In my experience luck is mostly a factor in singleplayer. In multiplayer the same things affect everyone, so it's more fair. In SP it feels like everyone is out to get the player, and any small mistake results in a loss.
Also have to agree that the old blue shell was better. There's no benefit to firing a blue shell when you're in tenth place.
I'd like to see a return to the older weapon balancing. Where second place is allowed to get a red shell. That would make it a bit more luck based, but a lot more fun.
"Now, a fun game should always be easy to understand - you should be able to take one look at it and know what you have to do straight away. It should be so well constructed that you can tell at a glance what your goal is and, even if you don’t succeed, you’ll blame yourself rather than the game. Moreover, the people standing around watching the game have also got to be able to enjoy it." - Shiggy
