As I stated back in my review of the DS Mario kart game, I've found this series to be hit or miss. I loved the original titles but the more recent ones haven't really done anything new to make them worthy of the purchase.
There's a reason i bring this up and it's because this is yet another case where Nintendo plays it safe. We get 18 or so new tracks and about the same amount of returning tracks. So our track selection is rather nice.
New tracks are amusing and inetresting and actually kind of fun. I really enjoyed the Mushroom stage which has you bouncing around on mushrooms in spots. it fit the world of mario and it was different.
That's my problem with this game though. Nintendo strives not to do anything too different or to really expand upon the game. So what we get is more of the same with a few tiny changes that really don't add up to a whole lot.
We get three different CC's this time around. The 50 CC is all about karts and it's fairly easy. Next up is the 100CC which is all bikes, which I believe are new to the series. This mode is a little harder. Finally we have the 150 CC which combines the two together and is the hardest of the CC's but not by much.
I found the game to be fairly easy for the first two laps and then the final lap I got a rain of super power ups sued just against me. That's what I hate. Why not create an AI that is good and doesn't come off as being cheap. Playing through both the 50 and the 100 I never once got a power up stronger than a red shell. No clue why and my most common was a banana.
It may sound like a silly complaint but the Ai constantly got thunder, slam shells and pow blocks. All of which totally hurt yo and stop you dead in your tracks. It becomes annoying that they always get these mega weapons and all I ever got was a lame banana.
This game also uses the Wiimote like a steering wheel and if you buy the game you get a cute little white wheel attachment. I rented the game so I can't comment on how that works. I found the Wiimote controls to be perfect and do the game just as well as a real wheel. The turning was tight and smooth and using the 2 button for gas felt natural.
The difference between the karts and bikes is very minimal and really besides needing a little more prep for turns there was no real difference. It only becomes when you play as both in the 150 as you can sue the bieks small size to your advantage but a kart can knock you out.
Besides that we get a vs mode which is your typical vs racing. There is also a battle mode which has the classic balloon mode and a coin mode. That's it and I really wish they would allow for more mini games or battle types. it gets old quickly and I swear there use to be four battle types back in the day.
On-line multi-player is also present and runs rather smoothly as far as frame rate is concerned. My only problem is that the Wii Friend Code is still in use. It wouldn't be a problem except every game has a different code. I do wish Nintendo would at least make a universal friend code for their first party titles. It would make on-line gaming easier for the Wii community.
Only thing left to talk about is the graphics and the sound department. We get classic Mario tunes that are remixed for the game. Pretty basic for the Mario Kart series but I do enjoy the faster temp for the final laps.
Visually the game is pleasant to look at. No real sense of speed as it appears the wheels never move. Not only that but a lot of the land appears 2d in nature. Making the game look a little lackluster and last generation. It runs nicely though and the character models look excellent.
So, do you rent or buy this title? It depends if you're a fan of the series or not. Fans will love it as it's more of the same they have been playing but new players may be let down as it really hasn't changed over the years and is just more of the same. I realize that doesn't make much sense but Nintendo fans don't want change and it's a shame because with a few tweaks this could have been a perfect game.
Story - N/A
Graphics - 8/10
Sound - 9/10
Control - 10/10
Game Play - 7/10
Replay Value - 7/10
Final Score - 8/10
No comments:
Post a Comment