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not so good

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 24 / 47
Date: May 07, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Controls:

I wouldn't recommend going out and buying a wii wheel for every controller. It's cumbersome. I felt I had better control of what I was doing without it. I tried to use my GC controller and was frustrated when I found out the button layout was rearranged (from CG DD layout) with no way to modify them to a players liking.

Looks:

I wasn't expecting Mario to be jumping out of the screen at me, but this game really doesn't look any better than Double Dash. I'm using a hd tv with component cables. The game could have been a bit more polished.

Game Play:

cheapness factor-
The computer LOVES to time its Lighting, Spike Shell or POW to make sure you fall off a ledge or make it possible for you to lose your first place slot.

Whats up with the rare weapons like Lighting and Spike Shell coming up multiple times in a race? In former games those were few and far between. Three lightnings in one race? WTH nintendo?

I don't want to lose a race when I have done nothing wrong. That just seems to happen a lot in this game though. Multiple spike shells FTL!

No coop on Grand Prix-
My brother and I enjoyed this feature in past games. This is huge step back for the series.

No free for all in Battle mode -
You have to play on teams.

Thumbs down:
This game sure did have a lot of hype. But after I played it it turned out to be a recycled dud. Sadly most of the market for this game are people who have never played the old classic Mario Karts (snes, n64) so they will think it is awesome.

Ok, but disappointing

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 9 / 55
Date: May 05, 2008
Author: Amazon User

If you enjoy playing slot machines you'll like this game... the game play is mostly random. If you play with friends it's fun... but still not great. You might as well flip a coin and congratulate the winner. As for the Wii Wheel, it's total crap! Save your money. The game looks nice, but it's ultimately disappointing.

A Greater Disappointment Than Double Dash!!

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 5 / 15
Date: July 24, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Mario Kart Wii has the potential to be a great game, but because of two very ill-conceived aspects, is virtually unplayable and unenjoyable.

Unbalanced gameplay is what prevents me from rating this higher than one star. One item in particular is the blue shell, first introduced in the Nintendo 64 Mario Kart, then reformulated in the Gamecube Double Dash!! iteration to its present form, is an item that, when released, flies over all players to bomb the one in first place. When in first place, you cannot defend yourself against it unless you have in your possession a mushroom you use at the exact moment, but receiving a mushroom in first place is extremely rare. If this sounds like punishing good players, then you would be right. What makes this especially egregious is that the item is used by the computer in 1-player mode, particularly as the lone human player is nearing the finish line after being in first place for the majority of the race.

The other aspect that seems ill-conceived is the driver ranking, ranging from C, B, A, *, **, ***. This allegedly rates your driving skill. What is ridiculous is that to get a ***, the highest ranking, you must be in first place the vast majority of the races, win every race, and avoid wiping out on items. Some races I have received a rank of ** for winning every race but one with huge leads over the rest of the pack. Other times, I have received a rank of C, despite winning every race, including several where I led the race, only to go from first to last in the final lap due to a blue shell and other unavoidable items randomly generated by the computer. In my opinion, the greater "driving skill" and rank comes from those who are so good they can win a race despite being "sent to the back" with less than half a lap to go.

Overall, the game has great courses (for the most part), great character roster, and a great variety of karts and bikes. On paper, this looks like a great game.

But video games should be fun, and when one is not fun because the computer "cheats," I cannot rank it highly.

Not as good as others....

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 2 / 18
Date: May 29, 2008
Author: Amazon User

My main problem with this game is the battle modes. What were the developers thinking when they took away individual battles? Also, there is very little actual skill involved in racing, since the CPU will blast you to the back of the pack if you get too far ahead. I'm going back to Mario Kart 64 on the virtual console.

this game suck

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 2 / 83
Date: June 20, 2008
Author: Amazon User

this game is the best game ever but it gets u so mad i played and beat all the cups besides 1 the lightning cup and i got so pissed off because every 5 seconds i get shot off a cliff and get in last so i broke the tv and the wii itself but i dont care because it is protected and i got another one. so overall this game is fun and besides i went to [...] and beat the game so screw u, u stupid game i just easily cheated. so buy this game but do not get into it because all u will do is get pissed and break something.

