're not even skill based any more. The over-reliance on the utterly cheap items and absurdly cheap AI have ruined Mario Kart for me. It's no longer a pay before I play series anymore. I'm definitely renting the next one before I deem it worthy of a purchase.

Like I said, this is the reason why some Nintendo franchises don't work at all as Arcade franchises (I know many of the Nintendo series started out as arcade games, but I am talking about their recent series). The multiplayer series are about having fun without having to worry about anything else.

Having a game that forces you to pay AFTER you won is just absurd, hence why Mario Kart Arcade GP should be given a chance on a console.

And SB, controls is another reason why some Nintendo games don't work at AC games. The MK games have always been designed with a traditional controller in mind. Take the core gameplay to a different control system and you are bound to find reactions like yours.

I do admit the controls were somewhat loose, but this is nothing a little tuning can't fix.
It will not likely happen, but I still wish that Nintendo and Namco gives the game the proper treatment is needs.  

[Smash_Brother]

I admit I didn't like other recent MK games either, but that might be because any second you're not mini-turbo boosting you're falling behind and that gets old real fast.

[IceCold]

New Mario Kart please! I really want to see what Nintendo will do with the controls for MK on Wii, and the level design is always tightly connected to the controls.

[SixthAngel]

Quote
Originally posted by: Smash_Brother
I admit I didn't like other recent MK games either, but that might be because any second you're not mini-turbo boosting you're falling behind and that gets old real fast.

100% agreed.  I loved mario kart ds until I had to turbo boost every second to keep up with my friend.  It got boring fast then and I stopped playing as much, plus it killed my thumb.  I never should have told him about snaking and kept racing with just turn boosts.

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

I liked F-Zero AX.

[Nick DiMola]

I agree with pap, it never hurts to have another game floating around. I would prefer they released it as a Gamecube game that way it didn't confuse people into thinking it is the new Mario Kart for the Wii. I've never had the opporunity to try out the Arcade (hopefully will soon though) so I can't comment on whether I though it was good or bad, but regardless I still think it would be a profitable venture for Nintendo to release it. I doubt they will though because they probably aren't interested in releasing it on the Cube and if they release it on the Wii they can potentially hurt sales of the franchise when the next comes out.

[UncleBob]

You know what'd be great?  Mario Kart GP as a pre-order bonus for Mario Kart Wii.

[Bill Aurion]

Then people would play their pre-order bonus, be offended by what they play, and then pull their pre-order the next day...

[UncleBob]

Mario Kart GP wasn't that bad.  In fact, some of the tracks were better than MKD...

Oh, and there was a comment above about Mario Kart becoming more and more about cheap item usage... err... It always has been?

[Adrock]

No, it wasn't. Never once in Mario Kart 64 did I ever get hit with 3 purple shells in the same course or 2 in the same lap. And the purple shell homes in on whoever was first at the time the shell was released, meaning I could get hit with a red shell, fall to 4th place then have my world rocked by a purple shell and at special times have a heavy low ranked character knock me off the track afterwards. In a matter of seconds I could drop from comfortable 1st to extremely distant 8th. That's not skill, that's almost complete luck of the draw. The only strategy is racing slow enough to be 2nd, hoping 1st gets screwed by a purple shell, and inching my way into 1st place at the very last second.  The purple shell went from being mildly inconvenient to gameplay ruining.

And don't get me started on how you can't always block red shells by holding an item behind you.

[AwesomeMan]

i never played Mario Kart GP, does it have the same cheap ass opponents that magically get speed boosts when you are infront of them the other ones do?

worst idea ever in a racing game

[Ceric]

Before I read through this thread.  I enjoyed the Arcade game but I think it should stay in the arcade and leave the console Mario Kart name "pure."

[couchmonkey]

What I find ironic is how Adrock complains that the games are too cheap and non-skill-based, and he's followed right up by two others that got bored because they can't keep up with people who are good at mini-turbos.