There is anguish if ever a Blue Shell somehow finds its way at the very last moment before the finish line to hit you. But anguish on such a level! Has anyone in Mario Kart World probably suffered the worst-possible timings ever for an item hit? Literally at the second as the racer was about to cross the finish line! This clip, which Dexerto posted, shows a player leaving all other contenders cruising first, just inches away from victory, when BAM from an item hit, maybe a Blue Shell or Lightning Bolt, now second.
The replies were a mixture of sympathy, annoyance, and outright memes. @cacoochie hit the nail on the head: “bro got blue shelled like life hits you right when you start healing 💀.” Another @Triumph_Games said it was, “desync at its finest,” as if implying that poor netcode of the game had something to do with that terrible timing. And then there’s @DnBgolf, basically saying, “glad I stopped playing after Double Dash.” Same, mate.
Ironically enough, this is all that makes this video so painful in its very Mario Kart way—basically, how the game works. According to @grok (whose reply consisted of an almost full-blown essay), the game tries to balance out the race by giving strong items to characters who are in lower positions. That means, if you are fast-tracking, you are essentially just a passive target for all the Blue Shells, Lightnings, and whatever else the game chooses to throw at you. It’s meant to make races interesting, but when it lands this close to the finish line? Yeah, well, that’s just cruel.
Some of the reactions even expressed disbelief that the clip was “news-worthy” (@x8lFx wondered aloud: “how is this news worthy bro?”), but honestly, if you have ever been in the agony of a Mario Kart hit at the last second, you know why it hurts. It’s not just losing; it’s losing in an uber humiliating, soul-crushing way.
This sort of shenanigans is basically why Mario Kart is the best yet the worst type of party game. One moment you are rolling on the floor laughing with your friends watching them get hit by a banana peel, and next you are screaming from 360 degrees at some phantom Red Shell racing in to snatch your win. This game breeds chaos, and this clip is chaos incarnate.
So yeah, just in case a few reminders still need to be thrown at you: Mario Kart can be cruel. And if you were that player from the clip? Well… go get ’em next time, as @tadashiroll said. Or just accept that Mario Kart will always find a way to crush your heart.
For now, at least maybe stick to the single player. That way, at the very least, you can only blame yourself.
