200cc is both good and bad

I've played Mario Kart since the original back on the SNES and I'm used to really fast speeds so the inclusion of 200cc had me very excited to try. I just finished getting all the stars on all the cups in 200cc and I came to the conclusion that it is both good and bad:

Pros:

1. 200cc is really fast and feels as if it should have been the original max speed for the game.

2. Computer seems to provide a greater challenge now.

3. Nintendo was smart enough NOT to implement 200cc as the online standard as that would have ruined the online experience for most all newcomers as well as for some veterans. 150cc is perfect for online, 200cc is too much.

Cons:

1. Certain levels (mainly most of the new ones and some of the retro levels) have issues with the new speed setting making it difficult and impossible in some cases to turn corners without either letting go of the gas pedal or pressing the brake pedal (which you should never have to do in a Mario Kart title).

2. 200cc is not made for the vehicle setups that have bad handling. If you plan on playing 200cc and think you're going to be using a big/heavy vehicle customization, or custom with average to bad handling, you may as well not play 200cc because you are going to have a very bad time. (See Con #1 for the reason).

3. Most of the shortcuts are useless at this speed.

I believe that if they want to do 200cc online, it should ONLY be in Friend matches.

Have any of you tried 200cc yet? If so, what do you think about it?

@nini200: I hope to play it later.

Question: Why should you never have to pull off the gas or press the brake in Mario Kart? Is that just a personal preference?

You'll have fun with it as some stages are great at 200cc but you'll understand my pros/cons afterwards.

Pretty much personal preference however in every Mario Kart title to date, you never had to let go of the gas pedal to take a corner and there were a bunch of stages that had 90 degree and even very sharp u-turns. I have always mained Bowser in every title so that's coming from someone that used the character with the worst turning on the game outside of DK.

It was more about finding the correct line/path to take and seeing how well you could stay on it even under pressure of other players.

Here's a 200cc Flower Cup video.

I'm not sure what point you are making with the video. You Agreeing, Disagreeing?

@nini200: Makes sense.

I used the brake a lot in the SNES Mario Kart and I was really good at that game back in the day. Haven't used it since then; I learned how to drift and it changed my Mario Kart life.

Good deal. I'm interested to see you play SNES Mario Kart. I've never had to use the brake, even on Mario Kart SNES and I used King Koopa/Bowser so fastest character but worst turning so it's very possible to do.

Seeing as nintendo even says in the game to use brakes, I'm not sure how that is an honest compaint. The only way to have increased speeds and no braking would be to redesign the tracks themselves which is dumb

Lol heavies being at a disadvantage for once will earn you no consolations.

It looks like fun.

They state flat out in the game that the point is having to use the break. I like that it brings in that much more skill to that particular speed class.

Oh yeah it's alot of fun, don't get me wrong, I enjoyed it quite a bit however if you noticed in the video, the player chose the beetle kart which is a high acceleration vehicle with great handling and he still was having issues with some of the stages. For instance, you noticed how he never took the shortcut on Toad Harbor and how he always took the bottom path on Twisted Mansion? That's because if you tried to take those on 200cc, you would run into the wall guaranteed unless you hit the brakes which is basically like running into the wall. You should see some of the Special Cup levels on 200cc.

Like I said, 200cc is great for some levels but for the majority of them, it sort of ruins the track due to you going too fast to take certain paths.

For Once? Heavies were at a Disadvantage in MK64 as well or have you never played that one? They were not only the slowest in the game but they had the worst turning as well.

@nini200: If you had to reach back almost 20 years to find a disadvantage, you've made my point.

What you mean that Heavy characters actually had a disadvantage multiple times? If that was your point then we agreed

I noticed that he never took the other way. Its true that it can be a con when you use vehicle that has below average handling and acceleration as shown in this video.

@nini200: Swing and a miss. You're probably a heavy user, and that's fine, it's just funny that heavies finally have a counterbalance to higher speeds and you're grasping at 20 year old straws to try to negate the obvious point that heavies have been the most out of balance class for several games now.

Wow that's pretty bad.

As I stated though, 200cc is very fun though and I LOVE the new levels but some of the tracks (old and new) are just not made for 200cc.

you can play 200cc online nini....

just go to online and choose tournament...there is a 200cc cup hosted by nintendo unlimited :D

i just got done playing some 200cc and the shit is hilarious..... its even funnier than 8 man smash....lol

going to take a lot of practice to do ok in 200cc.

Yep I do use heavies and always have since SNES version however I also use Lemmy who is a very light character as well as Daisy. The point that you made was that Heavies were at a disadvantage FOR ONCE and I pointed out another time were they were also at a disadvantage making you wrong so why are we arguing this any further?

Heavies counterbalance to speed was always bad handling so yet again you are wrong. Do you even play Mario Kart because you apparently don't seem to know much about it.

