Mario Kart Community

I made the community months ago, but I have finally decided to introduce it today. Here it is below in this fun little poster.

Please tell friends and others and make the community bigger. Thanks for the support.

Rules: 150cc Grand Prix and all items allowed.

Review: Mario Kart Wii

Mario Kart Wii is the sixth game in the Mario Kart series. It was released on the Wii in 2008. Obviously, it was a kart racing game. Like the other games, it came with new racers, old racers, new tracks, old tracks, and many more. It is the first, and so far the only, Mario Kart game that has motorcycles along with karts. It is also the only Mario Kart game to have twelve racers on a track instead of eight, which was kind of a bother.

There were a few different ways to control the game. The main way was this:

This is a Wii Wheel, a plastic steering wheel that came bundled with Mario Kart Wii. As you may already know, motion control is the main way to steer the kart, just turn the wheel left or right. However, the wheel is a little sensitive, so practice may be needed if you start using the wheel. If you do not enjoy the wheel, you can easily play using a Gamecube controller, Classic Controller, or simply with the remote and nunchuk.

Single player is pretty nice, having Grand Prix, Time Trials, Vs and Battle. Grand Prix is the main mode, where you race for cups to unlock new racers and tracks. Time Trials is where only you race on a track and try to be your best time or the staff's best time. Versus is where you can pick any track on any cup (as long as it's unlocked) and race. Battle mode is pretty much where you try to murder you opponents with shells and banana peels. Whoever is the last one standing wins. Grand Prix is pretty fun, although there a few items that may annoy you. I might as well show them to you:

Just look out for these. You can play with up to four players in one room, but only Vs. and Battle. Online, you can play with twelve players. One small thing I didn't like in Multi player is that computer players are automatically on. You can cut them off, though, in settings, so problem solved.











Graphics are pretty good in this game in many places. The tracks are well designed and the racers are designed well and animated well. I honestly don't have any complaints. Each track is done in its own special way. From bright, to dark, to peaceful, to frantic, they all look great. So yes, graphics are passable.













Music is done pretty well and is pretty enjoying to hear. Like graphics, they are all done to fit their themes, from dark to bright and happy. Most music from past stage sound almost the same, so some nostalgia is possible. Sound effects are also very well, with the classic cartoon effect. Voices are okay. They are well recorded, though they may get annoying if they are constantly heard. Music, good. Sounds, good. Voices, good as long as you can handle them.












Mario Kart Wii is definitely a game that's worth it. There may be a few things thrown around, but they don't deem the game unplayable. Some controls may act weird, some modes may has dumb things in them, and some voices may be annoying, but in the end, Mario Kart Wii is a great game that should be tried before judged. At the end of the day, Mario Kart Wii is indeed worthy to be in anyone's Wii collection.

Gameplay-4
Graphics-5
Music-5
Sounds/Voices-4
Controls-4

Overall-9.4

Next Review

Review: The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker

Story
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker is a game that was released for Gamecube in 2003. It continues the Zelda tradition of fighting enemies with a sword and many other weapons.

The story takes several hundred years after Ocarina of Time. After the Hero of Time, the Oot's Link, sealed the evil Ganondorf away, he somehow was able to escape. The people of Hyrule waited for Link to return, but he sadly did not. In the end, the result was Hyrule being forced to be destroyed and sank deep underwater.

After Hyrule's extinction, chains of islands emerged and new civilizations to arise. We start with our new hero, also named Link. On the island known as Outset, we start with Link being woken up by his sister, Aryll, reminding Link that it was his birthday. On this day, Link received special warrior clothes from his grandma, which are the classic green clothes and hat. He also receives a telescope from his sister. While using the telescope, Link notices a huge bird carrying a girl in his claws before he was shot by a nearby pirate ship. She then falls into the nearby forest. Link then travels in and rescues the girl, who happens to be the pirate ship's captain known as Tetra. When returning back to his village, Link then witnesses his sister being kidnapped by the beastly bird. With the pirates help, he tries to get his sister back, but fails. Along with this, Link meets his shady nemesis, who we should all know who. Later, Link meets a small, red, smart sailboat called the King of Red Lions. This is when Link's adventure starts.

