Mario Kart Wii

Paul welcomes home an old friend

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Mario Kart Wii revisits Nintendo's well worn series and successfully manages to both cherry pick and balance the best bits so far. Certainly not as honed a single player experience as previous karting highs, but the online multiplayer along with the weapon and driving innovations make for a lot of fun. But as for the packed in wheel, all but the most casual racers will quickly relegate it to gimmickry.

It seems that everyone has their favourite Mario Kart iteration. Racing purists will insist on nothing but the original SNES version, with its reliance on pixel perfect racing lines and well timed speed bursts. Those who appreciate power sliding aesthetics are more vocal about Mario Kart N64. Battle game aficionados are immediately drawn to Mario Kart Double Dash's two seated karts and emphasis on weapons. Then there are a younger set, who have joined the karting party a little later, who cut their teeth with the re-balanced Mario Kart GBA or the expanded cannon of Mario Kart DS. The GBA games provide the ultimate play anywhere experience, such is the compact size of the GBA Sp or micro. The DS version brought both local and online multiplayer options, which made each race really matter as it affected your online standing.

The question today, however, is where does Mario Kart Wii fit into all this? Which of these groups might be persuaded to abandon their first love and switch to the new kid in town? As we shall discuss, here Nintendo have been pretty canny as Mario Kart Wii draws something from each of these previous games. Compared to Double Dash there is a real return to the proper racing tactics of the SNES. Power sliding prowess of the N64 game has again been refined, and now provides an easy boost around corners. Double Dash's battle focus is also present, with additional weapons such as thunder clouds, POW blocks and super size mushrooms. Finally, the DS' successful multiplayer here grows up and exists as a full 12 player online experience.

Early plays for seasoned karters (from any of the previous games) are usually pretty confusing. With all the changes and tweaking, those old favourite tricks (read: power sliding and snaking) just don't work anymore. The courses too have been widened to accommodate new players, which substantially changes the racing line. What's more those hard-learned short cuts have also been re-routed, meaning that time must be invested to find the re-invented routes. This, together with the cherry picking (karts, courses and features) from the other versions, makes for a baffling first half hour. Ironically, those new to the series will probably not have such a problem. But let's face it, the number of gamers who haven't played one or other of the old Mario Kart games can probably be counted on a single side of a fag packet.

A week or so after launch and a little research soon shows that reviewers have marked the game differently. There is quite a range between the lowest scores (6/10) and the top marks awarded elsewhere (10/10). Reading these reviews, there are certainly some well founded criticisms levelled at both the game mechanics and structure. But for me, the bottom line is that there is a great multiplayer experience here, even if it is a little hidden.

I had a good few evenings play with friends both locally and online, that went way into the wee (Wii?) hours. After some initial play-throughs, we decided to switch from the packed in wheel to the Wiimote-Nunchuck combination (or GameCube controller). This returned us to the familiar direct control over our chosen character. The wheel was fine for the kids to play with on a Sunday afternoon, and certainly helped my middle son (3) get to grips with the basics of driving, but for late night professional racing it was just too vague.

We also soon decided to tone the weapons down a bit. With either Standard or Frantic weapons selected, things simply became too much of a lottery. A few good power ups and you'd go from twelfth to first (or vi-ca versa). The Basic (reduced) set of power ups left most of the battling to be done with the driving rather than the weapons. We also often opted to turn off the CPU drivers as this meant you could lay traps (fake boxes, banana skins) for other drivers without the CPU falling for the tricks that were meant for the person sat next to you.

These changes made the game come alive for us, so a little time tweaking the settings is definitely recommended. What's more, this enjoyable multiplayer experience then provided a reason to work through and unlock all the tracks and characters in the singleplayer game. The usual cast of characters is available here, although they have introduced new vehicles. These even include a set of motorbikes that have their own special moves (speed wheelies) and handling (foot down drifting).

This being Nintendo (the present innovators in the medium) you will not be surprised to find a few new ideas added into the mix. In addition to the excellent online multiplayer experience, and the motorbikes, there is now the ability to perform a trick of each jump/bump with a flick of the Wiimote or wheel. This then provides a power boost when you land, and can make a real difference. There are a good set of new courses, although these don't quite match those of Mario Karts past they are a welcome addition. A new half pipe feature has also been added to certain locations in the older tracks. These enable you to jump sideways off the track into the air. If timed right, this will not only avoid some impending hazard but also provide a power boost.

Graphically, things are solid and well designed although it should be said that this really is GameCube territory in terms of visuals. Mario Kart has always been about content over style, so the Wii's limited horsepower isn't a big issue. That said, on a four player split-screen setup that extra resolution would have enable you to sit a little further from the TV. But then perhaps it wouldn't really feel like Mario Kart if we weren't all huddled round a small screen. The sound too is only average. After the classical overtures of Mario Galaxy and funky aural experience of Mario Soccer we are somewhat unceremoniously dumped back into chip-sound-Ville with the good old blips and blaps of our favourite theme songs.

The package as a whole works well, not because of the packed in wheel, not because of the new content and innovation, but because Nintendo have proved that they understand what it is that makes this series great - the balance between racing and fighting. After submerging the racing beneath a torrent of battling features in Double-Dash, here we see its re-emergence. It may require a little tweaking of settings (as discussed above) but sure enough - the heart of a big boy racing game is still beating beneath it all. Something that has always secretly been the power behind this kiddie styled racer.

85%

By Paul Govan