Welcome back to my passion blog thread, through which I have been discussing my opinions on each of the Mario Kart Wii Grand Prix Cups. We have reached the end of the semester, meaning that I am currently writing my last RCL blog post. The class has been an eventful ride the past two semesters, but if you enjoy reading my strange blog posts, I would highly recommend reading my Presidential Leadership Academy blog in these upcoming years. Enough of my shameless plugs, let’s look at the last–and best–Mario Kart Wii circuit, the one and only Special Cup.
The first course in Special Cup is none other than Dry Dry Ruins, possibly the best first course of the game. Although my personal favorite first course is Peach Beach, I never overlook the fun obstacles that enhance the course’s desert theme–there is quicksand, half pipes, and a temple that create tons of challenges for players. There is also a nice shortcut towards the end of the course, which enables players to avoid the cars below. But my favorite aspect of the course is the aforementioned temple, through which there are very straightforward, yet risky shortcuts through pouring quicksand and around pokeys, which are similar to moving cacti. Dry Dry Ruins starts Special Cup off on a good note–unlike many other first courses, the actual course creates a challenge.
Moonview Highway is the second course in Special Cup, and it holds a reputation of being perhaps the most chaotic course in the game. However, the chaos of the surroundings added to the actual race makes the course one of my favorites in the game. The entire circuit essentially takes place on some sort of freeway running through a city. There are actual cars similar to the ones in Coconut Mall parking lot, but these cars are everywhere, making the actual course the biggest challenge of the race. In addition to the driving cars, there are also driving bombs that act as blue shells when racers hit them, creating an extra challenge. There are some shortcuts scattered throughout that allow players to avoid the driving cars occasionally, but otherwise, there is nearly no escape from the oncoming cars. The race almost reminds me of a police chase, making it super exciting.
The third course in Special Cup is the Wii version of Bowser’s Castle. I am not particularly a fan of Bowser’s Castle courses in general, but this course creates the one exception because there is tons of variation within the course itself. There are half pipes, lava geysers, scattered thwomps, and jumps where racers can perform tricks. The most distinguishing part of the course, however, is the giant Bowser head that shoots flames towards oncoming racers. This section of the course contains the half pipes that racers have to use in order to avoid these flames, which poses high risk of going off the course. The course does not have one section that does not contain a certain obstacle, creating exciting races.
The last course in Special Cup, the last course I am discussing through my passion blog thread, and my favorite course of all Mario Kart games is Rainbow Road. The course is aesthetically pleasing in every way–the entire track glows with a pastel mixture of blues, pinks, greens, purples, and yellows. It has a super wavy structure, with tons of smooth turns and large drops. The track is extremely narrow and there are almost no barriers between racers and a fall to the earth below, which also presents the challenge of being easily knocked off the course by your competitors. When players drive across dash panels, there are almost glimmering sounds, and the course’s music seems so intergalactic, adding to the aesthetic of the course. The best parts of the course, however, are the star cannon through a rainbow and the 360 degrees ramp that sends players through a mixture of rainbows and stars. Although the ramp is rather difficult to time correctly without falling to the earth below, once practiced enough, the surrounding rainbows and stars create such an unreal effect.
Contrasting to the other seven Mario Kart Wii cups, Special Cup does not have a weak link–each course has a strong theme with obstacles that add plenty of challenges. Dry Dry Ruins starts the series off strong, Moonview Highway adds an extremely chaotic yet fun second course, Bowser’s Castle adds another exciting course, and Rainbow Road is simply unmatched, making Special Cup truly special.