Good deal KB but as I stated that's in a Friends room which is fine. 200cc is not in Worldwide or regions yet which are the standard online modes.

I bet it was fun lol I'm sure people were all over the place lol what was the room called? I'd like to join in a few matches or heck I'd like to race with ya some in 200cc lol

Yep 200cc is pretty tough but it is fun

@nini200: As I said, you're grasping at 20 year old straws to distract from heavies finally being balanced in one mode. The speed has, up until this point, not been high enough to actually make the lower handling an issue for a half competent driver, which is why every noob and their mother uses them online.

All you've done is shown your sour grapes over your favorite getting balanced finally, cry less.

its called 200cc....its not a friends room...nintendo themselves host it...

im done playing for now nini maybe we'll play again soon...ill join you if i see you on hehe...

this guy did good in electrodome....maybe i should ditch the bike and the heavy character :I

@nini200: That probably took some skill to play the SNES MK and not brake at all with DK or Bowser. How did you do it then? Did you just know at what point to push a turn really hard and manage your sliding out of control to stay within the boundaries of the course?

Nope you're the one distracting from the original point that you were trying to make which was that Heavies were only at a disadvantage ONCE and I pointed out that you were wrong with factual evidence. You seem to just want to argue and probably didn't even take the time to read my post as you'd know it's not saying what you've stated and even with lighter characters, the speed increase impairs them so it's not even just a heavy thing. Once you play the game then we can discuss this (in a different thread) because as of now, you're just blowing hot air.

I mean unless you're willing to get online now and let me see how well you do on 200cc on a course of my choosing. You can choose whatever custom you like and voice chat must be on so we can discuss this afterwards.

Ok I see the tournament and an open tournament is not Standard Online races KB lol

Ok cool lol

Electrodome is one of the stages that 200cc works GREAT on. I thoroughly enjoyed that level on 200cc

Yeah it was not easy to say the least but many many many hours (Years) was put into that game. Me, my bro and neighborhood friends used to go at it all the time in SNES Mario Kart. I used to Main Toad but I switched to King Koopa and have never looked back and Toad was really good as he had great traction after sliding and had a pretty good top speed as well.

Yes you have to have preplotted paths/lines and practice at staying in them. Basically you go to Time Trials because there was no practice on that one and you practice the best lines to take and at what points to slide.

@nini200: I'm not exactly sure why you're so fixated on a figure of speech as though you've made some grand discovery that negates the actual point I was making, but more power to you if you want to bang your head in a 1996 corner!

How about lets get online now and you quit dodging the challenge and prove me wrong? Starting to sound lie you don't even have the game there WreckEm

@nini200: LOL, the etough "oh yeah wanna race?!" thing is both sad and completely irrelevant to the point I originally made about heavies being unbalanced, which you have completely skirted in each reply. There is 0 point in my entertaining you further.

I'm perfectly ok with you wanting to think I don't have the game, though I do, it's just another tactic to distract from my point that heavy characters have been unbalanced for a while.

I'm not even asking you to race lol holy moly lol The challenge is for you to choose whatever vehicle custom you want and I choose the track and I want you to go around the track without going off the side or hitting specific walls and you must take the shortcuts. If you can't do that or wont accept that challenge then you need to wasting my time.

Voice chat must be turned on too so we can discuss it afterwards. So you up for the challenge?

@nini200: Not wasting my time, as it would do nothing to prove or disprove my point of heavies being unbalanced and that the speed being high enough to disadvantage them is that balance. You can do a quick Google on the consensus if you absolutely do not want to believe me, I have no invested reason to say otherwise since I rotate characters. Enjoy braking!

HAHAHAHAHA!!!! He Ducking the challenge Lol Wow TT I didn't expect this from you. Well seeing as you won't take the challenge, we have nothing more to discuss. Enjoy you day dude

@nini200: I'm not sure if you're a bored kid intentionally not reading or if you actually have reading comprehension problems, but oh well, at least you're happy!

You can use heavies with vehicles that have better acceleration, handling, mini turbos or drifting while racing on 200cc.

I wouldn't call needing to use brakes as a Con. It's the extra dimension that's being added to the gameplay. As for heavies being punished, I always felt correct character/kart selection was central. Traditionally I'd pick heavies for battle mode, lightweights for cups, and heavies for time trials. With the added carts and wheels, I always felt this was a deeper interaction. Gotta pick the right one for the mode, and master all of them.

And I don't doubt for a second picking JUST the right weight to maximize speed for the minimum required handling will be absolutely necessary. Especially in trial. Just enough to get you past those turns without braking.

Its just like I predicted. Small racers finally get a edge back with 200cc. The heavy speed guys have to use the brake more than the smaller lighter guys. I main Toad with maximum acceleration and handling and have for a while now, and I'm right at home with 200cc. But there are still situations where I have to brake through turns. Its beautifully planned out and it finally brings balance to all racers.

