@Sunsy I've been tempted to buy that 19.99 package, that Nintendo Life recommended in their review, but I've already surpassed my budget for games and consoles this quarter, so no more new purchases for me until the holidays...

@KitsuneNight Fair enough, and I can understand that it's not for everyone or that it's not high on a list of gaming priorities (I also have a pretty massive back log, so I can relate in that regard), but when I see most of these negative comments, I have a VERY strong feeling that people either haven't played it for long enough, if at all, or they simply don't have a clue how simple it is to circumvent the whole micro-transaction scheme, and even most of the grinding.

Just to make sure: this whole bit is my criticism in general, not aimed at you personally, obviously, seeing as you never complained about any of these things, but it might still add some perspective regardless.

And the rubber-banding criticism I'm seeing is also exaggerated. When it's in Mario Kart, not a soul complains, but if it's in a free arcade racer from another developer, it all of a sudden becomes a bad thing. Sure, it can be annoying at times, especially when you've been in first place for most of the race, but the same goes for getting hit with a practically unavoidable blue shell in Mario Kart...

So, in my honest opinion, it really isn't all that bad or annoying, especially when compared to other games using similar mechanics, or other artificial means of leveling the odds.

Besides, if you learn how to use shortcuts in combination with turbo boosts and shock waves (that's what triple boosts are called in the game), then it's relatively easy to win or improve your performance in a handful of tries.