Children in Need Mario Kart Wii Competition

Friday 20th November was Children in Need day and Bird and Co Creative did their bit by participating in a sponsored Mario Kart Wii competition.

Competitors each donated some money to enter the knockout competition and the 1st stage was drawn with the group table as shown below:

To make things fair the team chose to play as the same characters throughout the competition and also race on the same track for each stage. After a few practice sessions for the novice Wii players the main competition started with Craig against Nick racing on the ‘easy’ but ‘fast’ Mushroom Cup track. No surprises that Nick emerged victorious (sorry Craig) and advanced to round 2. Next to take the challenge was Brian versus Martin and after a fierce race Martin just managed to edge his kart in front of Brian to cross the line. The third race saw Faye square up to Matt who at the end could wipe the sweat of his brow after nearly being beaten by a girl (sorry Faye) but made it through to the next round. Next on to the track was Paul ‘Lewis Hamilton’ versus Vicky and unfortunately for the boys Vicky managed to knock Paul out preventing an all boys 2nd round. The final race of round 1 saw Katy come up against the fastest loser of the round which was either Faye or Brian who both came 5th in their first races. To make it fair an extra race was staged between Faye and Brian to reveal the fastest loser of round 1 and with some dirty tactics Brian proved to be too much for Faye and knocked her out of the competition. So the final race of round 1 was between Katy against Brian and what a race it was with Brian just snatching victory but commended his opponent for such a valiant effort. With round 1 completed the 2nd stage was set as shown below:

As with round 1 there were an odd number of opponents for round 2 so the fastest loser would again have an extra chance to proceed to the next stage. After a track change to the more challenging ‘Koopa Cape’ waterfall stage the round began with a bitter rivalry between brothers Nick and Martin against each other and with another close, furious race Nick ended up victorious over Martin.

The brothers Nick and Martin go head to head

Next up to the grid was Matt versus the only girl left, Vicky and with some skillful driving Vicky eliminated Matt from the competition. With the advantage of ‘fastest loser’, Martin had a chance to take revenge on his brother but first had to muscle his way past Brian to advance to the next round. Unfortunately for Martin Brian proved to be too much of a talented driver and he was knocked out of the competition. With round 2 over the semi-final looked as follows:

The semi-finals would consist of a ’round robin’ stage with the 2 opponents with the most number of wins racing each other in the final. With another track change to the near impossible ‘Rainbow Road’ featuring it’s ‘no wall guards’, Nick and Vicky stepped up to the grid to face each other. Another close race found Vicky emerge victorious but Nick still had another chance of advancing if he could beat Brian in the next race. Feeling slightly nervous, Brian took his place in the semi-final and started well but as the race went on his nerves got the better of him and was making mistakes left, right and centre. No surprises Nick to victory advancing to the final. Brian’s only hope of reaching the final was he had to beat Vicky in this race making it a tie between the two opponents. Then they would race each other again with the winner claiming a spot in the final to race against Nick. Brian could only describe what happened next as disastrous by making a complete mess of his race. He could not cope with the ‘no wall guard. road and kept on falling off the track and driving the wrong way. An easy win saw Vicky advance to the final against Nick.

So the stage was set for an intense and furious final race. The track chosen for the race was the infamous ‘Bowser’s Castle’ with it’s lava pits and falling blocks. Both contenders took their positions and lept of the start line. After a close start it was Vicky who took the lead after a series of errors from Nick falling off the track into the lava.

The finalists - Nick vs Vicky

However as the race progressed Vicky started to crack under the pressure and Nick was able to catch up. Almost neck and neck Nick took the lead after Vicky slammed her kart into a wall leaving Nick to cruise home to take victory.