Game Review: Mario Kart Wii

May 14th, 2008, 05:38 Posted By: ICE

Lets face it. Mario Kart Double Dash sucked. It was
just too slow and two riders was simply retarded. It added nothing of interest but I guess slower
karts.. Thats why when Mario Kart Wii was announced I was met with mixed feelings. If we
got anything like Mario Kart DS all would be well but if they threw another Double Dash at us
then its a whole different story!

As more details began to emerge and my fears of a slow kart went away by the seeing videos I
found myself with brand new fears of a "family friendly" kart game. A soft-core Mario Kart? No
thanks! The DS didnt get that so why the Wii?



Well now that I've spent some personal time with the game I have determined that while the game
is considerably more "family friendly" than the previous versions it is still very enjoyable. The
single player modes are very fast and locked at 60 frames, as I like it, and as much fun as it
should be. However, the multiplayer is, and will always be where its at with Kart and that is no
different here. Local multiplayer is fun and fast-ish.. The thing is it seems to be locked at 30
frames! Ick! Oh well.. Everything else is as it should be.

Here is where Kart shines. Online. Thats right. A Ninty game that is not only good online its
nearly FLAWLESS. There is literally zero lag and everything is amazingly fast. Connecting takes
seconds and its locked once more at 60 frames. Fan-freaking-tastic! My only complaint is that
Battle Mode forces you to be on a team so that no one loses alone.. LAME. Oh and friend codes
still suck. You can at least make rooms for your friends and even see if they're playing online
without even starting the game via the Mario Kart Channel which is pretty sweet.



Ninty once more has shown the world how to do a few major things on Wii with Mario Kart. Online
here is an enormous step forward and devs should take notice. THIS IS HOW ITS DONE. Thats not all
they did very right here though. Oh no, they also have pulled off waggle steering! While the Wii
Wheel is little more than an extension of the "B" trigger the steering is great. I have had no
interest in using any other control method and am even able to be just as competitive online as
anyone using a joystick.

My biggest complaint with this game is a little something called rubber banding. Basically if
you're in first place get ready to be snapped back to dead last. Don't worry though because soon
you'll snap back to first! Yeah its the family friendly crap again. No matter how good you are
you simply wont win every race anymore like in the karts of old. Tragic.

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