A game like mario cart should have two modes. Party mode, where everybody is playing on the same terms. Expert mode, where macro plays a bigger role.
Even during parties, the properties of choosing different characters do make the game more dynamic which in the end means more fun. What sucks is when one of the players have spent the whole week before plugging all the numbers into Excel and knows how beat everyone else optimally. But where do you draw the line? Is this more unfair than practicing driving one track a whole week?
One have to accept that games can not be always fair. Same thing in sports, try playing tennis vs someone who has competed before, a casual player will not stand a chance to even hit a single ball, even if you give the pro a much worse racket.
Balancing a game to allow casual and pro players to compete on equal terms is extremely difficult and can often backfire into making the game extremely trivial, only depending on roll of dice. Knowing if you are playing an excel-game or a reflex-game should be presented clearly to makes things a bit more fair.
Even during parties, the properties of choosing different characters do make the game more dynamic which in the end means more fun. What sucks is when one of the players have spent the whole week before plugging all the numbers into Excel and knows how beat everyone else optimally. But where do you draw the line? Is this more unfair than practicing driving one track a whole week?
One have to accept that games can not be always fair. Same thing in sports, try playing tennis vs someone who has competed before, a casual player will not stand a chance to even hit a single ball, even if you give the pro a much worse racket.
Balancing a game to allow casual and pro players to compete on equal terms is extremely difficult and can often backfire into making the game extremely trivial, only depending on roll of dice. Knowing if you are playing an excel-game or a reflex-game should be presented clearly to makes things a bit more fair.