Donut Plains
"My girlfriend is always kicking my arse at Mario Kart DS - the Wii version may be my best chance to claw back some dignity," I say, gripping a white plastic toy steering wheel.
Apparently, in Mario Kart games, having played the first game on the SNES 15 years ago doesn't seem to confer any advantage when pitted against a younger, sharper, mind. In some ways the ideal video-game opponent is someone just slightly better than you. They may win six times out of ten, but the four you win are sweeter for it.
Sadly, I won every race. She blamed her frustration with the new wheel-based controls. My plan had succeeded horribly. My victory was as hollow as the second Wii-wheel I'd suddenly regretted springing for.
(In terms of a review: It's Mario Kart; it's Wii; ergo it's fun. It's probably the best one yet... but incrementally so. In an alternate universe, where Nintendo had released a bad version, I'd be saying "why couldn't they have just released a Wii version of the DS game with extra tracks" but I don't have to - this is essentially that game. Plus, it's got the best element of New Super Mario Bros, the mega-mushroom.)
I did get a chance to check out the online play later. I never really bothered with online play on the DS game. Firstly, I had no interest in "snaking" - the technique where the mini-boost gained from corner drifts can be used at any point. Secondly, on the rare occasion I was actually in the lead in the final lap, the game would mysteriously quit due to my competitors developing unexpected network issues...
Both of these problems are gone from the Wii version (although it now introduces mixed bike and kart races - madness!). The online race experience is slick (by Wii standards). And fun. Of course, since I got my arse handed to me consistently, I think I'll be putting in a little more practice before returning.
The other kind of online experience is the "ghost" challenge for the time-trial mode. I downloaded the ghost-data for the fastest European time on one of the courses and watched it in playback. The ghost-bike keeps pulling wheelies for micro-speed boosts, and takes every corner flawlessly. So maybe if I put in enough time I could try and match him, to eek-off a microsecond somewhere, but would it be fun?
By the time the game is released in the US, I wouldn't be surprised if the times already set by Japanese and European gamers are essentially unbeatable; the optimal paths will have likely been found. You'd just be attempting to replicate actions that have already been recorded. The best chess player born this year has little hope of ever beating the best chess playing computer to be built 20 years from now. Strange game, Professor Falken.
For me, the real fun is in the scrappy races of blue shells, Bullet Bills, those sweet last second victories. And those sweeter last second defeats. Mario Kart Wii has still got these, and for this reason it's worth getting hold of.
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Comments
i agree theres a level of randomness to the wheels.