TGWTG User Blogs

 http://www.totalgamingnetwork.com/main/showthread.php?t=179866

GENERIC INFO:
GameSpot username: Allaroundfan_-1, Total Gaming Network username: randomduded12
* Please note that all insults are just poor jokes and as such do not deserve to be commented upon if you disagree with them, but please do comment upon anything else you think I missed or disagree with me on *

My information:
My brawl fc is 0087-1981-1001
Call me rmdud or rdude
And my Wii fc is 4835 1667 2054 0547 call me saberwolf
My MarioKart Wii fc is 3093-9971-6105
Call me srensren
PM me with your code, if you would like to play sometime.

If you are one of the few people left who has never heard of Nintendo's MarioKart series, you probably need to leave your house right now. I would like to start this planned weekly series of reviews by explaining what exactly I am going to do. I am going to review every game I own now or that I have owned/rented recently enough to remember the game more than just, "oh, so I press that button to shoot".

Randomduded12 Review #3- MarioKart Wii
If you own a Nintendo Wii, you have no doubt been bugged by your friends or neighborhood kids to purchase this game. MarioKart is like a religion to some Nintendo fans , but to me it is more or less the most casual, yet competitive racing game I own. This game revolves around controlling your kart while picking up item boxes to attack your opponents; you need to drive carefully, but somewhat recklessly to win most of the time. There are 4 control modes that all work well: the GameCube controller, Classic, nunchuk wiimote combo, and the infamous wiimote steering wheel. All the controller types can be used throughout the whole experience that is MarioKart (keep in mind though how much money could be saved from not using batteries with your gaming experience, so play with the optimal controller: the GameCube controller! Note, the GameCube controller actually plays pretty awkwardly on this game (the tricks function is located upon the d-pad, so it is hard to do tricks actively, without some weird hand arrangements), so try the other options too, and pick the one that fits you best! (DÉJÀ VU yet?)


Generic List of Information:
Characters: 26 including mii variants
Stages: 32 Same # as MarioKart DS
Karts/Bikes: 36 total Karts/Bikes. It is based on weight class though, so there are fewer original Karts and more standard vehicles. Another loss as MarioKart DS had some great original Karts and allowed all 36 Karts to everyone after beating the game completely.
Modes: Grand Prix (Solely single player now.), Vs (online/offline multiple or solo), Battle (coin battle or balloon battle, multiple or solo), Time Trials (online ghosts/offline, leader boards for pretty much everything) Online Wi-Fi, License settings, rules, and the MarioKart Channel. If I missed any, go look at them yourselves.


EDIT: Above picture will not show, so I will attach. YouTube is comprised of fan boys, who cannot accept another person's opinion should it disagree with theirs, so my comments with my opinions will go into more constructive websites such as TGN. Lilkidd88 however, took the time to point out some flaws within my argument, but they too are partially wrong at least in their knowledge of the game and what I meant by my comments.

MARIOKART OVERVIEW

OK, MarioKart has been a staple of each Nintendo system since the Super Nintendo. There are 8 games considered in the MarioKart series, but two are arcade only, so I've never seen any of those games. The most recent console MarioKart was the DS version, which added online play to the same standard formula laid down by its predecessors. It was revolutionary for the series, but at the same time cut back on certain features that appealed to hardcore fans. It took away a fan favorite multiplayer mode, Bob-omb Battle. This mode only exists within the GameCube edition: MarioKart DoubleDash. DoubleDash also had another multiplayer mode called Shine Race, but that has been replaced by Coin Battle now. Bob-omb Battle was the reason I played DoubleDash for longer than a couple of days. It was pure outrageous fun with mayhem and colorful explosions engulfing you and your opponents. However, this title was also plagued by a problem that many other games had during the last generation of videogame consoles: it required other players than you. There were no CPUs that you could play whenever you wanted except in racing, so this game became a sporadic title to play only when my friends were around. MarioKart Wii follows in the footsteps of its handheld brethren, offering CPU battles and online modes that usually shine. However, it also neglected to include my favorite multiplayer mode, so no fun for me.

