It’s possible that Prehistoric Playground wasn’t out when this video came out lol

Nope, the microtransactions are fine. Shocking opinion, I know.

Hey there, writer for this episode, thank you so much for taking the time for this analysis! Lemme see if I can share my thought process here... 1. Fair, you definitely would know better. At the time, I was not seeing anyone use the slower path, and I'd found it was far easier to build up reserves in the tomb area to mitigate not having them from the slope out of it. This was my observation two weeks after the track's release; sorry, I did try to see if there was value to it and found none at the time! 2. I do feel that design and emotions go hand-in-hand, and will admit I wanted to convey the emotive sensation I got from "oh, I see, it's a test of skill". Obviously items in Nitro Fueled are a lot weaker than other kart racers, even comparing the missiles to the original. However, I have found moderate success in trapping based on my lines rather than based on chokepoints, which lead to that level of adaptation, and I found the conscious choice in doing so (especially comparable if I had, say, a TNT versus a Beaker) really remarkable. I don't doubt that at the highest level of play this breaks down a lot, but I do appreciate the placement of the item boxes before the area that would deplete blue fire the fastest; I do feel that strategy changes based on if you get a missile, bowling bomb, beaker, etc if you are in a pack. Only item that doesn't really affect it is mask since that's just a freebie through it. As for those specific tracks... Papu's Pyramid - Getting the line around the pyramid is incredibly rewarding. Admittedly it's a bit stronger in CTR classic due to power ups being a bit stronger, but I still adore the flow of the track from test of skill to shortcut to shortcut. One of the strongest tracks to be based entirely on turning, which compliments CTR rewarding you for boosting through corners faster than its contemporaries. Polar Pass - A bit of nostalgia, admittedly, does factor into this one for me, but I also really enjoy the conceit of it as a hang time-based track. The shortcut over the lake is one of the hardest to learn in my experience, and very rewarding when you pull it off (as well as easy to both trap and try to work around traps due to the two-boost nature of the jumps toward the u-turn it's skipping).Plus the ending is both great spectacle and a great homage to Crash 2, and I appreciate the Blue Fire being kept out of reach until the end of the lap; makes it a lot more competitive. N. Gin Labs - Constant spectacle through the track, lots of neat tricks to do to maintain blue fire, figuring out proper lines to time against the barrel drop segment is really fun, 90 degree turns that feel rewarding here instead of punishing in other kart racers, just a slam dunk of CTR's design philosophies. Sewer Speedway - I like the way the curved surfaces interact with both the reserves system and hang time. Really easy to get a bad line here and need to adjust, to say nothing of trying to trap the shortcut. Can definitely see arguments against it, but I think it's very satisfying at its best and highly embittering at its worst. Oxide Station - Really love how the uneven flooring makes maintaining reserves difficult. Definitely the hardest Time Trial to learn outside of optimizing Hyper Spaceway (which I don't particularly love due to it being a collection of choke points - similar in idea/execution to Polar, but with less wiggle room. And also it was cooler in Nitro Kart). The space jump is probably the best set piece for pure spectacle in the game (ESPECIALLY on PS1). Tightness of the winding hallways I can see as being difficult/problematic and really easy to trap, but I do like that from a competitive standpoint. Cortex Castle - Same philosophy as N. Gin but weaker and with better music. Castle wall segment is a great "breather" area so it's not just all turns all the time, finding the proper lines for maintaining blue fire is fun, has the Polar Jump but a bit weaker due to the comparative slenderness of the cathedral area. Also the stained glass of Cortex's failures they added kill me. Tiny Arena - The 'shut your brain off and drive' course. Constant chances to regain and lose reserves due to the hilliness of the track, lots of good places to trap whilst not being entirely unavoidable, wumpa crates placed right in the way so everyone is likely to get Juiced Up items quickly. I just think it's a fun time. No real depth to it. Also again, love the Nitro Fuel update - took it from an incredibly dull Wario's Stadium rip-off with better mechanics to one of the most personality-fueled tracks. Hope that answers some questions or at least gives perspective as to "why the Hell would he say that". Thank you again for the thoughtful comment!

@@pyrrhickong 1. It's *faster* to take the shortcut even when going for top times, but when learning the track it's still useful, kind of how a lot of players start with Acceleration-class because boost lines are more forgiving than Speed-class. I use Drift-class myself (post-patch, where it's a slower Speed-class with slightly more turning). As far as I'm aware there's no case where the shortcut is objectively the best path for your time, it just gives you more space to build momentum. 2. Y'know, fair enough. I think that's a matter of different "worlds," so I can't tell you your experience is wrong. Personally, I think the most beautiful thing about CTR and the remake is that it's *designed* around building and maintaining momentum both literally and figuratively -- if I were to make an episode of this show about this game in general, it would be called "designing for momentum." Final Fantasy XIII is similar in that respect, despite not being a racing game.

It's pretty, but it's not good to actually play in, in my opinion. There's so much bloom that it distracts from the game, even if it does match the 80's neon aesthetic.

Designing For I guess I know what you mean I mean to me I just race it fine but I guess it can be distracting for others. Like I for example find rainbow road on MK8 distracting

no doubt

It’s objective

It's already too long imo

Its the longes track in the game mate

@@goddamnarshia no it isn't there are way longer tracks then twilight tour

@@SamuelJohnsonYT tiny arena is the only one i can remember and maybe oxide station, and tiny arena is just a twisty road

@@goddamnarshia tiny arena is a really good track

Nothings ruined -.-

@@vgamissos5983 They added in microtransactions well after the game's release and all the positive reviews came out. And said microtransactions are extremely expensive; something like upwards of $10 for a pack of five cosmetic items. It's disgusting.

They CAN be done right, but most of the time, they get it wrong.

He didn't invent the phrase (here's a post from 2005 talking about it, six years before he got started: www.neoseeker.com/forums/1161/t615745-sacred-fire-ultimate-saffi-fire/), and I haven't heard of his KZfaq channel before now, so I'm afraid it's just a coincidence. Good to see he thinks it's just as ridiculous as we do, though!