Tag: get-together

Mario Kart 8 – Get-Together #4

This afternoon, I held my 4th (and likely final) Mario Kart 8 get-together. Squishy and Qwerty joined in as we raced on the original courses and DLC tracks. I played as Link, Qwerty played as Shy Guy, and Squishy started out as Rosalina. We raced in four cups (although Squishy left after the third one), and I’ll give a brief recap of each cup. I chose 100cc for all of today’s races.

Cup #1

SNES Donut Plains 3 was the first race, and Qwerty raced ahead for a big win. Squishy and I battled back and forth, with me passing her in the final turn for 2nd place. DS Wario Stadium was next, and it was a fun, competitive race. All three of us were bunched together the entire race. Qwerty won the race, and I got third…but less than one second separated us all.

Hyrule Circuit (The Legend of Zelda DLC track) was the third race, and I led most of the way. Until the final straightaway, that is, when I got hit by a red shell and Qwerty passed me for the win. Ouch.

Link gets hit by a red shell right before the finish line and loses the race in Mario Kart 8.A banana peel or shell would have saved me, but coins were the only power-ups I got in the final lap. Mount Wario was the final race of the cup, and Squishy beat out Qwerty for the win. I was in a distant third place, unable to mount a comeback. Here are the final standings for the first cup:

1. Qwerty: 14 points. 2. Squishy: 8 points. 3. JVGS Jeff: 6 points.Cup #2

Sunshine Airport was the first course here, and it was another fun, close match. It came down to the end, with Squishy winning the race and me coming in 2nd. 3DS Music Park was next, and Qwerty beat us for an easy win. Squishy passed me up at the end for 2nd place.

Mount Wario came up again as the third race, and just like the first time, Squishy won and I finished last. The cup wrapped up with the Animal Crossing track, which took place in winter this time. Squishy was the one crossing the finish line first, while Qwerty got 2nd, and I finished last once again.

Flying through the Animal Crossing track in winter (Mario Kart 8).Squishy won this cup. Here are the final standings:

1. Squishy: 14 points. 2. Qwerty: 9 points. 3. JVGS Jeff: 5 points.Cup #3

The third cup started out with N64 Rainbow Road–always a fun track. We had a close race, but Qwerty came away with the win and I got 3rd place. Excitebike Arena was next: Squishy won the race, and I got 2nd place. But before the third race, aliens abducted Qwerty and Squishy!

Squishy and Qwerty rocket away from Earth in Mario Kart 8.It must have been a brief connection issue. They were able to rejoin almost immediately, but their scores for this cup were reset. GCN Dry Dry Desert was the next course, and Qwerty won the race. I got 2nd, while Squishy (now playing as Isabelle) finished in 3rd. Mute City was the final race of the cup, and Qwerty again won and I came in 2nd.

Despite being the only one who kept credit for all four races, I still didn’t win the cup. 😀 Qwerty got the win.

1. Qwerty: 8 points. 2. JVGS Jeff: 7 points. 3. Squishy: 2 points.Cup #4

Squishy left before this cup, so I announced to Qwerty that this would be my final cup. Qwerty easily beat me in Excitebike Arena, Electrodome, and N64 Yoshi Valley. For the final race, I had trouble deciding on a course. Time ran out on me, while my cursor happened to be on Wii Moo Moo Meadows. That was the chosen course, and surprisingly, I actually won. That was my only win of the entire get-together. 😀

Here are the final standings for this cup:

1. Qwerty: 10 points. 2. JVGS Jeff: 6 points.Final Thoughts

Thanks to Qwerty and Squishy for coming and racing today. It was fun, especially those races that were really close. I did horrible, but that’s nothing new for me. I never got into Mario Kart 8 the same way I got into Mario Kart Wii, and I never got as good at the game (not that I was great at MKW either).

I’m not planning any more get-togethers for Mario Kart 8, but I’m sure I’ll do more once the next game comes out (probably on NX).

I won’t be posting any videos of today’s races, but here is one of my older MK8 videos: It shows what the Animal Crossing track looks like in each season.

Mario Kart 8 – Get-Together #3

Today I held my third Mario Kart 8 get-together. Since the release of DLC Pack 1, I’ve been using Link and his bike, the Master Cycle. When I opened the lobby this afternoon, I was joined by Khalid188, Poizon (Mike), Meli, and Ash.

Cup #1

The first cup started out with N64 Rainbow Road: I did awful and came in last place, while Ash picked up the win. The next track was the regular version of Rainbow Road. Khalid188 won this time, and I got 4th place. The third course was the Electrodome, which is one of my favorite (and best) tracks. Wendy joined in here, so we had six racers. I was in 2nd place headed into the last turn, but Meli zoomed past me and I finished in third. Ash won the race. The final race of the first cup was GBA Mario Circuit. Khalid188 won the race, and I finished in 4th. The final standings for the first cup were:

  1. Ash – 22 points
  2. Khalid188 – 19 points
  3. Meli – 12 points
  4. Poizon – 11 points
  5. Jeff – 10 points
  6. Wendy – 2 points
Link racing in Electrodome in Mario Kart 8.Cup #2

The second cup started out in Toad Harbor. Khalid won the race; I made lots of mistakes and finished in 5th. Twisted Mansion was the next course. I benefited from some lucky power-up grabs–a few invincibility stars to be more specific–and I did well. I was actually in 2nd place as I crossed the finish line, just barely beating out Khalid188, who was using a Bullet Bill. But the game apparently saw things differently, and it awarded 2nd place to Khalid while I had to settle for third.

