Character Review: Mario Golf series

MARIO GOLF SERIES

There's not too much to say here. We'll have our golf gimmick reps, which we'll cover next, but outside of that we don't even really have any specialized individual moves to talk about (which is a surprise, I would think that that kind of mechanic might go hand in hand with this series). So let's just run through them, and that will be that.

Mario and Luigi both appear, alongside Mario variants such as Baby Mario, Metal Mario, and Gold Mario. Peach has always been a mainstay, and so has Daisy, and Rosalina made her debut in World Tour. Toad, strangely, got a bit of the short end of the stick with this series, being relegated to a mere support character for most of it until World Tour. (Sounds like his Smash representation all over again, except World Tour hasn't happened yet). Toadette joined him as DLC pretty shortly after.

Yoshi, Donkey Kong, and Wario have all been pretty much a constant, with their partners such as Birdo, Diddy Kong, and Waluigi following not too far behind. As for our villains, Bowser and Bowser Jr. are constants, with Bowser Jr.'s Shadow Mario form also cropping up in Toadstool Tour. Petey Piranha has shown up once, as has Nabbit, and even Kamek in a rare playable appearance. Koopas, Boos, and Paratroopas are the only enemy characters to appear as playable so far.

As for that, our only "guest" character is the Miis this time around, but at this point, they're to be pretty much expected. A number of other random characters appear here and there, mostly as background and obstacles and such (like a Thwomp in the middle of the course that will crush your ball if it lands on it), but most of that is pretty basic stuff we've seen a million times before.

Thanks for reading! Next up, we will get into our newcomer gimmick reps, starting with Plum!

Smash Character Review: Mario Tennis Series

 MARIO TENNIS SERIES

Today, let's do another quick runthrough of all the returning characters who might receive some kind of update as a result, but probably not much. We had a few newcomers unique to this series, mainly the RPG protagonists from the handheld games and Lucien, the villain of Aces. We won't be discussing any of them here, but will touch on all of that tomorrow.

First up, we have many of the core regulars. Mario and Luigi, Princess Peach, Princess Daisy, Wario, Waluigi, Yoshi, Donkey Kong, and Toad are pretty standard regulars through basically every single game, with this series acting as the debut of Waluigi in anything. Most saw special moves in Power Tennis or Aces, though mostly its all just stuff we're used to seeing attached to them. Mario had hammers and jumping and stuff, Luigi used his poltergust at one point, Peach was a whole bunch of hearts while Daisy was the same with flowers. Yoshi used lots of eggs and rainbows, Donkey Kong used barrels and bananas, and Toad used other Toads. Wario and Waluigi were a bit more random, though Waluigi's certainly added to his rather flamboyant persona with a whole lot of ballet-style dances and such.

A few more rare ally characters we saw playable here included Rosalina and one of her Lumas, Toadette, Birdo, Pauline, Baby Mario and Baby Peach, Diddy Kong and Donkey Kong Jr., and the Sprixie Princesses. Rosalina and Luma both used star-based attacks, Pauline got to sing a bit of her famous song, and Diddy Kong swung across vines, but most of those are pretty basic.

Bowser is a constant presence in the series, most of his specials making use of his fire breath. Bowser Jr. appears a bit less frequently, but has seen specials based on his paint abilities from Sunshine and his Klown Kar in later appearances. Kamek makes one of his only playable sports appearances in anything ever here, making himself grow gigantic, and the boss characters Petey Piranha, Dry Bowser, and Boom Boom also show up as playable.

Now for our enemy characters. Boo, specifically, seemed to be a big favorite for the developers and appeared in most of the major games. I'm not sure exactly why, per se, but I'm not complaining. If I had to guess, it probably has something to do with the game tending to favor airborne characters a bit, as we frequently also saw Paratroopas and Fly Guys playable alongside their normal land-based Koopa and Shy Guy relatives. (It's kind of a shame we never saw a playable Lakitu here then). Mario Tennis Aces introduces a number of enemies we hadn't seen before in this series, including Spike, Chain Chomp, Blooper, Dry Bones, and Fire Piranha Plant, leaving only Wiggler left appearing in a different title.

Outside of that, we only really have Miis left as playable. A number of characters appear in the background as extras and audience members, but as all they do is cheer you on, I don't see too much point in really covering them at all.

Thanks for reading! Next up, we will cover the first Tennis gimmick rep, which I have dubbed Alex & Nina.

