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Racing To The Checkered Wii Flag

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 84 / 107
Date: April 27, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Undoubtingly, Nintendo has really showed more muscle within their games for the Wii this past year. With games that really stretched beyond the imagination for fans like Super Mario Galaxy, which re-defined Mario alone in adventures, and the battle smashing action of Super Smash Brothers Brawl that dominated fans hearts all around the worls, Nintendo really shows what it takes to make great video games. But, that also can be said with the Mario Kart series, which finally makes it debut on the Wii. But, following the innovation that Mario Kart DS had from the Nintendo DS wasn't so easy, largely because it was the first DS handheld title to use the Wi-Fi online gaming to an outrageous excitement for gamers all around the world. Now, it is time for the Wii to take that on and race to the checkered flag.

Mario Kart Wii for the Nintendo Wii, brings in all that fast-paced excitement racers have wanted and even more. The game adds a whole lot of new and exciting features to use. You can now race as many as 12 racers online through the online gaming, and bring the action over the top, and use that skill and excitement on over 40 different tracks: 10 battle tracks and 32 exciting race tracks that are both new and featured from the earlier Mario Kart games like D.K. Jungle Highway and Sherbet Land from Mario Kart 64. The new tracks are also exciting that will have you racing and bouncing on top of mushrooms from the all-new Mushroom Gorge, and have you crusing the shopping malls and racing down fligts of escaltors with the brand new Coconut Mall course, or racing across the tree trunks of the new Maple Leaf Highway. Every single track is great for beginners and die hard Mario Kart fans of all ages.

The gameplay also has a few new surprises, as you not just rave in karts, you also get to race on motorbikes too, bringing more action and variety to each of the players delight. There are also a few new power-ups here too including the Mega Mushroom, from the DS game New Super Mario Brothers, which makes your racer giant-sized, so you can squash your opponents on your way to the checkered flag, and the lightning cloud which shrinks you down to a tiny racer, so you squeeze underneath your opponents and take them by surprise. There also are a few new characters here to unlock in the game as well. You can choose to race with the classics like Mario, Yoshi, Bowser and Luigi, and 6 hidden characters to unlock and master like Rosalina from Super Mario Galaxy, Funky Kong and Diddy Kong from Donkey Kong Barrel Blast and even Bowser Bones (the skeleton Bowser boss from New Super Mario Brothers.)

The control is also a bit new here, with the use of the Wii Wheel. The wheel is easy to setup and hooks right onto the Wii remote. You can steer your racers easily through each and every race by turning your wheel left and right, and performing nifty stunts like a wheelie or a 360 on a jump. While the control with the Wii Wheel takes a lot to get used to for veterans, there are others ways to control the game. Like Super Smash Brothers Brawl, gamers can also use the Wii & nunchuck controls, or the classic controller and even the Nintendo Gamecube controller, so veterans can feel more comfortable in anyway they want to race. The graphics here are also well-designed, by bringing new excitement in restoring the classic courses, and a lot of great surprising new features that are the delight to anyone who loves the Mario Kart games.

All in all, Mario Kart Wii is definitely one of the best games I've ever enjoyed for the Nintendo Wii. I absolutely loved the need for plumber speed, and it shows in each and every race. This is definitely a must buy for your Wii video game library, that is sure to be a thrilling race and not even close to wiping out anytime soon. So start your Wii-motes, because the race is not ever going to stop.

Graphics: A

Sound: A-

Control: B for the Wii Wheel; B+ for the Wii & nunchuck controllers, A for the Classic and Gamecube Controllers

Fun & Enjoyment: A- for solo gamers; A for multiplayer action

Overall: A-

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!?)

Another hit for the Wii!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 42 / 54
Date: April 28, 2008
Author: Amazon User

To anybody who has reservations about Mario Kart Wii being a disappointment, let me ease your worries.

Nintendo has hit another home run here. I have yet to play one bad game for the Wii, and this game here just kept me up until 1:30am, which I have to say hasn't happened yet with any Wii title since buying the system back in 2006, which includes Metroid Prime 3 and Super Mario Galaxy.

I didn't really care for the last console Kart, Mario Kart Double Dash!! for the GameCube. While a visually pleasing game, I felt it lacked the heart of the original series, and ended up disliking the "two-person-per-Kart" concept, sappy levels, the feeling that the Karts were only going 10mph and the immense cheating by the AI were a real disappointment. The list goes on.

