Some of you may recognize this - though most of you probably won't. This is a little MK64 AI competition that I've been holding once a year since 2010.
What happens exactly? I watch the Mario Kart characters race around the prix tracks and record their placings, tallying them up on an excel spreadsheet. For each race, 1st place = 1 point. 7th place = 7 points. The object is to have the least amount of points by the end of the final race (Rainbow Road).
As for myself, I generally just sit by the side and watch the karts race. I don't directly intervene whatsoever. Doing so would screw with the results, obviously. So does this mean that I don't even get to play the game? Nope - I do get to play at times. I'll explain that in a second...
Here's the 2012 spreadsheet:
8 racers, 16 tracks. Each "---" means that I'll be playing as that racer for that specific track (which then means that that racer scores a '0' for that track as well). Each "---" was randomized (as always).
I realize that in MK games one AI racer sometimes gets a heavy boost in their performance for each prix - sort of like a 'rival' for the human player - to combat this I reset each prix after every race. This means that I force myself to play through the first track of every prix 4 times (with the second track 3 times, third track 2 times, etc). I never fully play through the final track - I only record the placements of the AI once that track comes up.
Ultimately it's a lot of Mario Kart to go around - but I love Mario Kart, so it's all good.
2010 and 2011's results: 2010: 2011:
So this may take a bit of time given my current IRL schedule, but I wanted to put the topic up just to get things started. Hopefully this won't take too long.
Oh, also, there'll be a secret *bonus* to be revealed once this finishes... though I'll be keeping my lips sealed on that for now.
Close race between the top 2. Yoshi nearly pulled it out, holding most of the lead for the first 2 laps. Bananas and shells really screw people up at the finish line. Bottom 3 were all fighting it out too, though at the start Mario was fighting for 4th. Wario and Toad had a rivalry this race as well, but... well... bananas, man.
1st place and 7th place were no contest. Neither was 2nd, really. 3rd/4th was, as well as 5th/6th. Not as good as the first race. Bowser is taking no prisoners.
Best race so far. Top 3 duked it out all race, though D.K. dipped to 4th at times, giving Peach a chance. Toad and D.K. were poised for top 2, but D.K. screwing up often gave Yoshi the opening, where he almost beat Toad at the finish line.
Another good race, with 1st/2nd/3rd up for grabs. Bowser, despite performing poorly this time around, nearly captured 4th at the last second. Sadly he slipped up near the finish line and was bumped down a few notches. All the while Mario fell way out of it on the last lap and never recovered.
1/4th of the way through and nobody is decisively in the lead, nor is anyone out of it yet. Seems Bowser/DK/Toad/Yoshi are the upper half for the time being. Regardless of this, though, at least one thing is certain - someone will be a repeat top 3'er by the end (given we've had different top 3'ers the last 2 years).
Again, 1st/2nd/3rd were fairly solid, but 4th-7th was incredibly chaotic, and all came down to the final turn of the race. Everyone kept hitting cars over and over, so nobody was secure in their spot. Yoshi was poised to get 6th, but then right before the finish line Bowser (4th) hit a car, sending him down, as well as DK (5th) putting him in last, giving Yoshi a much needed boost. And then Wario squeaked in somehow. Bowser was fighting for 1st for half the race, but slowly fell completely out of it.
1st was the only solidified spot, but I can't say that Yoshi deserved 2nd. Toad probably did, though he kept hitting bananas on the final lap. Another chaotic race, with 2nd-7th mostly up grabs (bottom 3 varied, but never really went much higher).
Top 3 were all duking it out, though on the final lap Yoshi really pulled ahead... like a quarter of the track ahead. The other 4 spots were mixed around some, though nothing too significant.
I have to go buy shoes. I'll continue this later on.
Top 4 were all really, really close. Luigi hit a banana on the final stretch and fell a few spots, though he could have easily come in second, let alone won had Toad not done so perfectly. Yoshi lucked out again sneaking into 3rd, while Peach was consistent. The bottom 3 were ugly, trailing almost a quarter of the track behind the other 4. Bowser blew 5th in the end, giving him his first last place finish.
Also, prior to this race, we had 6 different winners over the past 6 races - but now Toad joins Bowser with 2 wins. A 6-different-winner streak has happened every year now, but has never gone to 7. Amusingly enough the only two non-winners left for this race were Wario (who I was playing as) and Mario. And Mario was one of the two previous winners for this track (back in 2010). And the next track after this is Wario Stadium, where Wario may have stood a chance at winning for once. It almost seemed like the stars were aligning for an 8-different-winner streak, but alas, Mario didn't even put in a good fight just now.
