Topic: REVIEWS: Mario Kart Wii

[UncleBob]

I miss Baby Park.

[Mario]

I used to hate Yoshi Falls in DS, but now I kinda like it, it's different from the other tracks in that nobody can really break away from the field and it's refreshing after dominating Rainbow Road to be in the mid pack again thinking about items. It's no Baby Park though. Perhaps Nintendo was concerned if Baby Park was in that a lot of folks would choose it online non-stop.

Personally, snaking forced me to think about how I used every INCH of a track and made sure that I completely perfected my technique. Playing in a group of others who also snaked only made you bring your game harder.

Now in MK Wii you move slow and can only utilize the lame tricks and turns for boosting. Sorry but it slows down the pace of the game to the point where it just bugs the hell out of me.

That's just pure BS, stop embarrassing yourself. I bet you aren't even within 20 seconds of the top time trial times in MK Wii, going fast in MK Wii requires a LOT more technique.

[LuigiHann]

I assume they chose retro stages that weren't included among the retro stages in MKDS, hence no Baby Park.

[DAaaMan64]

Alright I played a bunch more Battle Mode, and I gotta be honest.  It's pretty crap.  I've played several matches just spending the entire time looking for Item Boxs in hopes of finally getting some damn shells(which you almost never do!)  I mean why are shells so UNCOMMON in battle mode? It's a pain in the ass!  Thats when I lose all my balloons is trying to get to another item box.   And trust me, in battle mode its not fun to just be laying fake boxes and bananas whole time.   The Time limit is stupid too, it goes by too quickly.  I started playing it more because there is a third wii outfit you can unlock if you get an inhuman 15,000 points in battle mode.

But ya, it sucked.

[LuigiHann]

Yeah... plus having so many computer players basically means you can sit there and not do anything and your team could just as easily win...

[DAaaMan64]

eh, no I've barely won one match so far.

Also, the shells are a shadow of their former selves in battle mode anyway, they don't hit much cause the courses are to damn open.

Then stages are pretty good, but I have to put in the obligatory, "where's blockfort" comment.

[GoldenPhoenix]

eh, no I've barely won one match so far.

Also, the shells are a shadow of their former selves in battle mode anyway, they don't hit much cause the courses are to damn open.

Then stages are pretty good, but I have to put in the obligatory, "where's blockfort" comment.

I actually think the new block fort stage is pretty good.

[Deguello]

When Mario Kart DS came out I had plenty of other games to play that weren't "non-games" so that argument doesn't hold water, and I imagine it doesn't for many others as well considering a handheld is typically a secondary console for most and they aren't using it to get their main gaming fix.

Well hello there.  I believe I've stumbled across one of those times where somebody said more about themselves than what they're talking about.  You're assuming most people think handhelds are "Secondary" because YOU think handhelds are secondary.  Any Big time RPG fan will bust your nut for that, considering the DS is where the most new and big named RPG are this generation.  Is Pokemon "secondary?"  Considering it has sold more than all of the "next gen" consoles combined, I'd say there are scores of people for whom the DS is where it's at.  That is to say, MOST gamers own a DS, and it has sold THE MOST games this generation, making it the PRIMARY game platform, for MOST.

Besides, my comments regarding non-games were in the context of Mario Kart's legacy with reviewers that may include, but is not limited to you.  You can't deny the talking points of the big name sites and journalists as they worked up faux outrage over non-games, even to the point of editorializing reviews to be more about the DS/Wii than the game they're talking about reviewing.  Three months before Mario Kart DS was released, Nintendo hit and began its meteoric rise, all with IGN and Gamespot and IGSpot and GameGN all bemoaning just how terrible the Nintendogs ad was and how we'll all have to trade in our DS's because girls will own one and ZOMG Panic Panic from the single twenty-somethings and thirty-somethings.  Given the Context, no wonder they were able to see past MKDS's flaws and champion it, because the alternate would be a world filled with Nintendogs and brain games.

The removal of snaking ruins this game for me and it being a design flaw is a matter of opinion. Personally, snaking forced me to think about how I used every INCH of a track and made sure that I completely perfected my technique. Playing in a group of others who also snaked only made you bring your game harder.

No what snaking DID was make everybody use the same kart and do exactly the same motions.  It "tiered" Mario Kart and made it boring to play online with people more interested in their "records" than enjoying the game.  I was just lucky I had a lot of friends who thought snaking was crap too, otherwise MKDS's online would have been awful.  Friend Codes save the day.

[deathstar45]

there is a third wii outfit you can unlock if you get an inhuman 15,000 points in battle mode.

Sorry to burst your bubble, but that unlockable was proven false. Some people recently cracked the game disk, and found no such thing. Plus, the VR points maxs out at 9999.

