In It Might Get Loud, Jack White explains his approach to choosing instruments. He says he prefers "guitars that are a little bit bent and out of tune. I want to battle it, I want it to be a struggle." That sounds rad when you're talking about Rock music. But it's probably not what I should be thinking about the whole time I'm playing a kart racer.
When I first played Super Circuit on my Ambassador 3DS in 2012, I thought "Wow! This is dumb and bad!" and I quit pretty quickly. But now that it's available on Switch, I decided that I was going to actually finish it this time so I could have a more informed opinion. It turns out that my previous impression was only mostly right.
I don't think it's controversial to say that this is the worst Mario Kart game. The tracks are fine while staying completely flat/level, and the game looks pretty good for the GBA, but a racing game lives or dies by its controls. I tried a handful of characters and eventually did get the hang of Wario at 150cc (enough to get gold on all 5 cups, though not enough to get 1st place every single race), but it felt like I was fighting against my kart the entire time. Every track feels like it's iced over, causing constant slipping and sliding. I'm sure there's a technique to be learned here, but I just ended up braking a LOT to counter the lack of traction. Like, more than I ever have while playing MK8 on 200cc.
When every other Mario Kart is approachable and intuitive, this sticks out as the worst of the bunch. Not as awful as I initially thought, but I'd be lying if I called it "fun".
When I first played Super Circuit on my Ambassador 3DS in 2012, I thought "Wow! This is dumb and bad!" and I quit pretty quickly. But now that it's available on Switch, I decided that I was going to actually finish it this time so I could have a more informed opinion. It turns out that my previous impression was only mostly right.
I don't think it's controversial to say that this is the worst Mario Kart game. The tracks are fine while staying completely flat/level, and the game looks pretty good for the GBA, but a racing game lives or dies by its controls. I tried a handful of characters and eventually did get the hang of Wario at 150cc (enough to get gold on all 5 cups, though not enough to get 1st place every single race), but it felt like I was fighting against my kart the entire time. Every track feels like it's iced over, causing constant slipping and sliding. I'm sure there's a technique to be learned here, but I just ended up braking a LOT to counter the lack of traction. Like, more than I ever have while playing MK8 on 200cc.
When every other Mario Kart is approachable and intuitive, this sticks out as the worst of the bunch. Not as awful as I initially thought, but I'd be lying if I called it "fun".
6 Comments
Adam Sandler voice: “I disagree”
Still, great review!
Still, great review!
@conman is there a trick to the controls? Something with braking or hopping that makes the turns more controllable?
Honestly, probably not.
I find that the d-pad is better than the stick, but drifting in general is just higher risk/reward in Super Circuit. There’s also little stuff like the spin out technique. Before you spin out you can release the gas and hit brake (as opposed to hitting A three times in MK8) a music note shows up over the kart if u do it correctly.
But I don’t think those are big enough to make someone like it. Still, I personally find that the other things racing games live or die by are the tracks, and I personally think this game’s tracks are 10 times better than Super Mario Kart.
I find that the d-pad is better than the stick, but drifting in general is just higher risk/reward in Super Circuit. There’s also little stuff like the spin out technique. Before you spin out you can release the gas and hit brake (as opposed to hitting A three times in MK8) a music note shows up over the kart if u do it correctly.
But I don’t think those are big enough to make someone like it. Still, I personally find that the other things racing games live or die by are the tracks, and I personally think this game’s tracks are 10 times better than Super Mario Kart.
That's definitely fair, the SNES tracks are the most bland and boring. But these still being flat 2D panels that rotate in a Mode-7 kind of way keeps them below the rest of the series.
Definitely agree with you there
MagneticBurn
1 year ago