Gameplay
The game is the same plot as many Zelda games, fight enemies, make friends, collect certain somethings from dungeons, collect weapons, etc. Unlike most games, you now must travel overseas to get to where you want to go. This is fairly faster than traveling across a large field with no horse. The controls are easy to use once you have gotten used to them, but most actions on the King of Red Lions are a little frustrating. One, it is a sailboat, so it only gains speed in the direction the wind is blowing. So before you start sailing around, you must pick the direction you want the wind to go using the Wind Waker, a conductor-like instrument that act similar to the Ocarina of Time. Like the Ocarina, you will learn different tunes that you will play to advance in  the story. Back to boat problems, my second problem with it is attacking enemies. Using a cannon you get later in the game, you can attack threats to Link and the King. One problem is that if you use it, you must take down your sail. So basically, you can't move while attacking. You can still switch between the two, but it may get a little stressful.

Graphics
The Wind Waker uses a new graphic engine that uses cel-shaded and light textures, resulting in cartoon graphics. Compared to Ocarina of Time, they are a lot smoother and definitely show a big improvement between the Gamecube and the Nintendo 64. The characters are well done, many rather silly looking which fit very good into the game. Just look at Toon Link in all of his glory:

He may look useless but he will put
hurt onto his enemies.

Seeing this, I can tell that graphics are good overall and pass.

Sound/Music
Wind Waker has some pretty good tracks in it, from the adventurous sea theme to the laid back Outset Island theme. Some songs are even throwbacks to past Zelda games. All the tracks fit their exact places, like I said, from happy, sad, confident, shady, ancient, odd and even dangerous. Overall, the music is great and is a good addition to the game. Sound effects are rather silly as well, many fitting their cartoon world. They are all well recorded and don't really tend to wear out, well, most of the time. Voice sounds are good as well. I can't really explain those because I already explained sounds, and I have the same comment about both.

Overall
With laid back graphics, fun music, funny moments and a good storyline, The Wind Waker is definitely a good title. Interested? If so, see if your nearby video game store may have an old copy for sale. It would definitely be worth it.

Gameplay-4
Graphics-5
Music-5
Sounds-5
Controls-5

Overall-9.8

                              Next Review

Luigi's Mansion Beta Elements

If anyone has already read my review for Luigi's Mansion, you may remember me mentioning the beta elements of the game. However, I only mentioned a few. I couldn't resist, so this article is going to be about many of the interesting beta elements from Luigi's Mansion.

Before I go on, let's just recap. We all remember who this is, right?

Are younger siblings still scared silly?

Remember? Yes? No? If not, this was the original game over sequence for Luigi's Mansion. If Luigi didn't make it to Mario or dies, this happens. According to Mario Wiki, it is thought that Luigi looks like this because if he doesn't make it to Mario, the whole mansion would disappear, including Mario. Don't yell about the mansion still in the background, it's only a theory. Like I also mentioned in my review, Nintendo probably removed this because they knew kids would probably lose sleep because of this. Another recap is the original ghosts. Comparisons:

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

I'm not too sure why they were changed, unless Nintendo deems fangs as frightening.

Now that I'm done going over the past, I can now go on. The game was supposedly going to be on the Nintendo 64, but was cancelled and moved to the Gamecube as a launch title. According to Nintendo Power, Luigi would only have 24 hours to save Mario, explaining the game over theory. The Game Boy Horror was also very different. First, there was a clock gadget, probably to countdown those 24 hours. Another feature was being able to view first person without having to pull up the Game Boy Horror.Another thing is that the Poltergust originally had a time limit on usage. It originally had a meter that starts at ten, and if it hits zero after a long amount of usage, the Poltergust would burst into flame and hurt Luigi, causing him to lose health.

Apparently instead of a nice mansion for a reward, Luigi would express happiness for ranking instead. The worst one looks similar to the game over sequence only with Luigi holding a flower while mourning. A good rank would be Luigi holding up a peace sign and if great, two peace signs, which remind me of when Luigi finds a key in the game.

Bad rank

Good rank

Great rank

These were probably taken out thanks to Luigi's see you while you sleep look. Here are a few more screenshots for above mentioned things:

Early Parlor. Note the clock and the meter in the middle.

Slightly more work, Nintendo had the first person
view on the GBH before working on it.

Rumors

If anyone has played the game before, they may know where the Safari room is. If not, it was a room filled with animal skin themed furniture and deer trophies. Anyway, according to Nintendo Power, a hunter portrait ghost was to appear in it. However, there are no pictures to prove this, so it has not been confirmed if they were telling the truth or were joking.

Early Safari room.

A fan's interpretation of what the hunter may have
looked like.

Also, the ghost supposedly wanted to put Luigi's head onto the Safari Room's wall. If he was real, he was probably deemed too scary by Nintendo because of his motives and was removed. Also for a bonus, here's a picture of the fan's interpretation of Luigi's trophy head.

Some dark humor would have been made of
this game, as if it hasn't been made now.

