It’s over. It’s all over.
My Wii was broken. Years, over a decade, of hard work, are gone. Like a pappus of a dandelion sailing through the wind, the exact issue was nearly impossible to locate. Wii Support was of no help, internet Q&A forums offered nothing more than occasional motivation, and my family was as clueless as I was to fix this issue. Although I was deeply hurt by losing all the data of the other dozens of games I owned, the most painful truth I had to come to terms with was the loss of my Mario Kart Wii progress.
I had to start over.
A lifelong dream of mine, passed along to me by my elder sister, was unlocking a very special character, Rosalina. We worked on it periodically, never actually believing it was achievable, and, consequently, we never unlocked her. Our main obstacle was Mirror Mode.
Mirror Mode is horrendous. Everything is flipped horizontally, so each frame of each racing track is a mirror image of its normal state of being. Everything I have learned from my years of playing Mario Kart, I had to throw out the window. I could no longer rely on muscle memory, a core strength of mine when racing, but, instead, would have to rely on my reflexes and critical thinking abilities.
Eventually, my dad got a new Wii for us. I realized even though it would be difficult, I needed to start over. The summer before my Sophomore year, or the summer I was captive to my home, I began to embark on this journey of unlocking Rosalina herself. As I started up the new console, I realized how long this trek would take. Not only would I have to combat Mirror Mode, but I would also have to beat everything that came before it. For 50cc, 100cc, 150cc, and Mirror Mode, I would have to play each of the eight cups, each consisting of four races in a row, and I would have to get first place in all of them. It took my sister and me a couple of weeks of casual racing to get stars on all 50cc, 100cc, and 150cc cups, meaning it only took us a couple of weeks to regain almost all of our progress. I was confident about the journey ahead but knew to tread cautiously.
The following week was brutal, causing us to realize we were playing too casually and needed to step up our game. We decided to play from 10 pm-6 am every night. We were doing great the first few days until insanity consumed us. All I could think about was Mario Kart, all I could dream about was Mirror Mode, and all I could wish for was Rosalina. I resorted to various manifestation methods, one of which required pouring one cup of water into another cup labeled with our end goal. I would rage quit whenever I couldn’t handle another second place. Although our mental states weren’t intact, our skills were. With enough practice, we got stars on the first six cups more easily than before. However, our flow was interrupted by the last two cups, Lightning and Special.
These cups will forever haunt me. Already hard enough on their own, Mirror Mode made them so much worse. At this point, we did not know if we could make it through. Our eight-hour shifts didn’t seem to be enough, days of racing resulted in little to no visible progress. The more I would look ahead, the more hopeless I would feel. It was not until I looked back at our progress that I felt a bit more optimistic. We continued racing, engaging in our most offensive tactics against our heartless AI-controlled opponents. After days of hard work, we finally completed the Lightning cup, and, within the next two days, we had gotten our last star on the Special cup.
We unlocked Rosalina.
Although many would argue the number of sleepless nights put into unlocking a Mario Kart character we played as twice does not seem to be worth it, I learned lessons that will stick with me for many years to come. Mario Kart Wii was never about winning races, unlocking fictional characters, or engaging in violent activities against your opponents; it was always about finding out who “Wii” really are inside.
I love the artistic style, the pun at the end, and the gripping plot! Your first sentence was so attention-grabbing, I had no choice but to find out how Mario Kart devasted your life. The humorous, yet meaningful anecdote of Wii to determination- to even self determination, and the great length of this blog just showed how it was a great read that kept you reading. Your desperation was very enunciated in the first paragraph, carrying that ferver for of sheer will, loss, and, eventually, redemption. As someone who has never played Mario Kart on the Wii, I can’t even imagine how long those stages of 50cc, 100cc, 150cc would take. I thought it was interesting how you mentioned that you “could no longer rely on muscle memory, a core strength of mine when racing, but, instead, would have to rely on my reflexes and critical thinking abilities”, yet was able to use that to finish the casual racing in a “couple of weeks”. You later mentioned that through better practice, you then were able to accomplish this goal. What made that difference from the past to these new sessions? Was there another factor? Sheer determination? Anger? Pride of the quick progress, as mentioned? Either way, I’m glad those sleepless nights paid off and you finally found your way back to even higher achievement after such great setbacks and grew to acknowledge how that will has transformed you to overcome challenges!
Hi Ria! I 100% understand the grind to complete a seemingly arbitrary game. I love the way you detailed your journey to obtaining your “McGuffin”: Rosalina. For me and my brother, it was completing the entire game of Dance Central story mode. We also found ourselves devastated at level 0 as our Xbox Live account data got corrupted. The way you described your heart dropping loss was definitely tangible. I feel like we grow a little every time we become intertwined in these fixations. Despite the hours of our lives seemingly wasted, and the strain on our eyes from focusing on one thing for so long, our efforts must have taught us something, right? I wonder if we complete these things for the sake of our fixation on completing it, or if it benefits our ability to focus and persevere through frustration in the long term. For my own sanity, I’d like to think that experiences like these add to our understanding of the world in some way, like a callous that forms after using something for so long. I loved the way you wrote this narrative, I thought it was witty and very relatable. Maybe we should play Mario Kart sometime…
Ria, this is one of the best blog posts I have read yet. You are such a good storyteller and even though I know little about Mario Kart and WII, I was able to follow along the exact excitement and perseverance you endured during your video game adventure. You do such a good job capturing everyone’s attention and I loved the way you ended your blog: by connecting your experience to a bigger message all wrapped in a clever pun. Growing up, I did not play much video games. Occasionally, I would play some Wii at a cousin’s house, I remember swinging the Wii remote on my hand in virtual tennis and volleyball only to end the night with Just Dance. I always sucked at competitions so I am happy for the way you were able to achieve your goals. You demonstrated perseverance and I admire that so much about you! What made your read the most interesting is your voice, it was personal and fun to read. You kept such a fast pace throughout your post, emulating the pace of which you had to compete to unlock your character. I felt like I was there with you. All in all, such a good job – it was a lovely read.