We got Mario Kart for Wii this xmas. We bought 3 wheels. The whole 9 yards. We booted up the game to play as a family and I was shocked to find that, on the very first race in 50cc I was in first place the whole time and was attacked no less than FOUR times by the computer using unavoidable blue wing shells. These shells always attack the person in first place and are unavoidable under standard racing conditions (ie no speed mushroom and not going into a tunnel). This is almost a game breaker for me since being repeatedly (and unavoidably) attacked for being in 1st place is incredibly frustrating. At least with the cheap ass red homing shell you can drag an item behind your kart to take the hit. That doesn’t work with the blue shells. What kind of crappy design decision was this??? MY 5 year old son was on his way to winning his first race ever and the fucking blue shell came out of nowhere 2 seconds before the finish line and knocked him out only to finish in 4th. It’s infuriating.
While I’m on the subject, what is with the shrinking lightning? Who activates it as it seems to shrink EVERYBODY.
Can the ink be avoided?
Seriously, the blue shell think is a game breaker.
Sorry not to add anything about Mario Kart, but I totally feel your frustration. It is something that exists in a few games, without any possible explanation- My personal beef will always be with Hydro Thunder for Dreamcast. An amazing game, boat racing! amazing realistic controls. Difficult to master, but so much fun when you do. except- you could run a perfect race, and your opponent could wipe out 5 times, but they always made the end be a nail biting photo finish. totally invalidates the game, making it absolutely worthless. I don’t know who puts this feature into games or why. It’s not that common, but it’s usually in an otherwise cool game. I think maybe some games are simply designed by people who loathe competition and think that all the world agrees with them that games are more fun if everyone has an equal chance of winning regardless of skill level.
These games are designed to give those in last place the greatest chance of receiving some of the “ultimate” items, so to speak. These include the Blue Shell, the Golden Mushroom, and Lightning. They are the great equalizers.
It may seem counter-intuitive, but it’s almost safer to stay around 3rd or 4th place, let the leaders get blown to bits, and make your move with about half a lap remaining. Starting the race off in first is normally not a good idea in these games, since you will generally get crappy items, and you’ll have Blue Shells and the like homing in on you.
Also, whoever gets the Lightning weapon shrinks everyone else EXCEPT himself. This can be avoided in many ways, such as using an invincibility star, or if you’ve fallen off the map and are being placed back on the track when someone uses it.
The Blue Shell has been a part of Mario Kart since the N64 version. There simply isn’t much that can be done about it, as I recall. Invincibility might save you. Can’t remember.
Yes, it will save you, but the odds of getting a Star while in places 1st through 4th place are very slim.
ETA: The Blue Shell is very evil in that it will hit the person who was in first place WHEN THE SHELL WAS INITIALLY FIRED. So, say you are in first place and someone fires a blue shell… then you slip on a banana, get shot by a red shell followed by a rogue green shell and fall to 4th place. Yea, the Blue Shell will still go for you and not the person who is now in first place. Lame.
The Blue Shell doesn’t help whoever is in last place though. It helps whoever is in 2nd place. It’s basically a race spoiler. “I’m in last place so I’m going spoil the thing and shoot off my blue shell so Mario won’t win. What fun…”
I have no problem with these things being in the game but there should be a reliable way to counter them. Otherwise it’s just luck of the draw on winning.
I see your point. Since the Blue Shell tears through anyone in its path to get to the person in first, though, the shooter may get lucky and take out a whole line of racers. Also, in a very tight race, the AoE (or “Area of Effect”) blast radius can take out a whole group.
If it’s a close race and there is a blue shell coming, hit your brakes so when the shell hits you the explosion gets the 2nd place guy as well.
Beyond that, the trick is to just keep playing so you get better at racing. You have be able to work up a lead big enough that even 4-5 blue shells won’t let the computer close the gap. This gets really hard to do at the 150cc level but if you keep practicing you’ll get there.
You should be slide boosting at pretty much every curve, and sometimes multiple times per curve. If you’re on a bike, get used to using the wheelie boost every chance you get. Practicing time trials and watching the nintendo ghost racers can help you learn the best way to run a track and how to shave time off a lap. Eventually you’ll find the 50cc/100cc levels unplayable because they’re just way too easy.
I think once you get past 50cc into the 100cc and 150cc, you won’t be as far out in front of your opponents and the “rubber band effect” won’t be as pronounced. In other words, there will be less blue shells. I think.
The lightning doesn’t really matter, though, because even if the 6th place person is still large, the 2nd-5th place racers are going to be small, too.
The game is totally designed to get the guy in first out of first, though. Cite? You can’t draft in first place (drafting is when it looks like water is coming off your racer; by far the best way to get around somebody short of damaging them).
Does it? I didn’t know that. That makes it a little better. Can anyone confirm that the blue shell does in fact knock others around as well though because I’m sure I’ve seen blue shells fly right over me on the way to the 1st place driver without damaging me at least one time.
I’m winning pretty well in 50cc now. I have star trophies on a few of the sets but I got jipped out of the other one at the last second by a huge stack of various attacks all in a row.
The game is fun and it is growing on me. The steering wheels leave a little to be desired though. I prefer the standard controller.
Is there a way to avoid the effects of the POW block? I read that if you jump at the right second it will miss you but I haven’t been able to do that.
Ink can’t be avoided. The AI will pound the shit out of you if you’re running away with it, which is a pain because it nails you with blue shell, then red shell, then lightning in the span of 5 seconds on your last lap. It’s also a pain because if you’re trying to unlock things, you need good times. They artificially introduce that crap to keep everything tight. Not only that, but playing people online is pretty much indistinguishable from playing against the AI.
I’ve beaten it and have a star in pretty much every race, but I don’t think I’ll touch it again, unless someone wants me to play it.
The steering wheel is great. Takes a bit to get used to, but once you do, it makes the game so much more fun. I don’t like that standard controllers are allowed, it feels like Nintendo is allowing a copout for people who are afraid of new things.
Just try the wheel for awhile, it is very easy to use and very, very fun
If you’re on a bike and pop a wheelie at the right time, your spinout is very small.
I disagree about the wheel. I’m not a fan of it, but I don’t think they should have disallowed controllers from racing. Screw “fun”. I’m trying to win.
Um, I also like the wheel, but how about we just let people use whichever controller they enjoy the most, rather than forcing your own preference on everyone? :dubious:
But that’s the thing, if you get good with the wheel , you will still win! But too many people just decide its easier with a controller and don’t bother to try the wheel. I set the third fastest time in the region on one track and the eighth on another and I always use a wheel. Its much more fun and I know people would enjoy it, but they have no real reason to give it a chance.
I can confirm that it does not knock others around as it flies by. It only hits others if they are in the blast radius.
On the Gamecube, in Mario Kart DoubleDash, when you raced other people, you could set how powerful of items would appear in the boxes. I haven’t looked for this in Mario Kart Wii.
