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Nintendo 64 Weekly Contest Round 1: Mario Kart 64


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14 minutes ago, NESfiend said:

No. Im an 8-bit racer. Decelerate thru turns and slam gas toward the end. How do you drift?

The R button if I recall. I don't remember if the N64 version has this, but many MK games allow for a boost after a drift, too. 

Give it a few tries to let yourself get used to it. It could save you a chunk of time. 

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5 hours ago, NESfiend said:

So I tried that course (and only that one) last night and thought I got a pretty good run in. Then I checked your score and its like 20 seconds better. 

I know Im the only old nintendo fan on the planet never to have played this game, but what the hell could I be missing? Never went off course or hit any snowmen. Hardly slowed down at all. Is there some strategy Im missing or can you really shave that much time off just by taking the most efficient path?

Yeah gloves is right, its all about drifting so yeah it's R and then you move the joystick back and forth till the sparks on your tires change from yellow to orange, let go and you get a boost.  It's not a mega huge boost but you can pop em pretty quick.  The rest of the time is mushroom usage, I got a favoured per-lap spot here but thats another story (it's not a glitch or anything special, I'm not even sure where to use em on the other 3).

I was using Bowser to get the top speed but I have a hunch DK is actually better for putting up good times

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On 12/13/2021 at 10:53 PM, Krunch said:

Yeah gloves is right, its all about drifting so yeah it's R and then you move the joystick back and forth till the sparks on your tires change from yellow to orange, let go and you get a boost.  It's not a mega huge boost but you can pop em pretty quick.  The rest of the time is mushroom usage, I got a favoured per-lap spot here but thats another story (it's not a glitch or anything special, I'm not even sure where to use em on the other 3).

I was using Bowser to get the top speed but I have a hunch DK is actually better for putting up good times

I'm prett sure it's in the manual (and I think this traditional balance carries over into later entries in the game) but for MK64, DK, Bowser and Wario are the heavyweights and are faster but have slowest acceleration. Mario and Luigi are balanced and Toad/Yoshi/Peach are light weights with slower top speeds but faster acceleration.

I am not great, but I eas always best with a Heavyweight, but DK eas always my #1 pick. I'm pretty sure this info was in the manual or in a Nintendo Power.

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6 hours ago, RH said:

I'm prett sure it's in the manual (and I think this traditional balance carries over into later entries in the game) but for MK64, DK, Bowser and Wario are the heavyweights and are faster but have slowest acceleration. Mario and Luigi are balanced and Toad/Yoshi/Peach are light weights with slower top speeds but faster acceleration.

I am not great, but I eas always best with a Heavyweight, but DK eas always my #1 pick. I'm pretty sure this info was in the manual or in a Nintendo Power.

Yeah the next level is to compare them within classes, it's hard to tell but ultimately I'm just interested in what gets the fastest time for only these tracks, so it narrows the search and can be tested empirically with enough time put in.  For heavies, my intuition right now is telling me it's DK > Bowser > Wario (for fastest times on these tracks).  I couldn't put much together with Wario but maybe I was just burning out. 

If the optimal racer changes for each map I would be happy, cause that's balanced and thats good.

Among some guys I used to play with BITD we heard online that Peach has the most optimized stats of all (it included handling somehow I assume).  I can kinda believe it... the non-glitch previous lugi's raceway WR on YT is with Peach, and that's the most pure track in the game. 

Maybe it's not all about top speed since you need better acceleration when boosting while drifting?  Well we're gonna get to the bottom of it this week

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8 minutes ago, Jeevan said:

@NESfiend you holdin' scores?  😒

Not even a little bit. Playoff type situation aside, I post them whenever I get one worth posting. Havent played it since Sunday.

I hooked up the 64 upstairs for the first time in a long while. Brought up like 10 classic carts and have alternated through with the little time Ive had. And yes, I know mario cart 64 is a classic to everyone else. Not sure how I never got into it. 

