Let's play Super Mario Kart!

A video LP of Super Mario Kart.

In this first episode I discuss racing technique in general. Hope I'm not too boring!

Flower Cup with Yoshi:

It's quite informative.

I played this game a bit as a kid, but I'm much more familiar with Mario Kart 64. Pretty cool to see this, and remember the designers were pretty much sailing blind as to how much people would accept Go-Karting with Bowser.

So why is "keeping speed up" more central than in other racers?

This LP has showed me how not to suck at this game. Thank you.

^^ Good question. There are a few reasons. First, it takes time and work to get up to full speed. In some games (Mario Kart 64 is an example) you can use just three or four seconds and reach the same speed you'd have after a minute of beautiful drifting, but in Super Mario Kart it can take a full lap to race fast at all. So there's a big difference between a player who works hard to keep his kart moving fast and one who just takes turns by letting up the gas and tries to rely on cutting corners or using items to win.

Also, shortcuts and items are less powerful in this Mario Kart than the others. If you're in last place, for instance, you're likely to get a single red shell; even the star is kinda crappy on most courses since it messes up your drifts. Item use is more reliable in Mario Kart 64 where even the first place racer gets good stuff like triple green shells and golden mushrooms. SMK is also light on the zippers which appear all over the place in Diddy Kong Racing and Mario Kart: Super Circuit. In those and most other kart racers, it's more important to know where the track's speed boosts and shortcuts are and to use (and avoid) items well, but the reverse is true in Super Mario Kart.

Here's my third video. Next time I'll try to make my explanations clearer and quicker.

OH GOD THE NOSTALGIA

Special Cup here. I tried being more enthusiastic, but the energy faded after about 30 seconds. Video Let's Plays are harder than I thought they'd be :p

For the next four videos I'll be covering each cup with a tiny character (which I get by pressing Y+A on the select screen). Then I'm thinking I'll do the romhack Super Mario Kart: Pro Edition.

Hey, you know those evil-looking black ball creatures (proto-Chomps?) that bounce around certain tracks and slip you up on contact?

What the HELL are those? My terrified childhood demands to know.

According to The Mushroom Kingdom, they are chomps.

edited 28th Sep '10 12:00:53 AM by Fuzy2K

Thanks, I was wondering that too.

Why aren't they listing the Chomps from Super Mario Bros 3? Those things scared the hell out of me as a kid.

@Longfellow, No problem!

@English Ivy, They are listed under Chain Chomp.

edited 28th Sep '10 12:16:26 PM by Fuzy2K

When I first played Super Mario Kart, I had no idea you could drift (I didn't even know what drifting was until I got into Ridge Racer). I always thought the jump buttons were just there to be used to jump over obstacles. I practiced drifting on Mario Circuit 1 last night w/ the Koopa Troopa, and get some of my fastest times ever.

Glad to have helped! :)

It's still processing, but here's me playing through the Mushroom Cup with tiny Donkey Kong Jr. In addition to being shrunken, I'm playing with another Self-Imposed Challenge—I get myself crushed at the beginning of each race (besides the first one) so I can start in last place and catch up. I hope the gameplay becomes more exciting. Things are gonna get a lot tougher in Star and Special Cup.

Who will you be playing as for the next video?

Luigi in the Flower Cup, Princess in the Star Cup, and Toad in the Special Cup.

Since I'm best with the heavyweights, I wanted to give myself a real challenge at the end.

As the creator of the RO Mhack 'Super Mario Kart: Pro Edition' I'd be honoured if you did a Lets Play of it. I wish you luck if you try!

^He really likes said hack.

I do! I'm honored that you're honored! It's an incredible hack and I definitely look forward to Let's Playing it—though I'll need to improve a lot to win consistently tiny. I've spent hours practicing just Bowser Castle 3. Your levels are everything I could have wished for and more in a sequel to Super Mario Kart.

My next video for Super Mario Kart is here:

I think my delivery is a bit crappy here. I had trouble enunciating, and I blame the chocolate I ate just before recording :p

The lesson learned: never eat chocolate before speaking at length into a microphone.

This time I brushed my teeth before Let's Playing. :p

First race below first place!

Your voice kinda has an "Informative 80s Sex Ed Video" thing going on. Not like that's a bad thing, though.