MK7 First Impressions

Hey y'all. I just felt like updating this blog seeing as I haven't done so in about 2 weeks, so what better way to update it than to talk about the best Mario Kart ever?
Yes, I said it. Now, you might think I'm being a bit bold here, but seriously, this is what I always dreamed MarioKart would be like. They've polished a lot of the niggles I had with Mario Kart Wii and its predecessors (did I spell that right? xP) such as reducing the dreaded Blue Shell's damage intensity and some great new items - for example, the Fire Flower which allows you to burn anyone in front of you to a crisp like a mother-in-law on a bad day. It's not overpowered; if I recall correctly it only causes the damage of a banana, but it's a lot better than the fabled fruit skin because you can easily hit a foe twice in a row with it.

The fire flower, an awesome new item!

Now, I don't know if any of you can drift your minds back to the days of Mario Kart DS, one of the first really good games released for the DS, but you may remember a cheap little tactic known as "snaking". This consisted of getting loads of drift boosts while still staying on the track (here's a video explaining the process a little better). Luckily, Mario Kart 7 has inherited Mario Kart Wii's way of drifting; getting a boost the longer and harder you drift, with orange boosts lasting much longer than blue ones. This was, in my opinion, a brilliant move by Retro because snaking pretty much ruined MKDS' online. Some thieving little bugger has discovered a way to snake on MK7, but it's much, much less effective, which is a good thing because it makes the online a lot more fun and playable.
Overall, if you have any sense in you and have a 3DS, GET. THIS. NOW. I guarantee you won't regret it.

Before I go, if you don't watch Pointless at 5:15pm every weekday, you're seriously missing out. Genius concept, humorous presenters, and definitely one of those shows which will make you scream at the telly due to the occasional idiocy of the contestants.
Until next time, I hope life treats you well.