Mario Kart Wii - Review
Ever since I got my Nintendo Wii one of the games I was looking forward to was Mario Kart Wii. Even though it had not been announced or confirmed, I knew that it would eventually be released.
I used to love Mario Kart on the Super Nintendo and on the N64, I couldn't wait for it to come to the Wii. And in mid 2007 it was officially announced at the E3 2007 show. For my 23rd birthday, my brother and his girlfriend got me a Game voucher, which I decided would be reserved for Mario Kart.
On the 11th of April 2008, Mario Kart was released. As I finished work early I went down to Stockport shopping centre and was amazed I was able to just walk in and get the game on launch day. I also got £2.50 off as I had some how collected enough Game loyalty points, odd considering I never shop there. So I rushed home (but still obeying the Highway Code and speed limits
) eager to play this anticipated game, but does it live up to my expectations?
Yes, it does. It's still fun to play, the graphics look really good and the addition of online is great. Since I never had a GameCube and I don't own a Nintendo DS, I haven't been able to keep up with the Mario Kart series since the Nintendo 64. So I'm very impressed with the improvements and new features that Mario Kart Wii has.
First of all, the Wii Wheel. From my first impressions of the Wii Wheel (while I was ripping my way into the box like a kid on Christmas). Though it may just be seem like a piece of white plastic, you can see that Nintendo have put a lot of work into developing this wheel (as shown in the fact that they had 13 prototypes). You can see the quality from both the design and manufacturing, it's not just some quick hack that they through together to package with the game. I would compare it with the "value" wheel I got from Game when I bought Mario Kart, but to be honest I'm to scared to open the box as it clearly wont be in the same league as the official Nintendo one.
As for actually playing with the Wheel, I'm very impressed with the way it works. It isn't hard to steer with there's not that much lag and you can remain in control with it, and even people who've never played Mario Kart before can play with the Wheel (as my mum didn't have to much trouble with it). Though I will have to admit, after the first day, I stopped playing with the Wii Wheel and stuck to using the Classic Controller.
There is so much variety in this game with tons of characters to choose from such as Mario, Luigi, Wario, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Princess Peach and Dasiy and all of the other characters you'd expect to see. Each character is put into one of three categories, Lightweight, Middleweight and Heavyweight, each category has 5 go kart's and 5 motorbikes to choose from giving you a total of 30 vehicles. You have standard kart's, racers off-roaders and hotrods all with their own specialities such as speed, acceleration, drifting and off-roading.
The online racing is great, you can jump into a race with people worldwide, from your region or you can play against your friends. Not only can you race online, but you can play the battle mode online as well.
One of the first thing I did when I got the game was to play the Grand Prix until I won Diddy Kong then I spent alot of time online racing others then went back to winning all the Grand Prix's. I am currently trying to get the 'two star' rating for all Grand Prix which is proving to be difficult on 150 CC.
The negitive aspects of the game would be the AI in races. There is something called the Rubber Band Effect, which means that if you fall behind then the AI will slow down allowing for you to catch up to them. And if you get ahead of them then they will gain speed to catch up to you. Mario Kart also tends to give the better weapons to the people at the back and the less impressive items to the people at the front (eg people at the back will get Mushrooms, Lightening, and the dreaded Blue Shell. Where as people at the front get banana's, green shells and the fake question mark boxes.)
When racing locally against the computer's AI, if your first for the entire race, expect to get bombarded by red shells, bashed by other players and what ever else the computer can throw at you to make sure you finish last. For example, when I was playing earlier today, I was right behind Princess Peach on the 2nd lap of Donkey Kongs ski slope and she dropped a fake question mark box infront of me which was completely unavoidable, I then got hit by a green shell, Luigi bashed into me and somebody throw a bomb at me... I was then last, but some how managed to regrain control and finish first.
Another aspect I dislike, and is one of the most disappointing parts of the game, is Battle Mode. I used to love battle mode on the Super Nintendo, as well as on the Nintendo 64, but on the Wii they have made it so that it is a team battle. You can no longer have a 1v1 battle with a friend or an "every man for him self" battle, instead you are forced to have a 6v6 battle with the computer make up the rest of your team. This means it is alot harder to hunt out your friend to attack, as all you can see is the AI's.
I think that the way the Battle Mode is would be great for online and maybe this is the reason why they have done it like this. But I would of loved to of had the classic Battle Mode from previous installments available locally, at the very least as an option.
Though Mario Kart has some negative aspects about it and some are a very big part of the game, it is still a very enjoyable game with its fair share of good parts. I would highly recommend that anyone with a Nintendo Wii should get this game.