Past MarioKart games have included the option to control items, but the controls for this are incredibly vague. What does a strategic or aggressive setting mean? Why not allow the player to pick and choose which item they wanted similarly to Super Smash Brothers? This choice is a nice touch, but I never figured out which items were included with which option because I did not want to waste my time looking it up or experimenting with it until I could prove that this item was not included. A little more explanation here would be nice, but I have no doubt it is on the Internet somewhere.


OFFLINE/LOCAL MODES

The Grand prix has usually been an option for multiple players to participate in, but in MarioKart Wii, this feature is cut. Instead they make you race for x amount of times before saying this person won or this team won. These modes all work, but I quickly tired of them before I got anywhere near completing the game.

If you are playing this offline, the CPU can kick your behind even when on Normal difficulty (Anecdote time: One fine, glorious day, a group of friends came over to the magical land of good games. In this land, they decided to play MarioKart Wii. Now, this was their first time playing this game and they had rarely played previous incarnations, but they figured how bad could it be? Pretty damn bad. They played a few games that allowed them to adjust to the controls, but dove head first into the maelstrom of evil that is Team Battle mode. Naturally they wanted to start off on the same team, so they entered their first match. They were quickly shamed, with a results score of 25 to 12. Their CPU teammates got 0 points while just two opponent CPUs got 11 pts apiece. Nintendo, I don't understand what is wrong with you (I know they are already on shrooms (Mushroom Kingdom, biggest euphemism for drug use ever?), but this is just plain messed up).). Offline/local modes aren't anything special, but they work and they all include CPUs now, so you no longer have to wait for friends, so for all the readers without any friends (That's all of you) can still enjoy the game.

ONLINE MODES
One highlight many people give is the online. It's free, it works, and it is typically fun. However, many times people will disconnect randomly or sometime your internet will screw up too. This will vary, but you will run into this problem as well as some slight lag that can cause you to screw up, but not nearly as bad as lag in Super Smash Brothers. One thing that surprised me was an online challenge/tournament mode that reminds me of MarioKart DS's challenge mode, which was incredibly fun and unique, so this definitely something to look forward to. Joining matches is easy and fast, but then you have to wait until the current round is over, so the wait can last longer than a couple of minutes, but it isn't too boring as you are allowed to watch your competitors race/battle. There is also the option to download ghosts of other player's time trials, trying to outrace various online players is more fun than you would suspect, but eventually most people will tire of this mode. The battles are hectic and interesting, but you cannot battle on your own; no free-for-all at all. Nintendo offers so much leeway regarding the other modes, but it enforces this silly regulation? I was already disappointed by the lack of Bob-omb battle, but this requirement pretty much put me off battle mode entirely. Typically, your team will comprise idiots and the one skilled player who has to provide for the retarded nimrods that play this game. The online works better than Brawl's mangled mess and it offers a huge step above MarioKart DS, so all players should at least give online a chance.

PROBLEMS/OPINIONS
(There are tons. A lot of these are opinions though. There are also repetitions of previously stated issues)

You cannot play with two people in a kart, this was another reason why DoubleDash is one of my favorite MarioKarts. It allowed for extra strategy, some great Co-op play, and more fun multiplayer battles. Neglecting Bob-omb battle, many people won't care about this, but that was my favorite part of the old MarioKarts. Took out the small span of invincibility that prevented you from being put into a combo by repeated attacks from your opponents (Combos are a horrible idea in a racing game Nintendo). You can literally go from 1st to last place from an extended combo or just the rubber banding AI. Rubber banding AI is AI that will essentially cheat, so it can recover perfectly from a combo and return to 1st place with the snap of a finger. They also tend to return with items that seem impossible for the player to maintain in first place. Because the AI is rarely far behind you, this problem plagues the whole game. Disconnects still occur for everyone, but at least they occur far less often. (should this be a plus or minus? Paradox time!) Speaking of paradoxes, the opening intro makes no sense. Mario and Luigi are apparently playing MarioKart Wii with two Wii Wheels. This isn't possible and it just made me cringe. The intro team must have had only a day or two to put this together, but I somehow understand their original intent. They wanted to catch the spirit of two friends/brothers playing the game competitively. Stick to humans for the cheesy Wii commercials/intros, Nintendo or just make a game montage of epic moments. This was just bad.

