Friday, May 4, 2012

Wuhu Tracks

History:

In the late 2000s Wuhu Island grew in popularity as a Sports Resort. As more and more residents of the Mushroom Kingdom became interested in visiting the Island, it became obvious that it would be a perfect spot for a couple of Courses. Princess Peach was the first to wield her vast power and influence to negotiate the rights to a Track with the King of Wuhu. Thus she created the Wuhu Loop, a long, expansive track that is completed in a single lap.


After Peach laid claim to the Island's rights she enacted a bidding war for another track, Maka Wuhu. Surprisingly, Yoshi emerged victorious over Mario, who, Like Luigi, had become more preoccupied with the upkeep of his own Circuit Tracks which held popularity through the Retro Cup.

7:

Both Wuhu Tracks present a unique concept for Mario Kart 7 - they are completed in a single lap. That single lap is enormous however, with three clearly distinct sections. They join Baby Park (7), Wario Colosseum (2), and 7's Rainbow Road (1) as the only tracks that aren't completed in three laps (Besides all the courses in SMK, which were done in 5 laps). Wuhu Loop opens the Flower Cup, and as such it is of moderate difficulty. There is an overriding circuit aspect, with mostly pavement and stretches of grassy offroad fields. There are also some mountainous aspects, though, winding through perilous edges before heading back to the town you start in. Additionally there is a bit of Traffic to deal with, but none nearly as severe as the Highway Tracks.

The Staff Ghost here is Peach, for some reason, who goes 01:44.287 using the Standard Kart, Sponge Tires, and Peach Parasol.The Expert Ghost switches to the Pipe Frame and Slick Tires, keeping the same Glider in 01:32.854. There isn't really any significant Air portions here and the Sponge Tires' boost of drifting is helpful here but there's better options that don't sacrifice so much speed (The Slick Tires for one), but there are better Kart options to emphasize this style. Try the Bumble V or Soda Jet with either Sponge or Slick and Peach is going down.

The Maka Wuhu Course concludes the Star Cup and earns this distinction by being one of the more complex courses in the game. Like the Wuhu Loop it is only one lap long, divided into three distinct sections. There are many alternate paths throughout the course, starting with options of dirt and pavement that weave through the first section's vast fields. The incredibly wide offroad sections are perfect for boosting over. There are also tunnel portions, an option for a quick underwater portion, a huge castle with a quasi-drivable section, and it all leads to a monster Air Jump down to an Island Finish. There are also some steep uphill parts with tremendous boulders crashing down on hapless drivers.

The Ghost here is Yoshi, which is possibly a reference to Double Dash's Yoshi Circuit that has some similar elements being an Island Track, but otherwise it seems fairly random. The Normal Staff Ghost pulls a 01:50.607 using the Bumble V, Sponge Wheels, and Paraglider. The Paraglider is a nice choice here, and there's certainly nothing wrong with the Bumble V / Sponge combo - it doesn't detract too much and adds boosts in some nice areas. The speed is fairly lacking though, the Gold or Slick Tires would be a better option. The Expert does just that and goes for speed, using the Standard Kart with Monster Tires and Super Glider. The Monster Tires have their own problems with acceleration and handling that the Standard doesn't absolve, so it can be countered.

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