"I think this game is stuck in reverse."

And God said “Let there be fun!” Nintendo answered with Mario Kart, a fantastically good racer which has never failed to put a smile on my face, simply for the fun, the cuteness and the playability. Until now.

Gameplay:
This is probably the biggest flaw. The awful controls combined with the poorly designed tracks and the fact that each race has 12 racers (instead of the usual 8) in total that use the biggest and stupidest items mercilessly just creates a supernova of frustration. The unusually large amount of characters coupled with overpowered items means that the amount of times you go from first position to last can be annoying to even the tamest gamer. The AI is simply that bad.

First of all, the controls are broken. They do not work whatsoever. The Wii Wheel is the most useless add-on for a game ever. The wheel is almost impossible to hold properly, has a poorly designed B button but, to actually compliment the game for once, it does acknowledge that the Wii remote pointer needs to be able to interact with the sensor bar and this works well. Using the wheel, the simplest of turns is made into a struggle to stay on course, which usually results in driving straight off the track into either a hole or a patch of grass.

I also miss the bottom screen from Mario Kart DS, and Nintendo (although I don't blame them for this) have not attempted to implement a similar feature, which is disappointing and puts MKDS veterans at a slight disadvantage, especially when splattered by some blooper ink.

The tracks do show some well implemented ideas, such as the bouncing mushrooms or the crates on conveyor belts in Toad Factory, but the sad truth is: for a racing game, these tracks do not work properly. The multiplayer aspect of the game adds to the game, but even so I feel it is far inferior to MKDS.

Nintendo have chosen to add bikes along with performable tricks which boosts speed. While this may add a small amount of fun and originality for the series, I feel that both are unwelcome and the bikes even worse than the karts. The second cup doesn't even allow karts!

Finally, the character list is very boring, regardless of adding new characters which frankly don't belong in this genre of game. The ability to race as your own avatar later on in the game is, however, a very welcome and amusing gimmick. Oh, and who the hell wants to play as Baby Peach? I must admit that some of the karts available to race with look fantastic, others hilarious.

Graphics:
The graphics are probably the most impressive aspect of the game, and I think that Mario Kart has never looked better. If the rest of the game could follow this example, this would be one hell of a game. Certainly the best looking Mario Kart game, the game keeps an impressive frame rate in single player at least. For multiplayer, however, the graphics are one word: fail. It's like the game is running at half power, and this is an unacceptable issue for a game which is made for the multiplayer action. This is a problem that has happened in previous Mario Karts, and Nintendo have still ignored the problem for this instalment.

Sound:
Mario Kart: Wii sounds just like all the other Mario Karts, typical cutesy and upbeat tunes. However nicely sounding they are, though, they are both quite forgettable and nearly irrelevant to the tracks. The sound effects are actually ok, with the items and characters sounding funny and fitting. Apart from this, there isn't really much to mention regarding sound.

Re-playability:
Well, I just don't know what to say. The single player and multiplayer are lacking, but Nintendo have certainly made a huge effort with the online. The actual racing is pretty much lag-free (much appreciated, Nintendo) and is very stable. I long for voice chat, if only to shout insults at other players when I overtake them or vice-versa.
You can now race with eleven other people at once, but there are also regular competitions set by Nintendo to challenge you and your friends, which are quite exciting.

Not only this, but Mario Kart: Wii has its own channel! Yes, that's right, a channel on your Wii menu dedicated to Mario Kart: Wii! It has quite a hefty variety of things to do, such as add friends from your Wii address book and view ghost times etc. I just feel that if they had put a little less attention into the online modes and more on the rest of the game, it would be a much more balanced game. It's also relevant that you can select all 32 courses online instead of a select few, which is nice. The trouble is, despite the decent online features, the game still lacks a lot. True Nintendo games have polish, they have standard. The only polish this game has is on the hard-earned bronze trophies!

I end with this: If you love Mario Kart like a son and the controls don't matter that much, get it. If you're just looking for a fun Wii racer, try Excite Truck.

Reviewer's Score: 3/10, Originally Posted: 05/06/08, Updated 05/19/08

Game Release: Mario Kart Wii (EU, 04/11/08)