Mario Kart Has an Identity Crisis
I have been playing Mario Kart 8 extensively over the weekend and I have come to a conclusion. Mario Kart 8 is in the middle of puberty and Nintendo has no idea what they want to do with the series. Where did this stunning revelation come from? I'm glad that you asked. It was a subtle little change at the end of each race that tipped me off. The points you get at the end of an online race.
At first glance, the ranking system of Mario Kart 8 looks like a basic one. At the end of each race, you are given an amount of points based off of your placement in the race. I thought that placement and the total number of racers were the only contributing factors but apparently, I was wrong. I felt a little bummed when I found out that you got the same amount of points after each race. I thought that anyone, no matter how unskilled, could get a high total if they just sat through enough races. I wanted there to be something different.
I rose through the ranks. Each couple days I would advance another thousands place in user score. At about 3500 I noticed that I was getting diminishing returns from each race. Used to I would get 25 points for a race whereas now I would only get 20. I was confused but I just assumed that they just patched in some sort of numbers change. That was fine for me until I noticed that people below were getting significantly more points. I got 1st place in one race and got fewer points than the person in third.
If you have been paying attention, you will have seen the hypocrisy in the above story. At first, I wanted there to be a way where other players couldn't get high in the score total easily so people could see how good of a racer that I am, but then I got upset when people around me were getting more points than I once I got higher in the point system. There is one thing about this that makes me feel a little unsatisfied either way. The blue shell.
Everyone knows (or should know by now) that Mario Kart is not a game based solely on skill. It is a game that sometimes can give a heavy-handed blue shell shaped advantage to the person in last place. You could be in first place on the last lap and with the finish line in sight, get hit with 5 shells in a row and finish in 8th place.
It seems that the ranking system is based on how many people are in the match and what their skill rating is. I think this is where my main gripe is with the currently ranked system. If the other racers skills rank is a factor that determines how many points I win/lose a race, why even try? It takes 0 skill points to be able to correctly figure out how to launch a blue shell and wreck my game. If you hand a toddler the controller and show them the button to click when they see the blue shell in the top left corner, EVEN THEY COULD WRECK MY OTHERWISE PERFECT RACE. Knowing this, why would the developers make it where my score is so heavily dependant on something like chance. This does nothing to reward long time players but does everything in its power for them to stop caring about the game.
This brings me to my second point. The deluxe Switch version of this game has brought double item slots to the table as something new for owners of the original game on Wii U and after they took feedback from people wanting a game more like Double Dash. With this, things get ALOT more crazy and hectic. Everything seems like a gladiator pit of crazy items flying in every direction. This feature adds to the amount of random chance at play and almost doubles the chance of getting a blue shell or something very powerful for players in lower places during the race. Don't bring the same online rating system over from the old game if you fundamentally change the gameplay during the transition.
Nintendo is making strides to be a company that focuses on eSports and online multiplayer experiences. Games like Splatoon and ARMS show that they are ready to attempt to take on the modern age of gaming. They want people to think about their games when they think of eSports. (they have a long way to go).
If Nintendo wants to make Mario Kart 8 Deluxe a launch point for eSports on the Switch, they need to make sure that their online players don't feel like crap at the end of the match because they got 2nd place and lost 5 points. They need to choose if they want one matchmaking queue host both casual and competitive ("hardcore") players. Why not have a ranked mode with limited items and a casual mode with the normal amount?
Anyways those are kind of my raw thoughts on the matter. This wasnt meant to be a heavily edited article persay but rather an opinion peice or rant. If you like it, make sure to check back for more updates.
At first glance, the ranking system of Mario Kart 8 looks like a basic one. At the end of each race, you are given an amount of points based off of your placement in the race. I thought that placement and the total number of racers were the only contributing factors but apparently, I was wrong. I felt a little bummed when I found out that you got the same amount of points after each race. I thought that anyone, no matter how unskilled, could get a high total if they just sat through enough races. I wanted there to be something different.
I rose through the ranks. Each couple days I would advance another thousands place in user score. At about 3500 I noticed that I was getting diminishing returns from each race. Used to I would get 25 points for a race whereas now I would only get 20. I was confused but I just assumed that they just patched in some sort of numbers change. That was fine for me until I noticed that people below were getting significantly more points. I got 1st place in one race and got fewer points than the person in third.
If you have been paying attention, you will have seen the hypocrisy in the above story. At first, I wanted there to be a way where other players couldn't get high in the score total easily so people could see how good of a racer that I am, but then I got upset when people around me were getting more points than I once I got higher in the point system. There is one thing about this that makes me feel a little unsatisfied either way. The blue shell.
Everyone knows (or should know by now) that Mario Kart is not a game based solely on skill. It is a game that sometimes can give a heavy-handed blue shell shaped advantage to the person in last place. You could be in first place on the last lap and with the finish line in sight, get hit with 5 shells in a row and finish in 8th place.
It seems that the ranking system is based on how many people are in the match and what their skill rating is. I think this is where my main gripe is with the currently ranked system. If the other racers skills rank is a factor that determines how many points I win/lose a race, why even try? It takes 0 skill points to be able to correctly figure out how to launch a blue shell and wreck my game. If you hand a toddler the controller and show them the button to click when they see the blue shell in the top left corner, EVEN THEY COULD WRECK MY OTHERWISE PERFECT RACE. Knowing this, why would the developers make it where my score is so heavily dependant on something like chance. This does nothing to reward long time players but does everything in its power for them to stop caring about the game.
This brings me to my second point. The deluxe Switch version of this game has brought double item slots to the table as something new for owners of the original game on Wii U and after they took feedback from people wanting a game more like Double Dash. With this, things get ALOT more crazy and hectic. Everything seems like a gladiator pit of crazy items flying in every direction. This feature adds to the amount of random chance at play and almost doubles the chance of getting a blue shell or something very powerful for players in lower places during the race. Don't bring the same online rating system over from the old game if you fundamentally change the gameplay during the transition.
Nintendo is making strides to be a company that focuses on eSports and online multiplayer experiences. Games like Splatoon and ARMS show that they are ready to attempt to take on the modern age of gaming. They want people to think about their games when they think of eSports. (they have a long way to go).
If Nintendo wants to make Mario Kart 8 Deluxe a launch point for eSports on the Switch, they need to make sure that their online players don't feel like crap at the end of the match because they got 2nd place and lost 5 points. They need to choose if they want one matchmaking queue host both casual and competitive ("hardcore") players. Why not have a ranked mode with limited items and a casual mode with the normal amount?
Anyways those are kind of my raw thoughts on the matter. This wasnt meant to be a heavily edited article persay but rather an opinion peice or rant. If you like it, make sure to check back for more updates.
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