Mario Kart Wii - 8.5/10
Mario Kart Wii
Still with a heart of gold!
By Matt Kelly
It was inevitable that we were going to be playing Mario Kart of Wii sooner or later. It's one of those franchise that gives hardcore gamers a run for their money and gives new gamers a path-way into more serious gaming. Mario Kart Wii has arrived with a few changes from previous entries, some of which make are going to make long term fans enraged while more recent or casual casual gamers will be happy with the changes. Then there's that whole "wheel" thing. While Mario Kart Wii certainly isn't the best entry into the series, as a game that bridges so many divides in gaming culture it does pretty well. We already talked a bit about the game in our preview last week, so get ready for the whole sha-bang!
The first thing you'll notice when you pop the disc in is that Mario Kart at its core isn't a whole lot different from previous installments. Yeah, you've got motion controls, new tracks, power-ups, bikes and so on, but at the end of the day these are improvements rather than revolutionary features. Probably the first of these on player's minds is control. Nintendo has been pushing both the motion control scheme and the Wii Wheel since its first announcement, and there's been mixed amounts of pre-release feedback on both. The primary controls are built on Wii remote tilting like a steering wheel. A lot of games have been having a crack at this since launch and they seem to either be way too sensitive or way under sensitive. And when you don't have anything holding your steering device, gauging subtle movements can be a bit more difficult than in say, an actual car. For the most part Mario Kart Wii has hit these controls on the head. You can get in the seat of a wide variety of vehicles in the game which, depending of their steering rating, will respond with anywhere between sharp over reactive turns to sluggish movement. The importance of finding a vehicle that suits your driving style has been raised in Mario Kart Wii, but generally the controls lean slightly to the under sensitive side regardless of class.
The motor bikes are an interesting new inclusion, one that got tagged as the 'gimmicky add-on' during pre-release news. While the bikes do come with a few new moves, at the end of the day they're a new class of vehicle. If you find karts sluggish in turning then you'll fall in love with the nimbleness of the bikes. If anything they offer a bit more freedom in finding a vehicle to match your driving style. They don't change the game for better or worse, but it's nice to have those additional choices in where your performance stats are focused.
The Tony Hawk-ish tricks have come into play with Mario Kart Wii as well. Performing these is a pretty simple experience; just as you're about to depart the surface of a ramp, flick the remote upwards and the trick will be performed. As you hit the ground you'll pick up a bonus speed boost. Very occasionally these will be race changing tactics but for the most part they just look damn cool. It's one of those things that aren't really changing the game, but are more small features added.
Then there is the matter of the Wii Wheel itself. Wheel shells have been around since day one of the Wii, and they've been met with a fair amount of cynical response. The Wii Wheel that ships with Mario Kart Wii is definitely a lot nicer to look at than previous stuff that's come out, but as far as effects on gameplay goes, there isn't a lot. Had it been something that really increased the diameter of your virtual steering wheel, it would have had some impact. As it stands though it really is a comfort thing. On the flip side though, its certainly better designed that a lot of other wheels out there.
Update: If you want a more indepth look at the wheel, check out our unboxing and review of the Wii Wheel!
The general width of all the tracks has been increased for the accommodation of 12 people on the raceway. It's a little odd to see the classic tracks with the wider race ways but when you've got 12 karts battling close together you'll appreciate the breathing space. The various classic tracks have come across pretty smoothly, and after that moment of 'hey, Defino Square wasn't this wide' you'll settle into them as always. SNES tracks have got the 3D treatment but still retain the general feel of 1992. The track design has been ramped up for the new additions to Mario Kart Wii. You'll face off across four new cups, all with new design but the classic Mario Kart feeling. The new tracks are certainly a lot more brutal and a little bit less forgiving than the previous games, especially in the 150CC class. On a cosmetic level some visual themes are revisited but for the most part you'll be hitting up new styles of locations for your racing rush. A few new track elements have been introduced, the most obvious being the track lips (think half a half pipe). While you'll be using these more on a bike, they get their use in the karts, especially the ones with boost strips along the top. The game also makes a lot more use of areas that will slow you down. Take Dry Dry Ruins or Snow Board Cross, two new tracks to the game. There are sections that have thick snow or sand right across them, and unless you've got a speed boost, you ain't crossing them quickly. Thankfully you're old friend the boost lip is there, go driving up the side, fly into mid air, come back down and catch the boost and you'll rip right through whatever it is slowing you down. You'll find a few of these compact moments in the tracks, and they work pretty well without becoming a tedious matter of flipping around in the air. Beyond the lips you'll find more and more things that you have to make snap decisions about, be it on coming mine cart, cars, things trying to crush you on conveyor belts and so on. If you've ever been a fan of the traffic from older Mario Karts such as Mushroom Bridge, you'll love this stuff. The new tracks do feel less smooth in design however, for all their moving bits and pieces and general good looks, they come with a much steeper learning curve. This is especially true in 150CC.
One of Mario Kart Wii's major flaws sit in balancing, and this is across a wide range of categories. AI retaliation seems to be set on over drive for this one, especially in the higher tiers. Give the wrong person grief and it seems to come back at you ten fold. Item boxes also are tied to your position, regardless of whether you be in 4th place in a group of 4, or 4th place in a group of 12. This is especially painful online in smaller groups, if you're stuck a long way behind, you won't be catching up to them anytime soon.
