Mario Kart Nostalgia
My father came home with a box one day in 2008. I was six. My mom and I didn’t take much notice of it at the time, but he unwrapped it and started to set it up. When he was done, he called me over to proudly show what he had bought. It was a gaming console. It was a shiny white rectangle connected to our TV and had two matching wireless controllers. I was impressed.
I asked him what it was; He called it a “Nintendo Wii.” We turned that bad boy on and started setting it up. We went through the works: names, WiFi connection, parental controls, making a Mii, all that jazz. At this point, I was ready to see what kind of games I could play, more importantly, what kind of games I could beat my dad at. I couldn’t wait. He pulled out a CD box with the words “Mario Kart Wii” written on them and there were two guys, one wearing red and one wearing green. They were both holding steering wheels. My dad put the CD in while I could barely contain my excitement.
We sat side by side on the couch, staring at the screen with the remote in our hand. We chose our newly made Mii’s and profiles and set up our characters in the game and got ready to play. 3...2...1… and the race officially began. There were twists and turns and sabotage, it felt like I was on the course, in the kart, feeling the wind against my face. However, my fantasy ended when I realized I was 4th place. Now, 4th place for the first time a six-year-old playing is pretty good, but my dad was third. I didn’t beat him. It must have been a mistake, so I asked to play again. He happily obliged. We played the same race with the same kart and the same characters for the sake of consistency, and the results were the same. My dad had bested me again. I was angry. I didn’t want to play this game anymore, it was rigged and that was the only explanation for why I didn’t beat him. He saw my anger and offered to help me get better, maybe do a few practice rounds. I refused immediately, if I were to win, I was gonna do it myself.
Anyway, we made a pact, every Friday we would come home and play MarioKart, we would play one Grand Prix and we wouldn’t miss it for anything. I was convinced it was just because I had not played for long. But by next Friday I would be able to beat him.
Next Friday came around and I was ready. I had been playing the entire week and was ready to claim my victory. We started up the TV, turned on the Wii, put the CD in and waited. We started the race. 3...2...1.. Go! We were off and I was confident I would be first. I started climbing up the ranks, from 8th to 1st and the third lap came around. I was so close I could taste it. But out of nowhere, there came a blue shell, determined to throw me off my carefully practiced course. I tried to outmaneuver it but my efforts were futile. I watched in shock as all the other characters zoomed past my character still shaking his head. I had been pushed back to 7th place. I wasn’t even angry this time. I felt defeated and hopeless. My dad saw my despondency and offered to help again. I opened my mouth to say no again until I thought about it some more. If I wanted to beat him, this is the way to do it. I mean, the guy is offering to help me get better. I agreed, and we sat down. He taught me how to hold the wheel, how to take advantage of the tiny little boosts that you can get, and how to play smart. We put in a couple of practice hours during the week and I did some alone as well, all while the day got closer and closer: race day.
Finally, the next Friday came around, and we were ready to play. I stayed calm, ready to take what was rightfully mine, a gold cup. The countdown began and I could feel the intensity in the air. And we were off! I started out strong, ready to demolish anyone who got in my way. I zoomed my way into first place, far ahead of any of the competition, but I was on my toes. It was time to be defensive. I kept this up until the third and final round. I was so close, I could see the finish line. I was unconvinced, knowing there would be some kind of shell or banana to mess me up, but there wasn’t. I finished quickly, far ahead of all the competition. I was so happy!
Taking the help truly paid off, and I started getting better on my own. I started playing with my brother and we played often. Sure, we’ve upgraded to better consoles and better versions with cooler graphics but I still have that CD in my room. Every time I look at it, all the memories of sabotage, drama, intensity, and triumph all come back to me. It takes me back to my childhood, a time where everything was much simpler.
Picture used from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mario_Kart_Wii
I love this post! I really like this story about you and your dad playing together every Friday became a tradition. Playing Mario Cart with my little brother is one of the only things we both liked and could do together. Every weekend we probably spent way more time on the Wii then we should. It is crazy how now we can play it on our phones any time instead of having to wait to get home to play it.
ReplyDeleteI love Mario-Kart so much, I also love how much you love it LOL! I enjoyed how you described the exact moment of you getting your Wii and you playing your first game
ReplyDeleteI like the story through this post and how you talk about the competition with your dad. I like your description of Mario Kart in the last paragraph ("sabotage, drama, etc")I can relate to the competitive nature of Mario Kart, and just playing games like that as a kid.
ReplyDeleteI still remember the Christmas we got our Wii console. With it came the new Super Mario Bros (by "new" I mean circa 2009) and Mario Kart. I was pretty terrible at Super Mario Bros (and I still am) but Mario Kart was a pretty strong suit of mine. I don't remember how long it took me to become decent at it, and my brother was usually better than me because he spent more time on it (I never wanted to play alone), but I remember spending many a weekend bonding with my brother through that game, working together and against each other.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed this story and the relationship between you and your dad. The initial resistance to getting help from a grown up. I remember my first Wii, honestly I couldn't say if it was for the better or for the worse because I was hooked. The only two games we had at the time where wii fit plus and wii sports but it was more than enough for me. Slowly over time, Wii Ski, Wii go vacation, and Wii sports resorts really opened up my love for open world games(May have kick started my minecraft addiction). While the Wii lego series always managed to put a smile on my face no matter how bad the day. I think there is something about those games I will never find in modern day pieces which always makes me like to come back and play them every once in a while.
ReplyDeleteThis takes me back. Not only do I have fond memories of Mario Kart as well, but I was able to see your experiences through your eyes. Seeing someone else with similar experiences adds to my appreciation of Mario Kart memories. Especially when it comes to the Wii as a gaming system. This is also a grander reflection on childhood, so its really interesting.
ReplyDeleteAh, Mario Kart Wii, the version I learned to play. I still know most (dare I say all?) of the courses like the back of my hand. That being said, I'm not an expert at it. In general, I'm not great at video games, and I didn't spend my childhood playing them, so there's plenty of experts who have been playing since they were 3 who infuriate me. If only your dad could teach me his tricks! But Mario Kart is still one of the few video games that I can always happily play, and I think that's true for a lot of kids our age.
ReplyDelete