Mario Kart Wii Review

So today I picked up Mario Kart for the Wii, and after almost 8 straight hours of play time, I think I got the gist of it. It rocks! My girlfriend and I both really like it and are having a ball with it. I picked up two wheels for it (a plastic steering wheel shaped shell) and gave those a shot first. I went into the game knowing that I wanted to give the wheel a chance, and was actually pretty excited to use it. It turns out, I love it. It really makes this version of Kart stand out from the rest. I've played a dozen racing games on consoles using the analog stick. I could never afford a steering wheel setup for games like Gran Turismo, so being able to control the game with the wheel is a huge plus. It works really really well and its extremely fun to use. My girlfriend stuck with the classic controller, same thing she uses for Smash Brothers. She doesn't like the feel of the Gamecube controller. I'm going to keep using the wheel. If you keep with it you end up getting a golden wheel icon next to your name in online mode. Thats my goal!

Speaking of online mode it works great, unlike Smash Brothers. The game installs a mario Kart channel onto your Wii, so you can see if your friends are on before you even load up the game. Another great feature, that is part of almost every other online multiplayer game, except Smash, is that you can see if your friends are on and then just join their game. You don't have to wait to create a special room, or invite each other. I can just see that the person is on, jump into there game, and be a part of the next race...it's fantastic. There are many new additions to this version of Kart. One of the cooler ones is that before you load up each race, you get to see where the people you are racing are from. The game will show your name, mii, then your home country. It's pretty cool to be racing against someone from Japan, Finland, and Australia all at the same time. Other games let you play with players from all over the globe, but you usually don't get to see where they are from. It gives the game a nice sense of community.

The courses in this game can get very intense sometimes. There are 16 retro tracks and 16 new ones, and online play supports up to 12 people. That's a lot going on in one race. The game gives players in the last few places the chance to come back by giving them the better special items and power ups. While this may be frustrating to only get bananas in first place, it really helps out after you're ready to throw the controller down from being pushed from second place all the way to tenth in less than three seconds. The option for a comeback is very welcomed.

New vehicles have also been added to the game, in the form of motorcycles. They control a little different from the karts, as they are lighter, but are usually faster. I find them easier to control with the wheel, although it can sometimes be hard to nail a power slide as they turn pretty sharp forcing you into the wall or barrier on the side of the course.

Mario Kart Wii: 9/10

We've been playing the N64 version of Kart for a while in preparation for this game, and it paid off. Even though I've been perfecting my maneuvers, my girlfriend seems to beat me in almost every race. I'll just have to practice some more. Our one major complaint about the game is that if you are doing online there are leader boards, which are great. However, only one person can be ranked at a time, the other person must play as a guest. So although we each have our own profiles (licenses) in the game, we have to choose which one gets ranked and which one is the guest each time we enter online play. We just switch off, say five races with her being ranked, then load up my profile so I can move up. It isn't that big of a deal, but it would have been nice to see both players allowed to be ranked in a Halo sort of fashion. Out of pure coincidence we each wind up doing the best when we're the ones playing as the guest and not ranked, figures.
Overall Mario Kart Wii is a great time, we're having a blast with it and it probably won't be leaving the system anytime soon. Smash Brothers is also a great game, but I've always been a fan of the Kart over the Smash. Nintendo really nailed the online mode even with the lack of voice chat. Being able to join a friend that easily, and see the countries you're connected to really makes a difference. Let's hope they keep this formula for future online games.

Labels: Nintendo, Reviews