Mario Kart Wii

Mario Kart Wii was the 5th installment of the Mario Kart Franchise, and did not fail to impress. Firstly, the game looks phenomonal, second best in the series in my opinion, of course Mario Kart 8 being its better (Visual wise). Also, Mario Kart Wii has some of my favourite tracks of all time! One of them being Coconut Mall, which is my personal favourite track of all time. Coconut mall has you drive around... Well, a mall! The track is very fast paced, and there are multiple routes you can take to make the replayability factor on this track even better! The music is awesome, and this track really shows off the trick mechanic where you can trick off a fountain in the mall, ramps in the car park and off the edges of the escalators. Mario Kart Wii also introduced us to some of the greatest characters of all time like Funky Kong and Dry Bowser, Funky Kong definitely being the most used character in the whole roster. I also really like how you have to play well in order to unlock these incredible characters. However, there are some cons to Mario Kart Wii which prevented me from giving it a perfect score. The grand prix mode can be way to chaotic with all the unnecessary items. Items like the blue shell, the pow block, the giant mushroom, and the infamous thunder cloud are completely uneccessary items. The blue shell is acquired by people at the middle of the race so like 6th and 7th. It doesn't benefit them or help them at all, the only person it helps is second place! The pow block is stupid because you can trick when the pow block sends you in the air, the giant mushroom is just a star that lasts not as long as the star and the thundercloud is the first item that doesn't help you. You get a thundercloud over your head and you must pass it on to another player before the timer runs out and strikes you and turns you... Little. Also, people downgrade their socre on mario kart wii because of motion controls. In all honesty, motion controls was a cool idea, and after all, the wii is a family friendly console, so the majority wont be caring as much about world records. Also, you can use nunchucks, the gamecube controller and the classic wii controller. Now, I will admit that the Wii didn't explain the alternatives to play the game as well as they shouldv'e, as I was using tilt controls until just a few weeks ago as I was having a sencond look at the game, but regardless of this, Mario Kart Wii was a really solid game and no one can change my mind. Also, sorry for not talking about any of the other modes like battle mode, I'm just regarding the mode that everyone plays, grand prix, sorry all you hardcore fans!

Mario Kart Wii is by far one of the best, if not the best game out there for Wii. The game is standard Mario Kart fare, you pick a kart (or in this one a bike) and you take that kart or bike on a crazy course, and while racing a three lap race, you fight with the other eleven racers by using stuff like turtle shells and banana peels. This sounds like the basic Mario Kart formula that you have played a million times before, but let me tell you, there is enough fresh, new things in this game that makes it worth the $50 price tag.

The first thing that should be noted about this game is the motion controls using the Wii Wheel to control your car, rather than a joystick. Let me tell you, the motion controls work perfectly with amazing accuracy, they are very tight and you never feel like you are losing control of your vehicle while using the Wheel. Yes, there is a slight learning curve to the Wheel, which is why majority of die hards will skip it from the get go, but once you get used to the Wheel there is really no better way to play it. Still if you aren't sold on the Wii Wheel yet, there are still plenty other control schemes you can try, and all of them work very well; they include: the Wiimote without the Wheel, the Wiimote and Nunchuck combo, the Classic Controller, and the Gamecube Controller.

Now, as for the actual racing part, there isn't much different this time around, Nintendo following the classic saying of, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!", which is so very true. The weapons are the same, and many old tracks return with just a few slight tweaks to them to suit the new trick system, which besides the inclusion of bikes and motion control (and one other tiny thing I'll mention later) to the Mario Kart world, it is the only real new thing around this time. The trick system can be activated by just simply jolting the Wii Wheel up in the air when you go off a ramp, by doing this you will be granted a speed boost. Now onto the new tracks in the game, which where specifically designed for the new trick system, and let me say these are some of the most creative, and fun Mario kart tracks I've ever played, in particular ones such as: Toad's Factory, Mushroom Gorge, Maple Treeway, and Wario's Goldmine, steal the show. The new tracks are so much fun, that when you have to race one of the returning tracks from previous games in a circuit, it kind of feels like you are just going through the motions so you can get the cup, and you aren't truly enjoying yourself because the new tracks just blow the old ones out of the water. Of course, the biggest new inclusion to Mario Kart Wii is the online play via Wi-Fi.

Online play is where this game will have all of its longevity. The online play is smooth and fun, it is always real easy to find a match, with or without friend codes. The only downside to the online in this game is there is no voice chat, and that when you play with two players online the frame rate chugs a bit, but besides those two problems the online is almost perfect, and is Nintendo's best effort at online play thus far.

Overall, Mario Kart Wii is another solid entry into the classic racing franchise. With the motion controls and the online play, it is easily the most fun racing game I have probably ever played.

I give Mario Kart Wii a superb 10 out of 10!

This is my least favorite Mario Kart game. I played it a lot when we got a Wii. But I could never beat it. Whenever I get in first place, all hell breaks loose. Every time within three seconds I get hit with a spiny shell, hit with a POW block, then hit with a regular shell. EVERY TIME! The game does not play fair. At least it's successor Mario Kart 8 was better in that aspect but I still prefer Double Dash.

This was the MarioKart my generation will grow up to love and always cherish! Motion Control and Tricking changed the game for all the MarioKarts that came after. It is fun, has an amazing track selection, probably the best character rooster ever, and still visually holds up! The Wii was a revolutionary counsel, but this was a game that anyone can pick up and enjoy! 10/10 hands down!

I love the new karts dirt bikes. Those are so cool. And I love that you an do a wheely to gain more speed and that's another cool feature. The Wii steering option wheel made it more realistic. It felt like you were actually driving. I'm so glad that they put in the baby versions of Princess Peach, Daisy, Mario, Luigi as playable characters. I love that they put in older tracks in the from other Mario Kart games.