Mario Kart Wii

When I think back about the game that has had the most impact on my youth, I would have to admit hands down it would be a tie between the Halo Series and the Mario Kart series. Between these two games my brother and I would spend thousands of hours perfecting, trying every trick possible, and pushing the game to its limits, especially the ladder of the two. Mario Kart has a special place in my heart, when it comes to video games. It was truly the first game that really got me into gaming. I can still remember running into the store to by it for my SNES. What made it so enjoyable and memorable was that it was actually a challenging and most importantly a fun game. My brother and I would literally spend hours playing battle mode on the SNES version, so many close calls, the game really required some skill to be good at it. Sure anyone can blast through the grand prix. But the true adventure and fun came from the interaction in battle mode. Here you were only as good as the person you were playing and often time’s competition could be steep. Therefore you can imagine my excitement when the franchise was released on the N64. Nintendo seemed to have listened to their fans and perfected what gamers were looking for in a game. Battle mode was brought to the next level and the game became more dynamic, especially for those die hard fans like myself. Again this game wasted many beautiful days of my youth, but I enjoy every moment of it. So it was no surprise that Mario Kart would appear for the game cube system. This is a dark time for me, so I won’t even go too in-depth, so we will skip over this chapter. Simply put, Double-Dash was a horrible experiment gone wrong. They neglected the most important aspect of the game that had made it what it is today, Battle Mode!!! It was non-existent!! Brutal! So needless to say my expectations for Mario Kart Wii were slightly lowered. This being said, I couldn’t wait to play one of the most influential games of my child hood. I’m so glad I played it. If Nintendo has learnt one thing in all its years of creating games, it is how to create a “party game”. My living room quickly became the place to be, as everyone wanted to try this game. Am I ever happy I didn’t give up on the Mario Kart franchise, this game was everything I wanted it to be. It was extremely addictive, with a diverse amount of characters being offered, and for the first time more than 4 cups. That’s right you heard me. Mario Kart Wii allows users to play 8 different cups making 32 tracks available. This is where they get bonus points; they brought back many levels from previous versions. I’m sure this will hit a lot of people with nostalgia, especially when they see the colorful Lego block course, or Mario Race Way. What I liked about this game was that it was fun for everyone. You can literally pick up the joystick and learn to play in seconds. However, the downside to this is that the game doesn’t require much skill, unlike the games before, where it was only the pro’s who were able to drift, by pressing the joystick back in forth in an even rhythm. Mario Kart Wii is looking to score big with families, and it will, while still pleasing its old skool gamers like myself. And for the most part they do an excellent job. The levels are extremely innovative and interactive which allow for chaotic enjoyment. Just like its predecessors Mario Kart Wii also offers users tons of secrets to unlock, such as additional courses and characters. Finally what made or broke this game would be how well does the Battle Mode stand up to previous generations. Well, it’s not exactly what I was looking for, but it was enjoyable. In this version of the game players are able to either play coin mode (which team ever collects the most coins wins) or battle mode (who ever knocks off the most balloons wins).
Battle mode was interesting to play; I didn’t want to be bias, so I played with an open mind. What is gone is the last man standing aspect of the game. This is a shame, for me this is where all the fun came out of battle mode. The joy and excitement came from having only one balloon left and driving for your life as your opponent tries to peg you off. I can still feel the emotions in my chest from all those narrow escapes. In this version of battle mode, you fight on a timer. The winner is decided based on who gets the most kills, this way no one is left out of the game. Although this sucks, and it really does for me, one can understand this is Nintendo trying to appease a younger demographic. But hey Survival of the fittest is a life lesson. What are we teaching these kids today? That everyone will treat everyone equally? Are we trying to get rid of our youths drive to succeed and bring them down to mediocre? I will leave this topic alone and rant about that to my colleagues at a later date. So overall, how do I see the game? Well for the most part I enjoyed what Nintendo did with the game. They made some great interactive levels, while offering more diversity by adding additional characters and tracks from earlier versions of the game, and made the innovative Wii wheel work. This game is back to being a fun, party game and I would really encourage anyone with a Wii to either pick up a copy or rent one. You won’t be sorry. It truly is an exciting game. Like any good game pick up the game and 5 hours later you’ll realize you’ve been playing for more than 10 mins.

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