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Gaming
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Our writers and editors look back on their favourite tracks
Maple Treeway
Kayleigh Fraser
- Campus Comments sub-editor
I’ve been an avid Mario Kart fan for as long as I can remember. Over that time, I’ve played plenty of tracks hundreds of times. But, sometimes, there are certain tracks that stick out. For me, that’s Maple Treeway from Mario Kart Wii. Everything about this track is just wholesome and good.
From the cannon that shoots you across the forest, to the little piles of orange leaves scattered around the track that blow into the screen when you drive over them, Maple Treeway is a joy to play. Plus, it’s so unique! What other track sees you drive across tree branches and even inside a tree trunk at one point? That’s right, Maple Treeway!
I suppose the only annoying thing about it are those two giant yellow catterpillars that block your entrance to the (far less annoying) windy bridge for tricks upon tricks before crossing the line. The soundtrack is, in my opinion, one of the best in the entire game. The track overall is so full of energy and life compared to some other tracks from the Wii version (yes, I’m talking about you Daisy Circuit). Other honourable mentions from the Wii have to go to Mushroom Gorge and the (far more popular) Coconut Mall, but I’ll stick with my pumpkin spiced, sweet syruped autumn dream that is Maple Treeway every time
Tick-Tock Clock
Hannah Ross
Tick-Tock Clock is a track that brings me more nostalgia than any other Mario Kart race. I was delighted when they brought it back for Mario Kart 8 as it has allowed the classic track to be experienced with all the upgrades and fine-tuning Nintendo has given the game over the years.
Perhaps I am a little biased – Mario Kart DS was the first Nintendo game I ever played and would it entertain me for hours at a time. Whilst many of the courses have faded into the abyss of my brain, I still remember every detail of Tick-Tock Clock like it was yesterday.
The race is based on the course from Super Mario 64 and is set inside a giant grandfather clock. There is never a dull part of this course: there are constantly new mechanisms approaching, through cogs, clock hands, and a giant pendulum. There is an art to this track that I find is under-appreciated. Every section requires attention as seeing the direction of movement of each gear can make or break your run. I always felt a pleasing smugness going over the final bridge, fenced in by two cogs moving in opposite directions, and hopping on one cog to speed over the finish line. Replaying it on my old Nintendo DS still brings me such joy!
Coconut Mall
Emily Kelso
- Comments sub-editor
Everyone knows Coconut Mall is the best track, right? It shouldn't even be up for debate. If you're new to Mario Kart or you have been hoodwinked into believing another track is the best, then listen up!
Before we even begin with the track itself, the music needs addressing. The Coconut Mall track music is the most iconic of any Mario Kart track. Can you recall the jig-like music of Moo Moo Meadows? What about the unsettling melodies that haunts your ears during Bowser's Castle? Coconut Mall is the only track here with memorable, memeworthy and enjoyable music. Rainbow Road could arguably be cited as also having memorable music, but we're talking about the best track here, not the most traumatic.
The track itself is glorious in its unpredictability and many routes to pick from. From the outset, you need to carefully watch the escalators to make sure they don't change and slow you down! Once you get inside Coconut Mall, there are options abound. Go down the escalator? Stay on the main floor? Or quickly dash through a shop? When leaving the mall, do you opt for a ground floor exit or fly high from the roof?
There is jeopardy near the end of each lap with the Miis trying to park their cars. One false press of a button and you could slam right into their car and lose your 1st place position to Toad, the smug little you-know-what. Clearly, Coconut Mall keeps you on your toes and no lap is the same. How is Coconut Mall not the best Mario Kart track?
Images: Nintendo
An ode to the video game community and inclusivity
Kefan Chen
It's not perfect, but inclusivity is constantly on the up in the video game
Unlike most other forms of entertainment, video games are accessible to anyone. When participating in any kind of game, people are required to adopt a new perspective. Thanks to video games, real-life collaborative play that broadens perspectives and creates new communities is now feasible.
The current video gaming audience is nearly equally split between men and women (54 percent vs 46 percent ), defying the stereotype that gaming is a male-dominated activity. People from all around the globe gather to play games, even if they cannot speak the same language. These new connections help gamers empathise and build compassion across cultures.
And even if you're on opposing political or geographical sides, you share more than you realise. First, we must learn to empathise with others who are unlike us.