DS Tick-Tock Clock was next, and it was a close, frantic race. At the end, I hit Khalid (who was winning) with a red shell, and Poizon and I overtook him right before the finish line. The cup finished off with Bowser’s Castle. Here, I was in 2nd place going into the final turn, but then I got hit by a Bullet Bill and finished in 4th. Here are the final standings:

  1. Ash – 22 points
  2. Khalid188 – 18 points
  3. Poizon – 17 points
  4. Jeff – 14 points
  5. Meli – 13 points
  6. Wendy – 4 points

Here is a gameplay video of the second cup:

Cup #3

We had some turnover after the 2nd cup: Khalid, Meli, and Wendy all left. But Jose and Danny joined in, so we had five racers. The first course of this cup was Sunshine Airport. I was actually in the lead for most of the race, but I got overtaken in the final lap and finished third. Next up was N64 Royal Raceway. I was in third place heading into the final turn, but a Bullet Bill hit me and I ended up in last place. The next two tracks were Rainbow Road and SNES Donut Plains 3. In both of them, I finished in third behind Ash and Poizon. The final standings were:

  1. Ash – 22 points
  2. Poizon – 16 points
  3. Jeff – 10 points
  4. Jose – 10 points
  5. Danny – 6 points
Link about to be hit by a Bullet Bill in Mario Kart 8.Link falling after getting hit by a Bullet Bill in Mario Kart 8 (MK8).Cup #4

Jose and Danny left after the third cup, so we were down to just three racers for the fourth cup. Here, we raced in Wii Moo Moo Meadows, 3DS Music Park, Cloudtop Cruise, and Mount Wario. Ash dominated here, winning all four races. Poizon and I each got second place twice to finished tied. Here are the final standings:

  1. Ash – 16 points
  2. Jeff – 6 points
  3. Poizon – 6 points

After that, everyone left. The get-together fizzled out just one hour after it began. But I had a good time, so thank you to everyone who came. See you next time!

Mario Kart 8 – Get-Together #2

My 2nd Mario Kart 8 get-together was held today at 2:00 p.m. Eastern time.

Cup #1

Josh, Jose, and Tom41 joined for the first cup of the day. That’s a much smaller turnout than I was expecting, especially when you consider Mario Kart 8 is still a fairly recent release. (Most of my Mario Kart Wii races had bigger turnouts even when the game was 4+ years old). But a few races in, DaBraxMan also joined in, giving us five racers. But Tom either left or disconnected prior to the final race, so the final standings for the first cup were:

  1. Jose – 15 pts.
  2. Josh – 14 pts.
  3. Jeff – 11 pts.
  4. DaBraxMan – 5 pts.
Cup #2

Even though I played some random worldwide races last night and did pretty well, I wasn’t doing as good in the friend races today. I think the people on my roster must be pretty good. Tom rejoined for the second cup; here are the results:

  1. Jose – 20 pts.
  2. Josh – 18 pts.
  3. DaBraxMan – 11 pts.
  4. Jeff – 10 pts.
  5. Tom41 – 5 pts.
Cup #3

On the first race of the third cup, I accidentally picked GCN Dry Dry Desert when I meant to pick SNES Donut Plains 3. And of course, my accidental choice ended up winning the random selection. Josh and I were both playing as Waluigi; early in the race we bumped into each other and then both veered a bit off-course at the same place.

Two Waluigis heading off-course in GCN Dry Dry Desert in Mario Kart 8.

  1. Josh – 18 pts.
  2. DaBraxMan – 17 pts.
  3. Jose – 13 pts.
  4. Jeff – 11 pts.
  5. Tom41 – 5 pts.
Cup #4

In the fourth cup, I had a few races where I was doing very well to start out, only to mess up badly towards the end of each race. I finished dead last in this cup. By the way, Tom41 has uploaded a video of the MKTV highlights of the N64 Yoshi Valley race from this cup. You can view it here.

  1. Josh – 21 pts.
  2. DaBraxMan – 11 pts.
  3. Tom41 – 11 pts.
  4. Jose – 7 pts.
  5. Jeff – 6 pts.
Cup #5

Before the fifth cup, Tom left. We only had four racers as I won my first (and only) race of the day, 3DS Music Park.

Waluigi celebrates a win in 3DS Music Park in Mario Kart 8.Jose left (or disconnected) after that race, but returned for the final race of the cup. Also, mlninten97 joined in, so we had five racers once again. I finished 4th in the final race, but third in the overall standings for the cup. Of course that’s only because Jose and mlninten97 only got credit for one race.

  1. Josh – 15 pts.
  2. DaBraxMan – 14 pts.
  3. Jeff – 10 pts.
  4. mlninten97 – 3 pts.
  5. Jose – 1 pt.
Cup #6

As for the sixth and final cup, here is a video of the whole thing. At the end of the video, there’s also a MKTV highlight reel of Toad Harbor, a race from the fourth cup.

Here are the results:

  1. DaBraxMan – 20 pts.
  2. Josh – 16 pts.
  3. Jeff – 12 pts.
  4. Jose – 11 pts.
  5. mlninten97 – 5 pts.

I had fun at the races, although I still need more practice if I’m going to be able to compete with these guys. As for the one-player grand prix mode, I have all of the gold medals except the last one in mirror mode (I hope to beat that soon). After that, I want to go back and earn three-star ratings on all of the cups.

Thanks for reading!