Whether you think it's an excellent strategic tactic, or a cheap trick that sees too much abuse, it doesn't really matter: snaking has apparently been removed from the upcoming Mario Kart Wii.
Quote:
The second big difference is the removal of snaking. Ever since the N64 game, practically every Mario Kart game has included the ability to get a speed boost by waggling the controls left and right as you powerslide. This has finally been scrapped, and now your speed boost is determined by how long you can hold the slide.
I always thought snaking was doing a short powerslide left, then a short right, then left, etc along a straight stretch of road (which is where it gets controversial). The quote talks about the regular old power slides.
I can't say I'll miss constant control-stick waggling, though. This sounds like a much better idea for boosts.
I always thought snaking was doing a short powerslide left, then a short right, then left, etc along a straight stretch of road (which is where it gets controversial). The quote talks about the regular old power slides.
I can't say I'll miss constant control-stick waggling, though. This sounds like a much better idea for boosts.
In MKDS at least, you got your boost levels from a certain controller motion while power sliding. In this way, if you were fast enough on the controller, you'd power slide left, right right right boost, power slide right, left left left boost. I haven't played in a while so that might not be 100% but that's the gist.
A system that rewards length of powerslides still rewards skill without ruining the flow/pattern of the race. This is a vast improvement IMO.
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Well, if this is as effective of a fix as the SSBB fix for the wave dashing exploit, it will last all of a few days before someone finds a new way to do the same thing.
Quote:
Originally Posted by OSX
The metaphor stands: taking out a half reviled, half loved but undoubtedly advanced and effective tactic in the interest of evening the playing field.
They did the same thing with grenades for TF2.
It wasn't an "advanced effective tactic", it was an exploit. In MMOs you get banned for pulling shit like that.
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Well, if this is as effective of a fix as the SSBB fix for the wave dashing exploit, it will last all of a few days before someone finds a new way to do the same thing.
It wasn't an "advanced effective tactic", it was an exploit. In MMOs you get banned for pulling shit like that.
Granted, that was a bad example. But I think such advance tactics are more frowned upon in MMOs because they mess with the in game economy. AWPs and Snaking are the in game equivalent of someone having a nice pair of Nike Shox instead of an old pair of tennis shoes. A slight advantage in competition provided by means to do so.
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Good change. The best Mario Kart game is the first one, on Super Nintendo, which didn't have snaking. I haven't enjoyed every Mario Kart since, partly because I'm too busy trying to do the snake at every turn, rather than just focus on racing and having fun.
Granted, that was a bad example. But I think such advance tactics are more frowned upon in MMOs because they mess with the in game economy. AWPs and Snaking are the in game equivalent of someone having a nice pair of Nike Shox instead of an old pair of tennis shoes. A slight advantage in competition provided by means to do so.
An AWP is nowhere near to snaking. An AWP that did not lose accuracy while moving, and could fire as fast as an uzi would be a better comparison. Snakers don't lose against non snakers.
someone with an AWP is not that hard to beat, you just have to be smart.
Snaking is unintended gameplay, the AWP was intended.
I don't know how so many people can think something as consequential as snaking could 'unintentionally' be implemented by Nintendo in no less than three successive games.
I've never been able to pull off snaking, and I always lose against people who can do it. And yet, I'm not bothered by this, and I still manage to enjoy the game. Relax, people.
I won't shed any tears for its death in MK Wii, though.
I don't know how so many people can think something as consequential as snaking could 'unintentionally' be implemented by Nintendo in no less than three successive games.
I've never been able to pull off snaking, and I always lose against people who can do it. And yet, I'm not bothered by this, and I still manage to enjoy the game. Relax, people.
I won't shed any tears for its death in MK Wii, though.
Unless you Snake you can't get 3 stars on every race. It's a pain to due, but on most tracks I can always have a boost going. Straight track snaking is annoying, but on tracks that have turns, you can usually get 3 boosts in by starting the turn early.
I try to avoid it in online play (straight track snaking), but I learned it to get 3 stars on everything. I boost on every turn now though.
I agree. They should definitely take out anything involving skill from future Wii games. Gameplay elements that reward practice are cheating, plain and simple.
In all honesty, though, power slide boosting in its current form would've been much harder with the Wii Wheel control scheme, and since that's the primary way to play, I can see why they'd take it out.
