Newsgab

The latest edition of Mario Kart has arrived for the Nintendo Wii titled “Mario Kart Wii”. There are a few additions and a few disappointments to this newest outing.

There are now multiple control schemes to make use of the Wii-Mote/Wii Wheel combo, the Wii-Mote/Nunchuk combo, the Classic Controller and the Gamecube controller. Each controller has it’s advantages and makes for a unique play experience.

The Wii wheel which is included with the game is a molded plastic shell that you insert you Wii-Mote control into. The design is fairly simple and doesn’t really ad much for functionality but I was surprised at how much more fun the game was to play. Nintendo tweaked the power sliding speed boosts to work better with the Wii wheel as well as adding a stunt system that rewards you with speed boosts. The new system seems fair and more balanced for all control combinations.

In this addition online multi player is a main feature. While this was a feature on Mario Kart DS this is the first time ever on a console version. Nintendo obviously built this game for a online multi player experience and possibly damaged the experience of the overall game by doing so.

There seem to be a few options missing in this edition. The most noticeable is the inability to play multi player individually. In the past you were able to play four players against each other in battle mode. In the Nintendo DS Mario Kart DS they included the option of playing on teams. In this version you have no choice but to play on teams of six. This is especially frustrating because computer character make up the existing teammates. If you want to play a two player battle mode you will be divided into two teams were there is one player on each team and five computer controlled characters. It feels like the computer is playing for you and makes multi player battle seem almost pointless. You can change the computer AI but it makes little difference in how the new setup ruins the multi player experience. Another Missing option is two player Grand Prix which would allow two players to work together to earn trophies. These missing features hinder the games playability for multi player.

In online you can enter online with one or two players and compete Worldwide, Continental or with Friends. In Worldwide or Continental You will be able to choose either VS Race or Battle. You are quickly matched up with players and get to choose what level you want to compete in when all players have chosen the computer picks from the choices randomly. Playing with freinds requires individual freinds codes which are different from the Systems freinds codes. This is not only annoying but I imagine it would also be confusing to most players.

There are 32 tracks included in this game including 16 classic ones. The new tracks are well designed with risky shortcuts and well thought out item placement. The tracks are well optimized for 12 player matches. The retro classic tracks are a bit disappointing though. In the most previous version Mario Kart DS there were many of the great classic tracks included. This one seems to have the ones that weren’t good enough to include in the last game. The original courses that were brought over from the DS game however were good choices.

There is a good variety of characters and vehicles in the game divided into individual weight classes. You can now also race with bikes that can turn sharper but are harder to control. You can also unlock characters and vehicles as you progress through the game. There are familiar characters from the Mario series including a few odd choices. Included in the unlockables is the ability to play as your custom created Mii characters. Playing as your Mii’s is a great feature and rally should have been a default option for more casual players.

The difficulty is standard for Mario Kart games. The classes get harder as you progress. The AI is smart and will make many decisions to emulate what a human player would do. The items are balanced in a way to keep the race close. Characters that are falling behind in a race will get better items from item blocks which will give them a better chance to catch up. Skilled racers will still be able to retain the lead but it’s now unlikely that you will be able to lap anyone.

The graphics in this game are really colorful and rich. Each course is diverse in look and atmosphere. The player created Miis participate in the environments. You will see your Miis in the crowds of spectators, as statues or on posters. Unfortunately the character models for the players are noticeably poor. Nintendo obviously scaled down polygon counts to make sure it runs smoothly with 12 players worldwide online. The character models are downgraded from the previous installment of the Gamecube’s “Mario Kart: Double Dash”. This doesn’t really matter as far as game play but it will be a huge disappointment to fans after the high quality character models used in Smash Bros Brawl.

The music while not overly extravagant but does well to add to the environment. With Mario Kart Nintendo always seems to keep Mario Kart soundtrack sounding unique from the rest of the Mario universe.

It’s great fun but there are a few small things that prevent this game from being as good as most expect from Nintendo.

hippies rating 8/10

Positive:
+new courses are very well designed
+new characters and vehicles are great
+multiple control schemes
+Wii wheel is really fun
+quick and easy online setup
+play as user created Miis
+balanced game play
+good AI

Negative:
-missing standard options from past Mario Kart games
-off line multi player feels broken
-poor character models
-weird classic level choices
-use of friend codes to play freinds online

For all unlockable characters, karts, bikes and other cheats click here

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