A ruined classic

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 74 / 105
Date: May 06, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I have owned every Mario Kart game, and consider myself to be a bit of an addict, spending embarrassing amounts of time practicing things such as power sliding on straight aways and downing suckaz with simple items such as banana peels. So needless to say, I was very excited for a mario kart game that would allow me to showcase my skills online, and relive memories with old multiplayer comrades who have since moved to other parts of the country.

Imagine my surprise when I put the disc in and discovered that there was no multiplayer grand prix mode! Working in tandem to unlock new classes, tracks, carts, and racers had always been one of my favorite parts of Mario Kart, and it was something that Double Dash did to perfection, allowing up to four people to get in on the challenge.

I had invited the friend whom I played through all of the double dash grand prixs with over to do it again on the Wii, so after we found this out it sort of killed the buzz... but whatever, we had always spent a lot more time on battles than grand prixs anyway.

We found surprise again when we couldn't do a free for all battle! After messing around with some vs. races on motorcycles we decided to ditch this game, and spent the night on the SNES, and playing bob-omb blast on double dash.

The bulk of my issues with this game can be condensed to three items:

-Lack of options
-Lack of skill
-Lack of creativity

Double Dash was filled with options, you could combine characters in various ways to get certain unique items or racer attributes. You could choose the number of laps in vs. races, and take your choice of three unique battle styles. In Mario Kart Wii the lack of options is mind numbing quite honestly. It makes the game feel as though it was rushed to production. Why can't I choose how many computer characters participate in a battle or vs. race? Why isn't multi-player GP available? Why are there only two battle modes, one of which is hell of lame? Perhaps most annoying of all... WHY CAN'T I CHOOSE TO TURN THE STUPID RACER NAME TAGS THAT SUBMERGE HALF THE SCREEN OFF WHEN I PLAY ONLINE!?!?!

The lack of skill required in this game was evident from my first GP race. Every other Mario Kart game did a good job of making item boxes scarce, and the occurence of items such as blue shells and lightning very infrequent (although there was an OPTION in double dash to change this). There are several tracks on the Wii version that are nearly unplayable because of the volume of items. With 12 players, and the stupid items like the thwomp and lightning cloud that don't really help anyone... it just isn't racing anymore when there is absolutely no value to your place in the first 90% of the race. Coming back with items is one of the great joys of mario kart, I understand that (I still have fond memories of hitting the super ramp on Mario Circuit 2 with a mushroom to cut a corner and jump up two places to secure first over ten years ago), but there is something else going on entirely in tracks like the Luigi Circuit on the Wii (which might be one of the worst mario kart tracks ever), where every racer gets ripped to shreds on every lap because of the overwhelming volume of items.

This gripe could easily branch into things like how the power slide boost, for the first time ever, is not controlled by the player (and I'm not talking about the manual vs. auto drift), but simply by the length of time you hold the slide, and how they reverted to the "hold and wait" technique of blocking items that existed in Mario Kart 64, as opposed to timing a reverse release to block such as in Double Dash, and how the "get a boost when you are right behind someone for awhile" time has been cut down to almost nothing... but I think I have said enough on this.

The tracks and items in general though... where is the creativity? I'm not expecting the wildly refreshing array of tracks we were greeted with in Mario Kart for the GBA, or the slew of new items that required poise and tact to make decent use of that showed up in Double Dash, but there is nothing new on the Wii version. Let me re-phrase that; there are a couple of new things, but they are quickly beaten to death via recycling (soooooooooooo many figure 8's), or in cases such as the mega mushroom, little more than repeats of other items (in this case, the star). The half pipe thing is new... but I don't really see the purpose when it is faster to not go up the ramp? And the motorcycles... who cares/if the drift controls were the same as in double dash no one would choose them for the cheap wheelie boost?

