With the inclusion of Online Gameplay, Mario Kart offers a new and fun way to experience multiplayer on the Wii.
The main challenge in Mario Kart Wii is the Grandprix mode, in here you race against another 11 CPU characters in order to unlock new cups, characters and vehicles. There are 8 cups in total with 4 courses on each one, the first 4 cups are made of new tracks for this game while the last 4 cups are made of remastered tracks from older games. Meaning there are 16 new courses and 16 old ones for a total of 32 tracks on the game which add variety when you are about to select them.
The difficulty of the grandprix can be frustrating at times for begginers in the game, while the first two settings (50cc and 100cc) have average difficulty the other two (150cc and mirror) make for a drastic change on it. The AI becomes much more aggressive, items are constantly thrown at you and your time in the first place is reduced compared to the first settings. The change is very obvious and it can prove to be a fun challenge for the veteran Mario Kart player.
The design of this game is stunnig, the high and vibrant colors in the background look great. Everything has been made with so much detail. The music while not being particularly memorable it's quite good and each music track is created to fit the racing course it represents, from an Egyptian tone on Dry Dry Ruins and Dessert, to a more chill and Christmas tone on Sherbet land and DK Submit each course is sure to have a good song on it. Overall the Cartoony and cheerful feeling from Mario Kart has been preserved on this installment.
The gameplay remains the same with some slight changes, you race other characters while collecting, weapons and powerups in the form of classic Nintendo items, from a green koopa shell to the bullet bill or the star power. Each has a unique effect on the character and it's up to the player to find out how to use them properly. And they guarantee than no one has a safe spot on the race.
One of the additions to the gameplay is the inclusion of bikes besides the iconic go-kart that we've seen bikes are a little faster than their four wheeled counter part and have the ability to do a wheelie to get some added speed but are easier to knock down by heavy players and have a weaker mini turbo while drifting.
Another change is the use of mid air stunts, some of the courses have ramps or jumps that allow you to do them in order to give you a small boost when you land, while controversial at first after much gameplay I can safely say that this makes up for a nice addition and is part of the strategic element since you need to be careful on where to do these stunts to get the most advantage from them.
The drifting mechanics have been fixed on this game and makes it easier for newcomers to get familiar with it, and avoids the abusive use of it, like it was done on previous installments in the form of the infamous "snaking" technique.
There's so much to the gameplay in this game, it's not just about driving the courses fast and skillful but you also need to know when to use or save the proper item, when to do a stunt and what vehicle to choose depending on the course. There's so much going on with the game once a race starts, with all the explosions, shells and screaming from the other characters but all of this is what keeps the gameplay from being monotone.
There is also quite a bunch of vehicles and characters, so you won't have to worry about there being enough for your taste. Raging from Mario, Luigi and the Princesses to Bowser, his minions and even some new characters to the franchise like Funky Kong or Rosalina. The game also offers you the option of playing as your mii and it's quite fun to see yourself racing along your favorite Nintendo characters. If one game has variety this one is it.
The game also has other modes to play, Time trials works as a practice mode where you can try your skills on a track and keep improving by option of racing against ghost characters which is basically a previous characters playthrough on the track. On battle mode you play against your friends or AI in order to collect coins or destroy the opossing team ballons by hitting them with an item.
The game's forte like always is the multiplayer mode, while the single player experience can be enjoyable, it gets old after you complete everything and the multiplayer offers a better alternative. You can play with up to 4 players and 8 AI controlled characters in splitscreen multiplayer. This can be a bit messy at times due to everything that happens during a race but this doesn't take any of the fun factor, instead it adds some good stuff to the experience, since you and your friends will have quite a laugh when the blue shell hits you before reaching the goal. Overall the multiplayer works and feels great and it adds to the replay value of the game making it one of the iconic game for parties or tournaments between you and your friends.
And if you don't have any friends...my condolescenes by the way. But don't feel bad, you can have some multiplayer fun in the online part of the game.
Online offers you WorldWide, Regional and Friends. Worldwide allows you to race against the whole world, Regional brings you up to the same region or continent and Friends allow you to play against people who you've added on your friend list using a 12 digit Friend Code.
I would say that this game has one of the best online experiences on the wii, I used to have a very low internet connection and my online would always go smoothly, you don't get to see lag on it often and it feels as fluid as if you were racing on the GrandPrix Mode. You can also bring a friend to the online mode.
The online has two main issues, first is the difficulty, while you might think that you rock at the game by leaving that 150CC AI bitting the dust, online can prove to be quite a challenge for the most advanced players if encountered in the proper group, players are often ranked there in Star Rankings, One Star, Two Star and Three Stars, while the rankings are not final (ie. you can still get beaten by a regular) they do help in judging a player's dexterity at the game. Begginers should be warned though as the online can be quite challenging for them. Though veterans are probably going to enjoy the challenge more. The other issue is the amount of hacked players that you'll encounter, unlimited star power or infinite blue shells definetly ruin the game for anyone, then again you can always just exit the room and just go look for a new race in a matter of seconds.
Mario Kart Wii offers an amazing multiplayer experienced that can be further expanded via the new Online mode and it also has great amounts of Replay Value that will keep you from forgetting about this game. It's also a game that can easily be played along with the family or friends that aren't much into gaming and guarantees that they will enjoy it too. New gameplay mechanics, wide array of players and vehicles, detailed colorful graphics make this iconic racing game a nice addition to the franchise.