Mario kart wii the ups and downs
Since the dawn of time Mario has been exploited and forced into every title possible and has now been used in over 100 Mario games... WTF I agree that some have been amazing like super smash bros and Mario 64 which have been impressive on all consoles they have been put on, but when a game is released called Mario paint you begin to wonder who is thinking these games up. Soon there will be a Mario gardening or even Mario catches a bus game. another concept is that once Mario has found something that works they tend to reproduce the game again and again. this has been successful but questions weather Nintendo is producing the best game possible of the time or are holding back certain aspects of the game for future releases. this I am afraid to say is shown in Mario kart wii.
In the past I have been impressed with how Mario kart managed to take a basic figure like Mario put him in kart and let him fire weapons at other karts. this has been copied with games like crash team racing and sonic racers but without the same entertaining result. So when it came out on 64, gamecube and ds I was impressed in how they coped with the technology of the time. Each added a new concept like pairing up with another racer in double dash or adding new weapons like the ds. The wiis answer to this was to add the bike. So as a loyal fan of Mario kart I bought the game for the wii.
Positives
a key positive that Mario kart wii advertised was online play and luckily they did not let owner down. You can successfully play 11 other players from around the world with minimal if not any lag. This is a huge success and is helped with the removal of snaking which was a real pain on the ds. another impressive part of online play is the ability to send ghost lap times on the Mario kart channel and let others race against it which helps show who is the shit. Another principle of Mario kart which is a huge success is the ability to use a variety of controllers depending on your preference. This can be useful as the Mario kart wheel although fun can be a drag when racing experts who use the gamecube controller. my final positive for Mario kart wii is the amazing sound track. it truely lifts your mood and game play listening to classic Mario theme tunes which change throughout levels.
Negatives
Despite the praise I give above there a re a number of underlying factors that let the game down. the first is the laziness of the producers. although they have added a number of new wii levels it is outnumbered by maps of other consoles adapted for the wii. this is annoying as many owners already own the previous games and therefore have spent many hours playing the same maps to complete the game. as well as this owners of the game may wonder why some levels have been put in as they clearly show lack of imagination and are just forced in to keep the number of levels high. as many have suggested Nintendo will include a number of good and bad maps so they can save more developed maps for future games. A final disappointment in Mario kart is the frustration you receive when playing. It is easily possible to go from 1st to last place from one blue shell or red shell. This can happen when you least expect it and can sometimes make you want to lob your Wii out the window. This is understandable online as you are playing people who are at the same level as you but when you have been first on 150 cc for all the maps until the last one where you go from first to last and therefore miss out on the gold it can be very painful.
taking this into consideration i reccomend this game to all wii owners as dispite its faults it is one of the best racing games for the wii and should definatly be in your collection if only for the online play. all i can say is you need patience. if you have any questions or disagree with any of my points feel free to leave a comment and i shall try and awnser your questions
peace out soooty