I have had some pretty sick runs at cruising usa, wave race, snowboard kids, and micro machines, if thats any consolation

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Events Helper · Posted
25 minutes ago, NESfiend said:

Not even a little bit. Playoff type situation aside, I post them whenever I get one worth posting. Havent played it since Sunday.

I hooked up the 64 upstairs for the first time in a long while. Brought up like 10 classic carts and have alternated through with the little time Ive had. And yes, I know mario cart 64 is a classic to everyone else. Not sure how I never got into it. 

I have had some pretty sick runs at cruising usa, wave race, snowboard kids, and micro machines, if thats any consolation

I haven't played, but i will post some times tomorrow as it is my only day off!

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My whole life, I think I am doing something wrong when drift boosting. Speedrunners can somehow go from white, to yellow to orange in under a second. I can't. It's not that I'm not fast, it's that if I don't pause for half a second, it's like the toggle on the analog doesn't register and even then, some times it doesn't and I have to try the action again. I miss a lot of boosts.

Is there some finesse to this I'm missing?

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20 minutes ago, RH said:

My whole life, I think I am doing something wrong when drift boosting. Speedrunners can somehow go from white, to yellow to orange in under a second. I can't. It's not that I'm not fast, it's that if I don't pause for half a second, it's like the toggle on the analog doesn't register and even then, some times it doesn't and I have to try the action again. I miss a lot of boosts.

Is there some finesse to this I'm missing?

My advice is be firmer with the joystick in general and try to apply more straight downward pressure.  So directly "into" the stick.  You still need to know when to let off though.  You can also rotate to drift instead of just back and forth, sometimes this can be handy on a tighter turn and so you dont turn outwards so much

 

(I realize with the sensitivity and cost of 64 controllers this is annoying advice but ruining controllers and your thumb is just part of the 64 experience 🩸)

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11 minutes ago, Krunch said:

My advice is be firmer with the joystick in general and try to apply more straight downward pressure.  So directly "into" the stick.  You still need to know when to let off though.  You can also rotate to drift instead of just back and forth, sometimes this can be handy on a tighter turn and so you dont turn outwards so much

 

(I realize with the sensitivity and cost of 64 controllers this is annoying advice but ruining controllers and your thumb is just part of the 64 experience 🩸)

Interesting.  I never pull back on the stick when I play this game and I tend to let it rest in the middle.  If I'm understanding correctly, pulling back on the stick helps.

I did just test this out on a pro controller and emu (which I don't prefer) and it feels so different but it feels like it could be better on a legit N64 controller.  I don't think I'll have any time to try and improve my score again, but if I do I'll give this a try.

Nothing like improving your gaming skillz after 25 years of broken muscle memory!

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12 hours ago, RH said:

Interesting.  I never pull back on the stick when I play this game and I tend to let it rest in the middle.  If I'm understanding correctly, pulling back on the stick helps.

I did just test this out on a pro controller and emu (which I don't prefer) and it feels so different but it feels like it could be better on a legit N64 controller.  I don't think I'll have any time to try and improve my score again, but if I do I'll give this a try.

Nothing like improving your gaming skillz after 25 years of broken muscle memory!

 

Maybe its a misguided tip; are you playing on Switch?  It was more pertaining to keeping tight control of the stick through turns so your wheels dont fly off the centrifugal axis.  I push hard downwardly for lots of Mario Party minigames too - its because the way its designed with the little chalky bowl on the bottom of the stick and the gears you want to be able to grip it the whole mechanism from above. Even as a 64 fan I think the controller is really flawed especially the joystick so it's part of how I adapt to it

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9 hours ago, Krunch said:

 

Maybe its a misguided tip; are you playing on Switch?  It was more pertaining to keeping tight control of the stick through turns so your wheels dont fly off the centrifugal axis.  I push hard downwardly for lots of Mario Party minigames too - its because the way its designed with the little chalky bowl on the bottom of the stick and the gears you want to be able to grip it the whole mechanism from above. Even as a 64 fan I think the controller is really flawed especially the joystick so it's part of how I adapt to it

I'm playing on OG hardware.

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