Then there are the lazy re-hashes of the classic tracks. Changing the placement of item boxes, and other key features of the tracks (such as making the walls solid in the ghost valley track, and removing the rock throwing natives on the N64 DK track)... I just don't see the point. I mean, I know that most people probably don't have every Nintendo console (sans Virtual Boy) within 5 feet of eachother in their entertainment room so playing Ghost Valley 2 on SNES isn't really an option... but seriously. Some of these re-hashed classic tracks aren't even worth playing in the form they are presented here.

There are a few nice features. Toad's Factory, Grumble Volcano, and Koopa Cape are amazing tracks. There are a lot of karts to choose from (although the differences, as I can tell so far, seem to be negligible... unlike the kart selection in Double Dash where the differences were quite obvious). And it's not like the game is unplayable, quite the contrary, it can even be enjoyable for short periods of time. As part of the Mario Kart franchise though, I just expect more.

I honestly don't know why though, as every big franchise title aside from Mario Galaxy and Twilight Princess has been like this. No options, dumbed down game play, terrible online game options and matching features, basically just leaving a ton of potential on the table and all of my expectations largely unfulfilled.

This is easily the worst Mario Kart game, and definitely the last Wii game I pre-order.

Oh, and the Wii Wheel... don't buy extras of these. They aren't worth the hassle. After struggling with getting my kart to power slide correctly through two grand prixs I dug out the cube controllers (ps - why is there no option to configure buttons how I want? Or... better question, why does the GCN controller layout not match that of GCN Mario Kart when the only new feature is wheelies, which could easily be added onto the unused c-stick or d-pad or... even better, onto the L trigger that items are incorrectly assigned to!?)

A disapointment to the Mario Kart Legacy

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 30 / 63
Date: April 28, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I have owned every Mario Kart that Nintendo has ever released, so I was very excited about the Wii release for this game. There is alot of fun to be had playing this game, but there are some changes made to the game which are the reason for my low score for this review.

There are 32 tracks that are playable, and there are many tracks seasoned Mario Kart players will instantly recognize. It is a great joy to revisit these old tracks and play them on the Wii. The new tracks are exciting and full of new concepts and ideas that Nintendo has implemented expertly.

There is a battle mode, and a multiplayer vs. mode, and a new online mode where you can race up to 12 players at the same time from all over the world.

My biggest disapointment with this game is there is NO MULTIPLAYER GRAND PRIX mode!!! The funnest part about Mario Kart and its progeny was playing with your brother in arms, racing against the computer on the near impossible 150cc class or mirror class, and celebrating, when because of your dual efforts you won the coveted gold cup. Unlocking carts and tracks with a partner on grand prix working together in a campaign mode type effort was the joy of the previous Mario Karts. One person would fight kamikaze style and take out the other opponents while one person would race ahead to the finish. Alas, this concept is no more. In order to unlock other karts and tracks you must play grand prix in a single player mode.

There is a multiplayer mode that is similar to the grand prix style where you can race with several players and choose which tracks you would like to race, but there is no unlocking of items and no thrill of defeating the computer for the first time with a friend. You must unlock and beat the tracks in the single player grand prix mode before you can play the tracks on multiplayer. What is the point of that if I have already played and completed those tracks on my own? It just isn't nearly as fun as it is playing the co-op grand prix mode.

The Nintendo Wii was made to be a multiplayer platform, and that being said, there hasn't been co-op campaign style games as one would have expected. This game was suppose to be one of the biggest releases to date for the Wii, and the fact that a multiplayer co-op mode was left out has made this game a huge disapointment, and that is the reason I give the game the rating I have assigned. I would have given it one star, but it is Mario Kart after all.

Lame...

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 5 / 22
Date: May 02, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I pre-ordered this game because I consider(ed) myself a hardcore Mario Kart fan, and instantly broke it out of the box and started playing. There are several things that make this game fun, but almost every single time I play, I can't help getting upset and putting down the controller, swearing to never play again - and then picking up Grand Theft Auto IV. It seems like every race I'm leading from laps 1 - 3, and then on the third lap I get hit by three red shells AND a blue shell, and then I end up in 11th place. I must just have the worst luck, but I'm getting sick of this game - and fast. They've almost taken the skill out of the game, you only rely on annoying new items.

