OrangeRakoon wrote:If you think CTR has the worst weapons of any kart racer you need to play more kart racers.
It was my go-to kart racer at uni, I absolutely love it. It's up alongside Mario Kart 8 and Sonic Racing Transformed in my favourite kart racers.
Well, what other kart racers are you thinking of? What examples of rubbish weapons can you think of? It's true; i haven't had a need in the past to play the worst kart racers, it's quite possible there are more lame and naff weapons out there. CTR just ticks the boxes of what to expect, the land mine or oil slick or bananas, now a red or green potion; lame. Missiles become ..missiles or bombs. Doesn't have the richness of Mario Kart with the 3 shells providing protection and being able to fire them off walls (i don't think CTR's projectiles did that..did they?). DKR had the leveling up, homing or 10 missiles, which was fun. The invincibility is the same elsewhere, hardly inspired. Obviously, I realise CTR feeds off the Crash style, but they hardly tried.
CTR continued.... Snowboards Kids is so overlooked really, basically no one played it for it to become more rated among the other kart games. Really excelled with its weapons as well, firing off snowballs that turn characters into snowmen unable to turn as they ride into the track edge, the pan smacking you flat out of nowhere. CTR's version of the pan and MK64's lightning bolt is the orb of electricity that haunts racers and mysteriously slows them down or something. It lacks the satisfaction of crushing everyone or squeezing them down to miniature size. CTR's stationary mine that litters the track as a rogue bomb crate you unintentionally hit, which then hangs above you counting down before it explodes. It's so rubbish.
Snowboards kids had the speed fan which actually worked, and wasn't some tame near invisible brief speed burst. It had the parachute projectiles. All so effective. All the games have the same types of weapons and items...what more could they do ? Has there been one where you can shoot a hole in the track? I'd like to fire it and look back as karts comically fall in. Obviously that would count as track hazard. I always lay them and don't think i've ever got the sense someone has hit them. You throw them in front, behind, before a speed burst, before a jump, after a jump, before a corner, and suppose presumably if they're not there the next lap someone has collided with them.
CTR's most satisfying one is the Aku Aku invincibility whirlwind that propels you at high speed as you jump from 6th to 2nd aiming for anyone ahead. I did like the items being inside crates as opposed to shiny question mark diamonds though. And also really liked the karts, and just the solid simplicity of them, they nailed the jumping and wheelie-ing speed bursts as you land. It copies so much from DKR but gets no where near the quality. The 3 lap tasks as you try to hit the 38 crates that each take off 1-2-3 seconds off as you're asked to hit a certain time aren't nearly as good as the silver coin challenge. I don't like in races hitting a crate to give you 5 apples, 10 maximum for increased speed I take it? DKR's pick-up able bananas throughout is more elegant. Can't get Sonic R working properly, went through it a little, reminded me of it's coins you collect to allow you to open doors for short cuts. See? It's not radical, but it's something, from 21 years ago.
'Arcadey' games are probably what I respond to most, just an instant hit of ideas. What is the Beastie Boys equivalent in a game? I don't want heavy emo death rock or classical music, just something trashy and irreverent. The kart genre is dead isn't it? If you propose Mario Kart is all there is and it's hit a dead end. Often think 90% of games are basically due to developers obsession with Blade Runner, Star Wars or Tolkien. I suppose in short it's wanting more games like experimental music videos rather than like dour overly serious films.