Kriticisms
There are, in fact, so many little things that could have been done better that we felt it necessary to make a list. Had Nintendo taken the minimal time and energy to do just a couple things differently and better, Mario Kart Wii would have appealed to many more people than it currently does. We have touched on some of these issues throughout the article, but we felt it necessary to really collect all the problems in one place to demonstrate just how much of an issue this is.
In versus matches, we are unable to choose kart class or mirrored courses. In addition, this is assigned randomly per match online. When my friends and I play kart, we prefer to always play 150cc races rather than a combination of 100cc, 150cc, and mirrored races. For those who are inclined, there is no way to play 50cc races with more than one player, and being forced to play mirrored races can be frustrating for some while enjoyable for others.
While it is possible to suggest a random course online, when playing a local versus match it is not possible to choose a random course. Local versus matches also always fill in computer AI to make up 12 drivers (in previous games players could choose to race only each other). Also, the game tracks sets of four races and declares a winner after each set of four, which can be annoying for people who just want to play. Finally, it is not possible to play a real Grand Prix with more than one player (meaning everything must be unlocked via single player mode).
Only two people can play online on one console, and the score is only tracked for the first player. The other guest player does not get scored, and if the guest beats the first player the online versus score can go down because of it. Players are supposed to be matched up via this score, but this seems not to work very well as we often end up in races with 11 people with half our score so that we get plus 5 or 10 points a race but loose 200 or 300 if we don't win. If you're playing to increase score, the guest essentially must play as a side kick rather than another competitor. Scoring using a combination of the guest and player one positions would encourage more "real" racing online.
Characters affect how karts perform, but the effects are not documented or even mentioned anywhere. There is a lack of control as to how quickly a mini-turbo can happen, which removes some of the skill in getting mini-turbos from drifting in older kart games. The interface is clunky, ugly, and is not easy to use and navigate (especially when trying to communicate and play with friends in rooms online), and the rain cloud is just a stupidly horrible item.
Battles can only be played with two teams of six, and playing one on one fairly is not possible as the outcome of two player battles is completely dependent on computer AI players. There could easily have been more courses, as there are 32 tracks on the DS version as well. (Additional older courses would have been very welcome.)
The quality of the item you get or the duration of the effect of an item depends on your position in the race when you hit a question block or are affected by an item. This tends to keep racers squished together as much as possible by helping drivers in the back more than those in front or hurting drivers more when they are close to the front. This compresses the field quite a bit, and there is little reward for gaining skill beyond a certain point.
The Wii Wheel is novel and can be fun to play with but very hard and frustrating to truly master. Those who want to use a GameCube controller will find the button layout changed, and it is not possible to change what buttons do in the game. This wouldn't be as bad if the button layout had improved, but it is functionally harder to use than on the GC kart.
Yes, some of the items apply more to long time fans of the series than those new to Mario Kart, but even if new karters don't complain, they could be getting a better experience if these issues were addressed. Mario Kart Wii seems to be a dumbed-down version of the game, but in the process Nintendo did some really stupid things that take away from the potential of this game to appeal to long time gamers in addition to grandma and grandpa. Sacrifices on this level do not have to be made, as everyone could have been satisfied with just a little more effort and polish.
UPDATE: Thanks to reader wchall01 for pointing out an error in our article. In the upper right corner of the screen when choosing solo or team play under 2, 3 or 4 player it is possible to change the “rules” setting to only 50cc, 100cc, 150cc or mirror. If a player wants to change the difficulty of CPU players or disable them altogether, there is an option for it. Course selection can be set to choose, random, or in order (though we’d still like to see random as an option when choose is enabled). The number of races in a match can be set as well, so the four-race limitation goes away (but it can’t be set to unlimited).
While it is great to have these options offline (making the local experience much more flexible and improved), the lack of these options online is still very frustrating. Beyond this, the fact that we did not find this menu while reviewing the game speaks very strongly in support of our assessment of just how poor the user interface is and how little attention was paid to ergonomics.
Many apologies for the error and any confusion it caused.
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Aloonatic - Saturday, August 9, 2008 - link
The problem that Nintendo have always had with Mario Kart is that they got it right first time. Like that bolognaise you make when you realise you have no bought in sauce, which ends up being the best you have ever tasted you know that it is doomed never to be repeated.On the SNES it was mostly about the racing, the control of your kart at high speeds, with the occasional item that may help you out, may not.
Now, it seems that the the racing has been completely replaced by random chance and all at a snail's pace, even in the 150cc cups.
You can be finishing 1st, 1st, 1st, then 12th???? in a cup. Why? because of constant attacks that are so unlikely and random as to be frankly mind boggling.
The blue shell, seriously, what's the point?
The wii wheel? OK, until you get an itch and then you are buggered, there's no chance of a quick scratch without you finding your self well off the track.
Such a great disappointment.
I guess if I was 12 again I might have the time an inclination to take on this game but I really can't be bothered. What's the point? Your hard work will just be undone by a series of unlikely events.
