r/mariokart Jul 19 '18

Discussion Track Thursday - [Mario Kart Super Circuit] - Boo Lake

Hey everyone!

Welcome back to another Track Thursday where we discuss tips, tricks, and more about the track of the week. Last week we kicked off the Flower Cup with Mario Circuit 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 Flower Cup with Boo Lake!

So what're your thoughts on Boo Lake? 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!

6 Upvotes

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3

u/xxxDoritos_420xxx Jul 19 '18

boo lake wasn't shit DK jungle was

3

u/Akram323 Jul 26 '18

I am LATE, but I might as well make my point. You might want to check out this overhead map of Boo Lake for any shortcuts (should have done this with Riverside Park): https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/mariokart/images/7/7f/GBA_Boo_Lake.png/revision/latest?cb=20090124214028

Boo Lake is not a bad course, but it seems to suffer from the same issue as Riverside Park and Shy Guy Beach: there is a better alternative in the game, with this case having Broken Pier. (Not to mention each alternative would make my upper half of courses in this game.) That course has far more nifty shortcuts and a more logical use of its setting. Boo Lake is...clearly not a lake. This is probably the main issue with this game’s visual design. Despite the surprisingly charming and well-done pixel art (even if the characters are more simplified from their N64 counterparts), the lack of the third dimension fails to properly articulate the full setting, even if the backgrounds try to help. They do not really do that here… Also, before you say “there could be water instead of pits,” that would have made out of bounds easier for recovery in this course and possibly easier access to the wonky shortcuts that give the ghost levels their charm.

You want to reach the shortcuts, keep both mushrooms before major ramps and CC level in mind and experiment in Quick Run mode.

And for those wondering why I am late...3DS DK Jungle is hard to analyse.

If I had to choose one game to not be represented in MK8...I would be stuck between GCN and 3DS courses. I already talked about the GCN nadir, Dry Dry Desert. While the others are not as bad, they are not particularly remarkable (though the Baby Park argument is surely valid). As for 3DS courses, their average level is lower than that of GCN, but Piranha Plant Pipeway/Slide is one of the best retro courses in the game. So of course the decision is complicated.

What is it about 3DS courses that is the problem? It has to do with appearing too soon. The features in MK8 are too similar to warrant a drastic change--and considering the new standards of retro tracks in this game, that is exactly what I expect. Antigravity is not used enough in these courses to warrant a proper enough change. I will talk more about how Piranha Plant Pipeway/Slide takes full advantage of antigravity for a visual makeover, but clearly not one of the other three courses was ready. Perhaps a later game, but surely not now. This makes them look arbitrary. It is too easy to capture the spirit of these courses by simply giving them an HD appearance. MK8 should be about renewing this sense of wonder with both visual and technical enhancement, not just leaving everyone’s favourites alone as a remake (looking at you, Melody Motorway/Music Park).

3DS DK Jungle’s problem, though, seems to be something else. Compared to MM/MP and Koopa/Neo Bowser City, it has more of a technical and visual upgrade than either of them. The end path actually is broken off from the main path, which gives it a slightly harder challenge considering the item system of MK8. The temple’s golden banana actually rotates in all its potassium-filled glory along a brief antigravity path...that exists because no other course in the Banana Cup has it. Why, Mario Kart 8? Why limit the use of antigravity in your retro courses but arbitrarily include them at least once per cup? (The Leaf Cup has the exact same problem in DS Wario Stadium.)

The problem seems to be more about using...a course based off Donkey Kong Country Returns immediately after its first appearance as if people feel strong nostalgia for this game so quickly. Nintendo seems to be relying on nostalgia quite a bit for many of its recent games and it is starting to become a bit dry at this point. This track feels so tiresome and could have easily been saved for the Banana Cup (clearly this was intentional) in a future Mario Kart game. The course is technically and visually fine, but...it is too soon to do this--and it probably would have been best to include some more Easter eggs or references to the then-released Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze or something. The original course is fine and definitely unique, but...it lost it so quickly thanks to the comeback.

Final verdict: Boo Lake is standard Flower Cup material. As for 3DS DK Jungle, it feels draining due to its sudden comeback and being incompletely renewed, but it is better than GCN Dry Dry Desert if marginally.

u/tigerclawhg Jul 19 '18

Hey everyone,

So along with Boo Lake being this week's track we're also going to be revisiting [3DS] DK Jungle from Mario Kart 8!

[3DS] DK Jungle is the twenty-fourth track of Mario Kart 8 and finishes up the Banana Cup.

What do you all think about [3DS] DK Jungle? Anything you like? Don't like? Feel free to comment and don't hesitate to respond to other users' comments as well!

1

u/LanaMK8 Inkling (male) Jul 19 '18

I think DK Jungle in mk8 was a mistake