# Best Mario Kart game



## YoshiInAVoid (Jun 7, 2014)

What's the best Mario Kart game?

For me it's got to be Mario Kart DS, the game had the most replayability due to the way they innovated drifting - being able to snake felt so rewarding and gave the game a much longer life because of the steep learning curve of having to practice it so much. I hate how they nerfed drifting in all of the other Mario Kart games to appeal to a more casual audience. Mario Kart DS is also the only Mario Kart game to include missions, it adds so much more variety to the game than just racing and battle mode; the boss battles in mission mode were really clever as well.


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## Tom Bombadildo (Jun 7, 2014)

Sonic & All Stars Racing Transformed.

The last Mario Kart game I actually enjoyed was probably Double Dash, since it actually added something new to the games. The rest are meh.


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## Hanafuda (Jun 7, 2014)

DoubleDash, easily.


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## DinohScene (Jun 7, 2014)

Played the shit out of DS and DD.

DS is prolly the best, really liked the bike additions to the Wii.
MK7 was a dissapointment and MK8... prolly the same.


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## Vipera (Jun 7, 2014)

I can't play anything released before Double Dash because it feels so odd. Same with Super Circuit.
I'd say DS if it didn't have a terrible CPU and the snaking method completely ruined the online experience (that, and cheaters, of course). I didn't play DD yet, so for now it's Mario Kart 7.


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## Hells Malice (Jun 7, 2014)

The one I absolutely could not stop playing was Mario Kart DS. All others I tend to get bored rather quickly. Dunno why DS had such a hold on me, but I had basically 100%'d the hell out of it. I think I only had 1 or 2 nintendo ghost times to beat and that's about it.


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## Terenigma (Jun 7, 2014)

Mario kart 64 followed extremely closely by Mario kart DS. Played the heck out of both but i have had alot of good times with friends playing 64 and that had some of the most fun tracks and battle modes in the whole series. 

Mario kart 8 having 4player Grand prix is certainly giving me a reason to ditch mario kart 64 tho as the main "play with friends" mario kart. We played it 3 players the other night and it was extremely fun. It may lack a decent battle mode but i think the options you can change do make battle mode slightly more interesting. Yoshi's valley with only green shells allowed is more fun that you'd think.


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## YoshiInAVoid (Jun 7, 2014)

Vipera said:


> the snaking method completely ruined the online experience


Err, no. Snaking was one of the things that made the game so great. All of the other Mario Karts just feel tame and casual. Flipping your thumb left and right as fast as you can while staying on the track really got your heart beat up and made the game a lot more fun. If you could never manage snaking, you didn't play the game enough or give it enough of a chance.


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## Vipera (Jun 7, 2014)

YoshiInAVoid said:


> Err, no. Snaking was one of the things that made the game so great. All of the other Mario Karts just feel tame and casual. Flipping your thumb left and right as fast as you can while staying on the track really got your heart beat up and made the game a lot more fun. If you could never manage snaking, you didn't play the game enough or give it enough of a chance.


I did enough to cause my thumb lots of pain. And I don't think that you can consider part of the "racing" genre a game where you need to jerk off your d-pad with a rhythm to keep your boost on.


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## YoshiInAVoid (Jun 7, 2014)

Vipera said:


> I did enough to cause my thumb lots of pain. And I don't think that you can consider part of the "racing" genre a game where you need to jerk off your d-pad with a rhythm to keep your boost on.


But that's just it, Mario Kart isn't intended to be just another game in the racing genre. I don't see why you complain about drifting but not items. If you want a real racing game, try something like Need For Speed.


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## gamefan5 (Jun 7, 2014)

DS. Definitely MKDS. They had everything right. Imo. The items (ffs they brought back the boo item that shit was great imo), the tracks were great. I was also a snake expert and it was great to be honest. But even without it, I felt that they had done everything right in this game. The battle mode is undoubtably the best of the mario kart series. I miss the survival challenge coming off from it and it was chaotic. XD
My second favorite would be MK:SC, I'm a guy that just loves the classic and retro feel of MK


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## Guild McCommunist (Jun 7, 2014)

Crash Team Racing.

S&S All-Stars Transformed is good too.


