Lakitu

History:

Green-Shelled Lakitus had for years served as the Marshals of the Grand Prix. They provide all officiating, including starting races, telling drivers when they're going backwards, and fishing them out of hazards or out-of-bounds areas. The Lakitus, normally enemies of Mario, agreed to be arbitrators in the Grand Prix because of their convenient ability to float and lift things, as well as their non-judgmental and impartial nature.

Tho these Green-Shelled members of the Lakitu Race were normally adversarial and strictly nonpartisan, a Red-Shelled Lakitu took it upon himself to enter into the actual Driving of the 2011 tournament. Such an act was unprecedented in the Lakitu community and he faced many trials and harsh words, as being non-bias observers and aides in the Grand Prix had become something of a staple in Lakitu Society. He faced exile from the Giga Lakitu himself, although his fat corruption by that point had known no bounds. Nevertheless, Lakitu found his way onto the Track, helped construct the Piranha Plant Slide with his allegiance with the Koopas, and even resurrected an ancient version of Rainbow Road using his Lakitu access to the Grand Prix Archives.

7:

Lakitu makes an odd appearance as a Driver in Mario Kart 7. He has a Red Shell to distinguish himself from other Evil Lakitus as well as the impartial Race Judge Lakitus. The Racers in 7 are divided into five weight classes of equal stats. In addition to this, each racer has his or her own signature Kart, though they are free to use any of the sixteen Karts, ten sets of wheels, and seven gliders, which makes a ridiculous number of possible combinations. Here we examine just one of those combinations that works well with Lakitu's class, the Featherweights, and his classic ride, the Cloud 9.

As a Featherweight, his stats are equal to Toad, Koopa, and Shy Guy. He excels at Sea Speed, Acceleration, Handling, Off-Road, Mini-Turbo, and Drift at the expense of Land Speed and Weight. These are a lot of advantages, but may not fit every playing style or course. The Cloud 9 is a good Kart that emphasizes the Featherweights, lacking Land Speed and Weight, but boosting everything else. To this we added the Mushroom Tires. Anything else would make its dismal Top Speed much lower, sacrifice its excellent underwater and aerial Speed, or rob it of some other advantage it needs over Off-Road. Its acceleration and handling stay high while its this stat plummets but doesn't become unbearable. This combo works in tracks with lots of Air and Sea travel, such as Cheep Cheep Lagoon, Koopa Cape, Piranha Plant Slide, Wario's Shipyard, and Koopa Troopa Beach. It can handle its own on land, but ultimately this is an aquatic vehicle now.

Lakitu, like all the other Drivers in 7, has two Staff Ghosts on two Tracks in Time Trials. His first is on Piranha Plant Slide where the Normal Staff Ghosts uses the Standard Kart, Monster Tires, and Super Glider in 02:20.186. The Expert switches to Lakitu's signature Cloud 9, with Sponge Tires, and Paraglider in 02:06.540. Neither takes advantage of the undersea ability of the Cloud 9. His second is on the retro SNES Rainbow Road, which he gets for being kind of an other-worldly, significant entry as a driver, considering the storied history of his species and Mario Kart. He goes 01:34.459 in the Pipe Frame, Slim Wheels, and Super Glider. His Drift, Mini-Turbo, and Handling are going to be excellent, although his speed will heavily decrease. If you can pull off a faster racer while staying on the track you can beat him. The Expert does 01:21.994 using the Cloud 9, Roller Wheels, and Paraglider. The Roller Wheels overemphasize the Cloud 9's strengths, as well as its weaknesses. While it will be a technologically efficient machine, again, its speed will be shot, take it down by not falling off.

Pipe Tracks

History:

After gaining credibility with their Beach Tracks the Koopa Troop set out to carve one of the most ambitious tracks in Mario Kart History out of their cliffside isles. Announcing that they have truly arrived on the Racing Scene, Koopa Cape uses all of their resources, from jumps to pipes and perilous cliffs.

