Mario Kart Wii Review
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I had the privilege of being able to play Mario Kart Wii
The Wii wheel takes your wii-mote and holds it in what looks like a small steering wheel. If you are a casual player of these types of games and aren't looking to do every little thing the wheel will be more than adequate. The problem that I see with the wheel is that I wish there was some way to get a bit of feed back from turning the wheel. When you are trying to make those sharp turns it feels a bit awkward. I personally prefer the wheel over the wii-mote and nunchuck combo I feel more secure when racing.
In Mario Kart you will notice the addition of bikes, as well as a couple of karts that you'll be able to unlock as you go along. Personally I think the bikes are basically just slimmed down karts so I really don't see much of a difference, they might handle a bit better in certain situations but not enough for me to easily say "if you're on X course you need a bike over a kart". I think it really comes down to preference.
The courses are a bit of an interesting story, I think half the reason why this game went pretty fast through development was the huge number of course reuses from previous iterations of the game. You're going to see quite a few DS tracks, a couple Gamecube, SNES, and N64 tracks. There are some original ones as well which I do find both challenging and exciting. I have to say that there really isn't a course out there that I would say to avoid, well maybe Rainbow road, but that's just because I truly suck at every version of that course and I have the hardest time trying to stay on the stupid thing. There is one other addition to the courses, on some courses you'll notice what looks like halfpipe ramps with boosters on the side, I like this addition because some times it gives you a chance for some extra boxes.
The online play I have to say is probably the best surprise there is. Finally a game where I can play up to 12 other people that aren't registered as friends and try my skills at winning a race or a battle. There is a ranking system, well at least there looks like there is one, I'm not sure how your points work when putting you in a race but they're there.
I really have a hard time giving a game really high marks, I tend to give most games average marks because there were something that are just nit-picks of mine and as a result I penalize them for it, but this game is an exception, there isn't anything that can hold this game down.
9.7 out of 10
Reader Comments (1)
Mario Kart = teh r0xors. Fun game, indeed yo. I like the wheel. It's gimmicky as hell, but it is the Wii. I would expect nothing less!
I haven't tried out the online play yet, though. Someday I'll get around to it.
And I agree...rainbow road hurts. Hard.