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## Nathan Drake (Jun 7, 2014)

Double Dash is easily the best of them. It was after Double Dash that the series started running out of ways to really do anything new that was actually better. The DS game was fun, but I feel that's primarily due to the fact that it was on the DS and not just another console game. These days I can't get myself to go back to DS, but I have no issues going back to DD for a few rounds of racing.

Anyways, as was already at least heavily implied, there are better kart racing games out there. I get the attachment to this series, but that last Sonic and Sega game was ridiculously well done and easily better than any Mario Kart game. Crash Team Racing pretty much forever holds the shiny #1 medal though.


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## dxplay2128 (Jun 8, 2014)

Personally I love the original, it was the first game I ever played with friends so I voted for that one, but gameplay wise, I prefer Mario Kart DS, it have more replay value.


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## GamerzHell9137 (Jun 8, 2014)

Haven't played 8 but all others have, the one that i love the most is Wii.
I just dislike Motorbike users cause they spam " on 1 tire " boost everything else in game is awesome.


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## Count Duckula (Jun 8, 2014)

Having grown up with the SNES game in primary school, the N64 one in high school and owning the rest as they came out, I have to say 8 is the best of the lot.


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## Felipe_9595 (Jun 8, 2014)

DD and DS, but for me, is Mario Kart DS, god, i think thats the only game that never left my 1GB Micro SD card, so many hours spent, the battle mode was hilarious, and the Snaking added a massive depth to the game that only DD can reach lol


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## zeello (Jun 8, 2014)

DS has snaking. with dpad. no 

Wii is best. Although I only played it split screen and split screen online and never actually by myself, I am reasonably confident in saying it is the best, at least until I play MK7 or MK8.


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## WiiUBricker (Jun 8, 2014)

DD. It introduced exploding blue shells. They can inflict great pleasure or rage depending on the receiving end.


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## Chary (Jun 8, 2014)

Gonna go with Double Dash (nostalgia, tracks, nearly everything), with Wii (ability to playi with friends) 8 (Visuals, online play) close behind. Although, thinking about it, something about MK8 feels a little stale.


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## WiiCube_2013 (Jun 8, 2014)

Double Dash but 8 is really good too.

Rosalina and the bikes are pretty damn nice, as well as the drifting, new stages and those gorgeous graphics.


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## Hanafuda (Jun 9, 2014)

I posted on the 1st page that Double Dash is easily best. I stand by that. But I've been playing 8 for a few days now ... and I like it. I like it a lot.


.


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## Sakitoshi (Jun 11, 2014)

hands down Double Dash, the character and kart selection made it very balanced along with the spacial items of each. the items are balanced in power and appearance chance(blue shell every 5 second when you are first and guaranteed lightning every race on MKWii) and the characters don't stop for hours waving their arms complaining, they just hit the gas and continue right away, the animation when you hit a shell or fake itembox is faster and impulse you forward. the game itself is fast indeed, 100cc of DD is like 150cc of Wii and the rainbow road has the second best theme song(first place goes to SMK).
that being said, I still have to play Mario Kart 8, but will buy a Wü MK8 bundle soon


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## mightymuffy (Jun 11, 2014)

Simply cannot believe the love DD gets..... I'm not counting the arcade editions to be honest, so those aside it's in the worst 3 easy (the other two being MK64 and Super Circuit). Not until MKDS was the original ever challenged, and since then all the renditions have been great fun... but for me, maybe it's rose tinted glasses syndrome here, but I still say the original is the best, and 2 player battle mode on that remains the best two player activity outside of a 69er!

That said, I'd always vote for SMB3 over World in a poll, despite knowing full well World is still the best 2D platformer ever made - rose tinted glasses syndrome! That being the case, my vote would probably have gone to MKDS instead.


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## Felipe_9595 (Jun 14, 2014)

It gets love because it was really good, its really responsive and fast and it wasnt a clusterfuck of itemfest (MKWII PLS)


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## Enchilada (Jun 15, 2014)

I vote Double Dash, it's unique and the nostalgia is strong.


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## Sakitoshi (Jun 16, 2014)

I'll leave this here, judge yourselves...


Spoiler







the frustration level in DD is very low.


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## RedSpyGentlemen (Jun 22, 2014)

Double Dash was a GREAT Game! I don't understand the low rating IGN gave it.


