Mario Kart Wii (Wii)

Main Review
It's time for the "Mario Kart Wii" review, for the Wii... duh.

I am a HUGE Mario Kart fan. I loved all the previous Mario Kart games back on the SNES, 64, Game Boy, GameCube, DS, but does this version of the game keep my love and interest? Of course it does. This has to be my favorite version.

If you've never played a Mario Kart game, WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?! Sorry, I mean, then you're missing out! Mario Kart is a racing game on go- karts, but with Mario characters. This version of Mario Kart has the largest roster of characters you can choose from. You can even select your own Mii as well! Although, if you do pick your Mii, it'll sound like it's drunk.

(FreQuenczy picks his own Mii, and it laughs dully. Then he picks RedToa94's Mii, and it growls. Lastly, he picks out Spunky511's Mii, and it goes, "Hey!" in a Western style voice. Back to the review...)

This game does not disapoint when it comes to race tracks. There are 32 tracks total, 16 being brand new, and 16 coming from previous titles, although if I was in charge, I would have had 24 new tracks and 8 retro, because I would much rather have new stages to race on than older ones. Eh, but that's just me.

The new tracks have the craziest designs, from falling down a waterfall, to jumping off of giant mushrooms. These new tracks are the best I've ever played. The 16 retro tracks are fun as well, and I think Nintendo did a great job of selecting which 16 to put into this game.

There are two major differences with Mario Kart Wii, that the previous Mario Kart games lacked. With Mario Kart Wii, you can now play with up to 11 other players, 12 including yourself, instead of the traditional 8. For me, this makes the game much more enjoyable, because of the bigger chalenge. The other difference in the game is now, instead of just go- karts, you can race with dirt bikes, and/or motorcycles. Now, some people don't care for this feature, since the game is called Mario KART, but I love this new addition. I don't think it disrupts the style of Mario Kart, I think it makes it better.

There is no story or plot to this game, or any other Mario Kart games; it's just a straight up racer. You start out by choosing your ruleset, then your character, then your kart or bike, then your transmission, which I have to say is a nice new feature, then the stage. That's it, and it works. There doesn't need to be a storyline when it comes to Mario Kart.

The controls are simple and easy. The game comes bundled with the Wii Wheel. All this is is a plastic shell that you insert your Wiimote into, and it becomes a steering wheel. This works surprisingly well; the sensors are just right, not too oversensetive, nor under. You can also play with the GameCube controller, Classic Controller, or the Wiimote with Nunchuck. I actually have to say, I've never tried the game with these three different controllers, since using the Wii Wheel just works perfectly for me. I assume the GameCube and Classic Controller would work well too, while with the Wiimote and Nunchuck combo, eh... I don't know. It's 50-50. Maybe I should just give it a try.

This Review's Comedy Skit
(We see FreQuenczy playing the game with his GameCube controller. After a few seconds, he pauses the game.)

FreQuenczy: Eh, it's allright, kind of like the GameCube, but... Double Dash!! was better for this. Um... oh, and also, on the bike, you can't, like, lift up to do a wheelie, like you can with the Wiimote, so.

(We now see him playing with the Classic Controller.)

FreQuenczy: Wait. To use your item, you gotta press the L button. That's just wierd. No, I do not like that at all.

(He now plays it with the Wiimote and Nunchuck.)

FreQuenczy: Huh. (pauses the game) Huh, it's a lot better than I expected it to be. Uh, the Wii Wheel is a lot better; actually, you don't really need the Wii Wheel, you just need this (gestures to indicate his Wiimote), but, um... no, if I, uh... what am I trying to say? This is my second choice, so uh... yeah.

Main Review
The graphics are what you would expect a Mario game to be: colorful and cartoony. In addition to standard racing, you can also do Time Trial, which is racing yourself, or others, to see who can recieve the fastest time. There's also the Battle option, and there are two different modes you can play. There's Balloon Battle, where you and your team have to hit your opponents with items to make them lose their balloons to recieve points. Whichever team has the most points at the end... loses. Ha! You thought I was gonna say "win." Well, you do win, but I said lose when you thought I was gonna say it. Okay, I'll just stop.

And the other mode is Coin Runners, where you and your team have to grab as many coins before the time runs out, and of course, whichever team has the most coins in the end lo- wins.

There were two things I didn't like about Battle mode with Mario Kart Wii. One was that now, the matches were timed. Wow, what a mistake, Nintendo. Battle mode is just not as fun as it used to be. And two, they didn't put in the Bob- omb Battle mode from Mario Kart: Double Dash!! for the GameCube; that mode had to be the most fun Battle mode ever. Why didn't they put it in?! What a bone- headed move.

A great new feature in Mario Kart Wii was the ability to race online. Actually, Mario Kart DS was the first Mario Kart to use online capabilities, but racing on a big TV screen beats the little two DS screens any day. You don't need Friend Codes to play, and it is very easy to find a match. Even if you have a poor Internet connection, like me, you will probably be able to find opponents and race or battle them with very little to no lag at all.

Closing Verdict
Mario Kart Wii is an amazing game; with numerous new additions and features, this has to be the best Mario Kart game ever. Anybody who has played the previous Mario Kart games will not be disappointed.

This game gets a 4.25 out of 5, with the title of Awesome!

Other Game Information
Developer: Nintendo (Nintendo EAD)

Publisher: Nintendo

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