I finally got my hands on a copy of Mario Kart Wii! My Wii has been out of action for the past few months as I foolishly bought a screen that only supported HDMI and VGA connections — no SCART or Component. Now I have a Component-HDMI adapter, I can start playing some of the Wii games I’ve been missing out on.
I’m very impressed by Mario Kart Wii. I wasn’t massively enamoured of the Gamecube effort, Double Dash, so it was nice to see Nintendo back on form. The new tracks are very exciting, and multiplayer is typically frantic.
The only criticism I would make of Mario Kart Wii is that it’s possibly a little too much battle and not enough race. Some of the new pickups — notably the rocket, which combines autopilot with being very large and destructive — upset the balance a bit. It’s possible to fall from first to last place within a matter of seconds purely due to unlucky pickups. Or vice versa. While this lends to the unpredictability of the game, It does mean that skill often goes unrewarded, and is by no means a guarantee of success.
That aside, Mario Kart Wii is an excellent continuation of the series and marvellous good fun. Problems with balance only really matter if you’re taking it quite seriously, and at its best, Mario Kart is a party game. And as a party game, it is one of the best.