Shenanigans!!!!!

Close to a month after it’s release, Mario Kart Wii stands as one of the most frantic and addictive multiplayer experiences available for the Wii. That being said, the latest iteration of Nintendo’s classic kart-racing franchise is by no means perfect, and is hampered down by quite a few flaws.

PROS

• Simple. It’s the same old Mario Kart we’ve grown accustomed to. It’s easy to get into, and the controls are easy to use. With five options (Wii Wheel, Wii Remote, Remote + Nunchuck, Classic Controller and Gamecube controller), there’s something for everyone.
• Bikes – A great new addition. Different feel from karts and a nice change of pace.
• 32 courses, 16 new and 16 classic, with some superb design and locations. From a city highway to a mall, MK Wii offers an eclectic mix of tracks.
• New items – Turn giant, pass on voltage or blast the rest with POW blocks
• Depth- There are a fair number of unlockables, and it isn’t always easy to get them. This one might last you a while.
• Online- Biggest change, biggest draw factor. With seamless real time gameplay (a much needed boost after Brawl’s slow and wonky service) coupled with tournaments, global/regional play, time trial downloads and the usual offer of playing against friends, Mario Kart Wii offers what is by far Nintendo’s best effort yet on the online front. There’s even a pseudo-ranking system that gives you points for winning, and chops them off after each loss.
• Funky Kong- He screams random blather and acts like a doofus :D

CONS

• Singeplayer bites. Big time. The DS game had a mission mode, yet it’s strangely absent from the Wii game. If you’re getting the game, you better have some people to play with or a heavy affection for online.
• It’s unfair- Random is fun. But it plain stinks when you can be in 1st place for two and half laps on a track, and a barrage of items just happen to blast you into twelfth. It happens, and way too often for the game’s own sense of balance.
• Characters- Nintendo is really scraping the Mario bin for this one. Baby Daisy? UGH. You wonder how much better it might be if it went the way of Super Smash, with any Nintendo character. But that’s likely a trait that’ll stick to the fighter.
• Battle Mode has been stripped down to a team mode only. Boring and typical.
• The Wii Wheel is crud. You’ll probably use it once, and the novelty wears thin after about 5 minutes. Stick to the GCN controller; it’s more precise.

In the end, if you have other Mario Kart games, this one is really not too much different. Unless you play with friends frequently, or you’re really gung ho for the online stuff, it’s not a must buy. It’s still one of the better games out there for the Wii, and it’s loads of fun ;D