Yeah most of the time. Risk and Reward.
There is another thing to consider. If you can even remember the barriers
from last lap, then you get a feeling when to use the shield and when to go
for a full boost bar with less risk.
@djKyoto: They might, but they aren't. From a design point of view it's rather
difficult to reduce something to the maximum. They show pure essence, no
overhead or anything alike. However, I love zoning the other new tracks as
well. There are some nice little touch-ups such as the dotted lines on sharp
corner etc..
@Spece2goin: xD Yeah right, esp. those two turns on Coridon 12 are quite
tough. I never played any of the new track before (yep, I started out with
HD), but playing Syncopia was / is ... uhh ... so breathtaking.
@Reezy: You will.
The Online Rank does contribute, you have to battle (win) against high birds.
But it seems that lvl 40+ players won't likely play Zone Battle that much. I
don't know. I had only about three or four lvl 40+ on my server, yesterday,
and I was playing for hours.