[DAaaMan64]

eh, no I've barely won one match so far.

Also, the shells are a shadow of their former selves in battle mode anyway, they don't hit much cause the courses are to damn open.

Then stages are pretty good, but I have to put in the obligatory, "where's blockfort" comment.

I actually think the new block fort stage is pretty good.

Nah it's crap feels too wide open, the block fort of the day made strategy shots awesome and there were three levels to be on and all the levels were connected.  You'd always be setting up you "base" with bananas and getting shells together etc.   It was actually FUN.

deathstar45, if that is true, then talk to GameFaqs, they just posted that unlockable today.

[NWR_insanolord]

Battle Mode online is a lot better online than with CPUs, maybe just because it's all humans, and you should try Coin Runners, it's the better than any other non-Balloon battle mode in the series.

[Nick DiMola]

Well I'm not going to turn this thread into a petty flame fest. It seems to me that people here don't like snaking and that apparently makes Mario Kart DS crap, and that's fine, it doesn't have any effect on what I like or dislike about this game. As I stated before I think the track designs of Mario Kart DS were better and more interesting, and I think that GP wasn't nearly as annoying as it is in Mario Kart Wii. I also despise the inclusion of the bikes. It is Mario KART not Mario goes Offroading. The bikes are clearly superior to the karts, so they get used exclusively which just annoys the hell out of me.

I completely disagree with the relevance of the DS situation upon the release of Mario Kart DS, and the relevance of reviewers' opinions. The game stands on it's own right; that situation doesn't dictate the merits of the game.

As far as time trials go, I AM within 20 seconds of the top ten for the current competition after playing the race a grand total of 2 times. I haven't played the time trials as I am still plodding through the GP mode. In regards to technique, the game doesn't have any special technique that couldn't be applied to the Mario Kart series as a whole aside from the things I've mentioned. Typically, if you are good at one, you are good at the others.

[DAaaMan64]

I don't know about the bikes being "clearly" superior. I mean the karts can:

Draft which activates pretty quick in this one.
They also get to boosts when drift. Very useful.

Bikes can't touch that.

[Nick DiMola]

You can draft in the bikes as well, it is just harder and takes longer. The boosting doesn't seem to make up for the speed either. The fact that people using bikes are dominating the online leaderboards is very telling.

[Mario]

If you don't like bikes, don't use them. Bikes are not clearly better than karts, i've got 8000+ points on a kart. Bikes get BELTED around in races, doing wheelies means you can barely turn at all and even GREEN SHELLS are a danger, and it takes bikes a lot longer to get back up to speed. Bikes may be 3-4 seconds quicker than Karts on most tracks in TIME TRIAL (not all tracks, karts dominate some, CHECK THE WORLD RECORDS GOD), but in a race they are not superior.

You haven't even TRIED time trial? You have no CLUE how much time you're losing. I feel like I just wasted my time, I can't take you seriously anymore.

[Deguello]

Well I'm not going to turn this thread into a petty flame fest. It seems to me that people here don't like snaking and that apparently makes Mario Kart DS crap

Nobody said that.

I completely disagree with the relevance of the DS situation upon the release of Mario Kart DS, and the relevance of reviewers' opinions. The game stands on it's own right; that situation doesn't dictate the merits of the game.

As will MKWii stand on it's own right, regardless of whatever reviewers say.  It's exactly how all those old "classic" Mario Karts did it.  Apparently this entire series is built on games that get mediocre reviews, save one special case in which the lowered expectations of a handheld and the first real online attempt coupled with widespread non-game anxiety.

I also despise the inclusion of the bikes. It is Mario KART not Mario goes Offroading. The bikes are clearly superior to the karts, so they get used exclusively which just annoys the hell out of me.

I think Mario summed that up very well, but from my own experience this is just false.  Nobody ever won any race simply because they used bikes.

... ... and hypothetically, SO WHAT IF THEY ARE SUPERIOR?  You need a whole lot more skill to win on the Mach Bike than the Dragster, which would require knowledge of every inch of the track and perfect your technique with the bike.  And playing in a group of bikes only made you bring your game harder.  So what Bikes should be stripped because they are clearly superior and threaten the... what?  So they should be taken out because you don't like them but all those who didn't like snaking should just go hang?  You've undermined your own point.

[Infernal Monkey]

The bikes are clearly superior to the karts, so they get used exclusively which just annoys the hell out of me

Except for the fact that they aren't. Play the game some more, Jack. I know it'll be difficult for you after the rubbish that was snaking in MK DS since you'll actually have to learn the tracks now, but there's no real advantage of bikes over karts.

[DAaaMan64]

Uhh no snaking really took a  lot of knowledge of the tracks.  Do not doubt that, if you didn't know how to enter a corner as snaker, you could screw yourself bad.

