Mario Kart Wii - Review

[Drunken_Ninja]

WHAT'S THE STORY? Rev up those little engines, because the classic Nintendo racing game has gone next-gen. Mario Kart has been a staple Ninty title for the past three generations and is always a best-seller on every format it graces.
Take the Italian plumber, his brother Luigi, all their mates and enemies then throw them onto a track with a whole host of wacky weapons at their disposal.
And now it's on the Wii - with a motion-sensing wheel controller - does life get any better?

HOW DOES IT HANDLE? Those who bought Wii consoles at launch were in two camps. You had those desperate for Zelda and those eagerly-awaiting Mario Kart and for us lot, it's been a long wait.

But it hasn't been in vain with gameplay here so fast, furious and enjoyable that you will forgive the Japanese boffins for keeping us hanging so long.
Slot your Wii-mote into the wheel (included with the game but extra ones cost just £6.99) and you can sit on the sofa acting like you're really on the kart.
It works brilliantly and the handling is just as slip-sliding as you'd expect from these wacky races.

But this has always been about the weapons and it is chock full of power-ups, special items and stuff to chuck at your opponents to knock them out of the lead.
There's even motorbikes this time around!!

SCREEN GRAB OR SCREEN DRAB? It looks fab, plenty of colour, plenty of comedy and plenty of courses which include all the classic ones from the Super Nintendo, Nintendo 64, GameCube and DS.
You can also put yourself into the action by placing your Mii self-portrait character in the races on his or her own kart.

HOW LONG TILL I'M BORED? Play this alone, play it with friends, play it online with strangers, whatever way you do it, just do it!
The wheel is a nice touch but it works just as well steering with the Wii-mote by tilting it left and right or tipping it up to do a wheelie on the bikes.
You can also use the Nunchuk, the classic-style Nintendo controller which is an optional extra or a new GameCube Controller if you really fancy going retro.


But this is the 21st century and that means the Wii motion-sensing is always best so start those engines and get ready for the green light.
Mario Kart is going to run and run, even when your body is running on empty from too many hours at the wheel.

VERDICT: 97%
RATING: 3+
FORMAT: Wii
PUBLISHER: Nintendo
PRICE: £34.99