Reviewed: April 28, 2008
Reviewed by: Mark Smith
Publisher
Nintendo
Developer
Nintendo
Released: April 27, 2008
Genre: Racing
Players: 1-4
4
7
6
4
4.2
Supported Features
Screenshots (Click Image for Gallery)
In the past ten years GCM has reviewed a total of 14 first-party Nintendo games and two of their game systems. That’s barely a dent in their massive library, but every one of those reviews was gratis. It’s normally the policy of GCM not to review titles unless they are sent to us by the publisher, but in a few cases where a game or game system was just too good not to mention, the staff was allowed to write a “freebie”. Well, today is a little bit different, as I will hopefully be doing a public service announcement as to just how horrible (or horribly below average) Mario Kart for the Wii really is.
Now I don’t expect to change the hearts and minds of the thousands (perhaps millions by now) who have already purchased the game, but for those of you who didn’t stand in line last night and who couldn’t find a copy left in the stores today, don’t be fooled by the scarcity of the title on the shelves. I’m betting there are more than a few disenchanted race fans out there, and it’s sad really, because I was a huge fan of Mario Kart on the NDS – it is still one of my top five DS titles of all time, but Nintendo really dropped the ball with the Wii version.
First off, Mario Kart can be played with just about any controller you can attach to your Wii. It works with the Classic, the GameCube, and the Remote and Nunchuk, or you can go Remote only and insert it into the stylish racing wheel accessory that comes with the game. Extra wheels are sold for $10 so we can infer that the game would only cost $39 if sold separately, but they are forcing the wheel on you…at least for now.
It’s my own personal rule to play racing games with a wheel whenever possible, so I opted for the wheel attachment and was pleasantly surprised to find it quite comfortable and continued to work even at flat angles. Your arms and hands are bound to get tired sooner or later and you can’t keep holding the wheel upright in front of you forever, but even at semi-truck angles the steering was responsive.
Mario Kart on the Wii doesn’t stray too far from the presentation style we saw on the NDS. You have your various race classes determined by engine size; 50cc, 100cc, and 150cc, and there are numerous championship circuits, each with their own selection of tracks. You have three types of vehicles, light, medium, and heavy, but you must make all your selections prior to the series and those are locked during the sequence of races.
Furthermore, the 100cc race is restricted to the new motorcycle class, while the 150cc lets you pick either a car or bike for an interesting mix on the track. Somewhere in all these choices you also get to pick your character, but that really doesn’t factor into the racing or the strategy; just the visuals and annoying vocals. You will create a profile based on one of the Mii’s on your system, and this acts as a license that tracks your progress through all event series and engine classes.
There are 32 tracks, 16 new ones and 16 classics remastered for the Wii. There are some fond memories for those who have played any of the past versions of Mario Kart, and there are some new surprises, with some fantastic track designs including an awesome downhill snowboard run complete with half-pipe and high-banked turns you can actually trick off for boost.
But despite all the possibilities of countless options in setting up the races, choosing characters, picking engines, and racing on these amazing tracks, the actual game is totally flawed for the simple reason that it is impossible to do any "racing". Sure, you’ll breeze through the Mushroom Cup series, but once you get to the Flower Cup and beyond, the game becomes impossibly frustrating. I nearly threw the wheel (like a Frisbee) into my precious HDTV after more than an hour of failed attempts at the 150cc Flower Cup…and when I say, “fail” I mean failure to secure a first place finish.
The problems are small, but they stack up to create some seriously screwed (and skewed) gameplay. First of all, there are way too many power-ups on the tracks, and second of all the computer (all 11 of them) are hell bent on coming after you and only you to use them. The better you are doing in the race the more aggressive they become, and it is not uncommon to be hit with up to 3, 4, or more successive power-ups. I was five car lengths from the finish line after driving a flawless race, only to get hit with a red shell, then a green shell, then a POW, and finally the infamous blue shell. I literally sat there while my car tumbled through one animation after the other, losing nearly a quarter-lap lead, and having four cars pass me…all within spitting distance of the finish line.
