Thursday, August 18, 2011

Stadium Tracks

History:

The first Wario Stadium opened up in 1995 in the Mushroom Kingdom. Wario used the dirt track for all kinds of extreme sports and then adapted it to Kart Racing, designing the course himself. In typical fashion it's huge, long and twisted. He later changed it once again for another Grand Prix Competition. When Wario met Waluigi they soon saw eye to eye on numerous endeavours, and Waluigi also started building Stadiums, mostly with Wario's money. Thus Wario was the backer for many of Waluigi's projects until he started making some coin of his own through his Sports Appearances and his Waluigi Pinball enterprise. Despite neither hailing from the Mushroom Kingdom all their Stadiums are located there, the local government sees their presence as intrusions, but the populace that actually gets a chance to watch races in a large venue for once instead of sitting on a fence rail has been very supportive. This has further lined Wario and Waluigi's pockets.

64:

This is another trend that started with MK64. Though there had been plenty of Dirt Tracks before, and the Choco Tracks are their forerunner, no other Tracks are in confined Stadiums like this. This is what we're narrowing down to. Even though Wario Colosseum may be the natural extension (and from there Waluigi Pinball and Wario's Gold Mine), we're talking about limited, dirt-road, confined courses. Wario Stadium 64 is an incredibly long course full of huge jumps, tight turns and some deadly drops that set you back rather than require Lakitu's Help. There are also some very wide portions here which allow for perfect drifting. This is one course that may favour a heavyweight you can drift well and not bounce all over the place, like DK or Wario himself. Each Stadium Track appears in a different cup, this one opens up the Star Cup.

Double Dash:

Waluigi carried on the spirit in Double Dash. The Track itself is simpler and much less lengthy but still has the requisite number of jumps, twists and tough angles. There are Boost Pads for the first time along with a deceptive straightaway filled with giant wooden moving Piranha Plants and Spinning Firebars. The course shows its greater simplicity by closing out the Flower Cup this edition. It's also one of the only Sunset Tracks. Waluigi drives the Wario Car with Wario in the backseat for the Secret Staff Ghost. He goes a 1:59:658, noticeably shorter than the first Wario Stadium.

This course came back in Wii and it's the only Stadium Track to appear in that game. There are some notable additions, including Dash Panels in the Piranha Plant half-pipe and a reverse order of the Plants appearing. Waluigi Stadium is actually distinct from the Wario Stadiums in that its edges slope up to the sidewalls, allowing for some perfect boost turning and tricks (a likely reason it was included in Wii). The Normal Ghost here is Waluigi in the Standard Bike L at 02:32.882, the Expert uses the Piranha Prowler in 02:12.367.

DS:

A different Wario Stadium appears in DS, joining Mario Circuit, Luigi Circuit, Bowser's Castle and Sherbert Land as the only different signature tracks to appear in different games. This time it contains a much simpler in layout despite its appearance in the Special Cup.The DS Special Cup also included Peach Gardens, though, so it's not out of the ordinary that it's not that crazy of a course. It's not an egregiously long course but does feature a bit more mud than other Stadium Tracks, though Waluigi Stadium had a good amount, just not directly on the Kart Path. Thus there's actually some nasty Offroad here for the first time, though it can't really be used for Shortcuts. There are also Boost Panels and Firebars reminiscent of Waluigi Stadium. The walls are steep though, which makes for some tougher turns. Every Stadium Track has some overloop and the same goes for this one. Wario, using the Brute clocks in as the Staff Ghost in h 2:14:868. I think you can get away with Speed and Handling, pick Luigi's Poltergust 4000 or Waluigi's Gold Mantis.

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