Mario Kart Wii Review

It's been more than 15 years since the dawn of the Mario Kart franchise on Super Nintendo and the series is still going strong. Indeed, since its inception Kart has become a household name, seeing six iterations, over 100 tracks, and spawning millions upon millions of players worldwide. Every version brings something subtly different to the table, and everyone seems to have a favorite amidst a franchise that never quite changes, but never really stays the same from game to game. Ask players which characters they prefer, what levels top the list, and which items need to stay or go, and you'll get as many diverse responses are there are gamer types. And yet, most Nintendo fans will agree that the Kart games are enjoyable single-player experiences and addictive multiplayer ones.

Supposing you're new to the phenomenon -- hey, this is Wii after all; you might come from that coveted "blue ocean" corner -- Mario Kart Wii, like its predecessors, is a pick-up-and-play racer drenched in Mushroom Kingdom characters and overrun with outlandish track designs. You can race against foes or engage them in vehicular battle -- not with guns, mind you, but turtle shells and bananas. This is a Nintendo game, remember. The concept may seem downright childish as you read about it, but the end experience is both charming and fun.

Mario Kart has never really been full-blown "hardcore," and neither has it been wholly "casual," a truth that Nintendo has fully embraced this time around. Mario Kart Wii comes complete with three Grand Prix speed classes – 50cc, 100cc, and 150cc – with the expected unlockables after that. Each character fits distinctly in a race class, has specific light, medium, or heavy cars to choose from based on that class, and there's of course a healthy dose of local multiplayer via classic versus ad battle modes. If you grew up with Kart, you will not find the Wii iteration full of pioneering new play modes, which might prove disappointing for some. At the same time, though, Nintendo's series was founded on a winning formula and we can therefore sympathize with any reluctance to break from it.

Still, there are some welcomed additions. Not only does Kart for Wii ship with a Wii Wheel -- a shell that encapsulates the Wii remote and makes the process of motion-controlled steering more believable -- but now there are bikes, Mii support both on and off the tracks, 32 total stages (half new, half classic), as well as a few new items thrown into the mix. It all feels and looks like Kart, mind you, but the extra bells and whistles are definitely recognizable But you knew that. The real question here is how exactly the game plays, what works and what doesn't, and whether or not you need to start sending hate mail to Nintendo for screwing up your now-teenage baby.

Overall, Mario Kart Wii is extremely rewarding and we take into account the Wii wheel shell (yes, we just complimented a shell…), the inclusion of IR and non-IR supported menus, the seamless integration of console Miis, and never-ending laundry list of WiiConnect24 and Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection features, the continued support of traditional control schemes, the retro levels, and much more. For the thick-minded, Mario Kart Wii offers a seemingly never-ending amount of content. Some of it you'll love and some you won't want to play through a second time.

For the first time ever on a Nintendo console, the online portion trumps the single-player offering, and we'll explain why. Both 50cc and 100cc races are fine in Grand Prix, though the exclusion of the Mario Kart 64-like cooperative two player GP is a serious misstep in our opinion -- you can certainly go in and create your own GP competitions, but they work separately from the normal GP cup progression. Mushroom Cup is a bit boring, Flower Cup starts to mix things up with some decent track design, Star Cup really starts to take off with some superb levels and true innovation, and a Special Cup that rounds things off with one of, if not the, best Rainbow Road tracks in franchise history.