Mario Tennis Aces

 MARIO TENNIS ACES

Today, let's cover the most recent game in the Tennis series, released for the Nintendo Switch. The game's biggest gimmick was the advertised story mode attached, but it's more of a "story mode" you tend to expect with games like this. The bare bones of a story and not much more. The tennis mechanics are pretty standard here, with all of your standard favorites like topspins, slices, flats, lobs, drop shots, star shots, and leap shots. We also have three special types of shots, including the trick shot, which slows down time to let you get to the ball faster; the zone shot, that lets you pivot your aim on a point to get a more accurate shot; and the special shot, a special move unique to each character.

Mario, Luigi, Peach, Daisy, Rosalina, Toad, Toadette, Yoshi, Donkey Kong, Wario, Waluigi, Bowser, Bowser Jr., and Boo all return in the base game, with Spike and Chain Chomp added as the big newcomers (honestly though, Chain Chomp with a racquet in its mouth is adorable). DLC characters came later, with Koopa, Diddy Kong, Birdo, Paratroopa, Shy Guy, Petey Piranha, Luma, and Dry Bowser returning, and Blooper, Boom Boom, Pauline, Kamek (EEEEEEE!), Dry Bones, and Fire Piranha Plant as full on newcomers.

As mentioned before, each has a special shot linked to them, mostly based on something connected with them. Mario wall jumps to get a better shot, Luigi sends it through pipes, Wario uses a fart (Hey! it's actually a thing somewhere (after Brawl. Hmm . . . )), Waluigi is just fabulous I guess, Peach uses hearts, Daisy uses flowers, Rosalina uses stars, Toad uses other Toads, Toadette just kinda hops a bit, Bowser uses his fire breath, Bowser Jr. uses his Klown Kar's punching gloves, Boo uses illusions, Yoshi uses rainbows, Donkey Kong sends it into barrel cannons, Spike coughs up a giant spiked bar, Chain Chomp breaks off his chain, Koopa Troopa spins alot, Diddy swings around on vines, Birdo is lifted into the air, Paratroopa flies around in a spiral, Shy Guy uses balloons, Petey Piranha whips up a tornado, Luma uses stars, Boom Boom just kinda gets mad and spins, Pauline sings a bit of "Jump Up, Superstar," Kamek makes himself grow gigantic, Dry Bones uses bones, Fire Piranha Plant uses its fire, and Dry Bowser uses his fire breath too.

We mentioned before a story mode, which includes a new villain named Lucien and a disembodied voice named Aster. Lucien is mostly just a possessed tennis racket who can possess other people, so any time you fight him, you're just fighting the other characters. He can also summon up a tornado, and shield or summon orbs to reflect balls back at you. Not much to go on. Probably works best as an assist or final smash or something. We'll see. Aster is mostly just your tutorial.

Our main stages include Marina Stadium, which comes with a hard, clay, and grass version; Bask Ruins, a desert level and Lucien's home; Piranha Plant Forest, a jungle level; Mirage Mansion, a haunted level; Snowfall Mountain, a snow level; Savage Sea, a pirate ship level; and Inferno Island, a Bowser's Castle level.

That's pretty much it! Let's see what we've got!

Characters:

Alex/Nina/Harry/Kate: serve, lob, top-spin, singles, doubles, slice, drop shot, flat shot, smash shot, charge shot, Banana, Mushroom, Lightning Bolt, Star, Green Shell, Red Shell, offensive special shot, defensive special shot, Chance Shots (fire flower, blooper, star, cheep cheep, bob-omb), Ultra Smash, Mega Battle, Trick Shot, Zone Shot, Special Shot

Ace/Clay: same as above, wall practice, ball machine, treadmill, balloon pump, jump, spin screw, duck walk, rope climb, Rock Paper Scissors, tightrope, tacklebot, memory game

Lucien: possess, tornado, shield, reflector ball

Mario: Iron Hammer, Spin Jump Return, Blazing Wall Jump

Luigi: Squeaky Mallet, Poltergust Return, Pipe Cannon

Princess Peach: Super Peach Spin, Sweet Kiss Return, Heart Shot

Toad: Super Toad Dive

Yoshi: Rainbow Flutter, Rolling Egg Return, Flying Rainbow

Koopa Troopa: Water Bomb, Water Shell Dash, Spin Break

Donkey Kong Jr.

