Mario Kart 8 / Mario Kart 8 Deluxe

After watching that video, it does hurt to see how that player played. It's always important to remember that smart steering prevents you from doing ultra mini-turbos.
 

So the soundtrack of these courses has been dumped on YouTube, a sample of which I posted here. I'm very pleasantly surprised that they opted to rearrange them, including the original Tour tracks, even giving GBA Sky Garden yet another aural refurbishment distinct from what we hear in the mobile version. Yet, much like the course aesthetics, I feel like something in this soundtrack just doesn't seem to fit in with the rest of the game, and I can't quite put my finger on it. Maybe I'm wrong.
 
Here is me first running through all the new courses in 200cc with Hard CPUs, completely blind. Switch can only record 30 seconds, but I placed first in all of them, pretty effortlessly, even though Ninja Hideaway is the most difficult track out of all of them.

(the music is muted because I haven't updated my bgm.bars but I'm super glad my game doesn't crash, that means I can still play the new tracks and enjoy my old music)

https://twitter.com/x/status/1504706310670995457
https://twitter.com/x/status/1504706601533378561
https://twitter.com/x/status/1504707061996613634
https://twitter.com/x/status/1504707284881985539

https://twitter.com/x/status/1504707701523111936
https://twitter.com/x/status/1504708141044273153
https://twitter.com/x/status/1504709031985774594
https://twitter.com/x/status/1504709256238362630

Races have this tendency to just be over, hence why I'll be changing their lap count to 7 when I get the chance (yes even that one Paris track that changes every lap...sorry I don't know the name, the MSBT for the new tracks is busted too and it's blank)

The track that stood out to me the most was Shroom Ridge. Holy crap does racing on that track feel immensely good in 200cc. I'm not good at tackling the turns yet because obviously it's my first time ever playing Shroom Ridge on 200cc but it's spiritually satisfying to drift and brake through those curves at high speeds while avoiding traffic. That was the track that made me feel like I was playing something like Forza.

The Tour tracks are surprisingly fun to race on despite being developed with shitty mobile controls in mind, but probably because I can jack up the speed and still control nicely. Ninja Hideaway was disorienting and confusing to first play on blind so I did terribly on the first lap and repeatedly fell off turns (but the Hard CPUs are extremely forgiving so I still managed to get 1st there). I'm still not familiar with its layout yet.

Sky Garden was immensely gutted I felt, and it played nearly unrecognizably compared to its original incarnation. What a disappointment. Choco Mountain also felt a bit off, didn't feel like I was playing on the N64 original. Coconut Mall however, felt just like the Wii days, so I got a nostalgia burst playing that, that was nice.

Toad Circuit was pretty bland ngl. It's funner to play on than in 150cc that's for sure but it stood out the least to me.
 
yesterday i heard the new version of the coconut mall theme ( https://fxtwitter.com/squalishere/status/1504469834083364872?s=21 ) and its like. it doesnt sound distinct enough from the original wii track to stand on its own, but it also just sounds kind of worse. it feels less faster paced (i love that the original one feels like it goes SO fast and thats a little lost here) and some of the instruments feel too quiet or delayed or something?
 
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Got to play the DLC tracks earlier. 3-starred the two cups in 50cc, 100cc, and 150cc, but during the 150cc Ninja Hideaway playthrough, I did end up dodging a bullet with a CPU driver whom kept chasing my tail.
 
So I played the DLC courses today, and here are my thoughts:

Tour Paris Promenade - Very cool visually, especially since I've been to Paris and recognized the landmarks. The course changing each lap was a bit confusing, going into it I was under the impression that all paths would be open for each lap.

3DS Toad Circuit - Probably my least favorite track of the bunch. It's not bad, but not particularly exciting. They could've brought back any other 3DS course and it probably would've been more interesting.

N64 Choco Mountain - This one is pretty cool, the boulders falling are classic. The gliding section and cave are neat additions.

Wii Coconut Mall - Racing through the mall is fun, but it's disappointing to see the Miis removed. (It's particularly confusing due to the recent Mii Tour - Nintendo, please make up your mind about whether you want to use Miis or not.) The gliding section into the parking lot is a good addition.

Tour Tokyo Blur - On my first playthrough, I found it less confusing to navigate than Paris Promenade. I think it handles the track changing better than Paris Promenade, but I prefer Paris' setting.

DS Shroom Ridge - The remix is amazing, and it's a great course to drift on. I find that courses with many opportunities to drift are some of my favorites, it's why I like Neo Bowser City so much.

GBA Sky Garden - Great remix as well. I like the atmosphere of the course, I have a soft spot for sky-themed courses.

Ninja Hideaway - This one was definitely the most confusing to navigate, but it has some very unique obstacles and pathways. Once I got to learn the course, it was fun to play.

Overall, I'm pretty satisfied with the DLC tracks. I must say, I didn't expect the courses to get remixes considering the way they seemingly cut corners visually, so it was a pleasant surprise to listen to them all.
 
I dislike what they did to Paris Promenade's music, and that was my favorite theme from Mario Kart Tour. I am so done with this game's soundtrack (it's so meh). I really need to hurry up and hack my Switch and make music mods for all of the race tracks.