Items, I would like more information on the item choices or a Super Smash Bros. style option that simplifies picking each item. Speaking of Smash bros., this game also doesn't include any way to alter your controls, so this takes away from the game if you dislike placement of a certain function such as the tricks located on the d-pad on the GameCube controller. Some classic items were taken out (ghost boo, feather still isn't back, also many of Double Dash's special items don't make a comeback.) Some characters from previous games are no longer included even though they were fairly interesting and unique. To unlock everything, there are limited ways to do so, but some of the requirements are out of reach for certain players. What if the player doesn't like the Grand Prix or isn't good at it, but they want all the characters? In MarioKart Wii, they probably won't be able to unlock a large portion of the game if this is the case. Nintendo, this is unfair to them as they still paid the entrance price of 50 dollars, but are only getting half of the experience. Certain items follow you leading to your doom. Ex. Blue shells will strike during midair jumps and will cause you to fall to the ground, thus losing your lead and having to collect any items you had collected again. The item placement is incredibly unfair. In first place, the probabilities for anything useful are incredibly low, so you are stuck with bananas , just one green shell, etc.. Allow me to defend my title against the behemoths with Bullet Bills and Blue Shells, then I will respect you Sir Nintendo. Online players can vary from dumber than stumps or more evil than Satan himself. Some players literally can not steer while others will purposely try to knock one person off the track. Thankfully, most players are nowhere near this bad and allow all players to enjoy their online experience. The voice acting reminds me vaguely of a sexual experience with certain characters. (Daisy sounds like she is coming to fruition every time she gets a boost or does a trick.) Voice acting that will repeat hundreds of thousands of times will torture your head continuously until you explode grey matter all over your Wii and TV screen. The Wii motion sensor will not always recognize your turns or may overcompensate, especially if you are farther away. Batteries, this is a problem with all the systems though, so how can I really complain. I would have loved replays similar to Brawl only with an extended time limit, but the game is fine without it.

FIXES/GOOD ASPECTS

Snaking (repeatedly boosting to gain the lead, think constantly getting a mini turbo, so you win and keep your ranking high) has become much harder to do, so this is a definite plus. Albeit, some people enjoyed snaking, so this would be a minus for them. The new boost system is well designed. Two kinds of vehicles: karts and bikes (new vehicles are always a plus). Two modes of control for each bike/kart (automatic and manual: latter for more advanced player, first for players who do not want to worry about controlling turbos and just want to race without extra distractions). Good amount of tracks, characters, items, online options, tricks, etc. In matches between just a few players, the items lose their edge because Nintendo wisely chose to limit the amount of aggressive items and focus on providing a fair and fun experience. Tricks are fun and usually simple to pull off. Uses Miis from your Wii inside certain tracks, which is disconcerting at first, but interesting to see your friends willfully try to pummel you. A ton of retro tracks and new tracks, all are pretty well designed and fun for a while. More tracks for battle mode, but they didn't bring back some of my favorite older battlegrounds and some of the new levels annoy me, so I'll put this as a neutral. Online works really well. Leaderboards, this finally proves to me that Nintendo is keeping pace with their competitors.

SCORE
I've gone on long enough, MarioKart Wii gets a hearty recommendation for the newcomers to the franchise, but for the veterans I give the game at least a rental, more likely a purchase. Newcomers will readily accept many flaws with the game, but veterans have already played and experienced some of the best racing the series had to offer, so our expectations are a little higher. Besides, this game seems to stagnate because it takes small steps forward while eliminating many things that made the series great and original in the first place. The main reason to buy this game is the online, so if you don't have online Wi-Fi don't put this too high on your priority list. Either way, check out the game and I guarantee you will find something you like about it. Nintendo's head has begun the torturous retraction from their "hidey hole".

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mario_Kart_Wii

For a slightly more positive review that I in general agree with, go to
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0ga16L3PiI

I KWING (in general, not always).

Next review: God Of War for the PS2.