Mario Kart Wii - Official Topic

Then he can post that. Deleting his posts making a completely disjointed argument is pathetic.

Hmm, obviously a game that has people divided. I'm still not sure if I want to get it myself.

It certainly sounds like it'll take longer than about four hours to finish, unlike Double Dash, but unfortunately I don't really care much for online. If split screen is any good then I'll be interested.

Also how does the game handle? Is it incredibly loose like DD or have they tightened it up a bit?

It feels pretty tight to me but I can't remember how it was in DD.

Nintendo have never created a game so fun and infuriating at the same time. This game as a result is going to raise some contention about how good it is.

Khighty your tone does sound very snobbish indeed.

I think it's important to remember this was a introductory game to the series in Nintendo's eyes and that it shows in many aspects. Some of the changes are forgivable because they amount to a whole lot of fun, others are not so because they diminish the level of genuine competition.

jb, the CPU is in control more than you think, in MP online, it does not need to control movement of Karts in order to ruin races. There is nothing random about ? Blocks even if the game gives you that impression. Everything within the AI is constructed so that excitement is created, MK Wii does it in abundance, some like me would say just a little too much at times.

Grumbro said:

So what other item based driving game would you recommend?

Wipeout Pure for me.

MKWii 7.8/Wipeout Pure 8.4

I\'ve played a crap load of fun but infuriating Nintendo games.

Mario Galaxy was incredibly fun, yet some of the later stages are a pain in the ass. But it\'s still do-able.

Mario Parties have been very fun to play, yet can be infuriating to complete - the computer here is very very ott blatantly cheating, but you can still complete it and have a decent time out of it.

Zeldas are incredibly fun, yet have some impossible/infruiating sections to get through (less so then some of the other Nintendo games).

So what I\'m saying is that pretty much all games have difficult/annoying sections, but the fun factor usually does overweigh this.

The ? blocks are random do a degree, but I did say that there are set items you can get in the various places. E.g. a person in first can\'t get a star or bullet bill, nor would a person in last get a banana.

It\'s not as flukey as it may seem, as I\'ve raced in last position quite a few times, and sometimes a fair stretch from the pack, yet get a star or two which doesn\'t help so much in the situation. Items do enhance the experience, and can be frustrating if in the hands of someone pretty tactical.

Good players don\'t use their items right away, so someone who got their triple red shells in 6th could hold it on till they get to 3rd and fire it like crazy. We\'re all going for first place, so there is going to be heavy competition online - and the CPU (offline) would more than likely play like human players. Devious, sneaky and desperate to win.

I\'ve also seen how some people race, and perhaps some time should be taken on the driving skill over the item skill, i.e. not driving like a granny without her glasses.

I do agree that the frequency of some items could be reduced, like blue shells (though I have seen far less blues then in Double Dash or DS for example) and some decisions to include new items were annoying, but with good care in driving and timing usage of items I still strongly believe, in my opinion, that the system is fair and forgiving.

I think the competition level is fine, points are fair and rewarding for those who come in the top 1/2 of the pack (when doing public battles), and even when doing friend GPs it\'s pretty fair to everyone.

The whole point of the game is to use items, and to race well. So if someone has raced well, and used the items they\'re giving to a good effect then surely that\'s a good thing. E.g. if person in first uses his items to keep his lead, so using the bananas to defend, and fake power-ups to cause traps for others, that\'s good. If someone in a lower position uses items to catch up, that\'s good.

I think people are annoyed because it\'s not so easy to maintain the lead. Why would it be? It\'s a racing game, with items, and equally good human players - up to 12 human plays infact - so there will be some stiff competition, even more so than previous Mario Karts imo.

I\'m hopeful the next Mario Kart will refine things for the better. I wouldn\'t say Nintendo haven\'t listened to their fans: 32 tracks, mirror mode, multiple karts, 12-player online, online team GP, decent friend roster system...

The game is not perfect by any means, but still is a solid racer and something I certainly think people are judging too harshly.

( Edited 18.04.2008 11:23 by jb )

Last night I was playing against time trail ghosts again, and I must have halved my time at least... time it takes for me to select the 'restart' option from the menu that is.

I did eventually beat my friends times though, sending the ghost data as a challenge is a good feature when you beat the time.

I have never found Mario Galaxy nearly as infuriating as the Mario Kart single player. I loved every little second of Galaxy.

Also, the thing is, you will never find out if the humans ARE equally skilled. They're probably not. The people who are consantly in 1st/2nd/3rd for most of the match are clearly the leaders of the pack. Being Blue Shelled by the player far behind at 12th does in no way to me mean equally good. If you ask me, it means that worse players get rewarded for doing badly, and better players aren't rewarded as they should be. Better players come in first more often than worse ones, that's for sure, but when worse players win "every now & then" by sticking back for a Star or Mega Mushroom, how do you expect them to want to improve? They won't, therefore a drop in difficulty, and a more evened out game each & every time...

It\'s a 12 player game.

The courses are wider.

People are close together.

People in lower positions use item, people in higher positions
should be able to defend their place.

If they were not equally skilled and were so back, then it wouldn\'t be much of a problem as you can recover and keep your position.

So if they\'re as good as you, then they\'ll be close to the front of the pack, despite being a lower position, and items would have more effect.