Also, we're at the halfway point, and Yoshi is still in the teens. He pulls this performance for the second half of the tournament, he'll finish with a record high (or low) 30. Toad finished in 1st in 2010 with 44, and at the halfway point he had a score of 19, so he fell a little, while Mario finished 1st in 2011 with a score of 49 and at the halfway point he had 18... even more of a drop, though still not too bad.
Yoshi is at 15 and poised to win at this rate. I guess the biggest questions are will Yoshi drop, and if so, by how much?
So Wario bombed that one, amusingly enough. The first 50% of the race was between Bowser/Toad/Yoshi, with each of them crossing the finish line into the 2nd lap parallel to one another. 1st/2nd/3rd was flip-flopping constantly. And then the 2nd lap happened, and the bottom 4 suddenly caught way up, and then it became equal ground for everyone. A few rogue bananas and shells later and Peach outmaneuvers the 3 leaders to take the cake. Yoshi still got the icing though.
Though Peach won yet again, this was more because D.K. flubbed it on the final stretch of the last lap. He was in 1st place from the starting line to that point, and then messed up and blew it - Peach took what she could get. Also, Yoshi did the same, relying heavily on other peoples screwups. He was riding between 4th and 5th most of the race, but yet again worked off the blunders of others to capture 3rd. And Bowser had 6th and then ran into a penguin at the last second, giving him last instead.
Toad had a similar performance in 2010, where he managed to place in at least 4th all the way up to Bowser's Castle (placing 6th). If Yoshi can get at least 4th in the next race, he'll have tied Toad's streak.
Of course, that'll have to wait, because I'm headed to bed. :]
Yeah, I totally didn't notice Toad was actually alive on the same streak. To think that both of them have comprised 50% of the top 4 for every race so far is kinda crazy.
And just when it comes to the forefront of the tournament, it nearly gets nipped in the bud. Toad was never really in contention to get much higher, though Yoshi was in a decent 2nd for a while. D.K.'s 1st place was never in doubt. He was flying high from the very beginning. Positions 2-4 were up in the air though, and could have gone in any sort of ways. Yoshi pulls his second 4th! Toad drops the ball. Is Peach the darkhorse?
Aaaaand of course it has to happen now. I just want to say that this track presented the widest gap between each placement of all tracks thus far. The difference between 1st and 2nd, and 2nd and 3rd, and so on was pretty big. The only spots that are big WTF's from my perspective are the last 3, and that's because Bowser shouldn't have gotten last, but he screwed up three times in a row on the final stretch by falling in the lava and then hitting a banana and probably a fake item block, allowing both Mario and Yoshi to pass him. Mario was a nonfactor this race (what else is new) and Yoshi deserved last, but ultimately squeaked by with a slightly less damaging placement. Of course, with this now happening, the field is slowly opening to Toad, Peach, and even Luigi.
If Yoshi can't perform in the Special Cup, he may very well blow his lead. Although he has a "---" in it, so do Toad and Peach. Can Yoshi finish out in a worthy manner, or will he have to struggle his way to the end? Cracks are showing. It's only a matter of time.
Or not. Seems it was just a one time thing? Toad and Yoshi finished within less than a second from each other. Milliseconds apart. It could have gone either way. Everything else was kind of just there, though I do find it amusing that the top 4 in the tournament right now finished in the top 4 of this race.
I actually thought I had an idea as to what was going on in Yoshi Valley, but I would only hang around the finish line and wait to see who would cross it first and in what order at the end of every lap. After the first lap it was DK/Mario/Luigi, followed by Peach, followed by everyone else - with Yoshi in last. Then, second lap, it was DK/Mario/Luigi, followed by randomness - with Yoshi in last. Then, final lap, it's DK/Mario/Peach?! - and Yoshi?!? Dunno what happened. Pretty amusing.
Yoshi would have to flop HARD on Rainbow Road to lose this now, and it would still take a good performance from Toad in two races to bridge the difference. Lead of two with a bye is just too much.
It was Toad and Peach as the top 2 and it was looking like Peach would narrowly edge out Toad on the home stretch, but then she hit a banana and Toad easily took the crown.
So this gets a little more interesting for the final race. Last year was intense, with the top 3 each taking 1st/2nd/3rd in Rainbow Road, making it the closest finish yet (and with the current results, to date). But Toad is still in this. D.K. actually did stand a chance until this race, where he's now out of contention for first. It's either Toad or Yoshi as this years champion. Toad, a repeat from the first year in '10, or Yoshi, a new winner for a new year. Based on their performances they've been #1 and #2 all tournament, so it's not much of a surprise, but I'll be damned if Yoshi blows this lead in this final race. Yoshi has come in 4th and 3rd on Rainbow Road in previous years - and with Toad having a bye in the final race (probably the best time to have a bye in this scenario, honestly) - Yoshi will need to place in either 1st or 2nd or else Toad wins via tiebreaker (if the points are the same, whoever has more 1st place finishes, then 2nd place finishes, etc.). Because Yoshi has 2 1st place finishes and Toad has 3, Toad wins the tiebreaker (talk about needing to win Banshee Boardwalk, holy moly).