Games have more power than just evoking emotions. Adult gamers increasingly play with others in groups, both online and offline. Matchmaking servers and algorithms bring these strangers together to achieve a common goal.
One mechanism alone has developed new social components and methods to participate in video game culture. Teamwork and camaraderie are fostered as well as a deeper understanding of one another as players from all backgrounds work together to attain a shared objective. Also, esports fans who gather online to discuss events, or those who travel long distances to attend live events, frequently bond over their shared passion for teams and people.
Accessibility has also been increasingly prioritised. In 2008, one in every five casual gamers had a physical disability. Advocacy organisations like AbleGamers, which strives to enhance the quality of gaming for disabled individuals, have helped disabled gamers. As of 2018, the Xbox Adaptive Controller allows persons with restricted movement to enjoy games on the Xbox. In 2015, a Sony PS4 system update brought text-tospeech, button remapping, and a larger typeface. Users may also now control on-screen activities via Tobii, an eyetracking peripheral.
The gaming community is expanding dramatically now that more people can play more games in whichever manner they choose. Their ability to connect and build communities may make them better social change agents.
Lual Mayen - a South Sudanese refugee - is the CEO of Junub Games, an American video game production firm. Inspired by his own personal experiences, he has spearheaded games that promote peace and conflict resolution. In his debut game - Salaam (2018) - the player takes the viewpoint of a refugee, with the gameplay being based around survival elements: the player must avoid explosions, get water, and seek energy points. Through Junub's philanthropic affiliations, portions of the game revenue is used to directly benefit refugees. Games for Change is actively establishing an industrial gaming community. Video games may be a powerful tool for social change that nonprofits may use to build a community around. Games for Change hosts events like XR Brain Jam, a hackathon that brings together academics and game creators to encourage the creation of innovative health-related games.
All of this is addressed at the annual Games for Change Festival, which also includes educational games. Edtech, journalists and educators from all around the world gather to explore how to effectively use this media for social benefit.
Students that take part in the Games for Change Student Challenge develop strong personal qualities, such as: empathy, cooperation, creativity, and communication. In the hands of children, games become one of the most potent methods to tell tales. Increasing "empathy and awareness of diversity" and producing "macro-minded citizens" via games.
In an increasingly splintered culture, these soft skills help young athletes better heal the rifts. Sports bring together people from diverse cultures, beliefs, and ages, and they realise they have a lot in common.
Social interaction via video games has never been more vital, particularly in today's more polarised society. In our increasingly divided world, video games enable us to rediscover the value of play, community, and social impact.
Mushroom Gorge
George Bell
- Film sub-editor and Courier Jester
Aproblematic question if ever there were one but one that must be answered. Without his mushrooms, Mario would be what we all expect Chris Pratt’s performance to be: a shallow (red) shell of our favourite Italian. Mushrooms are what keep this heavy-footed plumber jumping day after day and castle after castle. What could be better than those sweet and powerful mushrooms?
An ENTIRE course filled with giant mushrooms, that’s what.
Noticeably absent from Mario Kart 8, Mushroom Gorge is always ignored in favour of inferior courses like Coconut Mall but its time in the spotlight (a dark, damp spotlight) has finally come. It never gets boring thanks to multiple opportunities for more advanced players to take some daring shortcuts as well as the course is split into two distinctively different biomes with open hills and gloomy caves.
The magnum opus of the Mushroom Gorge is its namesake, the giant mushrooms. Traversing across the course, bouncing from one mushroom to the next is an exhilarating experience that you will get hooked on immediately, filling you with hallucinogenic euphoria every time you race here.
But the real reason Mushroom Gorge is the best course is that it is one extra 'e' away from being Mushroom George, which I think is pretty cool.
Bowsers Castle (DS+Wii)
Garvit Hora
Bowser’s Castle, among all its Satanic hellfire, is the most skill-based and thrilling ride in all of Mario Kart. Thwomps, as regularly dispersed as they are in Mario Kart tracks, seem to be designed for this map. Their rage and abrasiveness encapsulate the spirit of Bowser’s Castle to a tee.
Its abundance of turns makes balance an excitable challenge. With the lava looming underneath the entire track, a deep plunge, whether by driving off or being pushed in, makes for a long recovery time. Every fall is critical.
