Mario Kart 8 Case Study

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Name of Track:  The name of the track I will be analyzing is Bone-Dry Dunes.

Map of Track

Explanation

Bone Dry Dunes is all about alternate paths.  There are a total of four opportunities (without a mushroom) to choose a path.  This makes the route you take feel very custom.  You can even vary which way you take each lap for even more variation!  This level features two of the three special mechanics in the game: glider and anti-gravity.  You have to go into glider mode once each lap but can avoid the anti-gravity if you choose.

What’s so interesting about this track to me is it’s the only track I’ve observed where the weight stat of your build significantly matters.  There is an alternate path that you can take in the very last section of the track.  It is an upper platform that gives you an inside advantage and an extra jump trick boost if you can reach it.  If your weight stat is too high, pulling up on your glider is not enough to reach it, and you must take the bottom path.

Gameplay Analysis

Beat Diagrams:

This level can be broken into three distinct sections, beginning, middle and end.  Each section is divided by a ramp and a change in environment.  The legend on the left is a list of all the features this level includes, colour coded for the beatmaps below. Some parts of the beatmaps split in half.  This is because some paths have different features than others.  If a section is greyed out, it is because that pathway has less features than the other.

The first section introduces driving, drifting and items within the first turn.  You get a few beats of just drifting, then get to make your first decision.  The track splits into three, outside, inside, and off road to ramp.  If you have a mushroom or a star, you can take the middle, otherwise you have two options.  This is followed by a long beat of drifting, then a ramp to trick off into the second section of the track.

The second sections begin with the decision to take the upper (outer) or lower (inner) path, followed by another choice of inner or outer.  In the path of this second choice is a piranha plant that the player needs to avoid.  Next there becomes an option to use anti-gravity to take a path that goes onto a wall.  This wall has objects the player can bump into for a boost.  From there, the player can trick off one of the glider pads and fly over a gap to the third and final section.

This last section is shorter and features a glide over the canyon and three turns.  The player can aim their glider at the sand erupting from the center of the canyon to bounce off it and regain a bit of height.  Once exiting the glider section there is a choice of path, upper or lower, then the last couple of turns.  If the player hits a Dry Bones, featured in the very last turn, they lose a majority of their acceleration.

Difficulty & Flow:

Overall, I would call this track medium in difficulty.  It requires a fair amount of drifting; some turns you will not even be able to make using automatic turning.  The first section is very easy and satisfying to the experienced player.  Those three quick turns one after another puts the player right into a flow state.  A less experienced player may find this section challenging.  The next area is very open and gives lots of time to make a decision as to what path you are going to take.  The long turn up to the ramp can be done with automatic drifting making it fairly easy even for the inexperienced.

The second section has two very quick decisions to make as the track splits three times in a row.  This causes a spike in difficulty, as the player needs to make these decisions in a very short period of time.  In addition to this the piranha plant is also introduced and needs to be avoided while making the section path choice.  This is however followed up with some lower points as there is not much drifting until the third section of the track.

There is a huge spike in difficulty in the third and final section of this track.  The last few turns can be very difficult to make even as an experienced player and using drifting.  The turns appear very wide on the map, and you may think that makes them easier but what it does is make it more awkward when drifting.  If hitting these turns at the right time they feel just fine, but if you are too late, too early, or just mess up halfway through, it makes it really hard to fix your drift.

How The Glider Section Works:

The sand bounce pad in the center does not provide enough height to reach the top track.  It is more of a safety mechanism for newer or inexperienced players to make it onto the lower track if their glider is out of control.  Taking off from the sideways track can give you a height advantage to make it easier to get up top.  This is not enough for heavy weight class characters.

Success of The Level:

What makes a Mario Kart 8 track successful is a good flow state when drifting.  If a player does not have enough time before a turn to start drifting, they are most likely unable to make the turn, hit a wall, fall off the track or must stop and start drifting to correct themselves.

I think overall this level is very successful.  It is a joy to play and provides a variety of different paths for the player to take.  The drifting in the first two sections feel fantastic.  The player always has enough time to start drifting to properly make the turn.  My one criticism is the last section of the track.  I find you have to rush to land the glider in order to start drifting quick enough to make it through the turn and not hit the wall.  For non experienced players they will most likely hit this wall every single time they pass by it.  The turn after can also be awkward to make and is very hard to fix if interrupted.  So, the first two sections of the level are successful, but the last one is a bit lacking.