Quote Originally Posted by TomsYoungerBro View Post
Yes, because those maps work differently to the crystal minigame map? Not sure what you are missing here. The first 2 maps are a straight path from start to finish. Crystal minigame is completely 3 different shorter paths going back to the center to pick up your next crystal. That is why the punishment is "inconsistent"
How does any of this explain why it apparently makes perfect sense for one stage to give a boost to the people who are doing well and for another stage to give a boost to the people who aren't?

Not sure what you are missing here.

These two rounds also aren't that drastically different; crystals is ultimately just 3 smaller "races" in a single stage.