Mario Kart Wii: Streets Ahead

It’s difficult to know what to say when reviewing Nintendo produced titles like this, I always feel overcome with an eerie sense of déjàvu, due largely to the fact that every installment into each of Nintendo’s various franchises is pretty much identical.

Whether you’re playing Mario Galaxy, Mario Kart or Zelda you’ll essentially be doing the same thing every time, either jumping up and down on things, trying to avoid shells or wishing you were being entertained.

Mario Kart Wii is supposedly the sixth game in the series but to be honest it feels more like 1.6, so little changes between each title that the Mario Kart franchise might as well be one game followed by a succession of patches.

This time around we are back to one character per Kart, but the addition of motorbikes is a nice touch.

The maps from the previous games are available as are quite a few new ones and as ever there are a handful of new power-ups for players to crash in to.

What has always made Mario Kart fun is playing it with other people and I suppose it still does that fairly well.

As well as locally you can take the game online using the Nintendo Wi-Fi connection, which is impressive for a Nintendo game.

The longevity that this gives the game was enough to forget how annoyed I was that so little has changed.[-[quote]-]

I feel that a special mention is needed for just how bad the Wii Remote and Nunchuck are as controllers.

I spent my first few races bouncing feebly from one curb to another while hurling profanity at the screen - it was only when I checked the back of the box and realised that the game was compatible with the old GameCube controllers that I was actually able to play the game properly.

If this isn’t a fundamental flaw with a console then I don’t know what is.

Never mind that the Xbox has breakdown issues and the PS3 doesn’t have any games worth playing, the Wii’s control system irritates me to the point where I’d rather Nintendo had just stuck with the GameCube.

Despite my annoyance at the lack of innovation in the game and the childish and gimmicky nature of the intended control system, it’s hard to stay angry when you consider that as a complete package Mario Kart Wii stands for plain and simple fun.

They are easily accessible to any audience and can be played casually with friends or seriously over the internet and in time trial modes.