Daisy: Wonder Flower, Flowerbed Return, Bloom Blast

Baby Mario

Birdo: Airlift Extravaganza

Donkey Kong: Barrel Cannon Blast, Boomerang Banana Return, Barrel Cannon Chaos

Wario: Thunder Cast Shot, Ultra Hand Return, Glorious Garlic Bomber

Waluigi: Whirluigi, Swimming Return, Showtime

Bowser: Fire Breath, Spinning Shell Dash, Firebreath Barrage

Boo: Boo Blast, Boo Brigade Return, Illusion Shot

Shy Guy: Lightning Spear, Spear Dance Return, Balloon Assist

Paratroopa: Energy Ball, Sky Dive, Spiral Special

Diddy Kong: Acrobatic Banana, Barrel Jet, Jungle Swing

Bowser Jr.: Magic Paint, Rolling Brush Return, Armed and Dangerous

Fly Guy: Tornado Twist, Tornado Return

Wiggler: Anger Management, Flutter Return

Petey Piranha: Sludge Racket, Piranha Swingback, Vicious Twister

Luma: Constellation Smash

Baby Peach

Dry Bowser

Mii

Metal Mario

Rosalina: Star Combo

Toadette: Hop Step Jump

Sprixie Princess

Spike: Spike Trick

Chain Chomp: Unleash

Blooper: Wave Rider

Boom Boom: Spiteful Strike

Pauline: Showstopper

Kamek: Gigantic Smash

Dry Bones: Bone Crusher

Fire Piranha Plant: Hot Shot

Dry Bowser: Blazing Barrage

Piranha Plant

Lakitu

Goomba

Magikoopa

Stages:

Tennis Court

Open Court

Hard Court

Clay Court

Grass Court

Composition Court

Bowser's Stage

Royal Academy

Castle Court

Tropics Court

Jungle Court

Star Court

Warehouse Court

Peach Dome

Luigi's Mansion Court

Delfino Plaza Court

Wario Factory Court

Gooper Blooper Court

DK Jungle Court

Bowser's Castle Court

Mario Classic Court

Mario Stadium

Mushroom Valley

Wario Dunes

DK Jungle

Peach's Palace

Penguin Iceberg

Bowser's Castle

Galaxy Arena

Super Mario Tennis

Carpet Court

Mushroom Court

Sand Court

Ice Court

Rebound Court

Morph Court

Marina Stadium

Bask Ruins

Piranha Plant Forest

Mirage Mansion

Snowfall Mountain

Savage Sea

Inferno Island

Thanks for reading! Now, let us begin our character sheets!

Mario Tennis (N64)

 MARIO TENNIS

Now, let's cover what most would consider the real start of the Mario Tennis franchise, the Nintendo 64 entry. The tennis in the game is a bit more complex than the tennis in the previous entry, adding in common tennis moves such as slices, drop, flat, and smash shots, and charges that give you a power-up (though not unique to any character at all). I'm not particularly an expert on the sport of tennis at all, but I think I got the general gist.

Our playable cast includes a bunch of Mario series regulars, most generally paired up with a built-in partner similar to Double Dash, given the whole singles and doubles thing to tennis, although its a bit looser than Double Dash. Mario has Luigi, Peach has Daisy, Donkey Kong has Donkey Kong Jr. (his only 3D appearance to my knowledge), Wario has Waluigi (created specifically for this game), Yoshi is paired up with Birdo for the first time, and then we have Toad, Baby Mario, Bowser, and the enemies Boo, Shy Guy, and Paratroopa without a super clear partner. We then also have the main RPG characters from the Game Boy game who can be transferred over if you have both games: Alex and Nina, and their partners Harry and Kate. (If you had any question as to the possible gimmick rep I've been considering . . .) We'll get to them in the next blog.

We don't really have any unique stages per se, as tennis courts come pretty standard, just with differences in the type of turf played on, which may impact the way the ball bounces off and such. These include open, hard, clay, grass, and composition courts, alongside courts with the various characters artwork displayed on them. There is also a Bowser Stage, where you play on a tennis court suspended over lava that tips from time to time.

This game features a few items as power-ups much like in the Mario Kart games. The banana peel will be deposited by your next ball wherever it lands, causing a potential hazard. The mushroom will give you a burst of speed on your shot. The lightning bolt will daze your opponent. The star will give you a power boost. The green shells will send three projectiles following the next hit, and the red shell will act as a homing missile. Generally, if you understand the Mario Kart items, these aren't too far off.

