I'm thankful you can unlock stuff in local multiplayer grand prix. It's so much fun progressing through the game together. However, making players who lose all their lives sit idle feels like an unpleasant buzzkill.
○ It's not good for a group setting where you're likely introducing friends to the game. Please change this; I suggest letting "dead" players race as normal, but remove them from the points ranking (i.e. even if they place first, they don't earn points; the next player gets that bonus instead).
○ Or have them participate as a "ghost"! Ooooo...
○ (Local multiplayer grand prix) When even one player completes a special stage, I think that ALL players should get a 1up and dead players should be revived! Keep the fun going!
Enemies have unrealistic reflexes when using melee attacks on you -- even when you're BEHIND them. This feels unfair, as if the enemy itself IS a bumper item!
Melee attacks, bumper items, etc. hit you too far. I don't think they should reverse your velocity, sending you flying in the wrong direction. It feels overly punishing, especially since these hazards can be hard to see.
Like others have said, the Rivals is a good idea but they cheat and rubberband too much.
The trick system:
○ Let us use the right analog stick to do tricks instead of A + direction, which feels clunky to execute. It's overly difficult to time the two inputs correctly.
○ The trick system should not punish you for failing to do a trick. That takes the fun out -- it feels like a stressful obstacle, not a fun opportunity to get ahead. Take just one page from Mario Kart; failing to do a trick is a missed opportunity, not a total setback.
○ (Minor) Consider a more clear animation that doesn't impact visibility as much. This game has a bit of a visual overwhelm issue, though the accessibility features help.
The special stage
○ Deadlines in Intense difficulty are so short that players often lose for what feel like cheap reasons: I couldn't survey the land, I didn't have an item to pop the prison right in front of me, and the item box was far away, etc.
○ In Relaxed mode, the time limits are very long (probably far too long to challenge me, but I haven't played much of this mode). Plus, you are barred from some unlocks in this mode. Either softening Intense mode, or adding a middle ground where you can still unlock stuff would be nice.
○ To make the bonus stage still feel good and worthwhile even when you don't win, please allow players to earn some Grand Prix coins based on how many Egg Prisons they bust.
Handling has been improved but still isn't great, even for "light" characters like Amy or Tails. I would like to see drifting be more effective so you don't have to start drifting quite so early. Also, turning the analog stick essentially just turns the camera. I think steering should tuned to make dodging oncoming obstacles easier.
○ I think slowing down on the ignition or changing direction should affect your arc in the air. When your kart is airborne, it feels frustratingly prone to fall off cliffs or careen wildly out of control.
Fix Balloon Park. I don't ~hate~ it, personally, but it seems everyone else does! It needs work -- the elephants are too finicky to get through, for example.
Azure Lake - the bridge gap is too long to get through under normal circumstances, and the sea makes you sink too quickly. Really, the issue is that the karts can barely maneuver nimbly enough to hit the mountain peaks.
I don't like that the game blows up the last-place player when the player in front finishes. From their perspective, they were given a timer to finish, then blown up BEFORE the timer ran out without explanation. It's not clear to the user why this happens and causes unnecessary rage. Just shorten the time limit if you are concerned about trollish online players intentionally wasting time.
Not sure if this has been fixed already, but sometimes when using auto-roulette, it takes forever to decide on an item, cutting off your ability to use coins or items! If this is a way of nudging players away from auto-roulette, it's just not a good idea. It's unfair and frustrating.