Mario Kart Wii

Fun for Most, but not All

Mario Kart Wii is a great game for getting the family together or inviting over your friends who don't play games. Just fire it up, hand them a Wii Wheel, and you're off to a great time. However, for the more competitive of us, and for serious racers who've been with the series since the beginning, it's a mixed bag at best.

MKWii's most obvious trait is the addition of the Wii Wheel. To use it, you just slide a Wii Remote into the wheel shell. The fit is snug and secure, and is easy enougb for anyone to do. The wheel itself is a fun peripheral for racing with friends. If you've got up to four Wii Remotes and wheels, you can get most any group people racing and having a good time. It controls pretty much like you would expect; you turn the wheel to steer, the B trigger is used for power slides, the 1 button is the brake/reverse and 2 is gas. That's it. The biggest change with this new layout is the removal of the manual mini-boosts while powersliding. They are now triggered strictly by how long you hold the slide. This irks some folks, but it makes sense because there's no way to impliment the standard format with the Wii Wheel. You can also use just a remote on it's side, a remote and nunchuck, or a Gamecube controller, so there are options.

Multiplayer is scattershot this time around. With 12 racers per track, it can get hectic with items flying all over the place. You can race alone or in teams, you can choose to have all items, aggressive items, strategic items, or none at all, and you can put together your own impromptu Grand Prix. You race on any four tracks and the game will tally points and announce a winner after the four are over. You can also pick whether racers can use karts, bikes, or both. Bikes are a great addition, and are perhaps the highlight of this release.

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