Unpopular opinions about the Mario series

Then again, they do feel random sometimes, so I guess there should be kind of a happy medium on returning stuff
 
I just want an optional-first-person open world Mario game, of the Mushroom Kingdom. No barren landscapes, I want obstacles and interactivity everywhere.
 
Thats like saying "I like Spiderman more than Batman"
 
So I was just playing Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, and I have to be honest, it's not as good as everyone makes it to be. Don't get me wrong; I do not consider this game overrated. It deserves all the praise it gets, but playing it can be painful. In what way? Well, not necessarily the game itself but rather the replay value. Firstly, while I like the soundtrack, it's less of a banger than Mario Kart Wii's. Graphically speaking, it is the best of the series, but some tracks look weird. I prefer the look the Booster courses have because it is more cartoony. As for the gameplay, it's good. However, that's just it. Mario Kart 8 is really only decent. And I say that because the tracks don't go above and beyond to be unique.

I guess I wasn't much of a Mario Kart fan, or 8 just had some basic tracks. My big issue was that most had no shortcuts or just plain boring ones. And it's not like the majority of the tracks are bad. I consider only three tracks in this game bad (Bowser's Castle, GCN Dry Dry Desert, and N64 Rainbow Road). And there aren't too many mediocre tracks (Mario Circuit, Mario Kart Stadium, Water Park, Big Blue, Wild Woods, GCN Baby Park, and 3DS DK Jungle), and while the list I gave might seem like a lot, it's usually mixed in cups with good to excellent tracks. And that's the thing, most of the tracks are just decent, not outstanding. There's only a little this game innovated from the previous game other than Anti-Gravity.

Now I would be okay with the game having fantastic replay value... It doesn't. Now at first glance, that sounds mean because we got excellent stuff. Firstly, we got local multiplayer, which is as good as a Mario Kart game can get. Sure, it gets choppy with 30fps, but I guess there's nothing to do with that. And online is... okay? I like how you can create your own tournaments though once they start, you can't delete them. Time trials are satisfactory too... But the big issue is... the unlockables. Unlike the Wii U version, every character is unlocked from the start. I like this because it helps those that already own the Wii U game not have to grind to unlock these characters again... except for the vehicles. Not only do those still have to be unlocked, they are unlocked in a gacha-like system. Collect coins on the track, and you get a random part every so often. It's RNG, and you'll typically get screwed over if you want a part you really want.

Furthermore, you'll never know all the stats of your vehicle. The game only lists the speed, acceleration, handling, and off-road, I think? You aren't told anything else, and you'd have to research online to find specific essential stats that can only be found by datamining the game. So if you want to get grinding on 150cc with your favorite combination, you have to get really lucky. Previous games with unlockables at least have a fixed unlock goal. I remember playing Nickelodeon Kart Racers 2, and the way characters were unlocked was simple. All you have to do is complete a cup or a mission boss. As for the karts, you just have to pay them with coins. It's a simple system and works.

Even then, I don't know if that makes up for 200cc. Now I understand why people love this mode. It's crazy as all hell and requires outstanding skill. Sadly, it's required if you want that Gold Mario skin. I have played through this mode and nearly completed every cup except for the Special and Banana Cups. Those are my least favorite cups in general because I find these tracks to be really bland. And while I haven't played Banana Cup, I wanted to give up at Special Cup. The first two tracks are relatively simple. Then comes Bowser's Castle, which the CPU goes insane. The giant Bowser statue loves to squash me every time.

Furthermore, it's recommended that you get 1st place here. This is because you'd need to get good enough to avoid getting to 2nd place or lower. And that's where hell comes in for me. While I don't consider Rainbow Road a lousy track in general (thanks to its unique premise of being a space station), playing it in 200cc changes everything. The track has loops and turns, and falling off a cliff just once will cause a CPU to go fast like they have a champagne bottle up their asses. I think I nearly tasted blood when doing this. I tried like Daisy on a bike I forgot the name of and Isabelle on the City Tripper, but I couldn't. Perhaps a better vehicle, stuck away in the unlock system, could've saved me. Honestly, 200cc feels more like an optional bonus mode than a severe inclusion in the game. If the tracks were built around 200cc, this wouldn't be a problem. Then again, the reward is... Gold Mario. So yeah, your hard work really comes to waste.

As of this writing, I opted out of 100%ing this game because it felt like a chore. And that's not a good sign. You could say I view 200cc as more of an achievement than video game progress, but you are missing out on the Gold Mario skin if you never do this. Sure, I did get the silver cup, but the game makes me feel bad for not getting the gold one. Plus, a game should never make me taste blood. I need a freaking drink...
Edit: If you want to know why I think the unlock system this game has effects the game, it's because you might want to play multiplayer with your friends and want to choose the best options.

I should clarify that I still love this game. If anything, it's a guilty pleasure. But if you have to be critical, at least it has poor pacing that makes returning to this one a pain. I give it a 3/5 or maybe a 3.8/5 because it is close to a good game. Honestly, I would've called it good if the soundtrack was more of a banger. It's silly, but this game would've stood out to me. And it still does, but design-wise, it's flawed. I can still love something that isn't totally amazing.
 
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legorunnerkid said:
I prefer the look the Booster courses have because it is more cartoony.
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I personally think Booster Courses look kind of low-poly, low-quality, simplified, barren and not-very-detailed but if you like cartoony visuals that's fine with me. It just seems a little strange to me that Nintendo would decrease the realism of newer courses and increase the realism of older courses just to give them all the same visuals going into the same game.

legorunnerkid said:
I opted out of 100%ing this game because it felt like a chore.
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I like playing this game but when I do it's just casually for fun. Honestly, I think 100%ing a game is supposed to feel like a chore because some of the only people willing to do this are hardcore gamers that have the time and energy to devote themselves to the game.
 
Innuendo? Where was that in the song?
 
TheBlueCatMenace said:
Nintendo should abandon the Kongs.
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I like the Kongs, but Nintendo hasn't done anything that good with them for like 15 years. I've heard rumors that a new 3D Donkey Kong is in development though, to be released on the next Nintendo console. The decision to abandon Nintendo's first popular character wouldn't be too well received.
 
MegaBowser64 said:
I like the Kongs, but Nintendo hasn't done anything that good with them for like 15 years. I've heard rumors that a new 3D Donkey Kong is in development though, to be released on the next Nintendo console. The decision to abandon Nintendo's first popular character wouldn't be too well received.
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If they get a new game that would be cool, espcially if it's 3d. I just never liked the kongs, though I did like their role in the Mario movie
 
Honestly I miss simpler selection in MK series.. it'd be nice if you just chose from a categorized selection of classes instead of having to read the graph for everything..
With a little additional notes of like "good underwater!"
 
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