Mario Kart World - Jul 4 25
On July 4th, before the fireworks popped up (amateur fireworks are illegal in my area due to the risk of wildfires, not that several households here really care—official events have mostly switched over to drone shows), I was playing Mario Kart World. Since I’ve covered regular races, Knockout Tour, and Battle Mode, we’re going to have all three in this video. 00:00 - Race #1 150cc Bowser’s Castle to Airship Fortress Character: Baby Rosalina (Sailor) Music: ? Airship Fortress was a course I was bad at when it debuted in Mario Kart DS. I never played Mario Kart Tour, but I discovered I was still just as bad at it in Mario Kart World. For instance, one way I get around the tough initial segment, with the Rocky Wrenches, is to take the right rail, but I got hit with a Banzai Bill, preventing me from doing that. You’re telling me that they put this in the Flower Cup? I couldn’t make out what the music was in the route leading up to it, by the way, because of all the ruckus. 03:16 - Race #2 150cc Mario Circuit Character: Penguin I don’t think I put one of these up prior, but this is a normal, standard race, the type of race the majority (or a vocal minority, I’m not sure) prefers for regular races. No routes leading to or from here, just a standard race the way it’s always been done in Mario Kart. This is a special version of the Mario Circuit variants from the original Super Mario Kart on the SNES, featuring Mario Circuits 1, 2, and 3 played in that order. (No Mario Circuit 4 though.) All of this is dressed up in a more realistic looking go-kart track, with a big control center and communications tower featuring a big statue of Mario on the Pipe Frame. I love how even the start/finish line has a digital screen featuring the old racing sprites! 05:15 - Race #3 150cc Choco Mountain Character: Shy Guy (Slope Styler) Here’s another standard race. This version is by far the most drastic change, turning it from a periloud mountaintop to what appears to be some industrial mining site populated by Chargin’ Chucks (and thus, Choco Mountain was repurposed as Chargin’ Chuck’s home course). It also feels far more difficult than any variant I’ve played before, making aggressive use of a chocolate sludge that sinks you in and requires Lakitu to fish you out if you spend too long in it, as well as large amounts of (sort of) offroad terrain you need to travel through. Boost items like Mushrooms and Starmen will keep you afloat…though you’ll see that some maniac left a Banana floating in there. 08:26 - Rally #1 Ice Rally: Sky-High Sundae, Starview Peak, Dandelion Depths, Cheep Cheep Falls, Peach Stadium, Crown City (Variant 1) Character: Daisy (Swimwear) Here’s a Knockout Tour! it’s way more popular than the standard races. Wish there were more of them though, or that the routes would be randomized (turns out this game already accounts for all combinations of paths passing through every course). Of course, the outfit Daisy wears rapidly changes throughout this rally; the Ice Rally contains a lot of Yoshi’s locations, and Daisy has a lot of different outfits. 17:45 - Battle #1 Salty Salty Speedway Coin Runners Character: Mario (Cowboy) When it comes to Coin Runners in a big open space like this one, it’s easy come, easy go. I collected a lot of Coins early on, but then other people found me and bashed me to pieces. 21:29 - Battle #2 DK Pass Coin Runners Character: Yoshi (Aristocrat) This is not the same DK Pass as the racetrack, but rather, another set of ski slopes nearby, presumably part of the same facility. You may remember passing by here as part of the Ice Rally. Here, I had an even bigger crash from a high of 25 Coins and the overall leader, but uneasy lies the head that wears a crown, because you become everybody’s target. I made the mistake of doubling back around; it turns out you’re harder to hit if you’re going the opposite direction as everyone else. 25:17 - Rally #2 Spiny Rally: Boo Cinema, Starview Peak, DK Pass, Salty Salty Speedway, Peach Beach, Wario Shipyard Character: Donkey Kong Here’s a rally I haven’t shown before, the Spiny Rally, though it does have courses I’ve featured prior. The Spiny Rally features some very treacherous paths through the icy regions. Wario Shipyard is a course I don’t really know too well; I picked the wrong path, it seems, causing me to lose positions. Or is it because other people got Mushroom boosts and I didn’t? It does sound weird to have Peach Beach’s peaceful calypso music playing as the waters get increasingly turbulent approaching Wario Shipyard though. 33:08 - Rally #3 Golden Rally: Desert Hills, Mario Bros. Circuit, Choco Mountain, Moo Moo Meadows, Mario Circuit, Acorn Heights Character: Stingby Here’s another rally I haven’t shown yet. Also, did someone just back up into me before the Choco Mountain checkpoint just so they have someone to smack?