Here's what we've got so far:

Characters:

Tennis gimmick rep (Alex/Nina/Harry/Kate): serve, lob, top-spin, singles, doubles, slice, drop shot, flat shot, smash shot, charge shot, Banana, Mushroom, Lightning Bolt, Star, Green Shell, Red Shell

Mario

Luigi

Princess Peach

Toad

Yoshi

Koopa Troopa

Donkey Kong Jr.

Daisy

Baby Mario

Birdo

Donkey Kong

Wario

Waluigi

Bowser

Boo

Shy Guy

Paratroopa

Piranha Plant

Stages:

Tennis Court

Open Court

Hard Court

Clay Court

Grass Court

Composition Court

Bowser's Stage

Thanks for reading! Next up, we will cover the game's Game Boy counterpart!

Mario Kart 8

MARIO KART 8

And now we come to the end of our run of mainline Mario Kart games, with the most recent entry in the series, Mario Kart 8. This blog will focus solely on Mario Kart 8 for the Wii U specifically, and it's DLC, not on anything added to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe for the Switch. All of that will come later. Now, on to the game. One specific detail of note is that this game introduces the concept of Zero-Gravity, allowing the racers to cover all sorts of terrain at all kinds of insane angles that they wouldn't have been able to before. This might factor into the final character model's mobility, but probably not that much into the moveset specifically.

Our roster this time around brings back all of our main eight and Koopa, plus Daisy, Baby Mario, Baby Luigi, Waluigi, and Toadette from Double Dash, Shy Guy from DS, Baby Peach, Baby Daisy, Rosalina, and Mii from Wii, and Lakitu and Metal Mario from 7. Sadly missing a bunch this time, like regular favorites such as Bowser Jr., Birdo, and Diddy Kong. In their place, we instead see the long awaited introduction of all seven Koopalings, plus Baby Rosalina and . . . Pink Gold Peach? What even is . . . never mind. At least seven of them are awesome. The DLC also brings in Tanooki Mario, Cat Peach, and Dry Bowser and special guests Link from Legend of Zelda, and Villager and Isabelle from Animal Crossing, as well as several color variants for Yoshi and Shy Guy.

The Lakitu Ref also appears, of course, alongside regular and bone Piranha Plants, Boos, Chain Chomps, Deku Babas, Dry Bones, Fire Snakes, Freezies, Goombas, Keese, Mechakoopas, Mr. Resetti, Pokeys, and Thwomps as background and obstacles. New items to the game alongside old items include the Boomerang Flower, which lets you throw a boomerang at opponents; the Piranha Plant, which holds the plant out in front of you and lets them bite at opponents who get to close; the Super Horn, which you hold up and blast when someone gets too close to send them spinning, and the Crazy Eight, which is just the Lucky Seven all over again but with one more item in the mix.

The game once again follows the old tradition of having sixteen new tracks and sixteen retro tracks. The new ones this time are: Mario Kart Stadium, our standard generic starter; Water Park, a half-submerged amusement park; Sweet Sweet Canyon, remember Sugar Rush from Wreck-it Ralph? That; Thwomp Ruins, a huge ancient temple made of Thwomps; Mario Circuit, the standard track surrounding Peach's castle but specifically designed to show off the whole anti-grav thing; Toad Harbor, a San Francisco-esque port; Twisted Mansion, a haunted house level; Shy Guy Falls, a desert mine and canyon with a waterfall you can drive up; Sunshine Airport, an airport; Dolphin Shoals, a water level that lets you drive on the back of an Unagi; Electrodrome, sort of like Music Park but for techno music; Mount Wario (I'm sure Mona would love to), a huge snowy mountainous ski track; Cloudtop Cruise, a sky level with an airship included; Bone-Dry Dunes, a desert level; and finishing off with our standard Bowser's Castle and Rainbow Road as always.

Really not much to talk about with the Battle stages this time. Someone at their development team must have taken a sharp hit to the head and decided what people really wanted to battle on was the tracks from the game, just without Lakitu telling you you're going the wrong way. Crazy, right? Glad someone stepped in and said that probably wasn't a good idea before it could make it to the final game. Dodged a bullet there. Could you even imagine?