But that’s just one instance. This goes on race after race and not just at the finish line. Cars will smack you off the track and storm clouds and tortoise shells of all colors are flying around just waiting to screw you up. I expect a little bit of power-up play – after all, that’s what Mario Kart is all about, but not to this unbalanced level. This is deathmatch on wheels. The opponents have far more firepower at their disposal than a human player can possibly get, and even if you do manage to secure a power-up of your own, chances are you will either lose it when you get hit, or will have to equip it and use as a shield, but that is only good for one of the strikes that always come in sequences of three or more.
The AI has the uncanny ability to hit you just at the wrong time or in the wrong place. On one of the levels they always seem to strike just as you are bouncing across a series of mushrooms, sending you plummeting to your temporary death. On Wario’s Gold Mine they will either sideswipe you off the tracks or blow you up, both resulting in you plummeting into the abyss. You might be able to place (or even win) the race if this happens on the first lap, but the AI races flawlessly and if you fall off any of the tracks more than once you cannot win. The time penalties for getting reset on the track are just too massive.
Normally, in a series of races where points are awarded it would seem possible to win the overall event by merely placing in the top three regularly, but not in this game. You see, the computer always favors one or two other AI drivers so when you don’t win they do. This mean that you can place second or third maybe once in a series of four races and still win the overall series, but you can definitely tell the game is favoring certain characters forcing you to place first, even against overwhelming odds and firepower.
The AI reacts, not only to your place in the current race, but your overall position in the series leaderboard, so the better you are doing, the hotter it gets on the track. This probably explains why, when I can manage to finish first on the first three courses I am lucky to get second or third on the final track. The AI becomes insane, unfair, and pretty much ruins the enjoyment of arcade racing with unrealistic firepower and relentless attacks.
Even worse, you cannot restart a race if you get screwed during the three laps, and you can’t restart a race if you don't like the results after the race is over. If you are displeased with your performance you have the solitary option of quitting the event and restarting from scratch, and who knows how far you’ll get before you lose the next time. This game should be rated Teen for “gambling”.
The scoring system for earning Stars (higher than an A) is quite insane. To get an A rank you merely need to finish first in all the races. To get Star ranks (1, 2, or 3 stars) you need to be leading every lap and crushing lap records for every race. If you are fortunate enough to earn stars, these will be attached to your profile and become the ultimate online bragging rights.
So ultimately, Mario Kart has about as much racing strategy as rock-paper-scissors. It becomes more about survival than racing because the better you race the more you are punished. With the entire pack out to get you, it doesn’t really matter if you manage to take out one or two cars for a few seconds. There are ten others waiting to take their place and pummel you off the road and into last place. Even the power-ups seem to be tilted in favor of the AI. I’ve spent plenty of time in the back of the pack in the more than 50 races I’ve driven, and I have yet to get the Blue Tortoise Shell, but you can be sure that if I ever see the front position that blue shell will be rammed up my tail pipe before the race is over…every stinking time…usually on lap 3 and usually 20 feet from the finish line.
Much of the flawed gameplay starts to fade away when you depart from the Grand Prix mode, but with that being the core of the entire product, it also dictates the majority of our low review score. The Time Trial eliminates the problems entirely by eliminating the competition. Normally I hate driving against the clock, but it was a welcome relief in this game. The coolest feature was when you break a record you create a Ghost that you can race against. You can even race against the ghosts from the Nintendo staff, who currently hold all the records until you beat them. You can also upload your ghosts online so others can race against your best times and vice versa.
There is a VS mode for solo and team multiplayer. You setup the race, choose the rules, and race for points. Battle mode is also available for solo and team multiplayer. There is a Balloon Battle where you try to pop all the balloons on the other team first or you can play Coin Runners where you race around like Pac-Man trying to collect as many coins scattered around the level.
