So what’s a Nintendo console with out Mario Kart? A Gameboy or NES I guess, at that point in time I’m gathering that Nintendo didn’t conjure up the concept of lumping all their iconic characters together, throwing them into carts and having them duke it out on various tracks. Either that or the older systems didn’t have the processing power to provide the adequate experience, hell! Even the Super Nintendo needed the aid of the DSP chip in order to get the right mix of pseudo 3D graphics, and that’s one aspect of the Mario Kart franchise that makes the games so special, Nintendo pushing their hardware to the limit to give gamers the best experience possible. The Mario Kart series has its own element of flavour that shouldn’t be adjusted too much only tweaked. Having just the right mix of ingredients that makes the games just epic, good graphics that enhance the game play, a nicely matched sound track for each stage accompanied by screaming engines and squealing tyres, crisp handling vehicles that improve as your skill level progresses and action packed multiplayer mayhem. Mario Kart on the Super Nintendo blew everyone away with Mode seven graphics, Mario Kart 64 gave us a true 3D environment, Mario Kart on the Gameboy Advance took the experience portable for the first time, Mario Kart Double Dash on the Game Cube smoothed out the rough edges of the N64 version and Mario Kart DS took all the best bits of the series and added wireless Online gaming. So what has this latest version of Mario Kart brought us? Let’s take a look.
Gameplay
I have to admit that I got pretty nervous when I first saw the above E3 video. When Reggie Fils-Aime announced that a Mario Kart beginner could stay bumper to bumper with a veteran, then continues on, makes a goofy face and introduced the Wii wheel. I thought the classic Mario Kart series was going to get violated in order to accommodate the latest batch of casual gamers the Wii has attracted but there was no need to fret as the latest edition of Mario Kart on the Wii will keep both beginners and veterans happy.
All the things we love about the Mario Kart series are present in the Wii version along with a few added extras. The usual game modes are all here which include Grand Prix, Time Trials, VS race and Battle. Grand Prix mode comprises of 50cc, 100cc, 150cc and the unlockable 150cc Mirror Mode. If 50cc or 100cc mode is selected you now have option to choose what other vehicles you race against, this latest option has been added because of the introduction of motor bikes. From then on you have the choice of 24 tracks, 12 newly designed tracks and 12 remastered classics from the predecessor versions of the series. Playing some of the old Super Nintendo tracks did bring back a little nostalgia it’s a shame they didn’t add more of them.
Character and vehicle selection is good and plentiful, the moment you fire up the game for the first time you already have a good selection to pick from with even more available by completing various aspects of the game. Characters range from the light weights like Baby Peach to the heave hitters like Bowser with each character having good and bad points; the larger characters have the advantage of pushing the smaller characters around, while the lighter characters have the cornering advantage. Each kart and bike has a rating in the following departments; speed, weight, acceleration, handling, drift, off-road and mini turbo, all you need to do is find the one that suits your driving style. We all pretty much know how a Mario Kart game pans out regardless of its platform so I won’t bore you any further with anymore obvious details.
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What would Mario Kart be with out the items; they have been the ‘in game’ equalizers since the beginning but for the Wii version I do believe that they are handed out a little too loosely this is very apparent during online multiplayer matches. All the classics items are here along with a few new additions like the POW block which originates for the original Mario Brothers game back in 1983. When activated the POW block will knock all other players out causing then to spin out and drop what ever item they may be holding at the time. The Mega Mushroom gives you a short stint of speed and expands your vehicle to gigantic proportions allowing you to smash everyone out of your path. Last but not least the very annoying Thundercloud, this item will appear over your vehicle for a short period of time and if you don’t bounce it off onto another player quick enough you will get hit by a lighting bolt.
The items do crank up the excitement and entertainment but it does get to the point where you’re screaming “ENOUGH ALREADY” when you’re at the front of the pack being bombarded with weapon after weapon after weapon. With the previous Mario Kart games the blue shell and lighting was the holy grail of weapons and they didn’t appear frequently but now if you’re trailing behind you can pretty much bank on getting some decent items to bring you back to the front line. Don’t get me wrong I do think it’s fair for the tail enders to get the good items but I do think Nintendo should have tweaked the balancing system a little more not focussing mainly of making the races beginner friendly.
Control
Thankfully the control system hasn’t differed too much from the Game Cube and DS versions. Turbo launches and drafting are the same affair with only the drifting element being tampered with. The old art of snaking (linking multiple drift boosts to gather more speed) has been nullified. No longer can you manually pump up the drift boosts, with the Wii version drift boost happens over the duration of your drift. The karts have two levels and the bikes have the one. This has disappointed many fans of the DS versions as this technique used to separate the pros from the amateurs this is another example of Nintendo moulding the game to suit a broader audience. If drifting isn’t your forte then there’s a newly added option called ‘Automatic mode’ that automatically puts your can into a drift without having to jump into it manually. Nintendo were kind enough to give us a little back in return for messing with the drift boosting controls and that has come in the form of tricks. Now when you launch your vehicle off a ramp you can pull off one of four different tricks and once you’ve hit solid ground again you get rewarded with a small boost of speed. Overall the vehicle control is smooth and crisp, a Mario Kart veteran and easily adjust their technique to suite while a beginner can jump straight in and have a blast.
