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Mario Kart Wii

Published: Mon 4 Aug, 2008 | On:

The Mario Kart series has always been an approachable and enjoyable experience, beginning all the way back on the SNES. After many alterations and a rather disapointing installment in the form of Mario Kart double dash for the Gamecube, Mario kart is back with it's standard, Non-tandem style racing with Mario Kart Wii, which contains some things old, some things new and some things that you wish just weren't true.

Gameplay and Design:
MKW is a racer at heart and even with all the Mario zaniness thrown in, you will still feel like your playing a racer, It is fun and loose in the lower difficuilties, but once you get to the higher difficuilties in the single player grand-prix, you will feel a little hard pressed to win. This is mainly because of the addition/usage of Mario Karts infamous weapons, that although most work well, there are a few that will leave you feeling cheated. The blue shell is a nightmare, as if you are in first place (which you will be frequently), it will seek you and blow you up with a nearly 100% accuracy rate. Other items such as the new POW block and mega mushroom also add to this inbalance and when combined with the harder difficuiltie's brutal AI, a simple race with MKW can leave you feeling that the game is very unfair and unbalanced. Not all the new additions are bad though, with new features like being able to pull off tricks or the addition to use bikes as well as karts adds a new sense of variety that the series never had before. The new tracks are also some of the best and most imaginative designs the series has ever seen. Many old classic stages are also present such as N64's bowsers castle and GCN's peach too.Battle mode is still here and fun but, because of new maps being a little too big it feels a little tasteless at times.4 different control setups are there for use including the "Wii-wheel" that comes free with the game. All of these work well and steering with a little plastic steering wheel is suprisingly fun, even if it does make you look like a lunatic.The local Multiplayer is a total delight and is alot more fun than playing alone. Online play is also avaliable for both racing and battle modes. The connection is fast and effective, the community is friendly but still competitive and tounraments are frequently on so that you can show your stuff off to the rest of the world.
MKW is full of surprises.

Presentaion:
The Wii's graphics are put to good use in MKW. The characters animation looks fluent and realistic and all of the new tracks are looking beautiful as well as all of the classic tracks looking good with new visual updates it is a marvel to watch. (Rainbow Road is especially groovy.) The music and sound effects can seem a little lack-luster at times but are still by all means listenable and pleasant.

MKW is a great addition to the Wii's reseme. It is still a zany game with great Multiplayer elements (Online and off) and although it may be a little dissapointing with the new unbalance in weapons, the new additions of bikes and online-play are a step in the right direction for an aging series.MKW is still great fun and a must have for any self-respecting Wii owner.

Written by ChatterboxZombie.