Mario Kart Wii

 Wii, Mario Kart Wii (2008) game

A new 'Mario Kart' is a major event, especially for me who'd only played three versions prior to Wii: the N64 title for many hours of multiplayer, 'Double Dash' on the 'Cube for probably even more hours of multiplayer, and 'Super Circuit' on Game Boy Advance (a lot less). 'MK Wii' should be the greatest 'Mario Kart' yet since it included great tributes to all prior editions (SNES original and DS included), and not only that, it was also by far the most comprehensive game in the series to that point - I've been playing both this and 'Super Mario Galaxy 2' this year and they both appear to have been intended as strong opposition to the idea that the Wii was only for short, simple gaming experiences rather than depth or long-lasting challenges. With all this going for it how could it go wrong? I don't think it does, it probably is the best one-player experience in terms of longevity, but there are things about it that prevent it from reaching the five-star heights of both N64 and 'Cube iterations. The control system is an issue (I know, I know, I always go on about controls in reviews, but it's the extension of one's own body, the interface through which one has effect on the digital world so it needs to be right!), as with many Wii games: any that have 'Cube Controller support I tend to prefer, which says a lot about Remote and Nunchuk control, and this game was no different, to the extent I never once used the wireless method. For me it's just a daft imposition to have to drive so imprecisely - yes, it's more like real driving, but this isn't reality and the combination of analogue stick and digital buttons can't be beaten.

I had some minor prior experience with the game when my cousin brought it round back when the Wii was still new in 2008, and I tried the new control scheme then and was roundly thrashed. Of course it doesn't help if you don't know the track layouts, new weapons, etc, so I can't put my weak performance solely down to controls. I had no interest in trying the Remote method on this play, so it's great to have 'Cube control, and takes me right back to 'Double Dash.' It's not far off as an experience, either, since the graphical style and general ambience of it all owes a lot to that game, which was quite a departure from the much more grounded, 'purist' racing of 'MK64,' which for its sharp precision remains my favourite of those in the series I've played. But in fun terms 'Double Dash' had the edge, providing full four-player value and no stinting on graphics or sound, unlike the technically inferior 'MK64.' Naturally you expect each new console to excel on those fronts as they have the benefit of more powerful hardware, but on the Wii side it wasn't such a big upgrade, almost more of a GameCube+ than a great revolutionary leap forward. 'Double Dash' even had its revolutionary steps by including the capability for a massive sixteen players simultaneously, though very few would ever see such a setup as you needed four 'Cubes, four screens, four copies of the game, and most significantly four Broadband Adaptors and all the cables and Controllers to go with them!

The Wii version had the advantage of being the first dedicated internet console Nintendo produced (even though technically every home console they made had that ability, even the Game Boy had a mobile connector, but this was all in Japan!), and 'MKW' was naturally going to be one of their big online titles, but I'm not reviewing this aspect as I've never used that function either on Wii or 'Cube versions, but it's worth mentioning when we're talking about how much of a revolution we can award to this instalment of the series. Of much more interest to me was the doubling of the Grand Prix tournaments to include sixteen tracks from previous games in the series, a masterstroke on the level that makes you wonder why they never did it before. I suspect part of that was the gradual realisation of nostalgia being a big sell, since Nintendo had been in the games business for over twenty years by the time of the Wii's release - one reason they started selling old console games through their online 'Virtual Console,' or compilations, or re-releases of classics which had been a big part of the GBA's library, but going back further Nintendo had always been well aware of their back catalogue of characters and series' that had gained a great fan following and were happy to exploit that: 'Mario Kart' itself was one of the best examples of this as I think I'm right in saying 'Super Mario Kart' on the SNES, the game that started it all, was the first to incorporate multiple Nintendo mascots into one party-filled game, and there were certainly cameos of various characters throughout their gaming history.

Their gaming history had always been important to Nintendo's success, giving people reason to keep coming back for the next in a game series, and with 'MKW' they were able to expand that by including the highest number of racers on the roster than ever before (I could be wrong, I never played the DS version so I don't know how many characters were featured in that), as well as a larger number in-race, expanding that sense of a large field of competitors begun in 'Double Dash.' I always used to play as Donkey Kong, or DK as it was shortened to on 'MK64,' and didn't change for 'Double Dash,' merely including Diddy Kong as the natural co-driver of that game's unique two-person buddy system. But for 'MKW' I switched allegiance to Diddy since we were back to the traditional one-man karting setup and he had that better control I always search for - while I could no doubt have done well with Donkey, Diddy was much better suited to the tight cornering and very precise manoeuvring of the Time Trials. I also hadn't really been doing the multiplayer much, and if I did it was only with one other person, so gone were the days when I used to barge everyone out the way thanks to Donkey's greater size and top speed.