When it comes to controller options we now have four different types to choose from; the Wii Wheel, Wii Remote + Nun Chuck, Game Cube controller and the Classic Controller. The Wii wheel is great for beginners as they can simply select the Automatic Mode then twist and shake away. For someone that’s been playing Mario Kart though out the series probably wont like this option as it doesn’t have the accuracy of a digital or analogue controller. At times I found myself almost dislocating my shoulder followed by a ninja roll across the lounge room trying to get my vehicle pointed in the direction I wanted it to go. As for the Wii Wheel accessory it’s self it basically is a wad of plastic moulded into the shape of a steering wheel but compared to the plethora of crappy pieces of plastic posing as Wii accessories the Wii Wheel has to be the best design. The Wii Remote sides easily into the Wii Wheel and wheel it self has its own trigger button that is larger than the actual Wii Remote trigger. Nintendo were smart enough to add a hole in the side of the Wii wheel so you can still use the IR sensor, it’s such a simple idea that does wonders for convenience and I’m surprised none of the third party manufactures thought of it earlier. In the same manner as what they did with the Wii Zapper Nintendo have showed third party accessory manufactures how to do things properly.
If you’re still fixated on Double Dash and want to retain that feel, plug your old comfy Game Cube controller in and enjoy. All the buttons are the same as Double Dash, the new tricks are performed using the D-Pad and you have rumble feedback. The only draw back is that you’re hard wired into the console and by this point in time I’m sure most of us are spoiled by wireless controllers but if you have Wave Bird wireless Game Cube controller in your possession you’ll have the best of both worlds. Option three is to use the Wii remote and Nun Chuck combination, it is functional but to me it just feels to clumsy and unnatural to be used for racing game. Last but not least is the Classic Controller which is my personal favourite. Its wireless (sort of), having most of the SNES and N64 controller features it gives you that old school feel when playing and it’s accurate. My only gripe about it is the lack of rumble feed back and the way you have to juggle between the Classic Controller and the Wii Remote when navigating though the options. Apart from that the classic Controller is my weapon of choice with only a Wireless Game Cube controller being the one to top that.
Online
Mario Kart was a smash hit on all the Nintendo platforms but when it made its début on the DS it was a phenomenon. Apart from its super crisp game play and smooth graphics the added online feature just made the DS version totally addictive and even to this day people around the world are still playing WiFi matches. Nintendo also added online multiplayer with the Wii version, which was a no brainer on their behalf but this time they built up on the DS version by including some extras. Naturally that ‘DEFCOM 3 missile activation code’ AKA Nintendo friend code still has to be entered by both parties in order to play one of your mates but you now have the ability to send an invite to friends previously added to your Wii console via the Mario Kart channel which takes a little pain out of hammering in all those digits. With the new Mario Kart channel you can now check out if your friends are online, compete against ghost data, check out world wide rankings or participate in competitions. If online multiplayer is accessed through the actual game you have the choice of playing against random people in your country or around the world. Up to 12 competitors will automatically be grouped together, if you all start the game at the same time you get to see each others Mii characters give you a friendly wave from their position on the globe. If you jump into a group that has already commenced racing you have to kick back and wait until the next race but during this time you can watch the other competitors finish off their race from a replay style view. You begin your online experience with 5000 points which may increase or decrease depending on who you win or loose against in a race, if you decide to use the option to bring a guest with you when you go online that guest will remain neutral with no points to gain or loose. The online multiplayer has to be one of the games most appealing features, with the only draw backs being the choppy frame rate and resolution drop when the number of players increases and the stupid amount of weapons you get bombarded with when you’re in first place.
Graphics and sound
Obviously I expected the Wii version to out shine the DS version graphically by a long shot but when compared to the previous Game Cube version there isn’t much of a leap. Yes we now have a higher resolution when running though component cables and the new batch of Wii specific stages are bright, colourful and run smoothly, I was expecting more though. I understand that the remastered retro stages would look a little bland compared to the rest considering what they are originally based on. I really wanted to get blown away with the new stages and expected Nintendo to do some of their classic programming trickery to squeeze every last polygon out of the Wii’s GPU but unfortunately I didn’t and I’m afraid I’m going to have to put the Wii version’s graphics a small notch above what we got when playing Double Dash. There’s also the issue of the frame dropping when playing against a large number of opponents online. Luckily there’s more than enough quality game play to offset this so it hasn’t crippled the game at all.
The audio of this game is actually quite impressive, each track has their own theme music although some of them may be a little on the cutesy side they all pretty much suite the stages that they are assigned to. The vehicle and item sound effects are clearly presented and easily identifiable as well. The impressive aspect of the audio of this game is the actual quality; I ran the game through a surround sound receiver with great results. You could here what or who was coming up beside you through the correct speaker which is quite a valiant effort from Nintendo considering that the Wii is limited to the standard red and white audio cables.
Overall Rating 8/10
Mario Kart Wii is a good quality game with solid game play both single and multiplayer. Nintendo have tweaked with the classic Mario Kart formula to make the game friendlier for beginners and as much as I disapprove of this I have to admit it hasn’t affected the fun factor of game that much. Although I was expecting more from this latest instalment I have to bear in mind the hardware limitations and enjoy it for what it is. So if you’ve never played Mario Kart before just grab a hold of the Wii Wheel get straight into it and enjoy. If you’re Mario Kart veteran plug in the Classic Controller or Game Cube Controller and simply adjust your self to the new drifting system. Definitely worth a purchase and recommended for everyone.
Thank you for reading
-Guyv3r
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1 comment:
Hey man great review, I would've liked a score though..
This is your first post in a month! What happened?!
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