Mario Kart Wii is a good addition to the franchise and is worth purchasing for a solid racing title for multiplayer
Mario Kart Wii offers a racing experience for all types of players such as casual, hardcore, or children to play with. Most people, including myself, found that Mario Kart is best at racing without a doubt, although Battle mode is just as enjoyable, but unfortuantly in this version its changed in a way where it just doesn't feel right anymore. For starters, you have to be in teams now and if you run out of balloons you just get them back again. It's kind of destroyed what made Battle mode great in the first place. Oh well, at least some of the tracks are pretty decent, as well as some old ones as well.
The racing part of Mario Kart Wii is the usual 4 cups, which you have to unlock by winning cups and races. There's also an additional 4 cups which offer players a chance to play on old tracks. To be honest, I think the lineup of the old tracks could have been better. For example, when are we going to see Wario Stadium in a new Mario Kart? That was one of my all-time favourite tracks! The game is still determined by both luck and skill since you could be miles ahead of the opponents and then on the last lap just before the finish line BOOM! Blue shell smashes down onto you! Annoying but at least it gives everyone a chance to win.
Oh yeah, the multiplayer also supports the classic and GameCube controllers on the game. This is useful since I only had one Wii controller so I could still play Mario Kart Wii with 4 players on GameCube controllers. Pretty unique and makes the game like backwards compatible. Some may argue that the Wii Wheel sucks. To be honest, this was what I was feeling the first few hours but after a few days of playing I loved it!
The Online mode, which may be tied the best part of Mario Kart Wii, is excellent and lag free. The races are seemingly like as if you racing computer opponents! All tracks can be used to race on, but players get to pick on what they race, or if they want to choose by random. The ranking system online is the simple "How well you do" system so if you came first you go up alot of points and if you lose you go down. This system is cleverly countered by the number of wins as well so if you win alot and suddenly start losing then the network knocks your points down, as well as match your points with someone within your range.
The online mode offers playing with friends, as well as nationally and internationally. Mini boosts do exist so some skilled players may constantly do this, but unlike Mario Kart DS they can't get too far ahead from a non-skilled player as before. The item system is kind of unbalanced since you can get the best items in the game from just like 3rd or 4th place! Overall online is very fun and with a maximum of 12 players carnage and mayhem is sure to exist!
Unlockables and Replay value is probably the best part of Mario Kart Wii, having to unlock new karts, characters, and tracks by racing and getting good positions in the game. To be honest, I don't really agree with the star ranking system, since its all down to luck on what items you and the computer get in order to get a good time and points rank. If you constantly get pummled by items then chances are you're not going to unlock something on that run. The motorbikes are my favourite vehicles because they handle perfectly, as well as having a special Wheelie boosts which is better than the karts. I kind of feel bad for saying this though since the game is called Mario Kart Wii so it should just be karts!
The graphics and sound in Mario Kart Wii is left to be desired. To be honest, I wasn't expecting the best graphics ever of course, but they look just a little under par with Double Dash to be honest. If you go on 4 player multiplayer you notice the jaggies which is kind of distracting. Other than that the game is colourful and kid friendlyish so its ok for what it is. Kiddy voices are still around and are a bit annoying but hey what can you do?
So overall, Mario Kart Wii is a good game, and is not a bad purchase for anyone. If you are looking for a fun racing title, go for this and have fun blasting each other online with a mixture of Double Dash and DS items! I don't think this is the best Mario Kart, that goes to Mario Kart 64, but I was not upset with getting this, though I may dare say, or tie this with Double Dash as the weakest Mario Kart game in the series. I'm not bashing the game! Just my opinion.