ModNation Racers - Thoughts and Impressions.

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durkada
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Re: ModNation Racers - Thoughts and Impressions.

Post by durkada »

lisalover1 wrote: Jeez, you really must hate Mario Kart; it's all you've been talking about since you returned to the forums. What don't you like about it?
That's not fair. I've also mentioned that I enjoy yogurt.

I don't hate Mario Kart. I've played it, I enjoyed it, but I pined for something better. I love racers -- absolutely love em. Mario Kart pains me because it could be better, or at least, flexible in its configuration. Races tend to become a crap-shot as to who wins, all in an effort to make it accessible. I don't mind that, if there was a way to tweak the game to make it a bit more technical and tactical.

But for several console generations, for Kart racing, it was Mario or nothing. Any other cart racer felt insincere. As mentioned, over the years, I played it, enjoyed it, pining for something better, while growing resentful that I had to play Mario Kart or nothing. Finally, there are options that surpass Mario. At least, they cater more to what I've been wanting from a cart racer, and they've also enthused my die-hard Mario Kart lovin' friends. That last part was key.

Mario, by default, has been the defacto standard. That's no longer the case, I think.

Plus, Nintendo really grates on my nerves. That's just from the themes, the characters, the designs, etc. Just seeing the initial M on his cap annoys me :) But they make games I enjoy, so, whatever... I try to ignore it as best I can.

Its been a good couple month for racers, so, I'll talk about Mario Kart. ModNation, Sonic... I almost want to lump Split/Second in there. And Blur looks like it could be fun.

Anyway, I'll stop bitching and moaning about Mario Kart now. I'll get back to talking about yogurt.

Have a good weekend!
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the7k
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Re: ModNation Racers - Thoughts and Impressions.

Post by the7k »

I love Mario Kart... but the latest one for the Wii didn't pull me in, for some reason. I can't put my finger on it really - all I really know is that after I played one cup, I went right back to playing Mario Kart 64 (since it was on my Wii at the time), and then Double Dash as soon as I got the motivation to dig through my crap and find it.

One thing I do really like about this game over Mario Kart, though, is the Boost system. It gives you offensive and defensive options without having to rely on finding an item box, and that's nice - especially since we all know how the AI (and players, for that matter) loves to save their game-breaking weapons until you are just about to cross the finish line while it first, and then you end up in fifth.
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Re: ModNation Racers - Thoughts and Impressions.

Post by Dakinggamer87 »

I have been enjoying ModNation Racers so far. The customization with the mods, tracks, and karts is really awesome with how much freedom you have with the different tools you have at your disposal. As it has been stated loading times are a bit lengthy and online servers need to be optimized for online XP racing. Graphics are nice and stylized and racing is fun but AI is very cheap in career mode.
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ZeroAX
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Re: ModNation Racers - Thoughts and Impressions.

Post by ZeroAX »

nope going to have to disagree. When this game was revealed I was psyched. I wanted this so bad. Mario Kart + LBP together? My favorite games from Wii and PS3 put together? SWEET.


But then the Beta got released and I was disappointed.


First of all allow me to say that I love that Mario Kart is kind of random. It gives my girlfriend a chance to get second (or even first) place pretty often, even on hard difficulty. I on the other hand usually get first place thanks to my gaming skill. I just wouldn't enjoy the game that much if I was always in front, everyone left way behind, and my girlfriend left at 12-5 place.

Also 4 player mode with items set to frantic is the most fun I can have with a video game, EVER. The laughs at all the bullet stars giant mushroom men green blue red shells, bombs, going everywhere is too good. Modnation racers has nothing compared to Mario kart's fun items and multi.


It also doesn't have anything compared to LBP. Because racing games, are from their nature, designed for trial and error until you know the track by heart. User created content creates the problem, of you not knowing where you are supposed to go. It works with platformers, but not racing games.
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the7k
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Re: ModNation Racers - Thoughts and Impressions.

Post by the7k »

What do you mean ModNation has none of the fun items? Almost every item in MNR is identical to a Mario Kart item.

Rocket lv1 = Green Shell. Rocket lv2 = Red Shell. Soundwave lv3 = Blue Shell (except it takes everyone out on the way to the leader, making it useful.) Boost lv1 = Mushroom. Boost lv2 = Super Mushroom. Electric lv3 = Lightning Bolt.

Unless your trying to say that the items in Mario Kart are better because of their shape rather than their function - in which case, the only way MNR could compete would be to ship with blatant copyright infringement.

Also, I'm not sure I agree with you in any way that user-created content works better for platformers than racers. Platformers don't benefit from memorization? Seriously? Have you played Mega Man? Sonic the Hedgehog? Hell, the best speed runs of any Mario game are entirely based on memorization.

If memorization is the key, racers benefit far more. Laps. The first lap, you don't know what's going on. Second lap, you have a better idea. By the last lap, it's all down to your skill.
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ZeroAX
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Re: ModNation Racers - Thoughts and Impressions.

Post by ZeroAX »

Yeah but when I play LBP with friends, we like to relax and take our time with the levels, so we don't need to know one by heart to speed run it, cause we are not doing that, we are just casually playing (and slapping each other).


The items I am talking about are the giant mushroom, that you can use, not only to get ahead, but to also flatten your opponents, the bullet bill that helps newbies since it steers itself and is quite a "OMFG WTF is that" moment with new players in multiplayer, also the thunder cloud power up (which me and my gf call AIDS since you pass it along to other drivers, and it fucks them up). Stuff like this makes mario kart such a thrilling multiplayer experience.

I know mario kart isn't about serious competition anymore, but really I don't care. I prefer it that way. I like multiplayer games that luck has something to do with it. TF2 is so much more fun, since even a newbie can score plenty of points, while a newbie in Counter Strike will just hate the game.
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J T
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Re: ModNation Racers - Thoughts and Impressions.

Post by J T »

the7k wrote:Because I'm a shameless show-off... here I am, shamelessly showing off.
...
Nice! Respect to the Raiho. Though, Cammy turned out kind of disturbing... though if you made a pedo bear to chase after her, it might be fitting.
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the7k
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Re: ModNation Racers - Thoughts and Impressions.

Post by the7k »

ZeroAX: I'd say that the greater emphasis on skill rather than luck in MNR is exactly why I like it more than Mario Kart.

So it's a different experience from Mario Kart - isn't that a good thing? Like durkada, I'm glad that there is finally a kart racing genre, rather than there simply being Mario Kart and a bunch of wanna-be clones.

JT: Thanks! And yeah - there's actually a quite popular Pedo Bear character... he's just called "Mr. Friendly Bear" to avoid being taken down. I guess the mods don't like 'pedo' being in a mod's name. He, of course, drives the "Free Candy" van.

Also, made some new mods recently.
Dr Tran
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v223/ ... cers-1.jpg
Nadia
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v223/ ... rs_1-1.jpg
Hsien-Ko (Darkstalkers)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v223/ ... rs_2-1.jpg
Last edited by the7k on Sun Jun 06, 2010 11:33 am, edited 1 time in total.
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ZeroAX
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Re: ModNation Racers - Thoughts and Impressions.

Post by ZeroAX »

the7k wrote: So it's a different experience from Mario Kart - isn't that a good thing? Like durkada, I'm glad that they is finally a kart racing genre, rather than there simply being Mario Kart and a bunch of wanna-be clones.
in general? yeah. for me personally? no
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