That being said, I was a bit apprehensive to buy (not rent) the new Mario Kart, until I saw someone playing it the night before it went on the shelves. No question I had to buy it. While Mario Kart Wii is basically the GameCube version with stepped-up graphics, a lot of what made MKDD stink (in my opinion) was removed. It feels more like a true sequel to Mario Kart 64, much like Super Mario Galaxy is considered to be a true sequel to Super Mario 64.

What Works: The biggest feature of course here is the Wii Wheel, which your Wii remote fits in. You can go without the wheel, and use the remote and Nunchuck, or a GameCube controller, but the Wheel really adds to the game. The cars and characters are a blast to see and hear. When you pick up a Turbo Mushroom, or transform into a massive Bullet Bill to catch up from behind, or blast through a cannon, you can feel the speed. This was something I felt lacking in Double Dash. Motorcycles are now available, and you can now choose either Manual or Automatic controls with whichever vehicle you choose. Manual allows you to "jump" your Kart, which was an omission from Double Dash which I sorely missed. When jumping before hitting a curve, you can drift and release to gain a small burst of speed. While easier, automatic doesn't do this for you. If you hang behind an opponent, you can gain speed by drafting. This is a cool little feature which works well. When in midair, you can do little stunts, I haven't figured that out just yet. The boards are terrific, colorful, and addicting. There are even a bunch of throwback boards to each Cup, with some of the best of the best in the series, including the music which you're sure to remember. By far though, the best feature is the online play. You can play with opponents from all points on Earth, which is an absolute blast. You can even use your Mii character to play, which I think has to be unlocked. Again, I just bought the game, I haven't gotten that far. Too many pluses to go on.

What Doesn't Work: One thing I wish they'd get back to is the Coins. After all, it is "Mario" Kart, and the coins were a nice touch. The more coins you got, the faster your Kart. The original SNES and Mario Kart Super Circuit for the GBA were the only Kart games (I think) which had coins. I kind of wished they'd return here, but oh well. Another downside is what plagued Double Dash, which was the AI rubber banding. If you're way out in front, you are sure to get nailed by a POW block, red or blue shell, or some other obstacle which will leave you in 4th place. I haven't run into it much so far in the 50 or 100 Cups, but the 150 I heard is insane. Anyway, I'm too happy with the game to complain, and the online gaming, to me, more than makes up for what the AI does.

Folks, if you're a Mario Kart fan, and have a Wii (or if you don't have one yet, get one and this game) you won't be disappointed with this game. I had my reservations, but they are a thing of the past.

Just plain awesome

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 20 / 25
Date: April 28, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Mario Kart has just about always been a safe bet in terms of video game fun, and the eagerly anticipated Mario Kart Wii is certainly no exception. Mario Kart Wii features a large selection of tracks, of which are brand new and remastered tracks from previous games in the series to boot; all of which are well designed and fun to race, albeit the classic tracks aren't nearly as stylisticly designed as the new ones. The addition of motorcycles surprisingly works well, and despite a change in some of the game's old mechanics (drifting has never been easier to perform), the game works and races very well. Most notably is the use of the included Wii Wheel, which surprisingly responds quite well and feels very good as well. Though it may take some getting used to at first, Mario Kart Wii also supports just about every controler available for the Wii, which in itself is a big plus. The game as a whole is easy to get into, the online play is well done, the items (while more unbalanced than ever) are imaginitive, and of course, the multiplayer is spectacular fun. All in all, you really can't go wrong with Mario Kart Wii, which is yet another spectacular triple-A title to come from Nintendo, and another essential pick up for your Wii.

Great Family Game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 19 / 24
Date: April 27, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I picked up this game on the 26th (yesterday) from my local game store and right away the entire family started playing. The game is very simple and not much different from the other Mario Karts of past except of course for the onlilne play which we haven't tried out as yet. There are a few characters to choose from, adult and baby alike and steering is pretty easy. You race against your chose characters and your Mii's are also included in the races. You just might see your Mii pass you by. We did it without the wheel (since we only had 1) and was surprised at how easy it was. The graphics are also pretty good. You go forward by using the 1 and 2 button to go forward or reverse and B to use your special. All in all a very good game and it was well worth the wait.