The Piranha Plant Slide was crafted by Lakitu using much of the Koopa Pipe Technology as well as a partnership with Petey Piranha who had been attempting to become King of All Piranha Plants. Both of these Pipe Tracks were able to bring a fresh spin and new eyes to a Grand Prix that had become tired and predictable by the time of their construction.

Wii:

Koopa Cape is the second course in the Star Cup and it's an incredible track. It clearly has origins with something like Koopa Troopa Beach from 64, but much more. It has a little bit of everything. Alongside a gorgeous water vista there are cliffs, forests, rivers, pipes, sheer drops, twists, straightaways and off-road to be had. It's therefore compatible with many kinds of playing styles. There are many jumps, boosts, and half-pipes although generally unless you're desperate for an Item they take longer to get through. Its many different yet linked kinds of terrain makes it one of the most diverse and unique tracks of any Mario Kart game.

More importantly is the subtle multiple pathways to be taken. The river is substantially faster than dry land and it should be taken whenever possible. There are some good Off-Road cut-throughs to be had around the first riverbend if you have a Mushroom or Star. After the waterfall drops you in the pipe over the starting line the most dangerous hazard is the electrical bolts that are tough to avoid and can really ruin your day. Staying on the water to get a boost whenever possible is vital and the turn is also fairly ridiculous. Someone with handy drifting skills and good acceleration out of those turns like Dry Bones or Waluigi would do well here.

The Ghost though, is Koopa Troopa. He goes 03:03.022 using the Cheep Charger, which does have good drift and the Expert uses the Bubble Bike in 02:41.370. It's one of the longest courses in the game, third only to Bowser's Castle and Rainbow Road among Original Tracks and the N64 Bowser's Castle is the only track longer than any of those.

The Course comes back in Mario Kart 7, where there are a few change that significantly affect gameplay, most notably that the long Pipe Section is now completely underwater, necessitating a craft that can sustain a good aquatic speed. The electrical bolts are replaced with Cheep Cheeps, which is somewhat easier to deal with. Tho shorter than Wii, it is again very long, second in the game only to Maple Treeway, which wasn't shortened as much in comparison to its original. The Ghost is again Koopa in 02:49.046 using the Standard, Monster Tires, and Super Glider, which should really suffer underwater. The Expert uses the Cact-X, Standard Tires, and Flower Glider in 02:28.585, which has no real advantages but has moderate submarine capabilities.

7:

Although the locales of these two tracks are very different, they share enough similar game play to group them together here. The Piranha Plant Slide is also in the Star Cup, this time as its first track. It also features long rivers to drive down and significant underwater travel. It's interesting that it's almost as if the Off-Road portions here are the normal driving surfaces that slow racers down.

The big obstacle here are the handful of Giant Piranha Plants that attack nearby racers. Avoid them and stick on the running water. The course is generally flat with some deviations and its core layout isn't nearly as complex as Koopa Cape. Still, there is river travel, land travel, underwater travel, a brief but perilous air travel where making a wrong move around the waterfalls or getting hit by an item can mean doom, as well as a fairly straightforward patch near the end that has some classic Off-Road rough.The turns are sharp here, but the course is wide enough that anyone with plenty of speed and poor handling can deal with it.

The Ghost here is Lakitu for some reason. As it's a course primarily associated with Mario Enemies but not really the dark and evil kind associated with Bowser, it makes sense for an enemy to call this home, and with Koopa and Wiggler attached to more obvious tracks, Lakitu ends up here. The Normal Staff Ghosts uses the Standard Kart, Monster Tires, and Super Glider, actually exactly the same as Koopa did on Koopa Cape, in 02:20.186. The Expert switches to Lakitu's signature Cloud 9, with Sponge Tires, and Paraglider in 02:06.540. While the Cloud 9 is a good Sea Kart, the Sponge Tires negates its usefulness. Either the Wood or Roller Tires are a better choice. With the actual need for Aerial Navigation around the water spouts, the Flower Glider or Peach Parasol may actually be a good choice as well.