Our DLC tracks came with sixteen more tracks, this time a huge mix of old and new, not divided by cups. The new ones here are: Excitebike Track, based on the Excitebike games; Dragon Driftway, a huge swirling serpentine track; Mute City, based on the F-Zero games; Ice Ice Outpost, an icy level; Hyrule Circuit, based on the Legend of Zelda; Wild Woods, a twisting forest track; Animal Crossing, based on Animal Crossing; Super Bell Highway, a subway based on Super Mario 3D World; and Big Blue, also based on F-Zero.

Here's what we've got so far:

Characters:

Mario Kart: drive, brake, jump, turn, skid, etc., Banana Peel, Green Shell, Red Shell, Feather, Mushroom, Star, Ghost, Coin, Lightning, Egg, Fireball, Poison Mushroom, Triple Mushroom, Super Mushroom, Fake Item, Banana Bunch, Triple Green Shells, Triple Red Shells, Spiny Shell, dual driver, Blooper, Bob-Omb, Bullet Bill, Mega Mushroom, Thundercloud, POW Block, parasail, swim, Super Leaf, Lucky Seven, anti-gravity, Boomerang, Piranha Plant, Super Horn, and Crazy Eight.

Mario: fireballs

Luigi: fireballs

Peach: heart

Yoshi: giant egg

Bowser: Bowser shell

Donkey Kong Jr.

Toad: golden mushroom

Koopa: triple shells

Donkey Kong: giant banana

Wario: bob-omb

Daisy: heart

Birdo: giant egg

Baby Mario: Chain Chomp

Baby Luigi: Chain Chomp

Toadette: golden mushroom

Paratroopa: triple shells

Diddy Kong: giant banana

Bowser Jr.: Bowser shell

Waluigi: bob-ombs

Petey Piranha

King Boo

Dry Bones

ROB

Shy Guy

Baby Peach

Baby Daisy

Rosalina

Funky Kong

Dry Bowser

Mii

Metal Mario

Honeyqueen

Wiggler

Lakitu

The Koopalings

Baby Rosalina

Pink Gold Peach (but still no Kamek, huh?)

Fursuit Mario

Cat Peach

Dry Bowser

Link

Villager

Isabelle

Toadsworth

Kamek

Boo

Piranha Plant

Cheep Cheep

Monty Mole

Thwomp

Chain Chomp

Penguin

Mr. Blizzard

Bob-Omb

Hammer Bro

Little Mouser

Mechakoopa

Pianta

Goomba

Pokey

King Bob-Omb

Wiggler

Spiky Topman

Tiki Goon

Deku Baba

Keese

Mr. Resetti

Bosses:

Big Bully

Eyerok

Goomboss

King Boo

King Bob-Omb

Chief Chilly

Wiggler

Stages:

Mario Circuit

Donut Plains

Ghost Valley

Bowser's Castle

Choco Island

Koopa Beach

Vanilla Lake

Rainbow Road

Luigi Raceway

Moo Moo Farm

Koopa Troopa Beach

Kalimari Desert

Toad's Turnpike

Frappe Snowland

Choco Mountain

Mario Raceway

Wario Stadium

Sherbet Land

Royal Raceway

Bowser's Castle (64)

DK's Jungle Parkway

Yoshi Valley

Banshee Boardwalk

Rainbow Road (64)

Peach Circuit

Shy Guy Beach

Riverside Park

Mario Circuit (SC)

Boo Lake

Cheese Land

Luigi Circuit

Sky Garden

Cheep Cheep Island

Sunset Wilds

Snow Land

Ribbon Road

Yoshi Desert

Lakeside Park

Broken Pier

Bowser's Castle (SC)

Rainbow Road (SC)

Big Donut

Block Fort

Double Deck

Skyscraper

Luigi Circuit (DD)

Peach Beach

Baby Park

Dry Dry Desert

Mushroom Bridge

Mario Circuit (DD)

Daisy Cruiser

Waluigi Stadium

Sherbet Land (DD)

Mushroom City

Yoshi Circuit

DK Mountain

Wario Colosseum

Dino Dino Jungle

Bowser's Castle (DD)

Rainbow Road (DD)

Cookie Land

Block City

Nintendo Gamecube

Pipe Plaza

Luigi's Mansion

Tilt-a-Kart

Figure-8 Circuit

Yoshi Falls

Cheep Cheep Beach

Luigi's Mansion (DS)

Desert Hills

Delfino Square

Waluigi Pinball

Shroom Ridge

DK Pass

Tick Tock Clock

Mario Circuit (DS)