One of the major balancing changes that has paid off in the online arena though is the removal of snaking which seems to have got the game more attention than any other batch of screenshots or gameplay footage. What you have now is pure sliding. We had a go at chaining these and while it works in some circumstances, you won't be using it to snake the whole track.
Like we said though that pays off massively in the online arena. Online is a real pleasure in Mario Kart Wii and beats the pants off pretty much any other WiFi game to date. If anything is gonna make this a must have addition to your collection it's online. Between the interface, ease of use, and balanced game play, Mario Kart Wii won't be falling into the dark pit that Mario Kart DS did. One major problem that a lot of Wii games have online is they still feel like a very solitary experience. Players may behave a bit more unpredictable than the AI, but beyond that communication is what divides online and offline. While Nintendo haven't quite broken their pedophile warding off online privacy measures, they have given us a basic text chat system comprising of 90 or so predetermined phrases you can say to your fellow karters. These range from 'Let's play Grand Prix!' to 'Wow, you're all so fast!' to simply 'Yaaaaay!'. While it's no replacement for a full text chatting experience or screaming into your headset that you totally owned everyone, Mario Kart Wii breaks that solitary confinement feeling of most games.
But regardless of any quasi social aspects, Mario Kart plays very well online. We've played a ton of matches with people across the globe and it was a very balanced and lag free experience. Beyond the item box issues we mentioned earlier, it was pretty rare the the field was unbalanced. A lot of the fears with Mario Kart online seemed to be to do with the idea that online took no skill to win, and it was a matter of just scoring the right items. Our experience online has pretty much proved that false. With snaking's removal there are no longer any top tier hard to obtain skills, but the races still require skill to win. With that monumental skill gap gone, Mario Kart plays like any online game should, the skilled still gain an edge, but the newbies can still compete.
The Mario Kart channel is a wholly new addition to Wii Gaming, and is a great way of encouraging a persistent online arena. You'll initially access it through the game itself, and once you've connected to the online service for the first time you will gain the option to install it right into the Wii Menu. From there you can check ghost data downloads, records, friend code rosters and so on. What's really great about this is you don't have to jump out of the channel and then jump into Mario Kart. If you want to actually play the game with some ghost data you've downloaded, just hit play and it'll ask for the disc. Stick it in and it'll boot right up. This in game/out of game design is great, as one of the constant annoyances with console gaming is having to stick the disc in, even if you want to just check a statistic. Mario Kart Wii however gives you the ability to check stats, and also doesn't drag down the process of having to jump into the game. It's something that we hope to see in future games, and not only on the Wii!
Heading into the realm of eye candy visuals, Mario Kart Wii is a bit below the general Nintendo bench mark but not without reason. A couple of the modes do get slightly laggy in the frame rate, and while it's not a major issue it is a little jarring after playing the fluid single and multiplayer races. Environmental design hasn't changed that much, like we mentioned there is more and more stuff moving around, but you won't find anything startling in track presentation. This also applies for characters. Having 480P support however does make a huge difference to the quality, as everything is a lot sharper. You'll be thanking this extra clarity as it allows to make to judgements further down the track, where as in prior games it was just a sea of indistinguishable pixels.
The audio side of things probably has the least to write home about, assuming you wrote home about Double Dash before. The music is still varied, and a little bit higher in quality but ultimately its the same Nintendo sound that we all know. Sound effects again, higher quality but nothing you haven't heard before.
Summary:
Mario Kart Wii is a game of improvements, not revolutionary features. There's enough of these that if you're sitting on Double Dash or Mario Kart DS, you'll want to check these out. The introduction of Bikes is nice, but hasn't really added much more than a new handling class. Overall they don't perform that differently to the karts and the tricks, while fun and occasionally race changing, aren't gonna really affect the overall game. The removal of snaking has given us really balanced online play that isn't dumbed down, and the text chat interface has made it a much more social experience, even though it feels a tad forced politeness. The controls of Mario Kart Wii give you a lot of options, and the motion controls are some of the better ones we've seen in the racing genre. If you want a Wii game that is fun, social, and accessible to everyone Mario Kart is still the way to go, and the fact it has online has just made it so the party never stops.
Another Take:
Gaetano Prestia
Everyone loves Mario Kart. Even the basic, Nintendo-hating, macho, tough Sony fanboy can admit that Mario Kart, even as a single-player game, kicks some serious backside. Mario Kart Wii maintains all of the basic, entertaining and enjoyable aspects that make the franchise so lovable. The online is a treat, the controls are basic yet intuitive and the title as a whole looks great. Bar some major frame-rate droppage in four-player split-screen action, the presentation is consistent with the rest of the series. If you own a Wii, you have to own Mario Kart Wii. Period!
Gameplay - 8.5
The new features are a mix bag but the heart of gold that Mario Kart has is still there. Online is the best multiplayer experience on Wii to date. Controls are only slightly off.
Graphics - 8.0
All the Nintendo style is there but don't quite feature that Wii shine. Frame rate issues happen in some modes.
Sound - 7.5
Again, Nintendo style but it hasn't been taken to the next level. Catchy tune factor isn't quite there.
Replay - 9.0
There's lots to to unlock in terms of characters and vechicles, but online is what scores here.
Overall 8.5
Mario Kart Wii brings new features that could have been added earlier, but better late than never. It's a little rough around the edges but as always, great fun!
Submitted by Robtot
23/04/2008
4197
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