My main problem with snaking, and I suspect this is at the root of why others don't like it, is that it feels gimmicky - that is, it doesn't seem to have anything to do with racing. When I was growing up, Mario Kart was never a 'perform as many combos as fast as possible' style game. The skill involved had to do mainly with steering at the right times and avoiding obstacles (granted, this aspect of Mario Kart isn't that difficult, but it took some getting the hang of for a 10 year old, especially at 100-150cc).
Now, nobody expects MK to be an accurate/realistic racing game. But the motions required to pull off snaking are so divorced from anything resembling racing that it sort of ruins whatever suspension of disbelief you might have. It's no longer a racing game, it's a game of learning to press buttons in a certain way that correspond to absolutely nothing in the real world.
So that's why I've never really bothered with it. But still, it doesn't bother me. Do I dare say 'it's just a game, don't take it too seriously' on a site such as this?
The execution of several consecutive mini-turbos, by drifting back and forth across a straightaway, is a technique known as "snaking", but is officially called a "Mini-Turbo".[4] Snaking was originally known as performing "Straight-Stretch Mini-Turbos" in the Mario Kart 64 era.[citation needed]
Nintendo Power magazine once responded to a reader mail in its Pulse section, describing snaking as "kind of lame" and that it goes against the original intentions of the game's developers.[citation needed] As with the issue in Mario Kart 64,[citation needed] Nintendo has not commented on this. A Nintendo of America official has personally described snaking as an intentional part of the game's design, considering that a similar technique could also be performed in Mario Kart: Double Dash!!.[4]
I would like to see snaking return, but I think rewarding longer power slides is a great design choice. You could pull off some killer long slides in MKDS.
The two things I'd like to see is more balanced karts and adjustable item frequency.
I agree. They should definitely take out anything involving skill from future Wii games. Gameplay elements that reward practice are cheating, plain and simple.
So, I guess you're one of those people who learn all of the map bugs in Halo 2 and 3, and use them to your advantage? That is the exact same skill (going to low-class gaming boards and finding explicit instructions on exploiting flaws in game mechanics in multiplayer games).
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My main problem with snaking, and I suspect this is at the root of why others don't like it, is that it feels gimmicky - that is, it doesn't seem to have anything to do with racing. When I was growing up, Mario Kart was never a 'perform as many combos as fast as possible' style game. The skill involved had to do mainly with steering at the right times and avoiding obstacles (granted, this aspect of Mario Kart isn't that difficult, but it took some getting the hang of for a 10 year old, especially at 100-150cc).
Now, nobody expects MK to be an accurate/realistic racing game. But the motions required to pull off snaking are so divorced from anything resembling racing that it sort of ruins whatever suspension of disbelief you might have. It's no longer a racing game, it's a game of learning to press buttons in a certain way that correspond to absolutely nothing in the real world.
So that's why I've never really bothered with it. But still, it doesn't bother me. Do I dare say 'it's just a game, don't take it too seriously' on a site such as this?
You nailed what the annoyance with snaking is. It also looks really fucking stupid to watch people Snake. After learning more about snaking it seems to be like canceling moves in Street Fighter, originally a bug, that grew into a feature, that still looks like a bug. At least in Guilty Gear when you cancel it drains a meter and does not LOOK like a bug.
Snaking looks like a bug, feels like an exploit. If snaking is truely wanted, Nintendo should make it look like less of a bug.
I think there will still be straight road snaking in the Wii version, but now everyone is going sideways to build to to max boost.
I never did "snaking" in MK:64. By snaking I am talking about holding R in a turn then moving the control stick left and right 2 or 3 times. I hopped around turns in MK64.
MKD did not have hopping, instead there were sparks when you slid and they turned blue when you moved the control stick back and forth a few times. MK: DS also had this sparks system and this was the first time I heard people talk about "snaking" which I assumed was the constant use of powersliding even on straight-aways. The latter does seem like an exploit since the creators just wanted people to boost around turns
Some tracks are designed with a series of curves that promote snaking - both the Peach tracks come to mind.
The only reason I dislike snaking is that it creates tiers, which leads to boredom. Otherwise, it makes the game deeper and gives you something to do down those long straightaways. As for gimmicky, no.
D did not have hopping, instead there were sparks when you slid and they turned blue when you moved the control stick back and forth a few times. MK: DS also had this sparks system and this was the first time I heard people talk about "snaking" which I assumed was the constant use of powersliding even on straight-aways. The latter does seem like an exploit since the creators just wanted people to boost around turns
