while taking the above pic i found a road that just Stops at a wall with a pipe sticking out and i didn't think twice about it because, yeah, pipes are instant transport. it makes sense the construction crews of the mario world would pave their roads under the assumption that you know how to use one

it's also not a knock against the integrity of the world itself, which i think was very well done. industries and populace are spaced out in a way that makes sense. the white noise in between is contextualized, to some extent, by pulling inspiration from american freeways (White Noise Central)

now obviously i wasn't EXPECTING to be able to get out of the car and run around like it's city trial. the GTA slippery slope is far beyond the ambitions of mario kart. it's just an interesting example of the mechanics of a game clashing against the psychological expectation of the world it presents

world's tracks are connected in a way to give the illusion of life. you're encouraged to perceive them as real places people live in. but you can only watch those lives through the looking glass of the driver's seat. permanently glued to it, even in places where it would be more practical not to be

you don't think about this with most kart racers because it's a race, of course you're not getting out of the car. that would be antithetical to the societal expectations of a race. stopping to look around is fun but you are making the conscious decision to work against the rules when you do that

a singular birthday luigi in a sea of birthday marios..... i know i can always count on him ❤️

THANK YOU XLOL AND SULETTA I LOVE YOU SO FUCKING MUCH

what the hell reimu and marisa are in my replies that's scary /lh
(thank you so much!!!!!!!)

they gave it to me early because i planned on going out to get one today and they couldn't pull the "oh sorry poppy we rang in and they're out of stock :(" fakeout on me because i was literally keeping tabs on the stock online. that's really funny

the hype has thoroughly washed over me and i'm going into this as just another game instead of The Next Revolution 11 Years In The Making. if my takeaway is no stronger than "that was pretty good" it's a good sign my brain hasn't been poisoned by the Language Of Extremes social media encourages