Mario Kart offers some of the best online multiplayer of any Wii game to date. You can even have two players on the same Wii go online for multiplayer racing. There are options for Worldwide and Regional competition, Wii Tournaments, or you can limit your racing to only those registered on your friends list. Hooking up with friends on the Wii is still the most problematic of all three consoles and requires you to generate and swap Friend Codes. Once you do get connected to either friends or strangers, the racing is fast and furious and far better than the solo offering of the Grand Prix mode because now everyone isn’t gunning solely for you and you might actually have a shot at winning a race.
Mario Kart looks pretty good for a Wii game. It’s not the prettiest girl at the dance, but she’s got personality. The 16 new tracks are really good; some are downright awesome, and the classic tracks make their retro return with some nice polish while maintaining their old-school origins. Not much has changed in the overall design of the game as far as power-ups, icons, or effects. It all just looks like improved versions of what we’ve seen in the past.
The car and bike designs are interesting and the three classes all have unique distinctions. There is something a bit disturbing about having the “baby” versions of the characters racing around in strollers. The cars range from Formula style racers to bizarre monster-truck-like creations.
The menus, interface, and especially the online connectivity screens are flawless. Nintendo did a really good job putting a nice interface on their game, making it especially easy for the younger kids to get around. There is support for 480 progressive and widescreen, but there are still some issues with jaggies. The game really needs some anti-aliasing at this low resolution.
The music is standard Mario Kart stuff that would probably sound just as good in a platform title if not better. I would have enjoyed something with a bit more beat, perhaps some techno or anything to equal the intensity of the racing. A few of the tunes seems oddly familiar, perhaps borrowed from the DS and enhanced?
Sound effects are all over the place. You have the puttering of the various cars and each has its own sound based on the engine size, but I couldn’t tell that much difference amongst the cars themselves as determined by the driver. There is minimal speech, usually at the point of character selection and a few random lines during the race, usually one for approval and another for displeasure.
The rest of the sound effects are reserved for environmental sounds like bouncing mushrooms, and exploding tortoise shells or the zap of lightning. I had no complaints about the sound aside from the slightly annoying character dialogue, and it’s all delivered in a Dolby Pro Logic II mix.
If you have your Wii jacked into the Internet and plan to race online then you’ll likely enjoy this game. If you are coming for the solo game modes then stay away…stay far away. There is nothing more frustrating than doing the same race (or series of races) over and over and over again only to have victory snatched away at the last second by some cheap shot from the overly aggressive AI. I certainly don’t mind a challenge but Mario Kart is ridiculously hard, especially for a game targeted for kids.
Seeing as how the game doesn’t require a wheel, and as some others have reported the game actually plays better without it, I think it is slightly unfair for Nintendo to be forcing the wheel on you for an extra $10. I’m guessing a game-only version of Mario Kart will arrive soon enough for $40 and that will be a more reasonable price.
I have to admit I was pretty upset when I sat down to write this review. I had just come off a 5-hour Mario Kart session with the last hour and a half being wasted on doing the same series (150cc Flower) over and over again, trying all the characters to see if it made a difference (it doesn’t). I may never play the Grand Prix mode again. I may never play the game at all again. I’m pretty disenchanted with the entire product at this point, and I’ll probably have to go back and play my NDS copy of Mario Kart just to restore my faith in the franchise.
The online modes are strong and the interface is fantastic, although I really hate those friend codes. It’s far easier to play with strangers around the world than people you know, which is a sad commentary considering the Wii has been around for nearly two years now. I know they are trying to keep the online stuff safe for kids, but it’s really cramping the functionality of the online interface.
Mario Kart boils down to a whole lot of luck and very little skill. You have no choice when it comes to items. It’s all random. Why not have a mini-game where you try to click on the item you want as they scroll by? And any skill you might have at actual racing can be totally vanquished by a last-minute blue shell on lap 3. I play games to have fun, but I didn’t have fun, or at least enough fun, to recommend this game to any but the most die-hard Mario Kart fans, and you already have the game, so casual gamers…consider yourself warned.