Athens Dash: Starting off strong, a tour city track that feels completely unlike any other. Lots of ups and downs, some hazards, tight gaps, it's a varied track with an aesthetic not found elsewhere in the game. Only complaint about it is that certain laps can feel repetitive due to re-treading old areas in a way most city tracks avoid. 8.5/10.
Daisy Cruiser: Weirdly despite being one of my favourite Double Dash tracks I don't love it here (or in 7). It might have something to do with the pool now being part of the track instead of an obstacle, but I also just become way too aware of how little of the track is actually spent inside the ship. It's still fun, but where I would have given the track a strong 9.5 out of memory, I'm giving this one a 7.5/10.
Moonview Highway: Probably my favourite of the non-tour city tracks in the series (or maybe "traffic tracks" is a bet term). It just feels like it's missing just a little something beyond traffic to give it an extra identity though. Still, I enjoy it. 7.5/10.
Squeaky Clean Sprint: Here's the big one, the brand new track of the wave. I love this so much. It takes a micro machines-esque premise and utilises it perfectly, from the background elements to the terrain itself. Getting sucked down a drain pipe, a desk fan that blows you off course and an erupting toilet acting as a mid-air boost. I would definitely be down for more tracks that act as if the racers were tiny in real world settings. It might have "new course bias", but the thing about enjoyment is that it doesn't matter
why the enjoyment exists, the only thing that matters is that you enjoy it. 10/10.
Los Angeles Laps: Some parts feel too similar to the majority of tour tracks, but it has sections with its own identity, especially the oil fields in the final lap. 7/10.
Sunset Wilds: Probably my least favourite of the wave. Not at all bad (though they took out the actual sun setting mechanic?), and the mining Shy Guys are cool, but I feel like they didn't do enough with the terrain. Until the final turns it's all just a flat basic course. 6/10
Koopa Cape: Oh man... My favourite Wii track and it commit the sin of using the Mario Kart 7 version with the inferior pipe section :( Why would anyone want to play with crappy underwater physics in a half pipe instead of the rapid water-flowing section that ended up spinning electric wheels? It was so much cooler. Still a very fun track, but this version is a 9/10 instead of 10/10.
Vancouver Velocity: Very fun tour track. Might not standout quite as much in the aesthetics department as Athens, but it still has a ton of great set pieces for driving through, like suspended bridges and an ice rink. 9/10.
Also the 3 characters that were added were like 3 of my biggest wants (I didn't even expect Tour-only characters to be added, so Kamek is a huge plus).
Daisy Cruiser: Weirdly despite being one of my favourite Double Dash tracks I don't love it here (or in 7). It might have something to do with the pool now being part of the track instead of an obstacle, but I also just become way too aware of how little of the track is actually spent inside the ship. It's still fun, but where I would have given the track a strong 9.5 out of memory, I'm giving this one a 7.5/10.
Moonview Highway: Probably my favourite of the non-tour city tracks in the series (or maybe "traffic tracks" is a bet term). It just feels like it's missing just a little something beyond traffic to give it an extra identity though. Still, I enjoy it. 7.5/10.
Squeaky Clean Sprint: Here's the big one, the brand new track of the wave. I love this so much. It takes a micro machines-esque premise and utilises it perfectly, from the background elements to the terrain itself. Getting sucked down a drain pipe, a desk fan that blows you off course and an erupting toilet acting as a mid-air boost. I would definitely be down for more tracks that act as if the racers were tiny in real world settings. It might have "new course bias", but the thing about enjoyment is that it doesn't matter
why the enjoyment exists, the only thing that matters is that you enjoy it. 10/10.
Los Angeles Laps: Some parts feel too similar to the majority of tour tracks, but it has sections with its own identity, especially the oil fields in the final lap. 7/10.
Sunset Wilds: Probably my least favourite of the wave. Not at all bad (though they took out the actual sun setting mechanic?), and the mining Shy Guys are cool, but I feel like they didn't do enough with the terrain. Until the final turns it's all just a flat basic course. 6/10
Koopa Cape: Oh man... My favourite Wii track and it commit the sin of using the Mario Kart 7 version with the inferior pipe section :( Why would anyone want to play with crappy underwater physics in a half pipe instead of the rapid water-flowing section that ended up spinning electric wheels? It was so much cooler. Still a very fun track, but this version is a 9/10 instead of 10/10.
Vancouver Velocity: Very fun tour track. Might not standout quite as much in the aesthetics department as Athens, but it still has a ton of great set pieces for driving through, like suspended bridges and an ice rink. 9/10.
Also the 3 characters that were added were like 3 of my biggest wants (I didn't even expect Tour-only characters to be added, so Kamek is a huge plus).