Back to basics
When i first hear Mario Kart was coming to the Wii I felt a bit strange since I didn't like Mario Kart Double Dash as much as I like Mario Kart DS, if you ask me; I'm all into the one character per Kart gameplay, so at first with the GC installment I was kind of shocked.
Now I can safely say Nintendo has gone back to basics with this game, you once again see one character per kart but you can choose different Karts, also Mario kart Wii has the biggest grid I've seen, 12 karts go head to head to win the o so precious Mushroom Cup, yes 12 freaking karts, it's a bit much when you see the amount of items that can be thrown at you, especially when you're going first. Nevertheless the game is as fun as it has always been, you'll spend about 10 to 15 hours to clear the entire game, not much but if you see at the other features included you will be playing this game much longer.
One of this features is online play, and unlike the one Nintendo introduced in Brawl, this actually works fine when you're playing against someone who isn't on your friend list, as it is ranked you can expect to play against people of your level and not get kick in the ass by some 17 year old Japanese guy as to what happen in Mario Kart DS, even though you can play freely pretty much against anyone. The connection works beautifully when playing I only experience some minor lag but not something one cant handle.
Another feature is the Mario Kart Channel where you can check friend rankings, download ghost data and regional and worldwide stats. It's a functional channel if you're the competitive type who wants to know who is next to beat and to see if you're top amongst your friends.
As if karts weren't enough you can know choose from a variety of motorbikes, which vary in different stats. When on a motorbike you can perform a wheelie for a momentous speed boost but when performing a wheelie your turning radius will decrease, in contrast a kart gets a speed boost by drifting, which in my opinion is much better that a wheelie.
Regarding the new battle mode I'm not so sure if everyone will like it, as you are split into teams, nevertheless you still have the seam ol' three balloons as in previous games but the score is different as it is not individual, you can loose all three balloons and you don't die, you keep re-spawning until a team wins.
Finally the Wii Wheel quite an achievement, I thought it would suck but no, it actually feels good to play with it, so if you're a Mario Kart fan you should buy this game and if it is your first time, you will love it.
