Hack #3 – Hacking Mario Kart

When the first idea about a video game sparks in the mind of a game maker or game designer his or hers ultimate goal is to bring to “life” this world that they have pictured, with their rules, their characters, their illustration, etc. Basically, game makers want the user(s) to play the game the specific way they have imagined it being played, anything out of those lines is in a way forbidden. Interestingly enough, in the movie “Ready Player One” (2018) directed by Steven Spielberg, one of the main ideas behind it is redefining the norm in video games and doing the unexpected to become the winner. In order to unlock the final stage of the game and find the last key to will grant a winner, the protagonist has to “think out of the box” and re-consider what he has been told his whole life –there is only one way to play this game, just drive straight. By realizing the secret to unlocking a new level he drives all the way backwards where a new platform opens up which leads him to finding the key he had been looking for. A game played by million of users all fighting for the same thing and all playing it the same way was won by the one person who went against the norm, and redefined the boundaries of it. 

Similarly, after years of playing Mario Kart on pretty much any type of technology that it can be played on, I decided to test the freedom that designers had placed in the hands of the gamers. On a newer version of the game, e.g. playing it on the Switch, if not all, most of these hacks that I proceed to tamper with have been fixed, illustrating that it only becomes harder and harder to play a game the wrong way or differently than what the game makers had originally planned. Testing videos games and seeing what they can and cannot do allows the player to also test his or her freedom on the game and develop an idea behind why the game makers have created it in a specific way. What was their goal? Is the video game all it suggests it is by playing it by the rules or is there something more behind it when you do not follow those rules? 

So, I decided to test this on an older version of the game, the 2008 Mario Kart on the Wii, where I ‘explored’ four different main techniques of the game, which players normally take for, granted. The first idea was to test what would happen if two players (my friend and I) would drive in the opposite direction on a simple and easier course, i.e. has no obstacles in the course/road itself, “Luigi Circuit”. The first biggest ‘hack’that we ‘fouled’ the system with for this first idea, was that the system did not count the laps allowing the game to go on forever (we were playing one course on lap 1/3 for 10 minutes!). This is something that has been fixed in the newer versions of the game by automatically flipping the player to face the right direction if he or she has started driving the wrong way. The second observation as a result of our hack, was that the person who is number 12 (on the screen) is actually first between the two players, (the player in 11^thplace is second) so the numbers are being counted backwards. The third observation shows that when you crash into the other players (computer automated), who are racing coming towards you (as they are moving in the right direction), you are basically able to run through them as if they were ghosts, whereas normally if you bump into them you are thrown off the side of the course. The fourth hack was that speed ups along the course make you go faster on the wrong direction even though the arrows on them are pointing toward the opposite way of where you were going (but the right direction of the course). Finally, the fifth observation was interestingly the fact that there were only a very limited amount of items available that you could win when running through a magic box and those were the mushrooms and the bullet, so basically anything that speeds you up, excluding all items that can attack an opponent i.e bananas, shells, etc. This all goes to show that the system recognizes the hack of the players who are driving in the opposite direction, yet still does not flip them around (like in the newer version) but recognizes it enough to greatly limit main characteristics of the game i.e. laps, items, etc. 

Idea No.1 – Driving in the opposite direction on an easy course. (Video had to be shorted due to capacity failure. Actual time: 12′)https://youtu.be/Xicl132hmc8h

The second idea of a hack was to similarly drive in the opposite direction but on a harder course with obstacles. The one showed below is “Hooper Cave” which includes water slides and falling off heights. Once again, in a newer version of the game the player would be automatically switched to face the right direction, but in this case you do not even get the chance to test out the lap count because as soon as you fall off or come head to head with an obstacle you are simply not allowed to go anywhere else. 

Idea No.2 – Driving in the opposite direction on a difficult course with obstacles. (Video slightly trimmed) https://youtu.be/C-SRskqiI9Y

The third hack idea was again racing on an easy course “Moo Moo Meadows” with no obstacles, to test what would happen if we drove in the right direction but backward. The first observation was that even though we were driving in the right direction the little cloud character with the arrow sign kept popping up. This time around, the game counts laps but does not speed you up nor plays the music faster when you cross the finish line (which happens normally). The third observation is that speed-ups push you the opposite and wrong direction. Weirdly the fourth observation is that the items are still limited even though you are going the right direction and just delaying your race time by making it harder for yourself by driving backwards. Finally, when you press the A button on the Wii remote which is in charge of changing the point of view of your screen to show you what is behind you, the cloud character disappears.

Idea No.3 – Driving in the right direction but backwards on an easy course. (Video also slightly trimmed) https://youtu.be/H2G7t2d-hPc

The fourth hack idea was to see what would happen if we did not start driving when the race started. In the newer versions of Mario Kart, the game automatically pushes you forward and forces you to start. In this hack the game just went on normally with players crashing on to us and bumping us off the side of the course until a while later when the Wii systems realizes that the remotes are not being used, popping up a notification to exit the game. 

Idea No.4 – Not driving at all. (Video slightly trimmed)https://youtu.be/1R8IOx-zGCY

It is interesting to see and test the freedom a player has and compare the versions of the same game over time as to figure out what the game makers and designers have altered, corrected and modified. For this 2008 Wii version of Mario Kart I wonder what the logic behind some of the observation was as a result of “hacking” the game by forcing it to do something it is not suppose to. Where the game makers even aware that this could happen? Probably. So were they careless enough to think that someone would not try and test the game? But if they did modify certain things that were mentioned as my observations (i.e. limited amount of items) then that means that the system is able to identify the fact that you are not following its “rules” and therefore manipulates the game to not give you the full experience. But, if the game makers are able to do that then why not change the whole thing from the beginning and not allow the player to continue going in the wrong direction or driving backwards? Were the developers and designers not as skilled as the ones now or was it a flaw of the technology? I am assuming that as the makers of the game developed it over the years they picked on those flaws one by one to make it perfect and ideal to what they had in mind, following their rules and their goals of how the player or players is or are suppose to complete the game. The only thing left to hack the newest version of Mario Kart is by psychically hacking the software and immediately unlocking all of the courses without having to take the time and skills to unlock them by racing. I am certain that the next version of the game will have dealt with this issue.