4 out of 5 stars
I feel really torn about this review, because there are elements of this game that are really, really fun and elements that are the bland, boring results of some horrifically awful game design decisions.
Let's start with PROS:
The maps are well-thought and nicely implemented, and there's a reasonable amount of variety, especially when Mirror Mode becomes available.
Controls aren't terrible, even though the wheel can be a bit annoying at times, and the vehicles are all pretty nicely balanced. I can see the merits of using any one of them, really.
It's pretty addicting. My fiancé and I play Mario Kart Wii with Wii Wheel
all the time, and haven't really gotten tired of it yet. Though the Battle modes aren't the same as in earlier games, they're still quite a lot of fun.In fact, multiplayer in general in this game is a lot of fun (though more than two players requires a TV of at LEAST 50 inches, and sometimes the network can be a little spotty if you're playing online, especially when playing with someone on the other side of the continent). Mario Kart Wii with Wii Wheel
is a great game to play with other people.Which leads me to the CONS:
As with the offerings of most developers these days, the game is designed such that over half the playable content is locked, and you have to spend hours or days of your time unlocking it all to actually be able to play it. The concept in itself isn't really that terrible, and if implemented intelligently can add hours or days of fun and enjoyable gameplay. Unlike with, say, Super Smash Bros Brawl, however, Nintendo seemed to be in a frantic gallop to implement unlockables in Kart in the most annoying fashion imaginable.
See, in Brawl, there are multiple options for unlocking characters and content. That is, you don't have to sit there grinding for hours and hours by yourself -- you can play with one or more friends and all have a good time with the game while incidentally unlocking various things in the process. Not so with Mario Kart Wii: Unlockables are an exclusively single-player experience. Of course, since Kart seems to have always been oriented toward multiplayer -- and the Wii seems no different in this respect -- it just gets boring and annoying and frustrating to have to SIT THERE FOR HOURS BY YOURSELF UNLOCKING THINGS.
And this is my biggest gripe with the game. I adore playing it with other people, and like I said, it's a great multiplayer game. But whenever I sit down for a lengthy grind session to unlock the last few bikes and karts and characters, I can feel my interest in the game drain away and my frustration and rage explode like some kind of nuclear doomsday device.
It's not that I suck at video games, but the random chance that makes multiplayer races fun (like getting hit with FIVE BLUE SHELLS IN A SINGLE RACE) can result in your having to play the same sets of courses ten times apiece to unlock some bike. And when you're playing on your own, the whole "SKILL DOESN'T MATTER - RANDOM LUCK WILL EVEN THE SCORE" element of the game just becomes infuriating. It's fun when your friend does it, but when some computer does it, all they're doing is forcing you to ceaselessly replay the same courses by screwing you up and keeping you from placing first or whatever else it is you need to do to unlock whatever random object.
It quickly stops being fun when it's just AIs being jerks and needlessly robbing you of your time -- time that could otherwise be spent playing with a friend instead of marrying yourself to unlocking over half the game's content and in the process becoming so skilled a player that your friends don't even want to really play with you anymore because you always win.
In summary, good game, but really, really a step in the wrong direction with the unlockables. Next time, Nintendo should really consider throwing in some multiplayer alternatives.
Review from Amazon: Mario Kart Wii with Wii Wheel
VIDEO REVIEW - Mario Kart Wii/Steering Wheel
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