Gameplay:
Ahh, Mario Kart. It's never better to get to play a classic game that has had a major face lift in graphics and in the overall gaming experience. Not only do we get to play improved old tracks but Nintendo added new ones as well. You get to start out with four different racing circuits and can also modify whether you play the whole circuit or just one track in the settings options. To start out you have the option to go solo, multiplayer (up to four players total), Nintendo WFC (online racing), and Mario Kart channel (view ranks and enter tournaments). From there you can chose to go to the Grand Prix, Time Trials, VS, or Battle. In the Grand Prix you race against 11 other opponents on one track or you can run a whole circuit that features four tracks. Time trials lets you race through a course by yourself to set and break records. The game saves your best time and will run a ghost next to you so you can make sure you can beat your previous score at every turn. In VS mode you race the CPU and or friends for points. In Battle mode you try to pop the other guys balloons. Each person has three balloons who ever has at least one balloon remaining wins.
This game includes bikes as well as karts. There's also three different classes to chose from: 50cc (karts only), 100cc (bikes only) and 150cc (bikes and karts). You can race for glory in all three and unlock special characters, bikes, karts and 4 other circuits to race in. Depending on which class you race in also changes what you can unlock. For example, you can't unlock karts in the 100cc that is bikes only. Also, depending on how well you do at the end of the circuits you race in also determines what you can unlock.
Mario Kart for the Wii has got to be the most competitive Mario Kart game so far. There's more things to chuck at other players and also items to help players that have fallen behind like Bullet Bill that automatically navigates the track for you while knocking anyone in your path out of the way. There's also a Shiny Shell that hones in on the person in first place creating a blast around that person and knocking out anyone in the blast radius. I'm sure you get the drift of how competitive this game really is now. So if you can't handle it go play another game. :P
Controls:
I highly recommend using the Wii remote with the Wii Wheel with this game. It makes the driving experience more real and really tests your driving skills. Some bikes/karts just are worthless when it comes to handling corners or accelerating quickly which can be frustrating but it really just makes you chose a bike/kart that you enjoy playing and you learn how to handle it properly to be a better racer. Which gives more to the gaming experience IMO. Also, if you would rather move the joy stick instead of your arms you can always hook up your gamecube controller to the Wii.
Graphics:
I found that the circuits that are ready to play didn't really have fantastic graphics but were definitely smooth and polished looking. It was the circuits that I unlocked that looked fantastic. Rainbow Road , Koopa Cape, and Maple Treeway are by far the most gorgeous of all the tracks IMO. The attention to detail and blending of colors to match the theme of all the tracks is awesome.
Sound:
I liked it that they seemed to have a combination of sounds from Zelda and Mario. The music in the game while is good to have to play along with really fades away from your attention has you are racing to win or to not run into things. The one thing that annoyed me a little was the baby drivers have really high pitched voices so when they speak or cry its like nails on a chalk board. Overall, the sound I noticed the most was the classic jumping in or out of the giant pipes in Koopa Cape. That was such a trip to hear.
Replay Value:
Mario Kart has immense replay value. The game is very fun to play solo, go online and compete with people you never met before or just beat the crap out of your friends who think they know how to play games. Either way, this game is highly and continuously enjoyable.
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Rating:
Story: N/A
Gameplay: 9
Controls: 8
Graphics: 9
Sound: 7.5
Replay value: 10
Overall: 8.7
Own, Rent, Avoid:
Own: Definitely own this game. Not only is it fun to play solo and unlock different things but its a great party game.
Last Thoughts:
I played the original release of Mario Kart and loved it then. I think this release brought the excitement and fun that the original release had plus more.
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Written By
Deborah Jones
3/10/2009
