Sounds like I handled it about as well as can be expected. Fortunately it wasn't that rampant, except for the incidents I mentioned. I was able to enjoy a large number of races that had no cheaters at all. Thanks for the input.

I was playing MK Wii last night and saw something rather shocking. I was starting a race on GCN Peach Beach, when no more than a half-second after the race starts I see not one, but two Spiny Shells soaring overhead. We're nowhere near the first set of item boxes, yet someone's already got Spiny Shells, and can apparently launch multiples of them. After 1-2 races of that, I bailed and restarted. I played for a while, then had to step away, but when I logged back in and was waiting for the next race (when you see the live feed of the group you're joining), I focused on a kart that was apparently using items at will. Spiny Shells, Stars, Gold Mushrooms, whatever ... fortunately, that player bailed (or was kicked out) before my match started, so everything was good again.

I don't mind hardly being able to win at Mario Kart online, since I play mostly for fun. However, this goes beyond that and is out and out cheating. Some questions that I think should be asked:

1. Has anybody else seen this behavior before? If so, how have you handled it?
2. How does one enable this?
3. Is it somehow possible to report this to Nintendo (a la Xbox Live's "Submit a Review")?

Sega made a firefighter game back on the Saturn called Burning Rangers. An arcade-like where you fight fires in a 3-D environment with a rather wide environment.

It remains one of the very few games I have neither seen nor played. Likely because it was the last Saturn game to ever hit America.

SirSpudly

Sega also did an arcade game called "Brave Firefighters" that played very similarly to this new title ... in fact, there are a ton of Sega arcade titles that have yet to see the light of day on consoles that would be perfect for the Wii (LA MachineGuns, for example), but I digress.

As to Burning Rangers, I think it's long overdue for a reboot and re-release on current-gen consoles. It's got an excellent pedigree (developed by Sonic Team) and simple, easy-to-pick-up gameplay.

I don't know about "not thinking it would ever happen," but I am glad to see Super Star Wars added to VC this week. I didn't own an SNES, but I often borrowed one ... to see how the other side lived at the time (was a major Sega fanboy back in the day). I do remember how good SSW was, so I think that'll be a good purchase this week. And I completely second the motion to get Pilotwings (both SNES and N64) on VC soon!

I say Nintendo is long-overdue from releasing a Donkey Kong Arcade Anthology. Bring back arcade-accurate renditions of "Donkey Kong," "Donkey Kong Jr.," "Donkey Kong 3" and "Mario Bros." I downloaded the NES version of "Donkey Kong" on VC the other day and was shocked at how inaccurate it was. I've only found one home version that had all four boards (the Atari 8-bit computer version) ... and even that one wasn't 100% (DK and the girl were on the right of the first board, instead of the left). With Virtual Console Arcade, this should be easy to do.

there is no secret, if I think I know what you're talking about you can charge up the dash by holding and releasing the charge button and you should be able to make it that way, I think I swam a bit then fully charged the dash and released

dresdek

I tried it with the timing you suggested ... and I made it through! The charge timing in the FAQs was different from that which you recommended (they suggested charging as soon as you come up out of the alcove). Thank you again for your help. For what it's worth, I only use FAQs when I am either completely stuck or approaching frustration with the game; this was the time where even the FAQ was getting frustrating. Thanks again!

OK better late than never ... I'm having a problem advancing in the game, and the FAQs say the same thing, but don't seem to be working. Here's the problem: I'm dealing with the Challenge of Poseidon, specifically the tunnel section with the scrolling walls. I can make it to the first safe alcove without trouble, but the second one is very far away, and no amount of R1 dashing helps. Am I missing one along the way, one that may be obscured or otherwise tough to see? I've been making very good progress (already found both Muse Keys), but I don't want this to hold me up. Any input appreciated. Thanks.

I second the "Ace Attorney" recommendation ... since the games aren't numbered like most sequels, be sure to play in this order: Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney, Phoenix Wright: And Justice For All, Phoenix Wright: Trials and Tribulations, and lastly the most recent, Apollo Justice Ace Attorney.

My bigger recommendation would be to play the next Professor Layton game ... but Nintendo has been remarkably coy about releasing it to the United States (the third and final game in the series launched in Japan recently). Considering how it was received, both in sales and in reviews, I'm surprised it hasn't appeared yet. Anyone got any insight?