Airship Fortress

Wario Stadium (DS)

Peach Gardens

Bowser's Castle (DS)

Rainbow Road (DS)

Nintendo DS

Twilight House

Palm Shore

Tart Top

Luigi Circuit (Wii)

Moo Moo Meadows

Mushroom Gorge

Toad Factory

Mario Circuit (Wii)

Coconut Mall

DK Summit

Wario's Gold Mine

Daisy Circuit

Koopa Cape

Maple Treeway

Grumble Volcano

Dry Dry Ruins

Moonview Highway

Bowser's Castle (Wii)

Rainbow Road (Wii)

Block Plaza

Delfino Pier

Funky Stadium

Chain Chomp Wheel

Thwomp Desert

Galaxy Colosseum

Toad Circuit

Daisy Hills

Cheep Cheep Lagoon

Shy Guy Bazaar

Wuhu Loop

Mario Circuit (7)

Music Park

Rock Rock Mountain

Piranha Plant Slide

Wario Shipyard

Neo Bowser City

Maka Wuhu

DK Jungle

Rosalina's Ice World

Bowser's Castle (7)

Rainbow Road (7)

Honeybee Hive

Sherbet Rink

Wuhu Town

Mario Kart Stadium

Water Park

Sweet Sweet Canyon

Thwomp Ruins

Mario Circuit (8)

Toad Harbor

Twisted Mansion

Shy Guy Falls

Sunshine Airport

Dolphin Shoals

Electrodrome

Mount Wario

Cloudtop Cruise

Bone-Dry Dunes

Bowser's Castle (8)

Rainbow Road (8)

Excitebike Track

Dragon Driftway

Mute City

Ice Ice Outpost

Hyrule Circuit

Wild Woods

Animal Crossing

Super Bell Highway

Big Blue

Thanks for reading! Next up, we will cover our old characters in one big bundle (no need to go through them all one by one) before starting in on our two brand-new characters!

Mario Kart DS

 MARIO KART DS

Today, let's cover Mario Kart DS for the, well, Nintendo DS naturally. The game returns to the basic one-driver concept, but most everything else sticks pretty close to the standards set by 64 and Double Dash. If you asked my opinion, it is probably the best of the main handheld games for many different reasons that we'll likely at least touch on here.

For our character roster, we cut down to just the main eight once again as our base roster, but with Daisy, Waluigi, newcomer Dry Bones, and special guest ROB added in as unlockable characters. We also have a playable Shy Guy, although that one's a little weird. You can't access the character on the character select, but if you connect wirelessly with someone who has the game, but you don't, you will be defaulted to Shy Guy. Neat. I guess. Most items that return remain much the same as seen before, with lots of mushrooms, shells, bananas, and so on, but we do have two new items: the Bullet Bill, which transforms you into a bullet bill and rockets you along the track; and the Blooper, which squirts your opponents' screens with ink, reducing their visibility.

Now, this game has a very unique and distinct feature that requires I talk about our supporting characters. First up, obviously Lakitu returns as the ref, and the Angry Sun, Boos, Bubbas, Bullet Bills, Chain Chomps, Cheep Cheeps, Piranha Plants, Fire Snakes, Goombas, Monty Moles, Moo Moos, Piantas, Pokeys, Rocky Wrenches, Sidesteppers, Mr. Blizzards, Swoops, and Thwomps all appear as obstacles or in the background, but we also get a single-player mission mode that features several boss battles against familiar faces from Super Mario 64 DS specifically. These include Big Bully, who rams into you; Eyerok, who flies around and slams its fist down; Goomboss, who will race you while tossing out obstacles to get in your way; King Boo, who will turn invisible and steal your coins; King Bob-Omb, who will stomp around and throw Bob-Ombs; Chief Chilly, who will charge at you; and Wiggler, who will race you.

As for our standard sixteen tracks, we have: Figure-8 Circuit, the standard generic track; Yoshi Falls, a circular track with waterfalls running over it; Cheep Cheep Beach, a beach level; Luigi's Mansion, based on Luigi's Mansion; Desert Hills, a desert level; Delfino Square, based on Super Mario Sunshine; Waluigi Pinball, the BEST Mario Kart track; Shroom Ridge, a mountainous track with high cliffs on one side; DK Pass, a snow level; Tick Tock Clock, a course built inside a giant clock; Mario Circuit, a standard track around Peach's Castle; Airship Fortress, an awesome track that takes you through a scene of an airship bombarding a castle; Wario Stadium, another standard motocross arena; Peach Gardens, that take you through the garden in front of Peach's Castle; this game's rendition of Bowser's Castle, and this game's rendition of Rainbow Road. We also have sixteen more tracks for the retro cup, which are all recreations of tracks from previous games. As we've seen all those already, I won't go into them again.