AMAZING

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 15 / 18
Date: April 27, 2008
Author: Amazon User

So at first I was a little skeptical about this game because I have played every other version of Mario Kart and the Wii Wheel worried me because it seemed like it would be hard to control and gimmicky. After having played it, I actually find it to be the most fun out of all the mario karts. This version is very similar to Mario Kart 64 only with additional features such as

*12 racers in the grand prix
*Online racing (This morning I raced 12 people from around the world and there was no lag and hardly any wait time)
*Tricks (that can be done with the flick of the wii wheel, although I noticed occasionally the tricks are unresponsive if you don't shake it hard enough)
*16 new courses and 16 retro courses.
*You can play as your mii

I love the courses, they are very colorful with great music and range from piece of cake to challenging
There's a ton of items you can use to "attack" opponents with such as that horrible blue shell that attacks the racer in first place. It's also great from any age range. In my opinion someone as young as 5 and as old as 50 could enjoy this game. All in all its a great game!!!

9.5/10

a solid title, but there are balance issues

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 17 / 23
Date: April 28, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Before i begin the review, a brief preface is necessary:

I am not a fan of mario kart, nor am i a hater. I am writing this review as an objective review. If you are a die hard fan of the series, you probably will buy this game, and if you hate nintendo games you will most likely avoid it. This review is not for you people, it is for those who are interested but undecided. It is not particularly biased, but it is still an opinion. My only aim is to help, so treat my review as such.

For anyone who has not played a mario kart game, here is the skinny: pick a Mario mascot, pick a wacky kart, and race across various themed tracks, and achieve victory or failure by utilizing the various "items" (power ups and weapons). The mario kart franchise popularized the item-based kart racer, and each previous version was successful at doing so by balancing items and racing that utilizing both driving and weapons was key to winning. Mario kart has always been a "party game" which means it is best played with friends, and is accessable for all ages and skill levels, while also appealing to vets. Mario kart Wii is the latest and arguably the best mario kart to date, but that does not mean that it is without problems.

Mario Kart Wii sticks with the the old formula and should feel very familiar at first. This is a good thing because previous mario karts were very fun. The most drastic change is the inclusion of dirt bikes into the mix. They offer a alternative way to race, while also adding a new tricks system. The mechanics work quite well and go hand in hand with the other big change, the steering wheel included. The steering wheel includeded in the game's package encourages play with the wii-mote, allowing players to steer the controller to produce the desired effect in the game. It works well, but it is apparent that it is a novelty, luckily there are plenty of other control options for playing, including the gamecube controller.

But back to the bikes. Thanks to the new tricks system, nintendo decided to design the tracks with the tricks in mind. The result is a lot of half pipes and jumps; the tracks look like a mixture between a skate park and a rollercoaster. It is a very fun, and it works well until items come into play. The items were designed for kart racing and not biking and tricks. biking becomes unenjoyable with items constantly hindering you. this leads into the games biggest problems.

Items appear way too frequently and will hurt you more than they will help. There are too many items now that are impossible to defend against, many of which affect everyone playing. Items in previous mario kart games required more thought to execution and the target could defend himself, this coupled with the fact that items are more frequent and there are now 12 racers instead of 8, means a racer will be a victem much more often. While an element of luck has been a part of every mario kart game, players will go from first to last within a matter of seconds. A lot of skill has been drained from racing, making victory a matter of who happens to get the best items closest to the finish line.

Another issue is that single player grand prix mode, (the meat of the single player experience), suffers from horrible "rubber band" AI. This means that the game is designed so that there will always be computers on your tail. even if you should be leaving them in the dust, the computers when falling too far behind will go faster than technically possible to catch up to keep close to you. It keeps the game chaotic to an unnecessary level and leaves you feeling cheated.

Fortunately, most of the issues are alleviated in multiplayer mode. There are no computer issues in multiplayer, and items can be regulated in the settings menu to keep things a little more balanced. Multiplayer is the real draw of this game, it is fun and stimulating with friends, and is best enjoyed in a social manner. Online multiplayer is an even bigger feat. Online is seamless, offering great quality matches with almost no lag or hitches. Online comes complete with its own chanel, allowing you to track scores and tournaments for you and your friends. The ranking system, integration, and sheer depth of the online aspect is unheard of so far in a Wii game. It pushes the bar for Wii online content, doing it better than any game has in the past.

Otherwise, Graphics and sound are kind of crappy and kiddy, but they are clean, and get the job done. To be honest, graphics do not play a huge role in this game, but nothing is to offensive, nor should anything be an issue.

So what is the verdict? It is a tough choice. If you are hoping that you will be playing mostly single player and occasional multiplayer to get by, this is probably not the game for you. The single player is weak, and the system itself is plagued with imbalance issues, which can only be alleviated by the distraction of other people. If you plan on playing a lot of multiplayer or online, this game is much more valuable in terms of quality content.

