I was thinking what to initially write about Mario Kart Wii because the game is explained in a single sentence: Mario Kart with motion control and Nintendo Wi-Fi play. I’m fairly certain people who read Siliconera are familiar with Mario Kart and Mario Kart Wii doesn’t deviate from the formula. Nintendo even took the time to specify where the racetracks in Mario Kart Wii originated from. Did I just buy the same game again? (I’m joking.)
There are some tweaks to the core in the form of motorcycles and extra items. The giant mushroom power-up from New Super Mario Brothers makes a debut and it makes your character grow large enough to trample other drivers. The POW Block makes all other racers spin as if they hit a banana peel and drop their item. The thundercloud places a smiling ball of water vapor above your racer. You have a limited amount of time to “pass” it to another racer by touching them. If you don’t handoff the jovial cloud it shocks you.
Motorcycles are an alternative to go karts, but besides parameters bikes use the same controls with one exception. You can do wheelies by tilting the Wii Wheel or the remote in the nunchuck/remote control scheme. Wheelies give you a speed burst, but temporarily remove steering while your front tire is airborne. I guess the other advantage bikes have is squeezing in between cars, but the tracks are so wide you probably won’t need to do this often.
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