The artificial intelligence of the CPU racers was much improved, making this the toughest 'MK' so far, even as 'Double Dash' had improved on 'MK64,' so no more cheating by appearing right behind you when you'd left them behind, but equally they were tougher to beat, and added incentive was given by the fact a certain number of them weren't available from the start, requiring unlocking. This was one of the game's best features, its incentive-based gameplay, since the old versions had no more replay value as a single player once the few, if any, characters were unlocked, and the Grand Prix' beaten on 50cc, 100cc, 150cc, and Mirror. I've never been a meticulous time-trialler, since I didn't tend to have competition from anyone in that department and had no interest in honing my times by shaving off milliseconds, it just smacks of pointlessness to me, but in this game the Time Trial became the biggest source of lifespan extension as I strove to beat the unlockable staff ghosts, and then knock another ten or fifteen seconds off in order to beat the expert ghosts! It was a real challenge and one I relished, spending hour after hour, week after week becoming intimately acquainted with every bend and stretch of each and every track, learning and getting to know the finest nuance like you wouldn't normally, largely by following the expert ghosts as they tended to follow the perfect line and route, but sometimes finding a better option myself. The point is, it was such a specific way of interacting with the game I have to say it was the greatest and longest draw, a great pleasure unfolding, especially since beating the Grand Prix' was relatively easy in comparison!

It wasn't always 'easy,' I started out finding the game quite tough, strangely, having not played a new game of this type for so long. Even there you have twice as much to do as had been traditional since the standard four cups, Mushroom, Flower, Star and Special were accompanied by Shell, Banana, Leaf and Lightning. On top of that you can get a rating from a letter (C up to A), to a star (up to three), giving yet more incentive to replay, although after getting at least one star on every GP that was enough for me to feel I'd succeeded. And what a great collection of old tracks they were generous enough to include: four from the N64's sixteen, four from 'Cube, four from DS, two from GBA, and even two right back at the beginning, from the SNES! Sherbet Land N64 was lovely to see again, as was Bowser's Castle N64, bringing back so many happy memories, and it would be churlish of me to wish my favourite Koopa Troopa Beach was also included: you can't have everything! Peach Beach GC and DK Mountain GC were probably my picks from the 'Cube era, and it was nice to see Shy Guy Beach GBA, too, a very low-res track recreated accurately but beautifully for the 'big screen'! Not having played either SNES or DS versions I had no connection to them and would've preferred more N64 or 'Cube tracks instead, but it was a delight to have all these old tracks, partly for the delight of more 'Mario Kart' to play, but also for the huge nostalgia value of including the old with the new, while clearly not overshadowing it since it's four extra competitions to go through. I do wonder if different copies of the game had different tracks from past 'Mario Karts' as I was sure one of the 'Cube tracks, Dino Dino Land was what I'd played on my cousin's Wii, and I can imagine that being an incentive to buy up extra copies of the game, if true. Or maybe I simply imagined it?

In terms of the new tracks I didn't feel as complimentary at first, few standing out and everything more bulky and over the top, a continuation of the 'Double Dash' aesthetic rather than the tighter and sharper design of 'MK64.' But the more I played them the more they grew on me: Dry Dry Ruins and Maple Treeway are the ones to have remained most fondly in my mind, while Koopa Cape reminded me of Grass Valley from 'Snowboard Kids' on N64, thanks to its racing down rivers, while also reminiscent of 'F-Zero' by the pipes you shoot down. If I'm going to be honest about my preferences I'd have to say I miss the character-specific items you could get in 'Double Dash,' but the new ones are generally well judged (except the squid ink weapon, which, like the slapping in 'Perfect Dark,' only affects human players and is a big irritation), the Bullet Bill that whisks you towards the front of the pack, the POW boxes that spin out the race leaders and the Giant Mushroom that makes you, well, giant, are all fine, fun additions. There's also the new tactic of slipstreaming, getting a speed boost by following in an opponent's wake, which may not be original, but adds depth: do you risk a weapon coming back at you to tail close behind? A minor nitpick is you can't sound your horn as in 'Double Dash,' and I miss the poignant end music from 'MK64' and would've loved a final score more akin to that, but having also played a bit of 'Double Dash' last Christmas it showed up some of the more subtle improvements. Of course I loved the little hop, missing after 'MK64,' even if it is barely a half-hop it gets some of that tightness back to the racing control. Plus we're back to being able to hold items behind you, the style of standard single karting after 'Double Dash' forced you to fire it off or keep it in hand. The Corner Turbo is also less intensive to pull off rather than needing to wiggle the stick back and forth (or not as strongly, anyway).

