Peter’s Place

The latest offering from Nintendo’s Mario Kart franchise was launched today, and thanks to the nearest Wal-Mart being open 24 hours a day, that meant midnight.  Kelly and I were there, brought the game home… and before we knew it, it was already 3 AM.  There are good things and bad things about this game.  Read on…

All screen shots from IGN.com.

If you’ve played any Mario Kart game (especially Mario Kart 64 or anything after that) you should feel right at home sitting down to play Mario Kart Wii.  It’s the same basic idea.  There are several different modes of play for 1-4 players.  Choose a character, choose a vehicle, then choose what racing mode you want, and then choose your racetcourse(s). 

Rave: Just like in Mario Kart Double Dash (Gamecube), there are many new courses, and you can also check out many “remakes” of courses from previous titles in the series.  This includes both the “cup” series races, and the “Battle” mode courses.  It’s always neat to see how the gameplay on ”classic” courses differs from the original game, because you’ve got new vehicles, new items and new controls that just didn’t exist back on the 64 or the Super NES.  (Yes, some of the classics go back to the original.)

Rave: Mario Kart Wii offers you several different ways to control the game.  First and foremost (and the only way I’ve played so far) is the Wii Wheel.  One wheel comes included with the game.  You snap a Wii controller into the middle, and you’re good to go.  You literally hold the wheel in front of you and steer it.  The controller is positioned so you can easily hit any button you need without moving your hands off the wheel.

My girlfriend Kelly prefers the “old school” way to play — she hooked up a Gamecube controller.  The buttons are pretty much identical to that platform’s “Mario Kart Double Dash,” so there’s no learning curve at all if you’ve played that game before.

If you prefer to stay wireless, you can also use the Wii remote with a Nunchuk or a Classic Controller.  But there’s no way to play with just the Wii remote alone.  (Unless you want to hold the ends of it and pretend there’s a steering wheel — I haven’t tried it, but I imagine it would be uncomfortable before long.)

Rant: As I mentioned, the game comes with one Wii Wheel.  If you plan on doing a lot of multiplayer, you’ll probably want additional wheels — to the tune of $15 each.  If you have 4 Wii remotes and need a steering wheel for each one, the extra wheels alone will cost you almost as much as the game itself.  If you don’t want to shell out that cash, you’ll probably want to make sure you get comfortable with one of the alternative methods of play so you can be a “good host” and let your guests use the steering wheel when they come over to play.  (I’m kinda glad Kel prefers the Gamecube controller, because we won’t have to worry about fighting over who gets the wheel!)

I’ve always been skeptical about “accessories” for video games, because you never know how many games will actually use them.  (See also: Wikipedia entries on R.O.B., Power Pad, Super Scope.)  Hopefully other racing games will adopt similar controls, making the Wii Steering Wheel useful for more than just Mario Kart, even though I probably won’t be interested in them… unless there’s a Wii sequel to Cruisin’ USA.

Rant: The other downside about the Wii Wheel — it only has room for the Wii remote itself — not the plastic “safety” jackets Nintendo includes with the remotes.  So you have to take the jacket off in order to snap the remote into the wheel.  I wonder how many people will just not bother to put the jackets back on ever again.

Rave: As always, the gameplay is addicting and fast-paced.  You’ve got the usual gang of Special Items (like speed mushrooms, Koopa shells to hit other racers, and the dreaded lightning bolts to slow everyone down).  There are also some new items - like the Super Mushroom from the DS “New Super Mario Bros.,” which makes your kart about 10 times its normal size, flattening other racers.  You can also be transformed into a “Bullet Bill,” allowing you to sit back for a few seconds, as the bullet steers for you, blowing up any other racer it touches as it whizzes through the course.

The new, original courses have a good blend of classic features, with some new twists.  As always, if you see arrows or ramps with bright, changing colors, they’ll give you a speed boost.  New this time around, a course set on a ski slope has a half-pipe — and if you go off the edge, your kart will get some air, then come back into the pipe, just like a snowboarder — and you might pick up some Special Items while you’re catching that air.  There’s also a maze-like course that runs through a shopping mall, and one which has you bouncing off mushroom platforms, like the ones from World 1-3 in the original Super Mario Bros. (as seen at left).

