Maio Kart Wii -- A "WHEELY" FUN RIDE

May 1, 2008 | Deerfield, Illinois | Vetting explained

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*Great for all ages, plays on online with 12 players and 4 in the same room, with 32 tracks and many hidden characters and exciting new tracks and vehicles. It provides excellent entertainment, while building coordination, social skills, concentrations, cooperation, and confidence for the wohle family at all levels of ability! It is a "must have" in your Wii collection, or definitely to put on a list of future purchases if not. The Nintendo Wii is one of the best, most flexible, hands-on, interactive video game units for all ages and issues on the market. Another top game to be discussed later is Mario's Super Smash Brothers Mele for the Wii.* *-- REVIEW #2 ---* WILD ABOUT MARIO KART Wii -- Chad Sapieha, April 27, 2008 at 3:32 PM EDT -- Wii owners might be deprived of the sinful pleasures of Grand Theft Auto IV, which will be available only for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 when it releases on Tuesday, but Nintendo has provided an alternative game that lets Wii owners sit behind a wheel-literally; it comes bundled with a plastic wheel into which a Wii remote snaps-and cause a little mayhem of their own in the form of Mario Kart Wii. *I've spent several hours with this Wii-exclusive over the last few days, and while I've never been a big fan of kart racers (as has already been pointed out, they often seem annoyingly inequitable), I have to admit that I've had a grand time with this one.* It's a remarkably deep and robust little racing game, thanks in no small part to its accessible and well-executed online mode, which allows players to hook up with other gamers in their region or around the world. In fact, a globe pops up before each race that shows you the country in which each competitor resides. It's a great touch, helping to alleviate the feeling that your otherwise anonymous co-racers are just computer-controlled opponents. Online play also offers quick little tournaments, the ability to race against the "ghosts" of other players (and perhaps learn how to cut a few seconds off your lap times in the process), and rankings that let you know how you stack up against your friends, other people in your region, and everyone else in the world. The ranking system also serves as a means to populate races with similarly skilled players, helping to cut down on the frustration often felt by rookies racing against pros. Can't be bothered to connect your Wii to your home network? No problem. There's plenty of fun to be had locally, including both time trials and career competitions. And unlike the bland and repetitive circuits found in most kart racers, +Mario Kart Wii +has offered up a wide selection of stunningly imaginative tracks, many of which are based on popular Nintendo games. I was particularly impressed by a celestial +Super Mario Galaxy +route that was as visually dazzling as it was challenging to navigate, and a BMX track that had several Super Mario Bros.-style flaming windmills and Luigi-eating plants that pop out of green pipes. I also got a kick out of the retro arenas ported over from previous Mario Kart games for Battle mode, a side game in which players drive around in chaotic skirmishes trying to take each other out with the game's potpourri of power-ups, which are capable of shrinking competitors to miniscule size, blinding them with ink shot from a squid, and shocking them silly. And with half a dozen vehicles per character, each of which has its own strengths and weaknesses, there's plenty of room to strategize. Yes, you can still expect the typical kart racing aggravation of being blasted to a halt by an opponent mere metres from the finish line, but more often than ever before race outcomes are determined by a player's knowledge of the track, skill in plotting a course through it, and selection of kart. It's still early going, but so far "Mario Kart Wii" is my favourite game released for Nintendo's little white box this year.

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Grand Theft Auto IV

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