It is disappointing you can't see all your track ratings at a glance and whether you came 1st, 2nd or 3rd in each cup, or that you can't put in your initials on the Time Trials boards, though it makes sense as any serious time-trialler is going to fill up the board since you have to win a track many times to get that perfect run. I'd also point out the replay doesn't show time or speed, which is a missing piece if you want to study a time for improvement, though it is of course more instinctive than anything else. Useful that character and vehicle used is recorded - another great thing about the Time Trial experience, as while you can cut to the chase by just copying whatever equivalent vehicle the expert ghost used, there's great pleasure to be found in testing out the various bikes and karts until you discover the one that works best for you, honed to that specific track. At first I did miss the simplicity of the N64 days where you had three weight classes and the choice of eight characters, there's something to be said for that and its immediacy, but this version was definitely meant for a longer, slower burn and the experimentation required to find the perfect combination of character and vehicle is part of the enjoyment, especially, as I say, when you start doing it for each individual track during Time Trial perfecting (I tackled them pretty much in order, though Ghost Valley 2 I left till just about last as that was the toughest with no room for error). I wondered if there were too many characters to make it less focused. The 'Cube had a lot, but that was two per player. I know this was meant for internet play, but perhaps they should have kept extraneous characters online only, except then they'd have drawn complaints you couldn't use certain characters offline. So in the end it came down to the more choice the better after much play, and obviously good for providing unlockable content.

The ability to play everything solo, be that battle or a DIY Grand Prix, shows Nintendo had clearly listened to any and all criticisms, and the quality of the multiplayer experience must be applauded, too, as you have a most comprehensive set of options to tailor the experience to whatever you want it to be: you want to play just one track? Fine. You want pure racing, no weapons? Fine. You want the All Cups Tour with every track and all the trimmings? Super-fine!! Difficulty of opponents, frequency of pickups, it's nice to have more control. Before getting into it I thought it actually had less choice since there was no option for two-player GP, but the truth is you can create it to your own specifications. Having experienced both Battle and Versus I can appreciate the multiplayer, although in common with 'Double Dash,' and even more so, Battle is just a chaotic free-for-all with little of the tactical possibilities of 'MK64' - grab as much as you can and fire it off as quickly as you can.

Yet this game just gives and gives in spades to the extent I wish I'd experienced it fully back in the day. Because that's the key difference between it and its N64 and GameCube forebears: I don't have the nostalgic connection I had to those games. The Boxing Day tournaments of the 'Mario Kart' Championship with all the cousins and sometimes even aunts and uncles, the early days of the N64 when Saturday nights were filled with races and battles against family members... these experiences can't be bettered because they exist as if in amber, hanging in time, and while it's beautiful that Nintendo acknowledged that wonderful history by so generously including so much of it in this edition, it's not the same, nor should it be. This is a whole new set of tracks ready for another generation to form those precious memories they'll look back on in twenty years... Oh, so that would be about now, then! I wonder if those who played 'MKW' are now looking back in fondness to something I've really only experienced in the last few months? That's the oddity of retrogaming, though, tapping into something Now that had so much impact Then. Usually it's tapping into my own gaming history, but on this occasion it feels like someone else's, and while I think it's terrific, it also feels a lot like just more 'Mario Kart,' and I don't know if they could've done anything to make it more than that - the ultimate quandary in everything from books to film: can you create something new in a series while still staying true to it? With 'MKW' they succeeded, but I need more time with it to really give it full marks. Come back in 2045, maybe...

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