Conclusion, final thoughts and awards
So, if you haven’t got the gist of this review by now, here it is in a nutshell: As a single player game, Mario Kart still has that mass appeal but is of limited replay value. Once you’ve aced all the tracks and beaten all the ghosts in time trials, you’ll be left with little reason to go back and play it again. In fact, once you’re into the 150cc class and racing the same track for the third time, you’ll probably even settle for a third place on the podium and not bother going for gold.However, throw in other human players, be it on the same Wii or online and Mario Kart transforms into a whole new life-sucking beast. Team races and battles are best played with other in the same room as you can talk to each other as you drive but both team modes still work pretty well online.
Click for larger imageSolo racing, either on the same Wii or online is where the real action is at and here Mario Kart utterly nails it. The speed of the game, even with a human packed race grid, is surprisingly smooth and through I’m playing over a WiFi connection there wasn’t even a hint of lag in any of the dozens of races. Perhaps one disheartening aspect is to see my frankly piss-poor ranking on a global scale... a bit of an ego popper when I thought I was doing pretty well.
Add in the Mario Kart channel to keep a track of the friends you’ve added and you’ve got yourself what has to be one of the best racers on any platform bar none. And with the game including a Wii Wheel to be found for around £35 and for that you get the four player on one Wii and all that multiplayer fun, it’s cracking value too.
Click for larger imageIf you’re considering buying this then all I’ll say is this: If you’ve people to play it with, buy it.. and for the multiplayer alone, it wins an Editor’s Choice Award. But if you’re more of a solo gamer, think again before forking out the cash.
Pros
New karts, new bikes, new tracks
Superb multiplayer
Comes with a Wii Wheel
Loads of multiplayer longevity
Cons
Single player replayability limited
Wii Wheel/ Wii Remote control a bit ‘dodgy’
16 tracks just repetitions from previous versions
Opponents become real basts in the later races
Mario Kart is bloody superb as a multiplayer game but limited in the single player form
HEXUS Awards
Mario Kart - Wii
