Hi everyone!

Some of you may know me since I'm a SMK veteran and MKSC seems to be obviously the closest Mario Kart community related to SMK.

For those who don't know who I am at all, I'm the SMK Rainbow Road freak who calls himself Rainbow God even if he has no WR anymore on the SMK Players' Page — I'm currently ranked #5 in PAL and #4 in NTSC and love this episode much more any other else. Actually, I've always felt kinda disgusted with the other Mario Kart Time Trial systems with a 3-shroom possibility, shortcuts everywhere, etc.

However, this didn't prevent me from playing a lot to MK64 and MKSC in the early 2000s so that I could send a full set of PRs many years ago for the MKSC site. My profile is unfortunately incomplete and filled with very average PRs, all out-of-date:

http://www.mariokart64.com/mksc/profile.php?pid=107

At that time I didn't know there were specific rules for almost every shortcut and when I understood that some of my PRs wouldn't be allowed, I decided not to play this game for Time Trial issues anymore and not to care about the weak level I would show there, the only exception being my RR 3-lap PR performed in the Eurostar between Paris and London on a basic GBA with its awful screen light system, back in 2002:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lgj6jNHqWXY (replay recorded with GB Player on NGC)

That doesn't mean I don't enjoy MKSC, it's my favourite SMK sequel by far, I even have 3 copies of the game and I still think it's a shame not to have turned MK64 into such a smooth 3D-like game like it. But I just couldn't play it anymore because of the rules I didn't really like, and for some technical reasons too. So why did I suddenly change my mind about it? Because I just bought this:



As you might know, this is a kind of ultimate Game Boy system since it plays all Game Boy generations games with a much brighter screen, even better than Game Boy Micro or Nintendo DS ones. That's just perfect for a guy like me who travels by train one hour and a half every day, and especially because I had rather stopped to play any Game Boy game because of the weak screens I could use until there. Now that this little jewel is mine, I'll play MKSC again, for the first time since, hmm, 2004 (?) and will try to improve all my PRs and follow those rules:

http://www.mariokart64.com/mksc/rules.php

First of all, I'll complete my MKSC fullset with allowed PRs on Riverside Park, Ribbon Road and BC3. I will probably also ask for loads of hints and pieces of advice from time to time since I will start everything again from zero, even if my SMK basis may be helpful some time. So, I have a few questions:

1/ If I want to appear on the AF page, shall I send a full set of MKSC tracks PRs only, or should I also send retro SMK PRs too?
2/ Who the hell is the best character to drive with? The game itself clearly tells that Toad & Peach are much faster than anyone but I only see WR videos with Bowser, which is supposed to be damn slow according to the game.
3/ I read many times the ZZMT word, looks like the SMK NBT system, is this allowed? Does that need to modify the GBA D-pad like SMK players do on their SNES pads?
4/ I also read that the longboost system used in SMK had been discovered thanks to MKSC where it does exist too. Does it work the same way (with shrooms against walls or other track limits) and is it allowed? The rules seem to say no (and if that's the case, it'll be the first time I agree with them, lol).
5/ Which kind of rankings page is the official one to claim you're #xx on the MKSC site? AF page? PRSR? ASR? I suppose it is the AF page but I'd like to be sure

Thanks for all your answers!

Hi Ben, not sure I'll go for top 10 though because of the retro tracks which I wouldn't like to practice too often...

Is Bowser the best or is there any other heavyweight character (like DK or Wario) whose behaviour on the track is strictly the same, like Bowser and DK Jr. are identical in SMK?

Thanks for all the other details, concerning the GBA modding I'll ask FFVIMan as usual.

Antistar wrote on 03/31/11 at 06:30:09:


Bowser is distinct from DK/Wario, who are tiered together the next level 'down' in terms of top speed (but have mildly better acceleration and are a wee bit more nimble). But of course you can do well with other characters: the WR on RBC3 is set with Peach, and top times on RMC3/4 have been set with DK. You remember James Cutting from CDE 2008? He exclusively used Toad and had some excellent times using him.

And yes, FFVIMan is THE man for that sort of thing haha...

Nice to read that . As soon as I get the game we can be rivals (in a week or so I can say that I own my own MKSC cartridge)!

Thanks for the support and for the pieces of advice!

One last question: what's the general deadline for sending PRs? Is it on Sunday evening like for SMK, or another moment of the week-end?

I just achieved a fullset of retro tracks PRs, I had never PRed there before since I own the game.

Looks like my RRR 5-lap has a chance to be the best of all, and it's a one-try, I really have a problem with this track

Can't wait for the update to see myself in the AF chart!

Well I'll look after this later I think but I'll think about reading what it's all about someday...

And back on my PRs, my new higher ranking is RRR with a 1'13"26 without any shroom-cut on the last turn. I'll learn this later.

Yeah... they don't save.  

OK, that sucks a bit, but I'll try to deal with(out) it.

Just seen my PRs had been updated, so I'm #77, not bad for a beginning lol. If someone can fix my location and email address, it would be perfect, thanks

Great, many thanks!

I improved a few PRs yesterday and will probably keep on driving the same way all week long. It's a cool feeling to discover that game again

Well actually I don't feel very comfortable with a track where you cannot save any ghost. I'd prefer improving PRs on the MKSC exclusive tracks first. But who knows...

Oh, fuck off.

Once again, you don't. It stays on the system, or you can delete everything and start from scratch. I would very much like to delete my RiR too...