^After typing that, I listened to the other remixes and liked Shroom Ridge (the remake by Panman14 is better, though) and Sky Garden. Coconut Mall and Toad Circuit's remixes are inferior to the originals, and I have mixed feelings towards Choco Mountain. The first 25 seconds sounds awful, but the rest is great.
 
I heard the new Shroom Ridge rearrangement, and while it's not godawful as I feared it, it's not great either. First, I don't like the primary instrument being used, it's too drawn out and less sharp than the original (I do like the brass chorus in the background however, that's the best addition to the song and I praise that part). Second, they removed the brass at around 30 seconds in (after the first whistling) and kept it the same instrument as the first time around, which doesn't sound right imo, as the brass is supposed to sound like it's responding to the main melody and contribute to an eventual build up; now it just sounds like it loops back to the original, no build up. The whistling is also noticeably less prominent too, for no reason! They also got rid of the record scratching too, which I thought was a really prominent part of the music. Finally, they got rid of the chord at 0:40 seconds or so before the final whistle, why, that was a good chord and was a good build up before the whistling and then the loop! It sounds anticlimatic now.

They still kept the catchy spirit of it, but it loses out on what I liked about it. That record scratching has to be there. That chord has to be there. That second brass has to be there. That whistling should be sharper and clearer. The brass background addition was nice though.

EDIT: and I heard Ninja Hideaway and I instantly hated it. The main instrument is obnoxious and pain incarnate. It single-handedly ruins the song. What did they take a page from, K.K. Slider's horrific noises?
 
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1. I like the new tracks.

2. The graphics aren't a deal-breaker or a concern.

3. I'm surprised a single cup gets 2 tracks from the same game.

4. That's still not Sky Garden.
 
Funny how people are complaining so much about Sky Garden when Cheese Land and Ribbon Road were also altered drastically to not look so flat.
 
Striker Mario Boogaloo said:
EDIT: and I heard Ninja Hideaway and I instantly hated it. The main instrument is obnoxious and pain incarnate. It single-handedly ruins the song. What did they take a page from, K.K. Slider's horrific noises?
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Listening to MK8 version and the Tour version, MK8's version more or less sounds like the og in a higher quality to me idk maybe with like one new instrument.
In the OG you can still kind of hear that K.K. being suffocated by Hatsune Miku noise but in the MK8 version it's way more apparent?
 
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MnSG said:
Funny how people are complaining so much about Sky Garden when Cheese Land and Ribbon Road were also altered drastically to not look so flat.
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Besides that gliding segment, I feel Ribbon Road and Cheese Land kept a lot of turns intact but not Sky Garden. I'm not complaining about elevation changes, as otherwise you get really crappy-looking SNES and GBA tracks like in Mario Kart DS and Mario Kart Wii, which don't look like actual locations. However, I'm starting to also dislike chopping off chunks of retro tracks with just sightseeing gliding too, which they did in Choco Mountain but also in Ribbon Road and Cheese Land.

dave miller(real) said:
Listening to MK8 version and the Tour version, MK8's version more or less sounds like the og in a higher quality to me idk maybe with like one new instrument.
In the OG you can still kind of hear that K.K. being suffocated by Hatsune Miku noise but in the MK8 version it's way more apparent?
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I mean it's bad wherever it shows because it doesn't mesh with the rest of the song. Idk why they made it more apparent.
 
I like Ninja Hideaway's music. It's really good, actually.
 
MnSG said:
Funny how people are complaining so much about Sky Garden when Cheese Land and Ribbon Road were also altered drastically to not look so flat.
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i don't like what they did to cheese land and ribbon road that much either, especially ribbon road

i also can't wait to replace ninja hideaway's music
 
Certainly. There's little reason to remove them, but I guess they didn't want to make new assets or something when they could just used Toads and Shy Guys. I mean they don't even have to be hazards like they were in the old games; they didn't have issues putting Mini Toads in Ribbon Road.
 
The only problem I have with Ninja Hideaway's new arrangement is the string that overpowers the bass just before the beat drop. I know bass is by its very nature supposed to be a "background" instrument that supports the melody in the upper register, but the original version of the track managed to make it more evident and harmonious, whilst now it just creates a dissonance with the string. It's like they threw a shamisen in there because they thought there wasn't enough oriental-sounding stuff in the music.

I thoroughly enjoy the rest of it, though. I think the main melody's synthetic nature creates a rather sharp but welcome contrast with the traditional instruments.
 
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The lead synth in Ninja Hideway is the most cool and interesting part of the song, and doubt I'd care about it without it.

anyway, who cares. Tokyo Blur! jazz fusion! Good music!
 
It's probably worth pointing out that two of the 8 courses that we've gotten so far, did NOT appear in Mario Kart Tour. So the Booster Course Pass pretty much won't be all Mario Kart Tour stuff alone.
 
I'm so happy Waluigi pinball is gonna be in the game. I've wanted it in Mario kart 8 since the wii u version! My favorite track in my favorite Mario kart game is like a dream come true!
 
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