Uncovering the Unequal Bonus Points System in Mario Kart: Super Circuit
The Mario Kart community was recently shaken to learn that the Game Boy Advance entry in the series, Super Circuit, was secretly giving bonus points to certain characters in the roster.[0] Characters such as Bowser get the highest amount of bonus points, while Peach and Toad get less. It turns out there might be a good reason for the uneven point distributions, except for Yoshi, who appears to have been singled out and given no bonus points.
This information was brought to light thanks to a dataminer who calculated the bonus scores for each character.[0] According to Supper Mario Broth, the Grand Prix rank in Mario Kart: Super Circuit is calculated with a complex formula that awards points for player performance, as well as free bonus points that are simply given for playing as certain characters. Bowser has the highest bonus, while Yoshi gets nothing.
Players were infuriated when they found out about the bonus points system, feeling gaslit about the difficulty of achieving three stars on lighter characters. The challenge of playing with heavier characters was taken away, since they were getting hidden bonus points for choosing Bowser as their driver.[1]
Mario Kart Super Circuit includes ranks, which denote how well a player performed in all four tracks. Points are gained and lost based on how skillfully you played, but it appears that some characters start with points that give them an advantage.[1] This has led to a lot of frustration in the Mario Kart community, as players feel that they were not given the full picture when playing the game.
0. “Mario Kart: Super Circuit Gave Secret Points Based On Chosen Character” TheGamer, 25 Feb. 2023, https://www.thegamer.com/mario-kart-super-circuit-secret-points-based-on-character/
1. “Mario Kart Fans Aghast To Learn About Secret Points That Tilt The Scales” Kotaku, 24 Feb. 2023, https://kotaku.com/mario-kart-super-circuit-yoshi-bowser-mario-peach-luigi-1850155523
