Mario Kart Wii: Wii Wheel, Controls, Tracks and Reviews

Mario Kart Wii is the sixth entry in Nintendo’s kart-racing series, released in April 2008 for the Wii. Nintendo EAD developed and published it, and Metacritic prints a score of 82 out of 100.

Overview

Wikipedia counts 24 playable drivers and 32 tracks sorted into eight cups of four. Half of the tracks are new, half return from earlier games, the same split used in Mario Kart DS. First-time drivers include Baby Peach, Baby Daisy, Rosalina, Funky Kong and Dry Bowser, and the game was the first in the series with motorbikes as well as karts.

Producer Hideki Konno, who had worked on the earlier entries, had proposed bikes since the GameCube era, but a motorbike under Mario looked odd to colleagues. The project carried the internal name Mario Kart X for a time, the X standing for extreme. Ryo Nagamatsu and Asuka Hayazaki composed, reworking old melodies beside new ones.

How it plays

Four modes exist: Grand Prix, Time Trials, Versus and Battle. Versus and Battle allow up to four players on one screen, with or without computer drivers, and Battle splits people into red and blue teams. Races use the usual item boxes, with attacks, shields and speed boosts.

Controls are the notable part. Wikipedia lists four schemes: the Wii Remote on its own, usually in the plastic Wii Wheel; the remote with the Nunchuk; the Classic Controller; and the GameCube controller. Motion steering is the headline option, while the other three use a stick. Designers reportedly tried about 30 wheel prototypes before settling on the final shape.

Online racing ran over the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection until 20 May 2014. Versus and Battle supported as many as 12 participants, and two players could share one console online. Matchmaking was changed so that late arrivals could join once a race had finished.

Release and credits

Japan got the game on 10 April 2008, Europe on 11 April, Australia on 24 April and North America on 27 April. Metacritic lists the North American date and rates it E. Nintendo announced it at E3 2007, where Reggie Fils-Aimé showed the first trailer.

Reception

Metacritic’s aggregate is 82 out of 100 across 73 reviews. Critics found the racing familiar and safer than Double Dash. Lark Anderson of GameSpot praised how easily anyone could start and liked the bikes, and Mark Bozon of IGN called the visuals basic but polished. Tae K. Kim at GamePro enjoyed the roster, while Bryn Williams of GameSpy found some unlockable drivers bland.

The sharpest criticism hit item balance and the rubber-band AI, which make results feel chance-driven, along with a trimmed Battle mode. Nintendo had sold 15.4 million copies by March 2009, and Guinness World Records lists it as the best-selling racing game ever, though Mario Kart 8 Deluxe has since passed it.

Can you still play it?

The disc works on a Wii, and on a Wii U through Wii Mode, which needs a Sensor Bar for most software. This game has a title-specific wrinkle: the Wii U does not support GameCube controllers, so only the Wii Remote, Nunchuk and Classic Controller options carry over there. Match the disc’s region to your console.

Official online matches are gone since May 2014. Because it was a disc release, the Wii Shop Channel closure in January 2019 does not affect it.