I'm indifferent about snaking.

[Nick DiMola]

a) I don't play Time Trial until after I beat the rest of the game
b) As I stated earlier, and as DAaaMan64 pointed out, being good at snaking meant knowing every bend of the stage
c) If bikes are better for Time Trial, who cares about anything else? You may as well roll a dice in GP because even if you race perfectly it's no guarantee that you are going to win. AND I'm saying bikes are annoying because this is MARIO KART, and they outshine the damn karts. That is a personal feeling, NOBODY is forced to agree with me, I couldn't care less.
d) Finally, I agree, Mario Kart Wii will stand on it's own right, no one said it couldn't.

I have decided in response to all of these enlightening comments I will change my opinion of Mario Kart Wii, it is now my favorite Mario Kart! Congratulations you win the thread!

[Dasmos]

b) As I stated earlier, and as DAaaMan64 pointed out, being good at snaking meant knowing every bend of the stage

To be good at playing the game means you must know every corner of every stage. This is also the the dynamic in any racing game ever. It is also the case when racing in real life.

c) If bikes are better for Time Trial, who cares about anything else? You may as well roll a dice in GP because even if you race perfectly it's no guarantee that you are going to win. AND I'm saying bikes are annoying because this is MARIO KART, and they outshine the damn karts. That is a personal feeling, NOBODY is forced to agree with me, I couldn't care less.

Also I don't understand this logic. Bikes don't outshine the kart when playing the game apart from Time Trial. They don't have an advantage in Grand Prix. They don't have an advantage in Versus. The don't have an advantage in Battle. The game is called MARIO KART, not RACE AROUND A TRACK ALL ALONE WITH NINTENDO CHARACTERS AND THREE MUSHROOMS.

[planetidiot]

The biggest complaint I have with it is they make you pick your character and options AFTER you join a game, and therefore have to impose a time limit on it.  This means best case scenario, you are waiting for people to make their selections, and worst case scenario you run out of time looking at all the different cart options and end up with the cart you didn't want, a character you didn't want and automatic drifting, which you probably didn't want.  Why in the world wouldn't they let you select all this stuff BEFORE joining a game?

[RABicle]

All you people saying bikes are unbeatbale need to watch the world record times on DK Mountain and Yoshi Falls.

[Rhoq]

See how it plays when you throw the wheel INTO THE AIR.

I don't use Nintendo's "Wii Wheel". It's either the Classic Controller or the Core Gamer Wii Multi-Axis Racing System

Wow is that a good wheel?

I love it. The "Wii Wheel" is useless to me, since it isn't attached to a base. This wheel offers a bit of resistance when turning and returns to "zero" position. There are mixed reviews on GameStop's site though. Apparently these things break easily (the springs break) and it's widespread. My first one broke after about 5 minutes of gameplay. I had bought one for my friend and his held up after several hours of continuous use. My 2nd one seems to be fine, too.

[Deguello]

AND I'm saying bikes are annoying because this is MARIO KART

Stop right there.  This undermines your idea for them to open up Mario Kart to other Nintendo IP.  While it is true that it is MARIO KART, it is also true that it is MARIO KART, and thus unable to be invade by Samus and her Go Kart and Link and his Go Kart and the Ice Climbers and their sidecar bike.  (UH OH, CONFLICTING IDEA APPROACHING)

I have decided in response to all of these enlightening comments I will change my opinion of Mario Kart Wii, it is now my favorite Mario Kart! Congratulations you win the thread!

This sort of indignant sarcasm is uncalled for.

[darknight06]

Before I get into it I have to say that Mario is the man of the thread.  That's all.

My 2 cents, even though I've mentioned it before.  The review is crap.  This is the best, most hardcore feeling Mario Kart game ever and I've played all of them.  The wheel is damn great, and you better believe I'll be using this with Need For Speed Carbon and especially Pro Street.  I played all of Carbon with control method 1 which is virtually identical to the wheel setup with this game and outside of some initial getting used to it, it works extremely well, especially for drift courses.  Speaking of which, this is NFS Carbon Wii launch all over again, those who "get it" thought it was one the coolest things ever and it sold the game and idea to them. 

As far as the rest of the game is concerned, WHAT THE HECK?  Too many items to worry about in 150cc?  Get real, they usually let you win if you race well enough by screwing over the CPU in first.  As far as staying in first, if you know how to play proper defense it's not an issue.  Even online, 95% of the time, the BEST people still win irregardless of the amount of opposition.  Rarely do I ever end up eating more than one blue shell.  It's like people are trying to make this out to be a stupid plastic dog of a game and yet the amount of strategy with the inclusion of the bikes, stunts, and new items is FAR more than MKDS and even most of the others even hoped to ever have.  It's a whole new damn game and I love the hell out of it for it.