Saturday, March 10, 2012

Wario's Gold Mine

History:

After years of searching for Gold, Coins, and Treasure, Wario finally hit the mother lode. Searching deep in the Mushroom Kingdom he found a resource untapped by its people, who cared little for the accumulation of riches. He uncovered a great mine in a chasm of the earth where he stole Gold from the earth to make into coins directly. This made him an extremely powerful figure in Mushroom Banking. The many Mushroom Folk he employed were forced to live on sight, in stuffy, smokey houses built into the cliffside. It was only a matter of time before he employed the track already in place for the Grand Prix.

Wii:

Wario's Grand Prix closes the Flower Cup and is one of the more difficult courses in the game. While many courses in the game are wide to accommodate the increased number of Drivers, the trickiest parts of this course are also the narrowest and lack guardrails. The wooden mine track-style and many hills and drops are like a roller coaster reminiscent of Wario Colosseum or even Waluigi Pinball. Also like Waluigi Stadium it is near sunset. They are all stylistically distinct enough though, to warrant separate entries.


The layout may seem simple, as it may be simplified to a common loop, but really it is a twisting, treacherous course with unforgiving turns, jumps, and obstacles like Swoops and Minecarts that can be deadly. It is more organic, with constant turns instead of straightaways to take advantage of any speed. Indeed, falling behind and getting only mushrooms or stars can be extremely hazardous. While there aren't horizontal complications, there are also many vertical complications that make it more difficult.

Each course in Wii has Normal and Expert Staff Ghosts in Time Trials. The Normal is Wario in his own Bike at 02:19.585 while the Expert upgrades to the Flame Flyer in 02:04.800. I find Bikes exceedingly unstable and difficult to control here, Karts are an easier option. Speed here is hairy, someone with more control and drift, such as Mario would work well. Grand Prix can be more perilous with Karts jostling, Bowser is able to knock others around while getting a small drift bonus himself and would be a good fit.

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