( Edited 18.04.2008 12:41 by jb )

If you\'re at the back, and use a star, Mega Mushroom or Blue Shell or lightning bolt or POW, the leaders cannot block it, it\'s impossible, unless they\'re hit by something else at the same time, which is just fluke. Defending yourself from a Bullet Bill or Red Shell is an entirely different story.

When using a sleuth of items on the third lap, the best skilled player, rather than getting his/her deserved position, comes dead last. That is wrong, and I don\'t see any other way around it.

And surely having more players would make it HARDER to get into last place? No, for some reason it\'s the complete opposite. Never before in a Mario Kart game has it been so easy to go straight from first to last from just a single item or two.

EDIT: What I\'m trying to say is: What\'s the point of trying to get better at the game if you can lay back and attack with a powerful item right at the end of the third lap? Hey, I\'m good at Mario kart, but now I can\'t be bothered to try anymore, so maybe I should do that too.

That\'s ultimately what\'ll happen if Nintendo keep this up IMO. You can no longer use snaking (may have been nooby, but it required great skill indeed) to show skill.

( Edited 18.04.2008 12:48 by SuperLink )

But snaking made the whole experiance incredibly dull.
I'd take the multiplayer in the Wii version of over the DS version anyday.

Well, so far for me the skilled racers are consistently first (80% or more) with good racers following in 2,3,4th. There are unlucky times getting blue shelled at the last minute, but at the moment I think it's pretty fair.

I'd take Mario Kart Wii over DS any day.

Well I am in no way in favour of snaking. I think this aspect of Mario Kart Wii is much improved..

Yeah, it was a shame that snaking wasn't the ideal show of skill. Keep in mind that my main complaint is still with GP mode, I havn't played enough Online (enough to know that Blue Shells are more common than they should be though)

Still, in terms of fairness, I think 1 player is less fair than online. I would probably take it over MKDS aswell, had their been an option for item settings in online matches, or at least 2 sections for online matches, one with more basic items, and one with all the items just for fun.

I find it varies online, somtimes you can get loads of blue shells other times you can go throughout a whole race with none appearing.

As quoted earlier, i got this game yesterday and at times ive wanted to throw my wheel through the roof because i get blue shell after 2 red shells after lightning and pow's all in about 10 secs, on the other side its still a fun game, they need to get rid of the blue shell and just have the pow. or something like that.

No, I hate the POW, and like the Blue Shell, at least the MK64 Blue Shell. Not sure if you remember it, it was really rare. It only appeared every 5 matches or so, and hit everyone in it\'s path.

It was an awesome item.

( Edited 18.04.2008 17:42 by SuperLink )

I'm not a fan of this game, to be honest. The wheel isn't great and further adds to my opinion that the Wii remote can only ever be used effectively as a pointer. The tracks seem pretty unimaginative and possibly gimmicky too, seeing as they've had so much time to get it perfect. I hate how they've dumbed down the power sliding as well; I don't want to be molly-coddled round a corner, I want it to be left up to me how I take it. I feel like Nintendo are holding your hand throughout the whole thing.

I haven't taken it online yet, but after playing a few multiplayer games with my flatmates I can't see it topping Mario Kart DS as the MK game of choice.

IMO Power sliding is far better in this than it ever has been. Not too easy (MKDS) not too hard (MK64) I think it's just right.

Also it depends what vehicle you choose on how much "they hold your hand"

The mini-boosts are rubbish though.

Knighty leave off.

I might have found a decent shortcut on Rainbow Road, could shave off some good seconds. Now it's just to manage the rest of the course.

Jambo said:
The mini-boosts are rubbish though.

? Depending what Bike or car you use you get different boosts.
Some of the cars red sparks boost last friggen ages after you get them.

Then the tight turning bikes can pull off multiple boosts on some corners and doing a wheelie straight after one helps even further.

Pushing into the corner with the analoge stick gets sparks quicker eg. if you powerslide left pushing left will get sparks quicker than say holding right to try and balance out the slide.
The system rewards you for taking the corners better and taking a chance.

( Edited 18.04.2008 21:05 by Blade2t3 )

Hmmmmm I agree with Sl a lot. The GP is impossible, especially 1 star on 150cc. 2 more cups for Dry Bowser and the incredibly unfairness of last minute bombing is pure evil!

Please spoiler your posts if mentioning secret chars.

( Edited 20.04.2008 02:24 by jb )

Das Dragon that blue shell trick only works on split screen multiplayer cus online you can't see what items other players have got. So by the time you realise a blue shell is coming it's too late.

Yeah, and besides you should not be aware to give up your position in first to hope to avoid it, it should be unavoidable, but also less frequent as it is. 2-4 in a race has got tp be wrong

BrawlBumBoy said:
Hmmmmm I agree with Sl a lot. The GP is impossible, especially 1 star on 150cc. 2 more cups for Dry Bowser and the incredibly unfairness of last minute bombing is pure evil!

I would go as far as to say it broken in 150cc, there is simply no fun to be had which is quite a change around. It simply as case of getting lucky because the AI is terribly harsh. Annoying, not fun.

There is no way in hell this game is worth a 9/10 in my eyes, it a low 8 at the most for me, I would say a 8.4.

Games that get 9 show areas of excellence, Mario Kart shows none of the excellence deserving of such scores. If you think the online component should initiate a nine then it\'s dumb because Nintendo have merely made something work for a change and now your all happy.

( Edited 19.04.2008 10:57 by Linkyshinks )