View All (22)

Get ready to burn rubber as Nintendo's legendary Mario Kart debuts on the Wii.

Introducing several new characters, levels, and vehicles on top of the addition of stunts and online multiplayer, it seems like Nintendo is pulling out all stops to make Mario Kart Wii a memorable title in the long-running series that dates back to the SNES.

The premise isn’t too far removed from what you may have remembered from the past; the objective is to race your friends or opponents around a track with wacky power-ups scattered throughout until you reach the finish line. The tracks are full of secret shortcuts, power-ups, speed boosts, and traps to slow you down. Maintaining the heart of the classic Mario Kart titles, Mario Kart Wii throws away the Double Dash tag-team mechanics in favor of going solo again. If anything, it shares the most similarities to Mario Kart DS.

New to the formula this year are motorbikes and the ability to pull off stunts. While you may feel anger coming from your insides for the inclusion of these two, don’t let it build up too much as the stunts are for an extra speed boost along with looking cool on the side - if you land the stunt, you’ll be granted a quick speed boost. Also, there’s no stunt system incorporated to tally up points, so no worries about having to accumulate points.

The bikes on the other hand may throw off a few of the fans that would have liked to see Mario Kart Wii stay true to the classics. If players are to use a bike, then they’ll have to be okay with losing one level of their powerslide boost that is usually great for tight corners. On the other hand, the bikes do have the ability to perform a wheelie which is able to help with gaining speed on a straightaway. The bikes also have the chance to avoid bananas and the pratfalls of the track a lot easier than the karts would since they are narrower.

As for the levels, they’re full of boost mechanics to send you flying past your opposition. There are even tracks that have half-pipes thrown in there to give you some elevation with a vertical boost. Other speed boosts include power-ups such as throwing down the standard mushroom behind your kart, using golden mushrooms to continuously speed ahead until it runs out, stars to rocket past players without having to worry about dodging, bullet bills to catapult you forward, and even a giant mushroom (from New Super Mario Bros) that will have you running over the competition. However you view it, Mario Kart Wii is anteing up the speed to a lightning fast pace.