Pros:
-Online Multiplayer
-New characters

Cons:
-New items that affect multiple players
-New carts / motorcycles that are essentially pointless
-VS battles with up to 6 computer players that cannot be changed
-Problems with Nintendo multiplayer servers
-Boring new race tracks and ruined classic tracks

The game that has everything, and yet nothing.

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 7 / 10
Date: May 10, 2008
Author: Amazon User

When I first heard that this game had been announced, I nearly cried for joy. "How can it be," I thought, "That two of the greatest games to hit Wii (Brawl and Mario Kart) will come out in less than two months apart!" Needless to say, I was ecstatic. While Brawl (mostly) lived up to my high expectations, Mario Kart Wii was an utter disappointment; and I regret ever selling Double Dash to help pay for this unworthy sequel.
The game seemed to have it all. New Wii controlls, some fancy looking courses, miis and bikes, and especially the first amazing online experience to hit Wii. But it is a shame that two seemingly minor errors made the game almost unplayable to the hardcore crowd.

The first problem I encountered was the fact that the battle mode was completely reorganized into a frantic, non-competitive excuse for a battle mode. I tried desperately to find an OPTION button, but all I could see is that Mario Kart's best feature was history. I decided to at least give it a try, and that's when the real disappointment hit me like a pile of bricks. Items.

Items are a key feature in Mario Kart games, given that all modes besides Ghost use these underhanded trinkets to race or battle your way to victory. This Mario Kart's line-up of bad boys includes many trusty classics, such as bananas, green shells, mushrooms, fake items, and even red shells were a welcomed addition, since you can still block them with a banana and what not. And then there are the infamous weapons of death, including pows, bullet bills, wing shells, and of course, lightnings. But how bad could it be? These weapons have all been in previous Mario Karts. There's nothing there that we couldn't handle before! Right? Wrong! Sure all those elements were still in the others, but add 12 players, and remove item frequency switch, and you've got one heck of a chaotic game, that really takes one percent skill and nintey-nine percent luck. I find myself racing past players, being first place for two whole laps, and suddenly, 20 yards before the finish line, I get struck by lightning, which is immediately followed up by an ominous wing shell. The end result? Nineth place, and a game that doesn't stay in my Wii longer than ten minutes. Seriously, Nintendo, didn't you every think that maybe, just maybe, some players may actually want to COMPETE in a racing game? But, regardless of the tedious chore this game is to play, I'm starting to realize that Nintendo did know what it was doing. They know that us hardcore Mario Kart fans can't resist buying the game at launch date (even if we hate it later, we still end up handing over fifty bucks for the boring game), and the casual crowd, which probably doesn't know what Mario Kart is, will enjoy it since they don't feel they're getting schooled by their hardcore competition. My sister, who I can barely get to play Wii Sports, much less Brawl, LOVES this game! My little brother and she play this game constantly, while I'm on the computer writing about how monotonous this game is.

So, maybe Nintendo did hit a home-run for the casual crowd, but couldn't they have just added two small options, and make a touchdown for the hardcore crowd, too?

One Step Forward. Two Steps Back.

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 9 / 18
Date: April 29, 2008
Author: Amazon User

For lack of a longer review,it seems that in Nintendo's sudden decision to try and advance in online-play, they left the offline-players behind. In are a slew of online options, and out are two player Grand Prix and free-for-all Battle Mode. Racing is still fun, but the AI in Grand Prix cheats by rubberbanding and pretty much ruins the enjoyment of strategic gameplay, replacing it with random luck. Much of this fizzles away when your not playing Grand Prix mode, but with that being the meat and potatoes of the entire game, it is understandable why this game has received such mixed reviews.

Pros:
*Large choice of online options
*Great level designs
*Decent graphics

Cons:
*No 2-player Grand Prix
*No free-for-all Battle Mode
*Rubberbanding AI

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