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## Clydefrosch (Jun 22, 2014)

super mario kart. only thing it lacked was more characters



Sakitoshi said:


> I'll leave this here, judge yourselves...
> 
> 
> Spoiler
> ...




that shouldnt surprise anyone, dd had like twice the number of items because characters had specialized weapons, many of which were more common on the last places where other games give out the blue shell


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## Guild McCommunist (Jun 22, 2014)

Outside of the obvious CTR answer, I do think Double Dash is actually the best.

I used to just not care about which one it was between Double Dash and Wii (the handheld ones never mattered for multiplayer for me and the old ones are kinda shit) but the Wii one is kinda meh. Nothing ever feels really neck-in-neck, getting in 4th-2nd place was like shit since you never got a good item and it just kept 5th-8th in the shit.

I mean Double Dash and Wii are both pretty fun but I'd have to say Double Dash.

Also Wii's AI are fucking stupid. Try playing on 150cc and they literally combo you. You'll get hit by a red shell, then a perfectly timed blue shell will hit you once you recover, then a sniper AI will hit you with a green shell once you recover again.


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## noobish hat (Jun 22, 2014)

Going simply by how much time I put into them, I'd have to say Super Circuit and Double Dash. Although, having said that, I've just remembered that the reason I spent so much time playing SC is that I read you can unlock Waluigi if you get the highest ranks on every track, beat all the ghosts etc etc. What a crock! I didn't even like Waluigi anyway. At any rate, I think SC is very nice as a link between Super Mario Kart (which I would have assumed is everyone's favourite) and the later games. It's a shame there were no more console entries in the style of the first game, so I like that SC exists.


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## WiiCube_2013 (Jun 23, 2014)

Sakitoshi said:


> I'll leave this here, judge yourselves...
> 
> 
> Spoiler
> ...




That music... that race track... Such awesome memories! Would love if Nintendo brought them back to Mario Kart 8.


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## Arras (Jun 23, 2014)

Double Dash's AI may not have combo'd anyone, but they still quite blatantly cheated. There was literally no point in picking a vehicle with high top speed as even AI with low speed vehicles would be able to keep up without issues. It had some serious rubber banding on 150 and mirror from what I remember.


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## megaexplosion (Jun 23, 2014)

I haven't played MK8 yet so I don't have a very informed view.
So far my favourite is Double Dash though! The strategy with being able to hold 2 items and the uniqueness of each character having a special was super awesome. Not to mention Bob-Omb battle being the absolute best VS game ever.


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## Sakitoshi (Jul 1, 2014)

Arras said:


> Double Dash's AI may not have combo'd anyone, but they still quite blatantly cheated. There was literally no point in picking a vehicle with high top speed as even AI with low speed vehicles would be able to keep up without issues. It had some serious rubber banding on 150 and mirror from what I remember.


 
same can be said about every MK game, I been playing MK7 and MK8 quite frequently lately and light characters(say Toad and the babies) had no problem being even faster than me playing with Rosalina or PG Peach using the combination of parts that give the highest top speed possible.


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## Tom Bombadildo (Jul 1, 2014)

After playing a bit of Mario Kart 8, it seems they kind of did a better job of covering up the rubber-banding AI. Now instead of getting combo'd and fucked in 50cc-150cc, you only get combo'd and fucked in 150cc races (and probably the mirror races, haven't done that much). It seems changing all the parts on your cart generally ends up being useless a majority of the time, the only thing that actually matters as far as I can tell has been handling and weight, other than that I've noticed little to no difference in speeds for the rest of the stats. 

That said, I still think Double Dash is the best MK game.


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## Hyro-Sama (Jul 1, 2014)

Double Dash. Poured hours into that game back in the day. 

The worst one is Mario Kart Wii. Ugh. I hate that game. Such a disappointing sequel.


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## Foxi4 (Jul 1, 2014)

I have the fondest memories with Super Circuit, but that's because it's the one I grew up with - gameplay-wise there are surely superior ones. Thing is, all Mario Kart games are essentially exactly the same - it's a mascot racer. To me, arguing which one is better is like arguing which shade of blue drapes will go better with the carpet - to some it's a matter of life and death, to others it's same f*cking difference.