Review: Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins

Gameplay
Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins is a handheld game for the Game Boy released in 1992. It is a direct sequel to Super Mario Land and fits perfectly. Unlike Super Mario Land, Goombas and Koopas return, along with a new variety of new enemies.

Mario returns back to the Mushroom Kingdom after saving Daisy from Tatanga only to find that his castle (yes, his castle) has been taken over by Wario. Mario then must travel to find six special coins to unlock his castle and kick Wario out. (Spoiler alert: It also appears that Tatanga may have been working for Wario all along due to him guarding one of these coins. It's also possible that Daisy's capture could have been planned by Wario too in order to distract Mario.)

Unlike Super Mario Land, this game has a much better gameplay. It has six imaginitive zones, each holding one of the coins. Said zones are Tree, Macro (large house), Pumpkin, Mario (yes, a Mario zone), Turtle and even Space. Also, these six zones can be cleared in any order, not the above mentioned. Along with the game was a new power up, the Carrot, which turns Mario into Rabbit Mario, allowing him to flutter across obstacles and breeze through levels.

Graphics
Graphics are a larger step up from its prequel. They appear closer to Super Mario World, unlike Super Mario Land's 8-bit graphics. Sprite sizes are also a lot larger than before too, including Mario, making him easier to see. It is definitely an improvement from before.

Compare to picture in previous review.

Sound/Music

Though the music is good, it is not as good as the music in Super Mario Land in my opinion. While still enjoyable, it doesn't feel the same. Overall, it's decent. Sound are pretty good, many sound like ones from previous Mario games and have their cartoon theme, so pass.

Overall

The game is definitely a good sequel and a good buy. With it on virtual console for 3DS, this should be one of the games in your collection. With it's fun, compact levels, silly enemies and wacky plot, this game is a must buy and passes.

Gameplay-5

Graphics-5

Music-4

Sounds-5

Controls-5

Overall-9.8

Review: Super Mario Land

Gameplay
Super Mario Land was a handheld game released for Game Boy in 1989. This game is fairly different than most Mario games. First reason is that it does not take place in the Mushroom Kingdom. Instead, it takes place in a new land called Sarasaland. Second is that Peach is replaced with a new princess named Daisy. Also, no Bowser, instead there is a new villain named Tatanga. Along with him are many new enemies, many completely original.

The game is fairly entertaining, but not its best. Though enjoyable, I do have a few rants about it. The main one is the overall length of the story. With four worlds, three levels each, an overall twelve levels, it's not really meant to be taken hardcore. If you do, however, beat the game, you are able to play a harder mode of the game with stronger enemies in new places. One problem is that the game does not have a save function, so after you cut off the game, it's over. However, if you play this on the 3DS, the virtual console restore point function can fix this problem. The four worlds are still very entertaining, though. Each one is based off of something in the real world, though I'll let you guess what.

Graphics
It's not graphics that make the game, but I do have a rant about it. Although the Game Boy was new, the graphics for this game is a tad downgraded. Some players may have trouble seeing Mario because he's black and white and incredibly blocky and kind of small. Enemies and blocks are also fairly tiny while I mention it. I'm really not too sure if Nintendo was trying to recreate Super Mario Bros. graphics of if they were trying to finish the game quickly. Either way, it really isn't very good.

An example

Sound/ Music
While graphics are a bother, the music is fairly good and catchy. In fact, one of the songs was used in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, though you will need to find it out which one for yourself. For anyone that has played this game when it was first released, this music is probably fairly nostalgic in a way. Overall, music passes. There aren't many sounds to talk about, so no comment.

Overall
While the game has a few struggles, Super Mario Land is still a fun game if you wish to try classic Mario games. It is on 3DS virtual console, so if want to try it no matter what, go ahead, or if you take graphics and length VERY seriously, fine too. Overall, it makes a good addition to your 3DS virtual console.

Gameplay-3
Graphics-3
Music-5
Sounds-4
Controls-5

Overall-9.0

While I'm still here, here are the four worlds I want you to guess the origins of.

World 1- Birabuto Kingdom

World 2- Muda Kingdom

World 4- Chai Kingdom

World 3- Easton Kingdom

                             
                   

Mushroom City Department of Motor Vehicles

My recent and newest creation is under construction. What it is going to be is a Mario Kart "encyclopedia", if you must. What I plan for it to include is information about various racers, details about all of the tracks, and items and what they do. I hope to work on it a little tomorrow, although I do have an introductory post already up. Here is the link to check it out:http://mcdmv.blogspot.com/

Bought to you by the Mushroom City Department of Motor Vehicles.