Posted June 1, 2014 (edited) I get your frustrations but I reckon Nintendo sent out the emails all in one go. Sell the download code/physical copy and get some £££ back! Yeah, I agree, annoying it took a few days to arrive. I'm still deciding what to do with the digital and physical copy. On the one hand, I would like to have the digital version linked to my NNID. On the other hand, I would also like to get another free game... Kinda wish I'd held up on registering my physical copy now Edited June 1, 2014 by Pestneb Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted June 1, 2014 (edited) Completed all the cups with three stars and beat all the staff ghosts so decided to venture into the online... FUUUUUCK, it's tense! I've found that if you can survive the first few corners when it seems to be largely luck based then, if you're good enough, you can usually pull away and have a good lead. Won about 10 races overall, three in a row at one point and ended on a streak of two. Had some fun races with @RedShell and @Hellfire! Edit: How could I forget... a lot of communication errors... first race, Cloudtop Cruise (my best track), five seconds from winning and an error popped up. was RAGING! Also don't like how 10 people can vote for the same track but then there's still a chance it'll be a different one, should just go with the one with the most votes. Nintendo have the base of a good online system, there just seem to be some glaring things they've overlooked which is really disappointing! Edited June 1, 2014 by Eddage Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted June 1, 2014 The point you make about getting an early lead is what annoys me about the online. If you don't break away you are left fighting within the middle pack while the person in front has a clean run as everyone is too busy fighting off each other. I've seen it happen LOADS of times online and it just doesn't seem balanced at all. The guys on NWR were on about this very issue the other week and said it was chaos in the middle pack and they were right. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted June 1, 2014 Cloudtop Cruise (my best track) The music on that track is amazing, the way it changes depending on which part your on. So good. So I just checked my emails. 3:18pm, today. I received my download code, for MK8. They say better late than never, but in this instance, I'm not so sure. I didn't even get one. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted June 1, 2014 I didn't even get one. You will probably get one sometime in the next few hours. I'm guessing their email servers on a go slow. Possibly a security thing to stop it sending out spam etc. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted June 1, 2014 (edited) So I just spent an hour or so playing this online... In a NO ITEMS custom community. Now usually playing with no items in Mario Kart bores me to death, but it turns out that it's pretty damn fun in this version. MK8 is actually a fantastic pure racing game. :awesome: And it's not just a case of getting an early lead and your guaranteed to win either, there are still loads of aspects that can drastically change the flow of each race. Slipstreaming and Spin Turbos get taken to an entirely new level. And obviously there are still many course hazards that can mess you up too. One of the races I played on Rainbow Road was particularly awesome. I was knocked off the track right at the beginning and therefore in last place, but I managed to drive like a nutter and go on to win it, on the very last corner! :awesome: Exhilarating stuff I tells ya. Everyone should check it out. https://miiverse.nintendo.net/titles/14866558073268532636/14866558073301091646 It's a nice way to have a break from the insanity of worldwide, but also a great way to collect coins (you're basically guaranteed to finish each race with the full 10). Edited June 1, 2014 by RedShell Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted June 1, 2014 The point you make about getting an early lead is what annoys me about the online. If you don't break away you are left fighting within the middle pack while the person in front has a clean run as everyone is too busy fighting off each other. I've seen it happen LOADS of times online and it just doesn't seem balanced at all. The guys on NWR were on about this very issue the other week and said it was chaos in the middle pack and they were right. Agreed. My first race online on Thursday I managed to break away on the first lap and no one could catch up, I even got hit with two blue shells. It was dull. Today playing online whoever managed to get out in front usually just pulls away and cant be caught no matter what power ups you have. The mushroom boosts in this game don't feel like they do much of anything. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted June 1, 2014 The point you make about getting an early lead is what annoys me about the online. If you don't break away you are left fighting within the middle pack while the person in front has a clean run as everyone is too busy fighting off each other. I've seen it happen LOADS of times online and it just doesn't seem balanced at all. To be fair, this happened on Mario Kart Wii & 7. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted June 1, 2014 To be fair, this happened on Mario Kart Wii & 7. I wouldn't know. Nice to see this broken mechanic has remained for this instalment then. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted June 1, 2014 So I just spent an hour or so playing this online... In a NO ITEMS custom community. Now usually playing with no items in Mario Kart bores me to death, but it turns out that it's pretty damn fun in this version. MK8 is actually a fantastic pure racing game. :awesome: And it's not just a case of getting an early lead and your guaranteed to win either, there are still loads of aspects that can drastically change the flow of each race. Slipstreaming and Spin Turbos get taken to an entirely new level. And obviously there are still many course hazards that can mess you up too. One of the races I played on Rainbow Road was particularly awesome. I was knocked off the track right at the beginning and therefore in last place, but I managed to drive like a nutter and go on to win it, on the very last corner! :awesome: Exhilarating stuff I tells ya. Everyone should check it out. https://miiverse.nintendo.net/titles/14866558073268532636/14866558073301091646 It's a nice way to have a break from the insanity of worldwide, but also a great way to collect coins (you're basically guaranteed to finish each race with the full 10). That's interesting; I might check it out now you've mentioned it.That said, i always thought the games with better 'racing' were Double Dash, MK:DS, Super Circuit and SMK ...the mode 7 games were all about cornering ability (as the straights were so short) and DD and MKDS were all about mastering the power slide, even on the straights. This is DEFINITELY a better racing game than MK7 and MK Wii but it's still a bit too 'dumbed down' for my liking. It's still awesome though Played some online with Zell and despite the whole online interface being bloody awful, once it got running it was really great and I loved it. It does make me wish we could go back to the double dash physics engine again but I guess that doesn't fit into the whole 'make it accessible to everybody' thought. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted June 1, 2014 I wouldn't know. Nice to see this broken mechanic has remained for this instalment then. I don't really see how this could be rectified though, if someone manages to get out in front and are good at the game then of course, unless they fuck up, they're going to win, apart from adding ridiculous rubber banding then that's the way it should be. Yes it's annoying when you end up in the middle and find it difficult to get anywhere, but in my experience the good players will be at the front more often than not. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted June 1, 2014 Ike, you'll have to let me know what Mario and Sonic is like! No idea when I'll actually play it so you might be waiting a while. :p I know the soundtrack is good. :p Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted June 1, 2014 Yes it's annoying when you end up in the middle and find it difficult to get anywhere, but in my experience the good players will be at the front more often than not. Aided by the not-unfair-at-all starting positions of the last game's best performing players. I think this game got a lot more difficult since you only have one item, and the frequency with which the annoying coin appears (even for people not even near the front). 3rd and below tends to just be even more of a shitfest now; quite often you'll be hit by a red shell or something else and it's difficult to manage both protecting yourself and getting out of the midzone effectively. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted June 1, 2014 I don't really see how this could be rectified though, if someone manages to get out in front and are good at the game then of course, unless they fuck up, they're going to win, apart from adding ridiculous rubber banding then that's the way it should be. Yes it's annoying when you end up in the middle and find it difficult to get anywhere, but in my experience the good players will be at the front more often than not. It's all to do with distribution of the items. When this has happened to me, with me being in first place, no major items, like red shells or blue shells, headed my way. When in second place and trying to catch the person in front, I was getting bananas and coins, nothing that would slow the person down at all. Aided by the not-unfair-at-all starting positions of the last game's best performing players. I think this game got a lot more difficult since you only have one item, and the frequency with which the annoying coin appears (even for people not even near the front). 3rd and below tends to just be even more of a shitfest now; quite often you'll be hit by a red shell or something else and it's difficult to manage both protecting yourself and getting out of the midzone effectively. That's an interesting point and one which I've never thought about. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted June 1, 2014 It's all to do with distribution of the items. When this has happened to me, with me being in first place, no major items, like red shells or blue shells, headed my way. When in second place and trying to catch the person in front, I was getting bananas and coins, nothing that would slow the person down at all. The items are just random though, are they not? Just because you're trying to catch up with someone doesn't mean you should just get red shells and mushrooms in order to help you. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted June 1, 2014 The items are just random though, are they not? Just because you're trying to catch up with someone doesn't mean you should just get red shells and mushrooms in order to help you.Mario Kart items have always been tiered I thought. The person leading will never get the likes off the Star, Golden Mushroom or Bullet Bill etc... these are reserved for players at the back, the midfield gets Red Shells, Lightning Clouds, Single Mushrooms etc... Whilst the leaders get largely Banana's and Green Shells. There is some overlap. The Blue Shell shows items cannot be entirely random, as the leader will never get one to just waste. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted June 1, 2014 I just lapped someone in the no items community. That's enough MK for me tonight I think. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted June 1, 2014 It happens when I end up the middle pack, I stay in the middle bombarded with shells every two turns. But likewise just as often I can get from the middle to a comfortable top 3 lead. It happens that someone gets so far ahead he is impossible to catch up with, but from my experience even the first spot there's a massive fight over down to the very end. But of course, getting from last to middle and in the lead pretty much doesn't happen. For me anyway :p Anyway, I very much like the way the game is. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted June 1, 2014 Mario Kart items have always been tiered I thought. The person leading will never get the likes off the Star, Golden Mushroom or Bullet Bill etc... these are reserved for players at the back, the midfield gets Red Shells, Lightning Clouds, Single Mushrooms etc... Whilst the leaders get largely Banana's and Green Shells. There is some overlap. The Blue Shell alone, shows items are not entirely random, as the leader will never get one to just waste. I mean the items you can get in your position are random, so if you're in second place you obviously still have a chance of getting things like coins and bananas, it's not just going to be items to help you catch the guy in first. Although i think you can get any item whatever position you're in (except maybe first), I got a blue shell when in second place today. I think it's just incredibly stupidly rare. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted June 1, 2014 The Blue Shell shows items cannot be entirely random, as the leader will never get one to just waste. I remember once using a blue shell whilst I was first in a race... I was curious to see what happened. Also, I was in first earlier today and got a red shell... but normally I'll just get coins or banana's if I'm lucky, maybe a green shell. The horn seems to be more common, in my experience, than the red shell. And a question to the rest of you - Have you ever been in first and spotted a red shell shoot past you and off into the distance? Again, this happened to me today. I'm a little worried that my Wii U/copy of MK8 is faulty, especially after an issue I had with the start screen of MK8 earlier Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted June 1, 2014 And a question to the rest of you - Have you ever been in first and spotted a red shell shoot past you and off into the distance? Again, this happened to me today. I'm a little worried that my Wii U/copy of MK8 is faulty, especially after an issue I had with the start screen of MK8 earlier The horn seems pretty rare to me. I've had that happen a few times with Red Shells. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted June 1, 2014 I see that happen every now and then when playing online. I'm not sure why it happens though. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted June 1, 2014 I seem to remember that happening in other Mario Karts, due to the person the red shell is chasing falling off the map. It just follows the track from the moment it can't "see" the player. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted June 1, 2014 So I just spent an hour or so playing this online... In a NO ITEMS custom community. Now usually playing with no items in Mario Kart bores me to death, but it turns out that it's pretty damn fun in this version. MK8 is actually a fantastic pure racing game. :awesome: And it's not just a case of getting an early lead and your guaranteed to win either, there are still loads of aspects that can drastically change the flow of each race. Slipstreaming and Spin Turbos get taken to an entirely new level. And obviously there are still many course hazards that can mess you up too. One of the races I played on Rainbow Road was particularly awesome. I was knocked off the track right at the beginning and therefore in last place, but I managed to drive like a nutter and go on to win it, on the very last corner! :awesome: Exhilarating stuff I tells ya. Everyone should check it out. https://miiverse.nintendo.net/titles/14866558073268532636/14866558073301091646 It's a nice way to have a break from the insanity of worldwide, but also a great way to collect coins (you're basically guaranteed to finish each race with the full 10). Can vouch for this! Joined @RedShell for a few races and it's absolutely brilliant. Hectic at the beginning with all the slipstreaming but all comes down to skill and taking the best lines and pulling off your power slides! A little driving error can prove costly - I was leading for the whole second lap and one tiny mistake took me down to finish 9th, and I couldn't blame items! And I even managed to pip the mighty RedShell to the line on one race :P Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted June 1, 2014 I've had stars in 2nd and thunder in 4th but I think the way items are is really good in this game, if you get stuck in the middle you can work your way up the positions and it's possible to catch up to 1st place through clever use of items. I've managed to catch first by throwing bananas and green shells at them and just driving well - this game has its fair share of luck but it emphasises skill a lot more which I like. Really looking forward to racing in the league on Thursday Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