Yoshi needs 1st or 2nd. Anything else and he loses. Suddenly Yoshi isn't looking so good. But Yoshi has come in 2nd place in 25% of the races so far, and he's come in 1st on 2 of them - he's not out of this just yet. But I think Toad has the upperhand going in, (especially since he's sitting out).
Yeah, Toad needs to do well and have Yoshi do horrible, while Yoshi just needs to do well, or at least not have Toads placing be that much greater. Like getting into the NFL playoffs for some teams - Yoshi controls his destiny - Toad not so much.
2010 result: 3rd place with 48 points 2011 result: 4th place with 55 points
Wario is regressing at the worst rate it seems. Admittedly he does show signs of performing well, he ultimately isn't that strong of a competitor on average. Completely bombed this year all around, nearly breaking Bowser's record of worst performance ever (Bowser had 81 points in '10).
In 7th place, with 68 points...
Mario!
2010 result: 7th place with 64 points 2011 result: 1st place with 49 points
Considering Mario won last years tournament, this is a major, major step down, where he even fell further than his 2010 performance. Setting his all-time low, Mario may have undertaken some kind of 'winners curse', or something. Either way, bad year for the lead guy. Not even scoring a single 1st place on a track may attest to this placing. Luckily he had Wario around to bomb even harder.
In 6th place, with 62 points...
Bowser!
2010 result: 8th place with 81 points 2011 result: 2nd place with 50 points
Bowser fell a bit, landing somewhere in between his previous two finishes. Last year he nearly won, losing only by 1 point to Mario, but this year he was barely anywhere to be found. He's the kind of racer who either does really well, or doesn't do well at all (kinda like Mario, huh). You'll generally see him nabbing either first or last, and seldom in between. Not such a strong performance this year.
In 5th place, with 55 points...
Luigi!
2010 result: 5th place with 55 points 2011 result: 8th place with 68 points
Luigi improved, though not entirely. He reverted completely back to his 2010 self, coming in at the same placement with the same amount of points. Luigi has, overall, the worst stats out of anyone, though he doesn't always show for it surprisingly. This year he didn't improve much. I wouldn't be surprised if he goes down next time around.
2010 result: 4th place with 50 points 2011 result: 5th place with 57 points
D.K. is always on the cusp of placing in the top 3, and yet still hasn't made it there. He and Luigi are the only two racers to never come in 1st/2nd/3rd by the end over the past 3 years, and this year is just another slight disappointment for him, barely missing 3rd by a mere 2 points. But what this does tell us is that he is a consistent racer who does, on average, place well more often than not. He came in first 3 times (tied with several other racers on this), and had a few other 2nd and 3rd place finishes. His biggest crutch is that when he doesn't make a top 3 performance, he usually bombs the race hard, coming in either 6th or 7th - something the top 3 racers this year didn't usually do. He improved ever so slightly this year, though, so on some level kudos to him, even though he won't probably be recognized for it.
Oh damnit, I had everything written up for Toad and Peach, but then I closed the browser on accident and it all went away.
Thankfully I have Yoshi's write-up here, but I'll just keep it simple and say that Toad finished in 3rd with 47 points, while Peach finished in 2nd with 46 points.
Rainbow Road results:
And so, coming in 1st place, with 41(!) points...
...like we didn't expect this...
YOSHI!
2010 result: 6th place with 60 points 2011 result: 3rd place with 51 points
I think it suffices to say that Yoshi has shown the biggest growth of any racer over the past 3 years now. He's performed better each year, and I guess it's strangely no surprise that, after looking at the stats, he finally won the damn thing for once. I can't exactly see him pulling this record-breaking performance again next year, but for what it's worth he raced a fantastic tournament from start to finish, only placing outside of 4th once. There's really no better way to figure out how he finished first this year then recognizing that fact. Admittedly a decent amount of his 4th place finishes weren't too impressive, I do have to say that at the same time a lot of them were come-from-behind placings that he otherwise probably shouldn't have gotten - but in the end they made the difference in deciding 1st from a near 2nd (or 3rd).
So Yoshi deserved it, hands down, even though I many times over would say he was 'squeaking by'. He's this years champ, and rightfully so, he gets to wear the proverbial imaginary crown dawned from an excel spreadsheet for the time being. Congrats Yoshi.
And thank you all for taking the time to follow this! It's kind fun in its own weird way. I don't do it very often, but I enjoy it - for the most part - when I do.
