Mario Kart Wii

Apr 11, 2008

Mario Kart is one of Nintendo's strongest franchises, and considering the popularity of the company's fledgling platform, Mario Kart Wii was inevitable. The hook that separates the Wii from its PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 counterparts is its accessibility, the focus on simpler, more family-friendly gaming experiences driven by motion-sensitive controls that redefine intuitiveness. Mario Kart is and has always been an incredibly accessible driving game. Its simple controls and saccharine sensibilities have invited a generation of parents and children, roommates and couples, friends and strangers to spend a few hours together on the track.

Take the Kiddies For a Spin

Mario Kart Wii doesn't deviate much from the formula that players have come to love and expect from each new iteration on the series. You have colorful courses with varied shortcuts to compete in, borrowing from classic themes in the various Mario games. The playable characters are the usual suspects as well, ranging from Mario, Luigi, Peach and Bowser to Baby Mario and Baby Peach, each with their own souped-up strollers.

There are multiple vehicles to choose from for each character, like the aforementioned strollers, as well as vintage-looking race cars, muscle cars, more traditional karts, and even some wackier options like saddled rockets. They're all differentiated by unique ratings in attributes like handling, top speed, acceleration, and so on. There's something satisfying about winning a race in a baby's push stroller, so don't miss out on trying them out.

While the pure racing hasn't changed much, there are a couple significant changes to what you've previously experienced in Mario Kart games, and one of the most profound is the introduction of motorcycles to the mix. The two-wheeled vehicles have radically different turning mechanics and acceleration tendencies than their four-wheeled counterparts, as they zip along on straightaways but are riskier and more difficult to handle on turns.

Another big change comes with the introduction of drafting. Stick close enough to another car, and they'll cut a slipstream path for you, as shown by the blue streaks on the side of your vehicle. It's similar to the visual indicator you get when powersliding, and the effect is the same: more speed for your efforts. Draft effectively, and you can overtake the competition.

Little Wheel, Big Fun

Players will be separated into two camps. Those who play with a standard controller, like the supported GameCube controller, and those who use the packed-in racing wheel attachment. The wheel is actually a shell which the Wii Remote snaps into. We've tried playing with the wheel extensively, and while it may look like a gimmick, it performs pretty well. The handling and control of your vehicle are spot-on, and the smooth maneuvering of the vehicles coupled with the nearly 1:1 reaction of your wheel movements really imparts the feeling of riding around at your local go-kart track. We expected to find that most players online would be using a controller, but actually found that many were having fun with the racing wheel, as shown by the wheel icons over their Miis.

The wheel housing is pretty small, built for younger players' hands, so if you have larger adult hands it can be a bit difficult getting into a comfortable position. We had our best results putting the wheel between our knees, using them to support our hands so that we could more easily achieve a neutral position. Without a base for the wheel, you won't get Forza Motorsport levels of realism, but this is Kart racing, right? Who needs force feedback when you're racing as a dinosaur and shooting red shells? Still, it's really quite remarkable how a cordless racing wheel suspended in mid-air can come close to imparting the same experience as far more expensive dedicated peripherals.

The game modes will be familiar to players of the previous Mario Kart games, once again broken down into various tournament stages across the different speeds, from 50cc to 150cc. On the lower end the games are slower-paced, where victory will be dependent on how lucky you get on the items when you hit the familiar question mark blocks, while at higher speeds it can be quite a challenge just to stay on-course when racing around the game's twists and turns.

There are 32 courses, but 16 of those are classics from previous versions of Mario Kart, like Mario Raceway from the N64 game, and Mario Circuit 3 from the SNES. That's quite a bit of variety, but you may be annoyed at not having more original tracks to ride around on.

There are some very powerful items to use in addition to the familiar banana peels, trick blocks and turtle shells, like the new Mega Mushroom. Snag this power-up and you'll grow to enormous size, allowing you to smash through anyone ahead of you, barreling through the opposition. If you're not good enough to catch up to the competition, the last-place player will often snag the bullet power-up, which flies that player forward into the middle of the pack, putting them back into competition.

It's All About Online

While the core gameplay has been changed in the aforementioned ways, the biggest feature that'll separate Mario Kart Wii from its console ancestry is the introduction of online play. While the Nintendo Wii has had its stumbling blocks in getting to the online arena, Mario Kart Wii absolutely blows us away in terms of how easy it is to play a game, and the completely lag-free environment in which you race.

Within seconds, we were able to get matched up against players from around the world, Japanese, German, French and so on, each with their custom Mii decked out in a snazzy racing outfit. We played in numerous twelve-player matches and never encountered any latency, which is really quite remarkable. There's a bit of a frame-rate hitch when playing split-screen, but at least lag isn't an issue. The Wii isn't necessarily known for its online play, even including the recent hit Super Smash Bros. Brawl, but Mario Kart Wii may be the game to put Wii on the online gaming map.

Players are matched up for online races based on the game's unique ranking system. Each player starts off rated at 1500 points, and that ranking will rise or fall based on performance in online play. Win a lot of races and you'll face off against stiffer competition, while novice players will quickly be moved into a greater comfort zone.

Balloon Fight

Mario Kart Wii also includes two different types of battles for when you need a break from the races. There's the popular balloon battle mode, where each player has three balloons which you endeavor to pop with shells and other weapons in deathmatch-style battles. There's also a coin-based battle mode where you race around a closed course picking up coins strewn across the map. You can knock coins loose from other players by whacking them with weapons, snagging them in the hopes of having the most coins when the time runs out. These battles can all be played in team formats, and so far have been great fun.

Mario Kart Wii takes a friendlier, more inviting approach to racing than traditional driving games, exemplifying what Nintendo does best. We expect this to be a popular option for parties, much like Super Mario Kart and Mario Kart 64. Now that online play has been brought to bear, we're excited to see that the party can go on 24-7.