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The Mario Kart Franchise was never really particularly “difficult” per se – at least not when you compare it to something like F-Zero – but there are undoubtedly moments when it feels like the whole world is against you. In fact, the games have occasionally been called “unfair” due to moments of relentless bad luck. Thankfully, such incidents are rare, but my goodness, it can feel completely crippling when it does happen.
Take, for example, the following short clip from Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, posted on X by user @ArtistRemaining. It takes place during a race on the N64’s Yoshi Valley track. The player takes a cheeky shortcut on the third and final lap, but the speed boost from two mushrooms lying on the bridge causes the kart to veer off the side and spin out into thin air.
After Lakitu has thrown the player back onto the pitch, he is not thrown down once, not twice, but three several times in quick succession, quickly lost pole position and ended up back in 12th place.
The mishap reminds us of an infamous video from Mario Kart Wii in which a player is hit by a blue shell, a red shell, a kart, another red bowl and one final kart falling off the track. Oh, and then a Bullet Bill knocks it back off.
It’s a harsh reminder that these incidents can happen to anyone, no matter how good you are at Mario Kart. All it takes is one wrong move and the rest of the pack sends you, well, Packaging.