Rant:  In all Mario Kart games up to this point, there were only 8 racers on the course at a time.  Thanks to improvements in technology and computing power, Mario Kart Wii has 12 racers on the track at the same time.  Usually, more is merrier, but in this case, I think it’s too much.  If you hit just one banana peel, or get clocked with a red shell, it seems like you’ll soon be hit by a few more — or you’ll get bonked by several other racers as they whizz by.  Having more racers also means there’s more banana peels, fake item boxes and other junk being littered all over the place.  Likewise, there’s more competition for those coveted item boxes, which sometimes seem to be pretty scarce.

Rave: The above rant just means you’ll have to develop new strategies and get used to more hazards on the course.  It’s changes like these that help the game stay true to the series, while offering something new and different at the same time.

Rave (added 4/28): Since originally posting this review, we’ve tried out the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection (WFC) feature that allows you to race live against other Mario Kart Wii players.  You can arrange to race specifically against friends (by keying in their Wii ID Number) or you can just race with random people from the U.S. or worldwide.  It’s nice to race against other “real” people rather than computer players, because let’s face it — the computer players are often “too perfect” and sometimes predictable.  With other actual humans competing, there’s more element for other people to mess up — or to be really good.  You never know what you’ll be going up against.

If you’ve read this far, how about challenging me to a race via WFC?
My friend ID number is 2707-1988-5991.

Rant: WFC allows up to 2 players to compete against others from around the world.  BUT, you can only “log in” with one of those players.  For example, when Kelly and I played against other random people, I was able to log in, but she was logged in as a “guest.”  So even though we both did well and we both should have earned “ratings points,” only MY results mattered.  Kelly was considered a “guest” so she didn’t get any of the points she deserved for a first-place finish.  Knowing this, we probably won’t play in WFC mode together… if Nintendo had allowed both WFC players to login with their Mario Kart licenses, it would have worked better.

Overall, despite the game’s flaws, I highly recommend Mario Kart Wii.  The new tracks, the new characters and the new items make it an addicting, exciting game.  There are even several unlockable tracks we’ve yet to discover… which I can’t wait to try out. 

Getting the Game

This is a different sub-section which has nothing to do with the game itself, but rather, with some of the hassle of actually getting the game.

Online Retailers: Last Place
I originally had tried to order this game online, knowing I’d be guaranteed a copy (in case stores sold out immediately).  Wal-Mart’s website even offered a free Mario Kart keychain and bumpersticker, as an incentive for pre-orders.  But no online retailer could ship the game until Monday, April 28 (the game released the 27th, but nobody ships orders on Sundays).  When I checked amazon.com, they estimated a shipping date of May 1st.  Best Buy and Circuit City usually allow you to choose shipping, or in-store pickup, but when it comes to pre-orders, shipping is the only option.  Again, the game would have arrived several days after the release date.  It’s a shame online retailers can’t get permission to ship their pre-orders a few days BEFORE the release, so that they actually ARRIVE on the release date.  If I’m gonna actually pay extra for shipping, I should at least get the game the same day I could get it in a store.  Extra points deducted for online retailers that nail you for both shipping AND sales tax.  (In NY State, that’s pretty much everyone except amazon.com… who even offers “FREE Super Saver Shipping” but it takes forever.)

Big-Box Electronics Stores: Third Place
As I mentioned, Best Buy, Circuit City and the like all offer pre-orders online, but you can’t pre-order for in-store pickup.  So you just have to go to the store, which doesn’t open until 10 or 11 — or in this case, it’s Sunday, so we’ll go with noon.  And even then, if there’s already a line, the trip may be a wasted effort.

Wal-Mart in Rome, NY: Second Place
We showed up here at 11:30pm Saturday night, since we happened to be in Rome already.  Electronics clerk had no idea about the game being released at midnight.  She called a manager, who was equally clueless (we could hear the 2-way radio conversation) and said they’d arrive via UPS on Monday — even though there’s a huge ad at the front door with “Sunday, April 27″ boldly plastered across the top.

Wal-Mart in Oneida, NY: First Place
This was a pretty close call!  I had called earlier in the day to ask what time new games are put on sale.  When I was told “midnight” I specifically asked about Mario Kart, and the guy said yes.  So we got here a little after midnight (after hightailing it outta Rome) and once again, the electronics clerk was clueless and had to call someone on the radio.  He even called it “Mary-o Kart” instead of “Mah-rio Kart.”  Someone “in the back” said they’d look for it.  15-20 minutes went by, when the call finally came back: “we found ‘em, they’ll be right out.”  So for the first (and probably only) time ever, I was the very first person to walk out of the store with a brand new game, mere minutes after it was “officially” released.