I am, for the most part, a total RPGamer. But there are some games that strike my fancy as well. Like platform games a la Mario and Sonic, puzzle games like Tetris, and of course – racing games in the form of Mario Kart.
I was not as fortunate as to own a SNES when I was younger, so my first experience with the Mario Kart world came with the Nintendo 64. And what an experience it was. My younger brother and I used to play it like crazy (along with Snowboard Kidz, but that’s another story). I loved the cuteness, I loved the way the courses were designed, I loved the “tricks and cheats” in the shape of items, cause come on; getting knocked over by a red shell (or worse, a green shell), or slide on a banana just before the finish line, and seeing Player 2 run past you, is there anything worse or more hilarious?
Suffice to say, I loved it, and I also liked Mario Kart Super Circuit for the GBA, although it felt a little different. Mario Kart Double Dash for the GameCube became my drug for the most part of 2005. As for Mario Kart for DS… to be honest; I haven’t played as much as I thought I would. Double Dash has become the party game at my house, and it’s almost a given for my friends and me to battle it out when they come over. No wonder they are all so excited about Mario Kart Wii being released. And I’m excited too. To get it 2 weeks before the US and Canada do, who normally beats us to the punch regarding every other game out there, I can’t help but feel sorry for those of you who reside there. But only a little.
Since it’s for the Wii, of course there’s a steering wiil… sorry, wheel. And let me tell you, it’s not as easy as it looks. It does take quite some getting used to. But, as it is Nintendo, they have of course thought of everything. If you’re not comfortable with the wheel, you can use the nunchuk with the Wii-mote, the Wii-mote on its own, flipped on the side like a NES-controller, the Classic controller works as well and of course, the good old GameCube controller. I have only tried the wheel and the nunchuk so far, and the latter is actually working really well.
But a new Mario Kart is not all about new changes, there are actually some old changes as well; or rather, going back to things that fans of the series liked. For instance, in the N64 Mario Kart, if you got three shells, you could have them spinning around you and fire when you wanted or just use them as a shield for when others fired stuff at you. That feature was gone, and dearly missed, in Double Dash. But, surprise, Nintendo listens to their fans and that feature is now back.
Something that I do miss from Double Dash though, is the special items that each character had. Those are gone, and in their place are a few other items. Like the Blooper who stains your view with ink, so you can hardly see the road ahead of you (a feature taken from Mario Kart DS) and the new POW Block (courtesy of the original Super Mario Bros.) that make you spin and lose any items you might be carrying.
There are also new characters, like little Baby Peach (too cute!) and Rosalina, also known as Mama from Mario Galaxy. I love driving around with her, since she has a little Luma as driving company.
As for the courses, there are almost twice as many as in Double Dash, but they are not all new ones. Some classics from SNES, N64, GBA, DS and GC come alongside the new ones, and I think that true fans will really enjoy this as well as people who have not played the earlier versions. Some favorites of mine include Waluigi Stadium and DK Mountain from Double Dash. The new courses however – wow. I never knew that a Mario Kart course could look or sound like Maple Treeway. Not to mention Grumble Volcano, a course that has drastic changes after each lap, with rumbling earth, molting lava, and blazing fireballs. The tracks are really something, you’ll find yourself speeding through a waterway, a mall, a factory, a bustling highway and that’s just for starters.
Not only can you drive around in your standard kart, you can also hop onto a motorbike if you want. The bikes have a very different driving feel to them, sliding through turns is hardly necessary to make them. All over the Mario Kart courses you will find jumps. Normally no one thinks twice about these, but now you’re supposed to take notice. If you time it right, with a flip of your Wii-mote or Wheel, you can do a trick in mid air. This is not something that gives you points or the like, but it will give you a boost in speed when you hit the ground.
The AI is also much improved from Double Dash. As much as I love that game, I still think that it was way too easy on 50 cc, and incredibly hard on 150 cc. Honestly, I do find 50 cc a bit tricky now for the Wii, but that’s probably because I’ve not played the courses like a million times, as I have with Double Dash and as mentioned before, the controls take their time to get used to.
Another feature is the online mode. Now you can play against other gamers across the globe. Last night I played against a few Japanese boys and girls, a French guy, someone in Holland and an Italian dude. Those races rocked my socks. I never thought playing online would be so much fun, but it is. You can also connect your friends and play directly with them, but I have not tried that feature yet. (Too few of my friends own a Wii, shame on them!)
I can already see how this will be the new party game for me and my friends. We will laugh, curse, shout, wildly shake the controllers and most of all; enjoy it to the fullest. Even though I have yet to invite my friends over and have one full-blown gaming night, I can still enjoy driving around with Toad or Rosalina, because there is so much to discover and become better at – even master.
My friends hate playing the Rainbow Road course on Double Dash, because they always fall off the road. I have never really understood what the problem is; I find that course to be pretty easy. But as for Mario Kart Wii, this version’s Rainbow Road must be the hardest there is. I was lucky to even get through the course and I have forgotten how many times I fell off. I guess I can see what they mean now. Even so, I will conquer it, and I will be able to make every turn, loop and jump. Because that’s what a true Mario Kart fan does.