Over all it is a solid 4 out of 5 thanks to spectacular multiplayer, but imbalanced single player and game mechanics

Great family arcade style game.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 10 / 11
Date: May 02, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I have never owned a Mario Kart before so can't compare to the other versions but this one for the Wii is a fun game. I was worried before I bought that the Wii wheel would not work very well. I was way wrong, I think it works very well.

The tracks and game play are a lot of fun for someone of any age. The game is easy to learn for beginners and is fun for the more experienced gammer. The game reminds me of something you would play at an arcade with all kinds of things going on as you drive through the course. Playing against friends is a lot of fun a well.

I tried out the on line play and it was a blast. I just had fun compared to some of the xbox/ps3 on line racing games where it can be stressful trying to compete and listening to angry 13 year olds.

If you are looking for a game that is fun for the family, especailly the kids, I would pick this one up. Its easy to learn and a lot of fun to play.

Good Franchise, Good Hype, Good Game, Minor Issues

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 11 / 13
Date: April 29, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Mario Kart is one of those franchises that instills great memories whether you first played on the SNES like a lot of us old school gamers did, or the N64, or even on the hand helds. It is a franchise that demands more than cookie-cutter remakes that many game developers have been putting out as of late. It is easy to create a lot of hype over a game and then have that hype kill the game when it doesn't meet the insane expectations.

That said, Mario Kart Wii meets all expectations and even goes a little beyond.

One of the first things I was looking forward to was the unique interface that the Wii puts on just about everything. The steering wheel was what I was looking forward to the most since I thought I would get complete control of the character. I must admit, the wheel is VERY responsive... almost too responsive. It is very easy to any beginner or even a veteran to overcompensate and steer into a wall, especially if they're not used to a free-floating steering wheel.

However, we did find that the wheels were critical if one wanted to use the Wii remotes accurately. It is a real pain to steer without a wheel attachment. We literally had to go out and purchase three more wheels because the remotes felt so awkward without one. We later just threw down the remotes and ended up using the gamecube controllers (which you can use) since we're not only used to it but it seems to have much better control.

The next thing I was looking forward to were the new menus, characters, vehicles etc. I was really pleased with the motor bikes included in the game and their exclusive features. I personally found the Flame Cycle with Waluigi to be my personal favorite. It was great they brought back all the old characters and, more importantly, they took out all the unfair advantages some had over others. Now, everyone is not scrounging to play as King Boo or the Plant thingy. I thought it was awesome that I was able to unlock my own Mii to play.

One of the things that really impressed me was the reinvention of retro courses from classic systems including the gamecube, the SNES, Gameboy Advance etc. It was nice to see old courses that I was familiar with. I kinda wish they would've brought back Baby Park from the Gamecube since that was one of our favorite places to do battle.

The items were kinda iffy. We were really annoyed at the Bloopers, that shower your screen with dark ink so you can't see temporarily. It was cute at first but then it got really annoying. The "hot potato" lighting cloud is probably the most annoying; it would tag you and after a certain time, detonate. You could pass it off to another opponent by bumping them but if you're in first, alone or otherwise far behind you are screwed. This item, they could've done without.

The menus were the next iffy part. It took me a while to figure out how to switch the 1st player mode from the Wii remote to the Gamecube controller. You are also seemingly limited to how you team up with friends. Granted the team battle and team races are one of the best changes Nintendo made, but I wish they would allow two-players to partake in the Grand Prix. The menus just don't seem all that user-friendly.

The internet feature is interesting. I'm not accustomed to playing any Mario Kart online (save for the DS) but it was a very nice setup. No more are we limited to annihilating our friends in the privacy of our own home; now we can do that but annihilate world-wide opponents in the privacy of our own home. Not a real fan of online play but loved it anyway, way more than Smash Bros. Brawl.

Lastly is the graphics; the Wii doesn't go beyond 480 resolution so one shouldn't really expect anything grand. The Wii is made for innovative gameplay, not graphics. If you want graphics, get an XBox360 or a PS3.

Overall, despite some small issues, the game is superb all around. A 96% to be certain. Buy it if you find one!

Absolutely Phenomenal

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 14 / 19
Date: April 27, 2008
Author: Amazon User

This game is a nice step up from the GCN version. The playing is flawless and the fact you can play online against a ton of people at once is cool too! The maps are very smooth. The new wheel that comes with the game has worked perfectly and responds to your every move. This is worth the price, play it and see for yourself!

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