#back from aug2024

[catsoupki]

The first time you had stars in your eyes was in kindergarten. Your eyes latched onto the nitroglycerin-fuelled explosions in the epicentres of his palms, and like a moth to a flame, you don’t let go. Oh wow, your teacher exclaimed, that quirk is destined for greatness Katsuki! You’re destined to be a hero!

While the chemistry of his quirk was still a brain-frying mystery to the then five year old you, nonetheless, what you saw, and what you cared for, were the bolstering balls of greatness. You weren’t the only one either, your classmates all looked on as the splashes of fireworks clustered in his hands. And now you think, what a talent it is to be able to light up the world with the tip of a finger.

Bright and loud crackling accompanied the awe that had inundated the classroom: a precursor, that he was fated for heroics, and this, this is the ticket that’d allow him to toe into a Hero’s world.

That was the first time you had ever seen his blindingly victorious grin— a staple that would continue for the rest of his career. The stars in his palms were fading, the sounds of a dying fire signalling the end of its life.

You were no longer scrunching up your eyes to fight his ferocity. Your classmates all burst into applause and excitement simultaneously. As his palms calmed and settled, smoke emanated from the ashes that had held life, you latched onto him like a moth to a flame. What you saw, and what you cared for, was no longer his dimmed palms, but instead his proud, bolstering grin, fierce— a supernova.

[lostplay]

Game 105: Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Aug2024 Despite all these years having the game, and all the time it took to actually sit down and play this game earnestly I never really thought about how truly great Mario Kart 8 Deluxe actually is. While I certainly have mixed feelings with the original Mario Kart 8, the added DLC, the extra cast of characters, and revamped battle mode all make Deluxe a truly amazing, perhaps even the best Mario Kart game of all time. Truly any problems I had with the original are fixed, and any minor problem that I do have is either manageable or entirely luck/friend based.

There is one thing I want to touch on though as perhaps the biggest blotch of ugly on this otherwise wonderful painting that is Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, the AI. Specifically I have noticed that the AI for this game is both completely terrible and a menace to society. It's hard to rightly explain, but the way the AI works in this game seems to only really work against you at set tracks and laps and timing. There have been so many times where the race is nothing for 2/3's of it, than suddenly a hellfire of items hits me causing me to lose my place in the race. Most of the time though? The AI is nothing, consistently makes mistakes, and doesn't seem too reliant on rubberbanding. It's such an odd mix that at times I wonder if the game is gaslighting me or I'm just doing better?

Aside from that? Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is a blast! Playing online or with your friends or what have you. With an actual battle mode mixed together with the Wii U DLC tracks just makes Deluxe feel like the proper game it was meant to be. Not to mention that there is a lot of smaller changes mixed in like an added turbo boost tier, more item carrying, newer items, and vehicles. Legitimately, everything fits in so seamlessly that I honestly forgot about all these changes coming back to the game after all these years. It's part of why I ended up dropping the original and got hooked again playing this game as I noticed the game is just smoother and more enjoyable to play compared to original version.

Without even acknowledging future dlc, changes and what have you, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe just has a lot going for it. Proper balancing, a wide selection of characters and vehicles, and most of all, a lot of tracks to play through. While there is a special place in my heart for it's predecessors Double Dash and DS; I think Deluxe does blow them out of the water both in terms of it's mechanics and track selection. I do wish they added more personal items or at least more uniqueness to give character you can choose from, but in terms of actual gameplay Deluxe works incredibly well. It was a blast to play on the Wii U and it's still a blast 10 years later to play on the Nintendo Switch. An amazing glow up and a rightful spot in nearly every Switch owners library