Thursday, May 1, 2008

Official Track Guide to "Luigi Raceway"

This post starts a 16 part odyssey through the racetracks that comprise the greatest racing game of all time, Mario Kart 64. Today's edition features the first track of the Mushroom Cup, Luigi Raceway. This preview will focus on track design, preferred drivers and overall strategies for victory.



Luigi Raceway Track Design



Luigi Raceway is one of the easiest tracks in the game, purposely designed for the simple Mushroom Cup series of tracks. It features two sweeping corners, a short section through a tunnel, and a long straight-away that takes up almost half of the entire circuit. The only real obstacle is a upside-down question mark that drops immediately after the first item series along the left edge of the track. This is not hard to avoid, and there are no other threats on the track besides your fellow competitors. What this means is that Luigi Raceway is all about speed. Power sliding is imperative through the long corners and top speed on the straightaways is a necessity. Furthermore, because the track is not that long, it means that speed items are invaluable. A star or super mushroom can easily cover half a lap if used right. The only real difficulty of the track is because of its short-length and easiness, it's virtually impossible to pull away from your enemies, meaning that tight racing and close finishes are pretty much an inevitability.


Luigi Raceway Preferred Drivers

Young Swole is always an advocate for taking fast drivers like Yoshi, Toad or Princess yet they are not needed for success at this track. Because of its long straightaways and close competition, the size advantage of DK or a Bowser not only gives the better top-end speed but will also help you bully your way through the corners. However, its pretty easy to win with any driver at this track if you know how to use items at the right times and at the right locations on the track.






Luigi Raceway Victory Strategies

Racers have to view Luigi Raceway like the Mario Kart version of Talledega. You are not going to be able to get away from your competition and close finishes are common. And just like in Talladega races, its not always best to be in first towards the end of the race. At Luigi Raceway, a banana or green shell will do no good if your opponent has a star or super shroom, because the speed difference will make it almost impossible to stop them. Therefore, I advise a strategy of staying behind the leader while hording items to make a last-turn pass once you exit the tunnel on the 3rd lap. This can be done in three ways. First off, if you have a speed item like a star or mushroom. you can simply jump off the left of the track and hug the inside brick wall, which will cut off drastic amounts of time and leave you in good position to out-sprint the competition on the last short straightaway to the finish. If you have an attacking item like red shells, this lets you wait until the final last straightaway to hit the race leader. Because of the wide dimensions of the track, red shells are extremely effective and are a virtual guarantee of a hit. Having a bunch of shells will also help you knock any fellow competitors out of the way that may be around you. Finally, if you are stuck with a garbage item like a banana or a ghost, being close to the leader will allow you one final item pickup before the last straightaway. Depending on what you get, you can either blast the leader or be close enough to outdrive them to the finish.

Summary

Luigi Raceway is obviously an easy raceway to traverse, yet to win there must be good strategy implemented. If you want to be a front runner, then you better know how to power-slide and and use secondary items like bananas or green shells to your advantage. If you hang out behind the leader, you cannot get too far behind the leader or else you will look like a fool. And finally, you have to be able to catch up really fast, because lap times are usually around 40 seconds at 150cc, which leaves no margin for error on the final lap of the race. If you stay close to the leaders and acquire the advantageous items for the track, winning is a distinct possibility depending on the level of competition you are playing with. Just make sure you have something left at your disposal for that last straightaway, because I can guarantee someone else will and may be waiting to blow you up and ruin your solid race.

4 comments:

Unknown said...

really gay

Andrew Adamson said...

Stop living in the past you stupid nerd. The game of the future is Mario Kart Wii. There are courses from every Mario Kart Game ever made plus zillions of other options. Best of all, online play is the gift that keeps on giving.

dickmau5 said...

So what you are saying is that he is the nerd, but you are the one who just creamed your pants over Mario Kart Wii? Gotcha.

Unknown said...

andy you don't answer my phone calls because you can't break away from wii mario kart.