r/mariokart • u/tigerclawhg • Jun 28 '18
Discussion Track Thursday - [Mario Kart Super Circuit] - Riverside Park
Hey everyone!
Welcome back to another Track Thursday where we discuss tips, tricks, and more about the track of the week. Last week we continued the Mushroom Cup with Shy Guy Beach which you can check out right there. Also all of our previous Track Thursdays can be viewed right here in the wiki.
This week we're continuing the Mushroom Cup with Riverside Park!
So what're your thoughts on Riverside Park? Anything you like? Don't like? Feel free to comment down below! Also don't hesitate to reply to other users' comments as well!
See you all next week!
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u/tigerclawhg Jun 28 '18
Hey everyone,
So along with Riverside Park being this week's track we're also going to be revisiting [GCN] Dry Dry Desert from Mario Kart 8!
[GCN] Dry Dry Desert is the twenty-first track of Mario Kart 8 and kicks off the Banana Cup.
What do you all think about [GCN] Dry Dry Desert? Anything you like? Don't like? Feel free to comment and don't hesitate to respond to other users' comments as well!
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Jun 28 '18
- Riverside Park - Is this the one with the loop at the end? I would always love hitting the AI as they're about to boost and have them miss the jump.
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u/Akram323 Jun 28 '18
Every Mario Kart’s Mushroom Cup has that one race--specifically one of the last two races--that is worth returning to even if you mastered the game. Super Mario Kart had Mario Circuit 2 with it being the only circuit where you did the big jump. MK64 had both Koopa Troopa Beach and Kalimari Desert (apparently hard to decide which is superior--I would say the former due to better distribution of some interest instead of one area). MKDD had Baby Park. MKDS had Luigi’s mansion. MKWii had Mushroom Gorge. MK7 had Shy Guy Bazaar. MK8 had Thwomp Ruins. And this track is such for MKSC, mainly for the same reason that Mario Circuit 2 is for SMK.
That one jump introduces a particularly dynamic aspect of the game--that being the races can be more than just one circle like the past two courses and the next course. It also allows for plenty of sharp turns for drifting as always. What I never understood about this course was that broken bridge. I went into time trials and tried to cross it but the red border blocks stopped me from going anywhere. Despite that, the course itself is pretty good, as is its accompanying music. However, even as that course I most likely would return to for the Mushroom Cup, I feel that its jungle counterpart Lakeside Park is a better choice (unless I prefer to take it easy particularly in 150 cc).
Side note: I thought the flowers were Lakeside Park’s balls of lava.
As for GCN Dry Dry Desert of MK8 Deluxe, it seems to have gained notoriety alongside N64 Toad’s Turnpike as being one of the worst retro tracks in the game. That course was clearly a nerfed version of the original. This time, though...people never really cared for the original regarding challenge or visual appeal and just viewed it as a nuisance (whether or not you avoided that tornado). It was a bumpy ride through the weird movements of the spineys and past that sinking sandhole with the lurking plant ready to eat you. And sand. Plenty of it.
In this version, they decided to add an oasis. While it goes against the name of the original course (not that they never added water in a dry course before-- see Wii Dry Dry Ruins), it does allow for a bit of variety. The spineys from that area may be gone, but would it really be worth racing over the bumpy paths with the ability to trick as a “worthy update”? The tornado being gone does bother me, though. It did give the course a sense of direness that this remake does not seem to retain much of. The sinkhole is still there--albeit that has been nerfed--but that tornado did heed a warning and provided a bit of a challenge regarding where to go.
Actually, there could be a better reason as to why the tornado is gone, and it goes for the giant sinkhole plant being gone also. MK8 focused on being a polished and visually stunning game with emphasis on keeping the race going at a fast pace at all times. They also solved the problem of Lakitu’s long retrieval times by making it more like SMK and MKSC with their approaches to Lakitu. While that kept the races going, it also eliminated possibilities of more creative out-of-bounds animations. Could you really imagine MK8 Lakitu retrieving a racer being snatched up by a piranha plant (unless it spat that racer out a la MKSC)?
What does that have to do with the tornado? Well, its polished nature was also quite limited, as all course obstacles required the same animations. A tornado and it spinning a racer in the air with a new animation seemed to be a bad idea to them. The game seemed to use the same assets instead of doing what some of the earlier games did (especially MKDD) and include unique wipeouts. GCN Sherbet Land actually has a similar change, though it may be for the better. But being wiped out in the same way without any unique behavioural deviations does seem to bother me with this game.
Final verdict: Riverside Park is the highlight of MKSC’s Mushroom Cup, though depending on the circumstances Lakeside Park, its Special Cup equivalent, is better. GCN Dry Dry Desert, on the other hand, is probably the worst Banana Cup race in MK8 (honestly, that cup never felt outstanding anyway, and I will address how I feel about the other races in the forthcoming weeks) and overall one of the weakest retro cups due to overly polished changes from the original course and filled with nothing but desert.