Review on Wii Wheel Mario Kart Wii by Fredrick Edwards

There were two games that made me love the Nintendo 64: Goldeneye 007 and Mario Kart 64. They were the console's defining games, and Nintendo has maybe done something just as significant with Mario Kart Wii. The basics are the same: you choose your character and karts before setting off on one of the many different tracks. You compete against 12 opponents (computer or user controlled) with the sole objective of being the first to cross the finish line. All this time you pick up items that can either directly help you or simply harm others. There are additional game modes (battles, time trials, etc.), but the core is the Grand Prix racing sets. You drive four times in a row and your points are added up to qualify you for that Grand Prix. The more of these you create and the better you place them, the more things you will unlock. That's one of the great things about Mario Kart: it's as complex as you want it to be. Want to just grab a controller and get started or play with a newbie? Put the bots lighter and keep going. Would you like to go further? Put the bots on the middle tier and see if you can get at least one star in each Grand Prix. wanna get obsessed Turn on the bots, get three stars in each set of races, and unlock all characters and maps. Your decision. Not much has changed about the objects: bananas are still slippery, green projectiles go straight, red projectiles are looking for the first person in front of them, etc. The most interesting addition is the so-called "socialist grenade", ie A blue shell, which immediately and inevitably flies up to the person in first place, confusing them (and taking any items they might have), no matter what defenses they have. Even if you haven't uttered a single swear word in your life, there's a good chance the blue shell will suck a few out of you. The range of characters has been greatly expanded, and three different classifications of special cards corresponding to character size (small, medium, large) go a long way in ensuring you get a kart that suits your specific racing style. There are three main control methods: 1) Nunchaku and Wiimote 2) Wiimote as a steering wheel 3) Classic ControllerNunchaku and Wiimote are probably the most popular in my experience. They use the nunchaku in one hand to steer and hold the wiimote in the other to use items, spin wheels and perform tricks in the air. My least favorite is the Wiimote as a steering wheel. I'm sure if you take some time to get used to it it can be very nice, but I'm so used to the N64 that I prefer the joystick. Most people tend to oversteer. I like the last control scheme best: the classic controller. This is an attempt to act as a replacement for older Nintendo controllers when playing Virtual Console games, but you can use it on some newer games as well. This allows you to use an analog stick while still retaining that old N64 controller feel. If you're going down this route, you'll definitely need the Wii Classic Controller Grip. This and Boom Blox are the quintessential party games for the Wii. Single player isn't great, but I've literally played every map about twenty times, and as long as someone else wants to play I'm happy to grab a controller. Pros: Internet and local multiplayer for up to four players. More characters, karts and items. Great new and classic tracks. Same awesome gameplay. minuses. Using the Wiimote as a steering wheel can be frustrating.