The 'Shroom:Issue LXI/MK:WTC

Mario Kart: Wheel Tips Corner by

Hey you, yes you, slave of the web browser good reader, welcome to Mario Kart: Wheel Tips Corner. Your friend Coincollector is here to tell you something special. Recently I've discovered a nice invention to make this article a cliffhanger for the Mario Kart connoisseurs and amateurs... I call it.. Coincollector's Mario Kart Wheel Tips Corner Washing Machine (CMKWTCWM for short and with permission to use the patented name from another user to avoid charges).

Today I'll talk about the Fireballs (please don't think of anything else), special items that make their appearance in Mario Kart: Double Dash!! The fireballs are Mario and Luigi's special items, although each plumber has a different color to match their style, Red Fireball for Mario and Green Fireball for the green guy. Petey Piranha and King Boo are can also get this special item and many others, but they only get the Red Fireball. Despite color differences, all fireballs have the same basic function: burn the opponents' buttocks and make the kart spin out of control. Once used they act somewhat similar to Green Shells, travelling on the road in straight lines and bouncing over walls. However, they're different from green shells in that they do not slide over the ground but rather bounce over it, and in that the user deploys five fireballs that spread out. This makes fireballs a great weapon to hit several rivals simultaneously. Once they hit a target, the target will spin out of control as if they had touched a banana, but the spin caused by the fireball lasts a bit longer than a simple banana does. An advantage with this item is that it can be unpredictable, especially when it is used in curves and bounces over the walls. For example, if someone is hit by a fireball that has just been thrown, the other fireballs may rebound to hit them again. You need to be careful when using this under these circumstances, as it's possible that you can get hit by your own item. The most convenient use for fireballs is to stop an opponent in front of you when making a jump over a gap like that in Waluigi Stadium. A real downside of the fireballs is that they are not good usable as shields. Like any other projectile item, they can be thrown backwards and can stop incoming rivals from behind. However, as they bounce, they can leave a small gap below themselves. This can allow an item that slides, like a Koopa Shell, to trespass the fireball barrier and succesfully reach its target. Fireballs can be used by any character in battle mode. The item is somewhat rare and disappears very quickly once deployed. It can become useful in closed areas or when all your opponents are gathered together, so you can use the fireballs to hit them all at once. Today we will talk about the Giant Banana, a special item coming from Mario Kart: Double Dash!! The Giant Banana is an item that Donkey Kong and his partner Diddy Kong can obtain from an Item Box. As you might expect, it's simply a banana but more or less three times bigger. To use it just place it and the Giant Banana will remain still until a victim runs into it and spins out of control. That's typical from a banana, but unlike a normal banana, touching a giant one makes you spin several times for many seconds instead of spinning one time, making it harder to recover your speed, even if you use a mini-turbo. Additionally, the Giant Banana splits into three normal bananas that scatter over the road, giving following rivals a nasty surprise. The Giant Banana can be also thrown forward to give the opponents a sudden spin, but take care when aiming, as you can "get the slip" if you miss. The Giant Banana cannot be destroyed by normal items, like the Green Shells and Red Shells. This makes the Giant Banana a formidable shield. Only the Star and other special items can take a Giant Banana down (Except the Fireballs) and reduce them to the three bananas. A Bob-omb can completely destroy a Giant Banana. I consider the Giant Banana one of the best special items to use as it can serve as a shield and a obstacle against stalking opponents, covering a large part of the road while blocking any hazard coming from behind. Like most of the Special Items, the giant banana is available for all the characters in battle mode. The Giant Banana can be useful against opponents that follow you. You can perform a surprise counter-attack if somebody behind throws a projectile, like a Koopa Shell.

Today we will talk about Yoshi's favorite weapon, the 'Yoshi Egg. In Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, it's a special item exclusive to Yoshi. As for Birdo, his partner, she gets a similar object, but it's called Birdo Egg and has pink dots instead of green like Yoshi's. Petey Piranha and King Boo can use too them as they have the ability to get any special item and in this case, they only receive Yoshi's Eggs. Regardless of visual differences they act basically the same: Once thrown forward, they roll to home in on any vehicle in front of them and bowl it over, much like a Red Shell. However, unlike a red shell, when the Yoshi and Birdo Egg hit their targets, the eggs shatter, revealing three items that fall over the track. The items that come out can be Green Shells, Bananas or Mushroom, the most common items. Rarely a single Star or a Bob-omb will appear alongside the other two items. If you have hit an opponent with an egg, look carefully which items have been released. Sometimes the opponents you hit can get a chance to take advantage of any of the items that come out of the egg and fall in front of them, like for example, the Mushrooms. If an useful item appears from an egg, be quick and take it before your opponent can get it (this is effective if the vehicle you hit has very low acceleration, as the rival may have little chance to get the item before you can). But be very careful if a Bob-omb appears in the pack, especially if it appears in the middle. Eggs can also be thrown backward, but they do not home in and will roll in straight line. Like a Red Shell, the Eggs can be stopped if they hit another item on the ground, like the Bananas. This will cause the egg to break open and release the items. If an Egg hits another special item or even a wall, it also breaks, but there is a possibility that the items pop out in the opposite direction the egg was thrown. An apponent can also dodge an incoming Egg using powersliding. To do it, look at the Egg signal at the bottom of the screen that an egg is homing and listen the crack-like noise it makes when it approaches. Wait until the egg comes closer to the kart and appears on the screen. During that moment, try to drift and quickly perform a mini-turbo for a boost. In that way, the Egg will likely stop chasing you and instead will roll in straight line and get lost somewhere in the road to break itself eventually. A small disadvantage of the Yoshi/Birdo Egg is that if they don't find a target while rolling, they will shatter later and release their items. For experts, this can be taken advantage of if they are leading the pack, as it is common to obtain an Egg even in first place. In this way, you can get any convenient item (The Mushroom and the Star) that the egg has released without some rival having the chance to take them. All characters can get a Yoshi Egg in battle mode, but getting that item is quite rare, as it has the same properties as the Red Shell. QUIET AND ENJOY!!!

Hope you have enjoyed the CMKWTCWM of The 'Shroom. Be prepared for another random tip during this month, and the next one (maybe, I dunno... maybe not... I hope I don't get sued for using this '._.)