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## WiiCube_2013 (Jul 1, 2014)

Hyro-Sama said:


> Double Dash. Poured hours into that game back in the day.
> 
> The worst one is Mario Kart Wii. Ugh. I hate that game. Such a disappointing sequel.


 
Graphically the game looks really good, musically same goes for it but where they dropped the fuckin' bucket was how unfair the Bots are to the player. Whenever they get a chance they'll hit with an item, fuckin' assholes!


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## WiiCube_2013 (Jul 2, 2014)

Foxi4 said:


> I have the fondest memories with Super Circuit, but that's because it's the one I grew up with - gameplay-wise there are surely superior ones. Thing is, all Mario Kart games are essentially exactly the same - it's a mascot racer. To me, arguing which one is better is like arguing which shade of blue drapes will go better with the carpet - to some it's a matter of life and death, to others it's same f*cking difference.


 
Tried Mario Kart GBA yesterday and the gameplay felt like shit when compared to Mario Kart 8 is a smooth breeze in comparison, also it wasn't anywhere near as fun as MK8 so you can't really say they're all the same thing.

It's like those morons who say that every Mario platforming game are the same despite having different gameplay styles and series.


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## Foxi4 (Jul 2, 2014)

I don't mean that they're exactly 100% identical, of course there's differences between them that make the games feel fresh - I'm saying that if you played one, you pretty much know what to expect from another, which isn't a bad thing since all of them have been good so far. I have particularly good memories connected to Super Circuit as I grew up with it, but the newer installments are obviously better, especially from a technological stand-point.


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## WiiCube_2013 (Jul 2, 2014)

Yeah that's true, it comes down to be summarised as "A racing kart game with items" as well as some strategy if those who want to remain in the top will make use of the items wisely.

I hate to use the Super Horn unnecessarily thinking the next box ahead will have a Mushroom Booster and then turns out to be a fucking coin.


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## Pleng (Jul 2, 2014)

I have played all apart from the arcade ones and 8.

I could never get to grips with Double Dash - too complicated having to switch characters around all the time [at least I *think* that's what you were supposed to do, never did quite understand it] on a hangover. If you can't play it with a hangover, it just isn't MK for me!

Loved MK Wii. Easily the best one of the series for me. Mario Kart DS was pretty good too. Never really felt at home with MK7 for some reason - maybe because I basically opened the game on a long haul flight and played it to death - that's not how I normally go about games. Would like to try MK8 at some point.


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## Sakitoshi (Jul 2, 2014)

WiiCube_2013 said:


> Tried Mario Kart GBA yesterday and the gameplay felt like shit when compared to Mario Kart 8 is a smooth breeze in comparison, also it wasn't anywhere near as fun as MK8 so you can't really say they're all the same thing.
> 
> It's like those morons who say that every Mario platforming game are the same despite having different gameplay styles and series.


 
a more fair comparison will be Mario Kart Super Circuit with Super Mario Kart. essentially MKSC is a level pack of SMK, the gameplay and mechanics(and the frustration too) are almost the same, even the original tracks of SMK are in the game, but you need to unlock them.


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## The Real Jdbye (Jul 2, 2014)

I would say overall the best Mario Kart game is Mario Kart 8, although 7 was more innovative.
Double Dash was pretty great too, and has a lot of nostalgia for me but I'm not letting that affect my vote. Looking back at it now the stages don't seem as varied as they have been in the newer games (perhaps because they were limited by hardware specifications) so although it had the best character selection and I liked the ability to hold two items, I voted Mario Kart 8 because I like the stages and mechanics better and it feels more polished overall.


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## WiiCube_2013 (Jul 3, 2014)

The Real Jdbye said:


> I voted Mario Kart 8 because I like the stages and mechanics better and it feels more polished overall.


 
Mario Kart 8 was obviously rushed out to the market and when you look up the Character Roster, Mirrored Tracks and Battle Mode it all becomes clear that they didn't spend enough time to actually polish the game like they should have.


Character Roster = Majority of the characters are Baby-forms, Metal-forms and Bowser's family.. what a shitty roster. The only two which I make use of are Mii and Rosalina.
Mirrored Tracks = Instead of making new tracks they just used the ones already made and reversed them.
Battle Mode = You're kinda battling but more so racing because it's just normal racing tracks.
The acceleration of vehicles tend to be slow but the one I commonly use is somewhat faster than the others though it looks pretty lame which is possibly why no one else ever uses it. lol

I give it a 7/10 which is good (8 = very good, 9 = great, 10 = perfect) because MK8 lacked innovation, variety and creativity but it's a fun game that I've spent 30hrs last month.