Aside from the technicality of Bowser’s Castle, its visuals and architecture, from Bowser’s shrines to the perforated metal floors and the unthreatening Podoboos, are immaculate. Bowser’s defined position within the Mario Bros. universe aids a deeper understanding of and greater potential for an extension in his character. The map is so archetypically Bowser that anyone familiar with any other Mario Bros games will connect immediately and appreciate the track’s overall aesthetic. To top it all off, the ghoulish synths in the soundtrack meld perfectly with the map, adding to the spooky mood the track emanates. And thus, I declare Bowser’s Castle the best Mario Kart track, for its strong lead on all fronts – aesthetic, playfulness, music, heat.
Waluigi Pinball
Michael Duckworth - Gaming sub-editor
Arelic from Nintendo DS past, a monument to the greatest video game character ever designed, an enormous death trap disguised as an arcade amusement… Waluigi Pinball.
Techno synth bops fill the air as you and your competitors are launched alongside ginormous pinballs onto a rollercoaster track plummeting you to the board below. Your fragile mortality becomes increasingly harder to ignore as the screams of your friends begin ringing out as the pinballs begin their mindless massacre. No one is safe around these metallic monstrosities, and the situation only worsens as you enter the pièce de resistance: the pinball board itself. The narrow gulley's that led you down release you onto a wide open plain, dotted around are some easy to dodge pop bouncers and two innocent looking paddles, easy peasy right?
Well you’d be wrong, as the pinballs follow you into the board, chaos erupts. The pinballs target you with a cut-throat precision, from all directions the balls bounce around you forcing you to adapt on the fly. The swerving path may direct you down a safe side channel but those unfortunate enough to be stuck in the centre path will be subject to devastating side swipe from those unpredictable paddles as they knock the pinballs back up the board. As you struggle for survival on this death ride you can look up to see the visage of an ambivalent god. Waluigi looks down at his creation and it is good.
Images: Nintendo
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Preview: The Ezio Collection on Nintendo Switch
Leo David Prajogo
The Ezio Trilogy is regarded fondly by fans as having some of the best games in the Assassin’s Creed series. Set in Renaissance Italy, and later Constantinople, it follows legendary Assassin Ezio Auditore from birth to death.
Assassin’s Creed is centred around an eternal conflict between authoritarian Templars and freedom-protecting Assassins. Modern day protagonists tap into their genetic memories to relive their ancestors’ experiences.
After the events of the first Assassin’s Creed game, our hero Desmond explores his ancestor Ezio Auditore da Firenze’s life. We follow Ezio’s journey from a carefree young bachelor in Assassin's Creed II to an experienced mentor and leader in Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood to a renowned Assassin taking part in an intellectual pilgrimage in Assassin’s Creed: Revelations.
The Ezio Trilogy felt like an exploration of the series' potential The Ezio Collection features smoother and brighter graphics
Assassin’s Creed II was hugely popular and received overwhelmingly positive critical acclaim, and paved the way for Assassin’s Creed games of the future. It develops the ambitious vision from the first game, combining complex storytelling and word building with engrossing gameplay and a gorgeous recreation of Renaissance Italy. It even introduces a piece of music that later became the main theme of the series, Ezio’s Family.
Brotherhood continued to develop on Assassin’s Creed II’s progress, and while reception for Revelations was lukewarm, it offers a satisfying resolution to Ezio and Altair’s (the first game’s protagonist) stories. While I felt Assassin's Creed was an experiment in what the series could be, the Ezio Trilogy felt like an exploration of the series’ potential.
It’s no surprise, then, that last week’s Nintendo Direct announced The Ezio Collection coming to the Switch. This isn’t a first in the Assassin’s Creed series; in 2019, Assassin’s Creed III, Liberation, Black Flag, and Rogue were remastered for the Switch. Hopefully, past experience with Assassin’s Creed ports will prevent the same mistakes that led to such mixed reviews for GTA: The Trilogy - Definitive Edition.
The trailer for The Ezio Collection features scenes from the Ezio games with smoother and brighter graphics. Nintendo’s website promises “enhanced features, such as HD rumble” but it is unclear how much else has changed. The Ezio Collection will feature Ezio’s full life journey, containing short films Lineage and Embers which offer background for and show the end of Ezio’s story respectively. It will also contain all single player DLC for Assassin’s Creed II, Brotherhood, and Revelations, such as Bonfire of Vanities and The Da Vinci Disappearance.
