Mario Kart Wii Developed & Published by: Nintendo Release Date: April 27, 2008. Genre: Racing I’m quite sure everyone that’s going to read this has played at least one of the eight games in the series. The first was on the ‘super’ platform, Super NES that is. Unfortunately, only eight characters were playable. When compared to the 24 available characters in Mario Kart Wii, you can see how the series has grown to become one of the world’s greatest games. Of course, your usual characters return (Mario, Luigi, Peach etc.) but now available are the baby versions of most characters, plus some more unlockable characters. And lastly, available later in the game, is your own Mii as a playable character. Not only do you have a plethora of characters to choose from, there are also 32 playable game tracks. With 16 new tracks and 16 retro tracks, you can relive memories and make new ones. But be warned, this is the world of Mario Kart, where you think you’re winning, but you’re not. Babies gone wild? I really expected this be like the previous titles, but as usual, my judgment is always off. Right off the bat, when you open up the package with the game, you receive a ‘Wii Wheel.’ You may use this, along with your Wii-mote, to control the game-play. Also, you could use your Wii-mote, or the Wii-mote/nun chuck combination. As just described, this game makes it very easy to choose the controls that fit you. A nice addition is the sound being able to play through the Wii-mote; this will spice up game-play against your friends. Controls are very simple: tilt the wheel slightly to one side to begin a turn. To jump, simply lift the wheel higher at the right moment, and acceleration is as easy as pressing a button on the back of the Wii-wheel. A new element of game play is the implementation of doing tricks. Much like jumping, when at the end of a ramp, just tilt the wheel as soon as your character is in mid-air to perform a speed boosting trick. Not only do they look cool, but they are very decisive in determining the winner of a match. Speaking of tricks, Nintendo tricked us gamers by calling the game Mario ‘Kart’ Wii. You not only get to select karts for vehicles, but now are able to use bikes! Yes, I said bikes. I really don’t know where Nintendo got this idea, but it pays off. Bikes provide speed and a new stunt: the Wheelie. The wheelie does just that, it makes you perform one. It is a temporary speed boost lasting about 5-7 seconds; however, it makes you very vulnerable to being hit by your opponents. Unfortunately, when you are hit by them, you spin out, as opposed to the karts; they just bump out of the way. Keep this in mind for when you choose your vehicle: speed or sturdiness? DK getting his groove on Everyone knows about the power-ups in the game. Making a return is the usual red, green, and blue shells, banana peels, mushrooms and the deadly star power. But new power-ups are available, such as: the Mega Mushroom (makes you a giant and flatten your opponents when you run over them), the Thunder Cloud (a speed booster that eventually shrinks you, can be passed into other players by hitting them) and finally the POW block (basically a ground shockwave that cause people in front of you to spin out and lose their items.) As usual, the game revolves around a series of Cups and your character must prove that they are the best in the game. Returning is everyone’s favorite track, Rainbow Road. Not only is it as hard as ever, but now, to make things even worse, Nintendo decided to add jumps. When you fall, and trust me you will fall of the track, your character will proceed to be burnt up by the Earth’s atmosphere. Nice. As usual the game boasts power-ups which are needed throughout each track to destroy your opponents’ efforts. The best aspect of this game is the Online Play. There is always a player online available. Not only are you able to play against 11 people worldwide, but you are able to participate in battles online. In both instances, your rank starts at 5000 points, and for each time you race and finish at least sixth, you will receive points that increase your ranking (assuming you are playing against 11 other players). And if you finish below sixth, well, you lose ranking points, and have to gain them again. Another beautiful concept Nintendo introduced is the Tournament mode. Here you get compete in a tournament that lasts a month. One whole month. Unfortunately, you can’t play against other players directly. The challenge of each tournament is usually a time trial, a seemingly impossible one. Also you can see your ranking in the tournament, and stare in awe at the unattainable 1st place time. I usually think those players use a Wii-key or some other cheat device. It is possible to rank high, as I once made it to the 20th rank in the world. Sadly, in the next few tournaments, I barely made it to the 100th. Racing: you're doing it wrong Mario Interestingly enough, Nintendo decided to teach us a lesson in kart driving. Or rather the top ranked players get to teach us. Available for the first time, is ghost data downloading. Here you could download data from the any player and see his/her line of driving. Line is the fastest path for the best time on the course. Your ghost is automatically uploaded to the server for ranking, so check often. Lastly, there is the option to create a Mario Kart channel on your Wii menu. Here you check your rankings without even loading up the game. Also you can download ghost data as well as set notification options. Notifications usually are in-game achievements. These can be pictures of you winning the 50,100,150 or mirror mode cups, and achieving every character just to name a few. All in all, this is a must purchase game for the Wii. You get a Wii-wheel, awesome tricks are included, plus bikes are pretty cool. You’ll spend a myriad of hours trying to unlock every character. Online mode is very addicting since you are playing against real humans and not just an over-powered AI. Tournament mode gives you a chance to test your skill, and it definitely gives you the bragging rights you always wanted in a racing game. The only downside is the AI being way too powerful (in 150cc races and above); basically you’ll get hit by numerous attacks ranging from blue shells, to being hit by the magical star power. You’ll be rewarded for being in last place where you get all the good items, as opposed to being in first place where you’ll get banana peels and the occasional green shell. Mario pimping his new ride Cup rankings: Presentation: Nicely done menus, IR integration for menus, Wii-wheel makes game appealing, and its Mario Kart – an eye catcher for every gamer. Rank: 9/10 Graphics: Well since it’s on the Wii, you get the usual 480p, but surprisingly, the graphics look nice. Details are well done, and Mii integration into courses, it’s always awesome to look at your digital self while racing. Rank: 8/10 Sound: It’s really a blend of old and new music for the tracks. Good times remembering the classic console tracks while playing it on the Wii. It gets annoying during some races when you can hear the blue shells soaring after you while you’re in first place, you’ll just go: ‘Aww, sh**’ Rank: 7/10 Game-play: Its basic racing game, only difference is the power-ups. Sometimes the Ai is brutal, as it will consecutively attack you when you are playing the 150 cc races. Rank: 8/10 Lasting Appeal: This is a game for the masses; you can play online and compete in tournaments. Trust me; you will not be done for a while. Rank: 9/10 Total Ranking: Mario Kart Wii ranks 41 out of 50. Closing Comments: Basically this is a game for everyone, you’ll love it once you start playing, and you won’t be able to stop. Online multiplayer and tournaments will eat up your time, and provide several memories. Nintendo really hit the ball on this one, as anyone in the world can play against each other. Get it and have fun. Happy gaming! - dmac154
he cant really answer that, it depends on the latency of your internet connection, the latency to the server and is highly specific to individual connections.
i guess my question is geared more towards how well of a network does nintendo make? let's just assume you have a great connection. lately, nintendo hasn't been very good on their end as far as online gaming.
Well, I've never been kicked off, and it runs very smoothly, by that I mean at the same 60 fps as single player. Actually, Nintendo did a good job with this internet connection and matching up people for racing. For other games, this wouldn't work, but because it Mario Kart lots of people are going to be on at anytime. And for me, there is no lag, I don't think it allows you to play if your internet connection is too slow or if it is not functioning properly.
Sad that i don't have a wii. This game looks really awesome.I've played it on DS and your review was as good as the game ;D