I used to love Mario Kart on the Super Nintendo and on the N64, I couldn't wait for it to come to the Wii. And in mid 2007 it was officially announced at the E3 2007 show. For my 23rd birthday, my brother and his girlfriend got me a Game voucher, which I decided would be reserved for Mario Kart.
On the 11th of April 2008, Mario Kart was released. As I finished work early I went down to Stockport shopping centre and was amazed I was able to just walk in and get the game on launch day. I also got £2.50 off as I had some how collected enough Game loyalty points, odd considering I never shop there. So I rushed home (but still obeying the Highway Code and speed limits
) eager to play this anticipated game, but does it live up to my expectations?Yes, it does. It's still fun to play, the graphics look really good and the addition of online is great. Since I never had a GameCube and I don't own a Nintendo DS, I haven't been able to keep up with the Mario Kart series since the Nintendo 64. So I'm very impressed with the improvements and new features that Mario Kart Wii has.
First of all, the Wii Wheel. From my first impressions of the Wii Wheel (while I was ripping my way into the box like a kid on Christmas). Though it may just be seem like a piece of white plastic, you can see that Nintendo have put a lot of work into developing this wheel (as shown in the fact that they had 13 prototypes). You can see the quality from both the design and manufacturing, it's not just some quick hack that they through together to package with the game. I would compare it with the "value" wheel I got from Game when I bought Mario Kart, but to be honest I'm to scared to open the box as it clearly wont be in the same league as the official Nintendo one.
As for actually playing with the Wheel, I'm very impressed with the way it works. It isn't hard to steer with there's not that much lag and you can remain in control with it, and even people who've never played Mario Kart before can play with the Wheel (as my mum didn't have to much trouble with it). Though I will have to admit, after the first day, I stopped playing with the Wii Wheel and stuck to using the Classic Controller.
There is so much variety in this game with tons of characters to choose from such as Mario, Luigi, Wario, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Princess Peach and Dasiy and all of the other characters you'd expect to see. Each character is put into one of three categories, Lightweight, Middleweight and Heavyweight, each category has 5 go kart's and 5 motorbikes to choose from giving you a total of 30 vehicles. You have standard kart's, racers off-roaders and hotrods all with their own specialities such as speed, acceleration, drifting and off-roading.
The online racing is great, you can jump into a race with people worldwide, from your region or you can play against your friends. Not only can you race online, but you can play the battle mode online as well.
One of the first thing I did when I got the game was to play the Grand Prix until I won Diddy Kong then I spent alot of time online racing others then went back to winning all the Grand Prix's. I am currently trying to get the 'two star' rating for all Grand Prix which is proving to be difficult on 150 CC.
The negitive aspects of the game would be the AI in races. There is something called the Rubber Band Effect, which means that if you fall behind then the AI will slow down allowing for you to catch up to them. And if you get ahead of them then they will gain speed to catch up to you. Mario Kart also tends to give the better weapons to the people at the back and the less impressive items to the people at the front (eg people at the back will get Mushrooms, Lightening, and the dreaded Blue Shell. Where as people at the front get banana's, green shells and the fake question mark boxes.)
When racing locally against the computer's AI, if your first for the entire race, expect to get bombarded by red shells, bashed by other players and what ever else the computer can throw at you to make sure you finish last. For example, when I was playing earlier today, I was right behind Princess Peach on the 2nd lap of Donkey Kongs ski slope and she dropped a fake question mark box infront of me which was completely unavoidable, I then got hit by a green shell, Luigi bashed into me and somebody throw a bomb at me... I was then last, but some how managed to regrain control and finish first.
Another aspect I dislike, and is one of the most disappointing parts of the game, is Battle Mode. I used to love battle mode on the Super Nintendo, as well as on the Nintendo 64, but on the Wii they have made it so that it is a team battle. You can no longer have a 1v1 battle with a friend or an "every man for him self" battle, instead you are forced to have a 6v6 battle with the computer make up the rest of your team. This means it is alot harder to hunt out your friend to attack, as all you can see is the AI's.
I think that the way the Battle Mode is would be great for online and maybe this is the reason why they have done it like this. But I would of loved to of had the classic Battle Mode from previous installments available locally, at the very least as an option.
Though Mario Kart has some negative aspects about it and some are a very big part of the game, it is still a very enjoyable game with its fair share of good parts. I would highly recommend that anyone with a Nintendo Wii should get this game.
Related Links
View: Mario Kart Wii on Amazon