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## Arras (Jul 3, 2014)

WiiCube_2013 said:


> Mario Kart 8 was obviously rushed out to the market and when you look up the Character Roster, Mirrored Tracks and Battle Mode it all becomes clear that they didn't spend enough time to actually polish the game like they should have.
> 
> 
> Character Roster = Majority of the characters are Baby-forms, Metal-forms and Bowser's family.. what a shitty roster. The only two which I make use of are Mii and Rosalina.
> ...


What? The mirrored tracks have always just been reversed versions of existing ones. Also like I said earlier, the character roster is subjective. While I'll admit the two metals are stupid, especially Peach who came out of nowhere, and there's a few too many babies, the koopalings seem like a good addition as they're all quite different from each other.
The battle mode could have used some actual arenas though, can't deny that.


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## ResleyZ (Jul 3, 2014)

Nostalgia-wise it's Mario Kart: Double Dash, when not considering it's Mario Kart 8 easily. Wish there would be more 'unique' characters instead of the koopalings, but there might still be more characters coming out as DLC. 

While Mario Kart Wii was also pretty fun to play, I didn't really like the motion controls, but with Mario Kart 8, it'll probably be easier to use when I have the game on the gamepad only.


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## WiiCube_2013 (Jul 3, 2014)

ResleyZ said:


> Nostalgia-wise it's Mario Kart: Double Dash, when not considering it's Mario Kart 8 easily. Wish there would be more 'unique' characters instead of the koopalings, but there might still be more characters coming out as DLC.
> 
> While Mario Kart Wii was also pretty fun to play, I didn't really like the motion controls, but with Mario Kart 8, it'll probably be easier to use when I have the game on the gamepad only.


 
Let's hope it's not just actual better characters for the roster because the fucking Battle Mode is absolutely garbage as of now.


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## The Real Jdbye (Jul 4, 2014)

WiiCube_2013 said:


> Mario Kart 8 was obviously rushed out to the market and when you look up the Character Roster, Mirrored Tracks and Battle Mode it all becomes clear that they didn't spend enough time to actually polish the game like they should have.
> 
> 
> Character Roster = Majority of the characters are Baby-forms, Metal-forms and Bowser's family.. what a shitty roster. The only two which I make use of are Mii and Rosalina.
> ...


What's wrong with Mirror Mode? It's just mirrored tracks, it's not rocket science.
Battle Mode was a disappointment, but not really why I play Mario Kart anyways.
Every game after Double Dash has disappointed me with its character roster. 

Let me guess... Are you using the bug vehicle? I used that one for a while 
My current setup has around 1 bar of speed and maxed out acceleration, and works pretty well.


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## Alchemilla (Jul 4, 2014)

The best Mario Kart game is 64 because it has that ghost house track. Best track to race in hands down.


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## WiiCube_2013 (Jul 4, 2014)

The Real Jdbye said:


> What's wrong with Mirror Mode? It's just mirrored tracks, it's not rocket science.
> Battle Mode was a disappointment, but not really why I play Mario Kart anyways.
> Every game after Double Dash has disappointed me with its character roster.
> 
> ...


 
Not the buggy one, it's this Moto-Scooter hybrid:







Despite not having much variety in MK8 I at least can brag that I'm one of the few who uses this awesome vehicle.


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## The Real Jdbye (Jul 4, 2014)

WiiCube_2013 said:


> Not the buggy one, it's this Moto-Scooter hybrid:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Hm I use about the same combination as you, with a small character to get the best acceleration. Same scooter but different wheels.
If you want to go for high acceleration you need to make your Mii small or use another character


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## Arras (Jul 4, 2014)

WiiCube_2013 said:


> Not the buggy one, it's this Moto-Scooter hybrid:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


That's what I used when I played at a friend's place, but with the default glider and Bowser on it. The scooter thing is so small Bowser looks absolutely ridiculous on it and it's awesome.


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## Alchemilla (Jul 4, 2014)

Isn't that a Scooty Puff Jr?


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