Is mario being whored?

[Rase]

Mario might be a sell out but who gives a crap about that, besides people who spend too much time on forums. I like playing games featuring him, they're fun and worth the money I spend. I don't care if he's a "sell out".

Yay, someone already made my post for me.

[leader of mortals]

its a good thing mario is a cheap whore($5 for a suck = alright)

[demondude]

its a good thing mario is a cheap whore($5 for a suck = alright)

Just a shame there isn't much to suck.

[theundeadhero]

Link may be being sold out with crossbow training, but before that he showed up only in his action RPG games and a couple silly fighter games

Except for his cameo in mario RPG.

You all act like Mario playing golf is new. He had a golf game on the NES.

[Roto13]

Smash Bros. and Soul Calibur aren't silly fighting games. They're two of the best fighting games ever made. :P

[leader of mortals]

its a good thing mario is a cheap whore($5 for a suck = alright)

Just a shame there isn't much to suck.

now I know why the price is so low

[Slothy]

Mario Paint, Double Dash, and Mario and Sonic at the Olympic games are nowhere close to shovelware. Double Dash may not be as great as the other Mario Karts but it's still leagues above any other kart racer, and Mario Paint? People are still using that TODAY as a creative studio.

And those two pieces of edutainment are to Mario what Wand of Gamelon is to Zelda. :P

I'm not saying Mario Paint wasn't fun, but it certainly wasn't anything that needed Mario's likeness anywhere near it, except to make sure it sold more than two copies. Also, a bunch of half-assed Wii Sports style mini games made to use the Wiimote and slapped with Mario and Sonics likenesses is pretty much the definition of shovelware if you ask me. I haven't seen any video of that game that makes me think the concept and gameplay weren't thrown together in an afternoon.

As for Double Dash; I've played a lot of Kart racers and it easily ranks among the worst. It may be more polished graphically and have fewer glitches than some of the absolute worst, but the gameplay is horrid. The level design is much too straight forward. There are no cool sidetracks, or shortcuts, and there aren't even that many obstacles that aren't fairly easy to avoid. The tracks are just totally uninspired, especially compared to the original and Mario Kart 64. They also removed the ability to look behind you, or hold items behind your Kart to protect yourself from attack. So not only can you not attack people behind you anymore (a very important strategy in 64), but it's almost impossible to defend against being attacked. Hell, you can't even jump at the last second since they got rid of that too. And finally, the Karts are totally unbalanced. Why pick a lightweight Kart if the heavyweights accelerate so fast that they fly right by me within 3 seconds of leaving the starting line, even when I get the boost? This was especially a problem on 100cc and 150cc. Not to mention that the AI almost never does anything to slow eachother down. Opposing racers almost always rank in the same positions everytime, unless you do something to screw them up, (which you'll have a tough time doing since it's pretty rare to get a decent weapon in the game) which means if you come in anything but first in more than one race, there's a very good chance you'll lose.

Double Dash may be one of the more polished of the crappy Kart Racers out there, but the gameplay is so bad it makes me wonder if the team making it had ever even done a game before.

[Roto13]

Well someone likes them.

Yeah, Mario Paint didn't need to have Mario in it. What does that have to do with anything? It's still a good game. As to why Mario Kart: Double Dash isn't shovelware, just refer to any of the 97 reviews on the site or ask one of the 1539 people who gave their opinions.

[Mirage]

As for Double Dash; I've played a lot of Kart racers and it easily ranks among the worst. It may be more polished graphically and have fewer glitches than some of the absolute worst, but the gameplay is horrid. The level design is much too straight forward. There are no cool sidetracks, or shortcuts, and there aren't even that many obstacles that aren't fairly easy to avoid. The tracks are just totally uninspired, especially compared to the original and Mario Kart 64. They also removed the ability to look behind you, or hold items behind your Kart to protect yourself from attack. So not only can you not attack people behind you anymore (a very important strategy in 64), but it's almost impossible to defend against being attacked. Hell, you can't even jump at the last second since they got rid of that too. And finally, the Karts are totally unbalanced. Why pick a lightweight Kart if the heavyweights accelerate so fast that they fly right by me within 3 seconds of leaving the starting line, even when I get the boost? This was especially a problem on 100cc and 150cc. Not to mention that the AI almost never does anything to slow eachother down. Opposing racers almost always rank in the same positions everytime, unless you do something to screw them up, (which you'll have a tough time doing since it's pretty rare to get a decent weapon in the game) which means if you come in anything but first in more than one race, there's a very good chance you'll lose.

Double Dash may be one of the more polished of the crappy Kart Racers out there, but the gameplay is so bad it makes me wonder if the team making it had ever even done a game before.

I had no problems attacking karts behind me, and the thing about the rankings looking similar in many races is something I noticed in the original as well. There are a few sidetracks too, but they aren't always shortcuts.

I dunno what you did, but I got good weapons about as often as on Super Mario Kart.

[Roto13]

Similar rankings exist in pretty much every racing game. They assign each driver a skill level randomly at the beginning of the cup so the player doesn't win by getting 3rd in every race.

Good weapons are rarer when you're in higher places as a way of balancing it out. People who need good weapons to stand a chance, get them. People who are in first place don't get things that put them miles in the lead. It was like that in the older ones, too. When do you ever get a red shell in Mario Kart 64 when you're in the top two?

[Mr Cactuar]

I have an idea for people who hate the Mario games. Just don't buy it.

When practically everyone on the earth knows who and what Mario is what else would you expect?

[Slothy]

Good weapons are rarer when you're in higher places as a way of balancing it out. People who need good weapons to stand a chance, get them. People who are in first place don't get things that put them miles in the lead. It was like that in the older ones, too. When do you ever get a red shell in Mario Kart 64 when you're in the top two?

I got red shells all the time in the two previous Mario Kart games, even when in first. The items you get being based on rank wasn't in Mario Kart 64 for sure. It might have been in the original, but it's been too long since I've played it to remember. As for the weapons being based on your position in Double Dash; Nintendo said it was supposed to work that way, but it never did for me. I could be in last place in that game and almost never get anything better than a banana peel. The system just never worked for anyone but the computer any time I played (and before anyone tries to chalk up my complaints as being a result of not playing enough, I gave this game more than a fair chance back when I got it, beating most of it on every difficulty. Maybe if the game weren't so unbalanced I would have finished it completely).

Double Dash is pretty much the definition of shovelware. They took the basic elements that made the originals great, but totally forgot to put the effort in to make it more than a half-assed money grab. They diluted every aspect of it down until all the depth was gone.

[Roto13]

See, the main thing about your complaint is that it's not true. Everyone else in the world got stars and lightning bolts in last place. Sounds like a classic case of crying that the computer is cheap when you're losing. Again, it's not shovelware. You don't like it. We've established that. It's still not shovelware.

[Vincent, Thunder God]

The whoring began back in the N64 days, which was one reason I never bought the console.

[Markus. D]

He deserves to wh0re himself.

;]

We WANT him to wh0re himself.