Publisher: Nintendo
Copyright: 2008
ASIN: B000XJNTNS
Description
Mario Kart is a racing game with characters and setting elements from the Super Mario Bros. universe. This edition, for the Nintendo Wii system, has a total of 32 tracks, 16 from previous Mario Kart games and 16 created for this game. Players can choose from among 24 characters (such as Mario, Baby Peach, Toad, and Donkey Kong) and several different vehicles (depending on the selected character’s size). Characters are controlled using either a Wii remote-joystick combination or a plastic steering wheel in which a remote is placed. There are several different modes of play—solo, one-player against the computer, and multiplayer (against either only other humans or with computer-controlled characters, too). Multiplayer games can be done in-person (with up to four players racing at once on the same Wii), online (with friends or strangers around the world), or in some combination of these. In addition to races, there are two kinds of “battles” in which characters drive around an arena either collecting coins or trying to avoid getting the balloons on the backs of their vehicles popped.
Critical Evaluation
Mario Kart Wii is endlessly entertaining. Allow me to describe a race on my favorite track, Mushroom Gorge. I’m racing as Daisy on a motorcycle. During the countdown I rev my engine so I get a burst of speed to start. By “drafting” (staying directly behind an opponent for a few seconds), I get a second burst of speed that sends me to the front of the pack. I pick up my first "item" from a rainbow-hued cube in the middle of the track, which turns out to be a shell that I can launch at my competitors. My husband (who’s racing as Funky Kong on a really big bike) has pulled ahead of me, so I nail him with the shell, allowing me to pull ahead coming into the first big obstacle. This is one of three gorges for which the course is named. Giant mushrooms span the gorge, so if I jump from one to another without falling through the gaps I can make it across without losing speed. Half of the mushrooms are bouncy. Whenever I get some air I shake the controller, so that as soon as I land again I get a speed boost. The race is three times around the course, with shells flying thick and fast, banana peels and other obstacles on the track thrown down by the other racers, and the ever-present possibility of getting shrunk, squished, or knocked off course by my opponents and their items.
All of the courses have different settings (another of my favorite tracks is inside a mall) and different kinds of obstacles (such as deep snow). It takes many enjoyable hours to become familiar with the tracks, as there are all kinds of clever tricks to them (like secret shortcuts) and they vary greatly in difficulty. The characters are relatively easy to control with the remote and joystick, but I find the “Wii Wheel” extremely difficult to use. Beginners can adjust the difficulty somewhat by making the computer-controlled characters slower and less aggressive and by choosing vehicles with more responsive “handling.” The music is catchy (sometimes a little too catchy), the graphics sharp, and the settings detailed, though all are intentionally cartoonish--this is not a realistic racing simulator. The racing is realistic enough to make extremely sensitive people motion sick (as I know from the sad experience of my dad), but for those of us with more robust stomachs, it is thrilling.
Why is this title included?
This is a great game for all ages. It's especially fun to play in groups, making it perfect for teens who like to play video games with friends and/or family. One of the most popular activities my husband ever put on for the teenage boys in the youth group he used to mentor was a Mario Kart Wii tournament.