Mario Kart Wii – Wii video game review

Game: Mario Kart Wii

Platform: Wii

Studio: Nintendo

Rating: 8/10

Corporate line:
Start your engines and race with Mario and his friends with their finely tuned racing machines in Mario Kart Wii. Use 3 different control styles with the Wii Wheel included in the box. The worldwide race is on with a whole new set of tricks, tracks, and ways to play. Mario Kart Wii draws on courses and battle arenas from every game in the series – not to mention tons of new ones. The true king of the Mushroom Kingdom racing circuits will finally be crowned. Experience new tracks, enhanced Wii graphics, extraordinary gameplay and much more. Place first in Grand Prix circuits or clear skill-based missions to open up increasingly difficult and thrilling circuits. You can have multiplayer races on any open courses or battle in arenas. Now you can feel like you are Mario and steering to avoid obstacles and doing incredible stunts.

Special Powers/Weapons/Moves/Features – Shake the Wii Remote to pull off a trick that will temporarily boost your speed. When riding a bike, gain additional speed by flicking the Wii Remote up and popping a wheelie Up to 12 people via Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection or up to 10 people via Wi-Fi Connection with 2 people playing locally

Gameplay:
“Mario Kart Wii” is a rip-roaring race against 11 other competitors. There are 32 courses total, some new to the Wii version. A cool new feature is the ability to do extreme moves when kart goes off a ramp. There are all sorts of cool tracks with fun ramps that produce all sorts of interesting features and tricks. The tracks are way more interesting than the few classic maps that have been carried over from previous releases. The tracks are loaded with items to help or hinder your race.

The new Wii Wheel transforms the Wii Remote controller into a steering wheel that feels natural in anyone’s hands, while the Wii Remote and Nunchuk controller offer a classic control style for the Mario Kart veteran. In either configuration, players can perform speed-boosting tricks with a shake of the Wii Remote.

Players can race as their favorite Nintendo character, 25 characters in total, or as Mii characters.

Graphics:
The Wii version should look better but it doesn’t look much different than it did on the GameCube. The environments have more detail and of course there is the addition of the Miis. Too bad it isn’t a much larger upgrade visually.

Audio:
The sound effects and sound track is very similar to the previous releases.

Finally:
“Mario Kart Wii” is as fun and fresh as it was 16 years ago. The addition of the Miis and the new Wii wheel give it a new level of fun.