Box Reviews: Mario Kart Wii

Wroom! A racer acquired a star! He whizzes past you. You're thankful he didn't touch you. You are in 11th place. You hit an item box and what do you get. A bullet bill! You use it, and race ahead of the pack and into 5th place. What is this? A dream? No, it's Mario Kart Wii!

Now when Reggie said at E3 that this isn't your father's Mario Kart, he was wrong. Even though it has 12 player online, and motorcycles, underneath this is the same Mario Kart we all grew up with. Now this isn't necessarily a bad thing, but if you've gotten tired of the same old Mario Kart, nothing here will change your mind.

Now the biggest addition to the Mario Kart franchise in a while has been motorcycles. These control pretty much like karts, only they have more sensitive steering and wheelies. Now how these work is that you pop the Wii Wheel up and you're on one wheel. This gives you a speed boost at the cost of steering. Also if you get hit during a wheelie, you are basically going to stop.

Speaking of the Wii Wheel, it is basically just a plastic shell to stick your Wii Remote into. It works pretty nicely, kinda like the Wii Zapper, which was also just a plastic shell. But this is way better, as any driving game so far is compatible with it, as long as the control is forgivable, as for the zapper, only four games are compatible. RE Umbrella chronicles, Link's Crossbow Training, MoH: Heroes 2, and Ghost Squad. The Wheel works great, but for veterans, you might want to stick to the classic or Gamecube controller.

The way the Grand Prix works is also a little different. In 50cc, you can only use your karts. As for 100cc, you can only use bikes. 150cc, you can use both. Once you complete a whole Grand Prix class, you can do that class with both karts and bikes. Why they made the decision to do this, I have no idea. But it works out a little better than you might expect. This game comes with 32 tracks, 16 of them being brand-spanking new. There are some real gems in there, like Bowser's Castle and Rainbow Road, but some are ones that are not so good. Examples are being Coconut Mall and Wario's Gold Mine, which slow you down at every turn, and just aren't fun to play. Classic courses are back, with tracks like Bowser's Castle from N64, and Ghost Valley 2 from SNES.

Items like the banana peel and turtle shells are back, but they also incorperated new items into the mix. The thundercloud gives you a short speed boost, but if you don't pass it along, you'll get shrunken like you got hit with the lightning bolt. The Mega Mushroom is back from New Super Mario Bros. It makes you giant, impervious to all in your path, except for star people. The POW block is from the original Mario Bros. arcade game. It spins out everyone on the track in front of you. Now let me give you some advice. When you see a POW block, spam the stunt button like crazy. You'll still drop your items and spin out, but you won't lose any momentum.

Speaking of stunts, that's the second addition to Mario Kart Wii. Coming off a jump, you can waggle the Wheel or remote, and you'll do a stunt. Landing the stunt earns you yet another speed boost.

Mini Turbos were also reworked. It used to be that you drift and waggle the analog stick back and forth until orange flames come out. Now, if you drift long enough, only then will the flames come out. You can let go at blue and get a boost, but if you're riding a kart, you can drift longer for orange flames. That gets you a bigger speed boost. Bikes don't have this feature of orange flames, because of the aforementioned wheelies.

Battle mode is the same as always. No. Wait a minute. No it's not. Balloon Battle now consists of how many balloons you can personally take out. Losing your three balloons has no effect what so ever, except for the drop-off.

Multi player is where Mario Kart has always shined, and this is no different. Graphics really take a hit when playing for player split screen, but the gameplay is still marvelous as always. Online play is like no other in Mario Kart Wii. You can race or battle with up to 11 other people, and unlike Mario Kart DS, on any track. With things like the Mario Kart Channel, available from the Wii or the actual game itself. It tracks your records in time trials, and you can actually race the record holders ghost.

The graphics in this game are stunning. Nothing like Brawl or Super Mario Galaxy, but the best so far out of the series. It's' cartoony, just like it's supposed to be. That's all I can say.Wow. This is long. I should end it before I get started on something like Super Mario Galaxy. Oops. Too late.

Graphics: 7/10 Not as great as SMG or SSBB, and take a huge dive in 4 player split screen, but still a joy to look at.Gameplay: 9/10 It's Mario Kart. Same old Mario Kart.
Sound: 8/10 Not a memorable soundtrack, but not a bad one either.Multi player: 10/10 Mario Kart was always a party game. Online play is also a huge success. Bring this out during parties.
Replay Value: 9/10 With online play and a great versus mode, this game will be in your disc tray for months to come.
Charm: 10/10 There's something about Mario that makes him almost teddy bear like. Cute and cuddly.
Overall: 8/10 (not an average) With engaging gameplay, superb online play, and the Wii Wheel, this Mario Kart is sure to appeal to everyone of all ages.