CTGP Gold Star Update (Feb 2024) - Mario Kart Wii

[Watch in 4K/1080P]

i still have gold stars remaining from the last update... Castle in the Sky and 4F are gonna be something else. The May 2024 update dropped as well, meaning I'm even further behind. Why's keeping 250 harder than getting 250 lol.

Personal Ratings:
Rainbow Road Solar Edition: 9/10 (song:    • Touhou 16.5 - Nightmare Journal (Titl...  )
Vrock's driving is solid, but the difficulty of this gold star comes from the track. It is shockingly easy to lose runs in dumb places: the first couple turns, the wheelie strat, the spinning tube, even the end sc. I choked at the end and missed the spinning tube trick, but I locked in and beat the ghost.
3.5 hours to beat

Strobenz Desert Illusion: 9/10 (song: same as rrse)
Most of my time spent on this track came from simply learning the track. The ending shroomless into the rock hop strat is such a run ender, and don't forget about the falling shy guys.
3.5 hours to beat

Blissful Block: 8.5/10 (song:    • Touhou 18.5 100th Black Market OST - ...  )
This ghost used to be a 7, but it got hotfixed and the ghost was buffed. If you're trying to beat this gold star, download and race R¥ Grant's run from the ghost db. Do not follow the strats of the esg. The l3 ending is quite bumpy and can easily end a run.
3 hours to beat

Superstar Dystopia: 7.5/10 (song:    • City Escape (Classic) - Sonic Generat...  )
The pascal ghost from the og version was insanely hard, but either this ghost got nerfed or I got way better at this track, cuz I found this significantly easier to beat. The beginning platform cut being wider is such a massive qol improvement.
20 minutes to beat

τ-Cryovolcano: 4/10 (song:    • Crystal Palace Crawl - Paper Mario (N...  )
This difficulty of ghosts this update drops off here. Just make the cut and u win
15 minutes to beat

Cosmic Grove: 4/10 (song:    • Spagonia (Night) - Sonic Unleashed [OST]  )
Took me a sec to learn the shroomless', but its pretty free after that
15 minutes to beat

Lumpy's Lively Lair: 3/10 (song:    • King Kaliente - Phase 1 - Super Mario...  )
Pretty free as well. Thank god the cut is easier
10 minutes to beat

Ice Cream Fortress: 3/10 (song:    • GBA Snow Land - Mario Kart 8 Deluxe M...  )
First try typa ghost, not even sure what changed here other than the canon item boxes
5 minutes to beat

The Grand Archives: 1/10 (song:    • Aya's Theme - Wind God Girl  )
This one might rival jungle jamble. Beat this on my first try.
5 minutes to beat

Ubel thumbnail art:
https://www.pixiv.net/en/
artworks/115774962