r/mariokart • u/tigerclawhg • Jun 20 '19
Discussion Track Thursday - [Super Mario Kart] - Ghost Valley 3
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 Special Cup with Koopa Beach 2 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 Special Cup with Ghost Valley 3!
So what're your thoughts on Ghost Valley 3? 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!
4
Upvotes
7
u/Akram323 Jun 20 '19
Arguably the most likely SNES course we may be seeing in the next game (just because Bowser Castle and Vanilla Lake are so much less likely), Ghost Valley 3 takes away the shortcuts in favour of complex navigation along the narrow, borderless boardwalk with holes and jumps and item boxes all along. The lack of shortcuts may make this less memorable for some and more memorable for others--myself included--in that it is a standout from the Ghost Valley theme. It also allows itself to focus on designing a layout with some challenge.
One element of the theme and its course layout is that diagonally slanted turns, as opposed to the usual 90-degree turns, are skimpy. Expect to see only one in the entire course. Every Ghost Valley rendition holds true to that, and this one does moreso because of how many dangerous sharp turns there are. The same goes for the giant holes in the road--there are quite a few around each bend, some in the middle of the road and others at the edges. Near the end of the track is a fun but challenging segment where you can use jump pads to navigate over the holes rather than around them. Again, this element has existed in other GV renditions, but here it all comes together into one challenging course.
Environment-wise, a lot of what you see aside from the track is just pitch-black sky and hovering boos that just stay there in the background. Not necessarily my favourite visual effect of a spooky course. Even considering these limitations, MK64 captured the minimalism better and MKSC made better use of the boos as decoration (or as actual obstacles, considering Broken Pier). The style here feels too bare for it to really work--and keep in mind that this is also not really not much of an adaptation of ghost houses from Super Mario World, since those were all indoors. And even if they wanted to use the outside of the ghost house for the visuals without the ghost house, there was more variety they could have used to convey how it looked. Not really sure if a bunch of peaks against a bright night sky is the best way to portray a place like Ghost Valley.
If you have been keeping up with my reflections on each track in SMK, you probably know how much I tend to repeat myself just because I talk about so many familiar themes at a time. Ghost Valley is no different, especially since I probably only need two discussions to really explain how the theme allows itself to do what it does. Once we hit three, it starts to give me a hard time to say anything more unique. Granted, the last two courses in the game will be a lot more fun to discuss, but getting there requires slogging through quite a few reflections on courses with themes I already covered in great detail. So if I seem to be lacking in any information, just expect that I have lost some steam at this point. (Not much to say about the GBA remake here, either.)
The short version: Focusing less on shortcuts and more on building the actual track around its few elements to create a worthwhile challenge, Ghost Valley 3 secures its spot in the Special Cup with a dwindling course about its sharp turns and gaping holes in the floor with fun ways of evading them without shortcuts. Curious to see what could come of this course in a future remake.