Athlex - Monday, June 2, 2008 - link
While I agree that the raincloud is a an iffy item, it's worth mentioning that while you have the raincloud, your kart accelerates faster and can drive off-road better which makes for a [slightly] easier handoff.mkfan - Monday, June 2, 2008 - link
The update to the "review" was a little weak. I get that you didn't figure out where the options were, but it's right there in the manual. Granted, the first time I opened the manual was to make sure it was in there, but the fact remains that if you're writing a review for a reputable site, you should maybe RTFM before slamming your subject for not having something that it does. Also, if you're going to do updates, it might help to mention the update somewhere near the information that's updated. Quite frankly, I expected a little more professionalism out of a review from AnandTech.MrBlastman - Monday, June 2, 2008 - link
This is very bad news for us Mario Kart purists who enjoyed the ability to hop around at our leisure.To not include this is rediculous. I don't know if I'll be buying this version after all. I thought Nintendo learned from the sorry excuse of the gamecube version and the inability to jump.
You could jump in the original, you could jump in the N64 version. You couldn't jump in the GC version and it failed. Weather it is important to do or not, it detracts from the fun such as shell evasion etc.
I don't want to have to find a ramp to jump. I want to hop around all day like an idiot if I want to. :)
DerekWilson - Tuesday, June 3, 2008 - link
as noted by one of the other posters, you can jump.it's labeled in the article as well -- it's the drift button. drift, as with other mario kart games, is started via a jump.
also, the ability to jump is labeled in the images in the article as well ... only the author called it "hop" instead of "jump" ...
jordanclock - Monday, June 2, 2008 - link
You can jump. Just quickly raise the controller a bit. And it's probably a shoulder button for the Classic and GC controllers.And I believe you meant "whether" instead of "weather."
Scalarscience - Monday, June 2, 2008 - link
As the above poster stated, you can jump with the wheel, but I found that after the initial fun from the novelty factor of the wheel wore off, the nunchuck+wii controller was the best way to drive, at least for me. When you do that the 'Z' button replaces the 'B' button as your item usage button, the 'B' button becomes jump/slide (for the boost) and steering with the analog stick on the nunchuck is FAR easier than the wheel's method, plus doing tricks off of a ramp and pulling wheelies with the bikes is a lot more reliable when you don't have to use the motion sensing to steer.It took me a day or two of playing in first player mode to really get all of that sorted out. My wife (I really bought the game because she loves it) wanted to just go online most of the time so it took a bit longer to get the details of gameplay down than it would have if I had gamed solely on my own time. Now that I've got a mode of playing I enjoy the game is definately as fun as the n64 and SuperNES version (my 2 favorites).
The shells and being repeatedly bombarded by items definately are annoying, I agree, but the game is fun nonetheless. Since the wii downloaded an update for it immediately upon inserting the disc the first time, I do wonder if we'll be getting more updates (not to mention that it would be nice to see additional downloadable content, more tracks!)
9nails - Sunday, June 1, 2008 - link
One of the downsides to the game, at least for me, is that there isn't an option to restart the race. (Keep all current settings and just go back to the race beginning.) Sometimes we just want to start over, but have to select tracks, characters, and karts all over again.In Grand Prix mode, it becomes quite frustrating to try and unlock all the characters and karts with these power-up items mercilessly destroying you. I've been blown-up by Blue (Winged) Shells seconds before the finish line with a near perfect 4-track record too many times now. Sometimes I've been blown-up by Blue Shells, landed in my own Banana's that were flung off of me by the explosion, and then finally spun off the track - going from 1st to last (12th) in one comedic chain-of-events-attack! It takes me at least 1 full lap to get back to 1st place again. These power-up items are really annoying me! I wish there was a mode to turn them off in Grand Prix or at least a defensible action to reverse the effects of all items. I know that a well timed jump can prevent the "Pow" attack or a well placed Banana can prevent Red and Green Shells from hitting me, so some counter-attack is present. But other special attacks offer no means of prevention - which is especially true if you're not carrying an item to counter-effect the attack.
There also is some "return to track" issues if you go off course. Sometimes I'm placed WELL behind the position where I left the track. Just one bump knocking you off track can cost you 8+ positions before your back up to speed. That's devastating if you're trying to unlock all the items and this happens on the last race. Sometimes the computer returns me a few feet in front of a gap and I have little choice but it fall into the gap as I didn't have enough speed to jump over and clear the gap.
jordanclock - Monday, June 2, 2008 - link
You make a good point of just how ruthless this game can be. I'm bothered that after all these years, all Nintendo can do to make the computer "competitive" is to rubber band them to the extreme. I've been ahead by very large margins before only to have three or four computer players come shooting up at once to overtake me. It's simply ridiculous that they can't simply give the AI the ability to drive properly instead of, essentially, cheat.There is almost no margin of error in this game when competing against the AI. And then there are the very common blue shells, to which there are no defense.
Rob94hawk - Saturday, May 31, 2008 - link
My son found a way for me and him to be the same player. That's when you see a graphical glitch. For example when you select Toad and player 1 puts him on a bike and player 2 puts him in a kart toad has his head rammed into the bike. And then sometimes he will have no vehicle at all and is just there alone levitating. Funny stuff.