Mario Kart Wii brings you even more kart racing fun.
Gameplay, 7. Just in case you don't quite know what kart racing is let me tell you first; kart racing is basically like other racing game but with go-karts and items to help you out. There are many different items in this game; some hurt other racers, some help you, and some have too wierd of an effect for me to generalize it. Unlike past game there are tweleve racers on the course, which naturally makes things much more chaotic. One interesting new thing in this game is the addition of motorcycles. At first this may seem like a gimmick but actually you could argue that the motorcycles are better than the karts.
In the single player mode you can play Grand Prix, Vs. Battle, and Time Trial. Grand Prix is where you play one of the cups, each contain four courses. After each race you will receive points based on your finishing position. After the last race the player with the highest number of points is the winner. In the Vs. mode you play with your own customized settings. In Battle the blue team and the red team fight it out on different courses. There are two ways to play Battle: Balloon Battle or Coin Battle. Balloon Battle is just like it has always been; you have three balloons over your head that represent your HP and when you losey your last balloon you come back, your killer getting a point. In Coin Battle you battle for coins. In all three of the modes explained already you can get race in two teams and the team with the highest combined total points wins. The Time Trial mode is where you race by yourself and go for the best time you can get.
The funnest part of Mario Kart is playing with your friends and as usual there is plenty of multiplayer to be found. You can choose between Vs. and Battle.
If you don't have any friends to play with at the moment but you still want someone to play with you can play online. You and a friend can play on the same screen online too if you like.
The Mario Kart Channel is where you do the current scenario and try to go for the record.
As usual Mario Kart is a blast to play. The addition of single player Vs. and Battle is something I was asking for for years and it's great Nintendo has finally implemented that into what used to be a shallow single player experience. The multiplayer mode is as fun and chaotic as ever, even more now that you can play with computers. Mario Kart Wii is one of the few Wii games out there where the multiplayer is not plagued by incessent lag and is generally well done(with the natural exception of friend codes).
Along with the increase in chaos comes a new found unbalancement in items. On all item settings it seems fairly unbalanced and cheaper than what it really needs to be. At first being in first place, or near first place, the entire game just to get slammed by a blue shell right near the finish line may bring out a few laughs, but unlike past Mario Karts this game's cheapness is much more frequent and eventually it does starts to get a little annoying. For some reason you in the Vs. mode you can not edit how many computer players there are. This seems a little strange that Nintendo would omit this kind of setting.
Graphics, 9. These are some of the best graphics on the Wii. Much detail into the characters and stage. I don't know why but the quality of the graphics is downgraded when playing split-screen.
Sound, 8. The music is pretty much just what you'd expect out of a Mario game. There is even some music that returns from past games. There isn't that much voice acting to speak up other than laughing and the likes. The sound effects are well done.
Value, 10. The single-player should take you a very long time to play completly through. After all you've got eight cups to play through on four difficulties and Time Trial, both just packed with unlockables. The Vs. and Battle mode should provide you with plently of entertainment. The multiplayer should provide you with years of fun.
Tilt, 8. Anyone who has ever liked kart racing or maybe even just racing in general should probably give Mario Kart Wii a shot. Because as usual Mario Kart is a stand-up series that continues to give hours of entertainment.