This DLC has been perfect for my kind of racing. I love it.

Yeah true which is fine. The issues are still there though even when using small characters on those vehicles.

Yep you bring up a great point. Vehicle/character selection is important however you'll have these issues regardless of the vehicle and character.

That's all fine however these issues impact all the racers regardless of the customization or weight class. The DLC is great and I love it but this level of difficulty may ruin the game for some.

Sidenote: Why is everyone focusing on the Cons so hard?

@nini200: Maybe its because the pros is only 4 sentences long? I agree with your pros and everything feels great. But I'm sure that everyone will adapt and grow with the new cc class. The thing that people will need to learn how to do is brake while power sliding. Its how the big racers will still keep momentum without losing everything.

Lol the length doesn't matter (Thats what she said) lol I just had to say that lol

Braking isn't the main issue here (it's stage design as opposed to the increase of speed). Lets say you're taking the high route on Twisted Mansion towards the end, after you land, the corner is right in front of you so braking wouldn't help and you would smash into the wall. You basically can't take that route on 200cc. That's the kind of thing I'm referring to.

check it out nini...

this guy has good brake controls and stuff...nothing but 1st place

@nini200: I don't like it.

Like you said, turns are impossible. It's just not fun for me. Game mode actually made my hand cramp from pushing so hard on the analog sticks haha.

Yeah it's crazy, literally. Absolute insanity, especially when the computer opponents can somehow manage to almost be perfect while you zip and bounce around the track. Tires with extra grip don't seem to help, coins don't matter, shortcuts don't matter.

200cc is pretty much useless.

The tracks look brilliant and while I suck at the larger tracks with 200cc, it's an exhilirating experience. Baby Park, ExciteBike, and both F-Zero levels are fantastic with it. You can get some major air on the ExciteBike one lol.

For someone who has never played Double Dash, I had some doubts with Baby Park, but playing it at 200cc is absolutely madness and instantly became one of my favorite tracks to play on. I'm loving this DLC.

Where the hell do you get 200cc? I downloaded the update, but can't find it. You gotta unlock it or something?

@yokofox33: You have to complete all non-dlc cups from 50cc to 150cc to unlock it.

I had to try it. It took some time and practice, but you can do a perfect run through it. You gotta land early and cut from the outside in while braking through a power slide. You'll catch a blue boost before the end of the turn and you can ride out from there. There will be plenty of these examples, but I haven't seen any route I couldn't go through before.

Haven't tried 200cc yet but honestly, I'm not looking forward to it. Some turns I can't even do at full speed on 150cc.

I turned on Mario Kart 8 for the first time in many months to try out 200cc. Then I found out that you can't use it in time trials and just turned it off. There would have been some point to this mode if it were available in time trials, otherwise not really.

Yeah that was an example but kudos for actually doing it. Yeah landing early was the only way I could somewhat do it without using brakes. 200cc is definitely extreme to say the least but I do love it on some courses. You should try to do a perfect run on Neo Bowser City on 200cc and let me know how it went.

I like 200cc but some of the levels (most actually) aren't designed for 200cc speeds at all and it's very noticeable.

The funny thing was, even the computer was failing a bunch of the turns lol Yep handling helps but not much. The speed increase is very nice but most of the levels are definitely not made for it. I gotta say though, the ones that are good on 200cc such as Electrodome, Moo Moo Meadows, Cheep Cheep Beach and Excitebike Arena are really fun on 200cc but it's more levels that aren't made for it than ones that are.

I love the new tracks. They are designed great. The 200cc speed seems right. Oh yes the Excitebike level is built for 200cc. You have to watch some of those jumps though because you'll jump past the point where you need to be sliding around the corner lol

@nini200: I even managed to pull it off with Bowser. Mind you I did a braking power slide because his grip is nonexistent. But it is possible even for the big guys. They just need to be more judicial with the brake than the smaller lighter guys. Instead of landing early like I do with Toad, I let it land normally.

Then I immediately cut to the left while pulling off a power slide and hitting the brake. You can hold down the button before you land and it will work. As soon as it hits the blue boost you release and you're home free!

It can be done with almost every turn, but the big racers will need a lot more technique to keep their speed while going through the turns.

@nini200: I hear ya with playing the crap out of the SNES MK. My brothers and a few buddies played it like crazy too. It's actually really neat to see that a game made so long ago allowed for a bunch of different and varied play styles and they could all be successful.

I had a chance to play 200cc yesterday and it was insane! I was using Luigi with a Mach 8, and slick tires...I didn't brake once because I was just going into my drift a bit earlier and hammering the control stick into the turn. I definitely didn't win all my races! Probably should have braked a few times; it would have prevented me from hitting a few walls and going over the edge a few times.

When I play later I'm going to give Cloudtop Cruise a shot in 200cc. It's my favorite course and one that for some reason I got really good at.

I'm just glad that after a year I still find this game fun.