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Mario Kart Review
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The Scoop on Mario Kart
In the high stakes world of go-kart racing, anything is possible, and if you have ever wanted to race through a giant water slide, Mario Kart is the game for you.
Consisting of a wide variety of courses that range from mushroom patches to abandoned mines, Mario Kart is full of the high-speed wackiness we have come to expect from this series. A great game for kids and adults, Mario Kart is a definite must-buy for the Nintendo Wii.
Mario Kart - Pros and Cons
Pros
- Loads of different characters
- Wide variety of go-karts and bikes
- Excellent courses full of wacky fun
Cons
- Inability to play as your Mii right off the bat.
Mario Kart - Gameplay
Mario Kart is as much about the wacky fun of sending a turtle shell flying into other vehicles as it is about the race itself. Oh, you want to win the race. But because of the random powerups, you can easily shift from the back of the pack to the front of the race in the last lap -- if you are lucky.
Bouncing from mushroom to mushroom is just one
of many crazy stunts you'll pull in Mario Kart.
If you haven't played one of the previous Mario Kart games, the race takes on new life when you run over a powerup and receive a random power. These can be anything from a bananna that you can throw out onto the road to a temporary burst of speed to the ability to call down lightning on fellow drivers.
As you can imagine, some of these powers can really change the dynamics of a race. They also provide quite a bit of fun.
New to the Mario Kart series is the ability to do stunts in mid-air by shaking the Wii Wheel or Wiimote. And, to support these new stunts, there's plenty of ramps that will send you skyrocketing into the air.
Mario Kart Review - What's To Like
Mario Kart is one of the few games that hits on all cylinders. It's great fun, presents a good challenge, and has a wide variety of game modes. Not only will kids will go nuts playing it, adults will also have a complete blast.
The best part of Mario Kart is the random special
powers you can get to unleash on your friends.
While the gameplay is great, variety is where Mario Kart really shines. You can play as one of twelve different Nintendo characters and ride in an assortment of fun vehicles like Baby Mario's Mini Beast and Wario's Flame Flyer.
And, if variety is where Mario Kart shines, multiplayer is where it explodes. There's nothing like playing as Donkey Kong and pitching a banana in front of one or your friends.
You can even go online and play against opponents all over the world. I especially liked how it pointed out what country each player is from so you can see that you are playing people in the United Kingdom, Argentina, Japan and all over.
Mario Kart Review - What's Not To Like
It's disappointing that you cannot jump behind the wheels of a go-kart as your Mii right from the start. I know there's nothing that puts me into the game more than my Mii. You can unlock the ability to race through the wacky courses with your Mii, but this would have been a nice feature to have from the beginning of the game.
Mario Kart Review - The Bottom Line
There isn't much bad to say about Mario Kart other than the inability to play as your Mii from the start. It has a great mix of fun, variety and balance.
You'll have to weigh tough choices, like choosing the speedy go-kart that doesn't do so well off-road, or going for the bike so you can pop wheelies and speed down the streets. You'll also have to decide if that random ability is worth swerving out of the way for, or if you should just put your finger on the accelerator.
Perhaps the hardest decision to make is whether or not to run out and buy extra Wii Wheels to play the game -- Mario Kart only comes with the one!
But one thing is certain: you won't regret the decision of buying Mario Kart.
Final Grade : A+
Incredibly addictive gameplay coupled with some very creative tracks make Mario Kart the perfect family game.
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