Our battle tracks include: Nintendo DS, following after the last game's Game Cube track; Twilight House, a sprawling spooky maze with lots of rooms; Palm Shore, a beach level; and Tart Top, set on top of a giant tart. Block Fort and Pipe Maze also return from previous games. I believe that's it.

Here's what we've got so far:

Characters:

Mario Kart: drive, brake, jump, turn, skid, etc., Banana Peel, Green Shell, Red Shell, Feather, Mushroom, Star, Ghost, Coin, Lightning, Egg, Fireball, Poison Mushroom, Triple Mushroom, Super Mushroom, Fake Item, Banana Bunch, Triple Green Shells, Triple Red Shells, Spiny Shell, dual driver, Blooper, Bob-Omb, Bullet Bill

Mario: fireballs

Luigi: fireballs

Peach: heart

Yoshi: giant egg

Bowser: Bowser shell

Donkey Kong Jr.

Toad: golden mushroom

Koopa: triple shells

Donkey Kong: giant banana

Wario: bob-omb

Daisy: heart

Birdo: giant egg

Baby Mario: Chain Chomp

Baby Luigi: Chain Chomp

Toadette: golden mushroom

Paratroopa: triple shells

Diddy Kong: giant banana

Bowser Jr.: Bowser shell

Waluigi: bob-ombs

Petey Piranha

King Boo

Dry Bones

ROB

Shy Guy

Lakitu

Toadsworth

Kamek

Boo

Piranha Plant

Cheep Cheep

Monty Mole

Thwomp

Chain Chomp

Penguin

Mr. Blizzard

Bob-Omb

Hammer Bro

Little Mouser

Mechakoopa

Pianta

Goomba

Pokey

King Bob-Omb

Wiggler

Bosses:

Big Bully

Eyerok

Goomboss

King Boo

King Bob-Omb

Chief Chilly

Wiggler

Stages:

Mario Circuit

Donut Plains

Ghost Valley

Bowser's Castle

Choco Island

Koopa Beach

Vanilla Lake

Rainbow Road

Luigi Raceway

Moo Moo Farm

Koopa Troopa Beach

Kalimari Desert

Toad's Turnpike

Frappe Snowland

Choco Mountain

Mario Raceway

Wario Stadium

Sherbet Land

Royal Raceway

Bowser's Castle (64)

DK's Jungle Parkway

Yoshi Valley

Banshee Boardwalk

Rainbow Road (64)

Peach Circuit

Shy Guy Beach

Riverside Park

Mario Circuit (SC)

Boo Lake

Cheese Land

Luigi Circuit

Sky Garden

Cheep Cheep Island

Sunset Wilds

Snow Land

Ribbon Road

Yoshi Desert

Lakeside Park

Broken Pier

Bowser's Castle (SC)

Rainbow Road (SC)

Big Donut

Block Fort

Double Deck

Skyscraper

Luigi Circuit (DD)

Peach Beach

Baby Park

Dry Dry Desert

Mushroom Bridge

Mario Circuit (DD)

Daisy Cruiser

Waluigi Stadium

Sherbet Land (DD)

Mushroom City

Yoshi Circuit

DK Mountain

Wario Colosseum

Dino Dino Jungle

Bowser's Castle (DD)

Rainbow Road (DD)

Cookie Land

Block City

Nintendo Gamecube

Pipe Plaza

Luigi's Mansion

Tilt-a-Kart

Figure-8 Circuit

Yoshi Falls

Cheep Cheep Beach

Luigi's Mansion (DS)

Desert Hills

Delfino Square

Waluigi Pinball

Shroom Ridge

DK Pass

Tick Tock Clock

Mario Circuit (DS)

Airship Fortress

Wario Stadium (DS)

Peach Gardens

Bowser's Castle (DS)

Rainbow Road (DS)

Nintendo DS

Twilight House

Palm Shore

Tart Top

Thanks for reading! Next up, we will cover Mario Kart for the Wii!