Mario Kart Wii

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Template:Justreleased Template:Infobox Mario Kart Wii is the latest installment of the Mario Kart series. Designed from the ground up for the Wii, a Wii Wheel is included in the package for a more realistic steering experience.

Gameplay

File:MKWiiScreenshot.jpg
Mario, Waluigi, and others race through likely Toad Town in Mario Circuit.

Mario Kart Wii is based off of its predecessors. Up to twelve players race to the finish in a multi-lap race around a given circuit. Along the way, players may employ items, horseplay, and take shortcuts to earn first place.

Also, a new feature called "Stunts" is now a large part of gameplay. When player performs a stunt, the player is able to gain a momentary boost of speed, which allows characters to do a few different things, such as grabbing an Item Box out of midair. One example of stunt is pulling off acrobatics in air, which can be performed by shaking the Wii Wheel upward.

Controlling the Kart

File:Screenshot 183885.jpg
Drifting keeps the speed, and also allows to perform a momentary boost of speed.

The main feature is the use of the motion sensing of the Wii Remote. By tilting the remote, players can steer their karts. Nintendo hopes to address some of the issues game critics faced with the first racing game Nintendo published for the Wii, Excitetruck, by making Mario Kart Wii compatible with the Wii Wheel. Since the Wii Remote is designed to be inserted into the Wii Wheel (as it is not an independent controller) players can also play without the Wheel. So far, Mario Kart Wii showed the compability of playing using the Wii Remote with the Nunchuck attached, the Wii Classic Controller or the GameCube controller along with the Wii Wheel.

  • Accelerate: Holding the button used for, the kart will go forwards. Accelerating time depends on the type of the karts: Lightweight karts show a high acceleration, but low speed. Heavyweight karts tend to have a low acceleration, but a quite high speed. Middleweight karts show an average top speed and acceleration
  • Steer: Steering the kart, Letting drivers take corners.
  • Brake: Braking slows the kart to a stop abruptly.
  • Reverse: The character's kart will go backwards, if the user still holding the Brake button.
  • Look Behind: Players can look behind their kart. In this way, players can be alert from characters incoming to steal the player's place from the rear. This feature once appeared in Super Mario Kart.
  • Drift: Drivers drift to keep the kart's speed, and take corners much better, plus get mini-turbos. Can be set to happen automatically or when a button is held.
  • Mini-turbo: After drifting for a reasonable amount of time, verying on the vehicle used, blue sparks will erupt from the player's rear tyres. Releasing the drift button gives them a short burst of speed. In a kart, players can keep drifting for longer to get orange sparks and a much longer boost.
  • Tricks: Players can pull off a stunt when they jump in order to gain a momentarily mini-turbo. Players can perform one by going through a ramp or hill. in the air, by flicking the Wii Remote (or the Wii Wheel) or pressing the D-pad for a direction, the driver makes a stunt, cheers and obtains a speed boost.
  • Wheelie: Used only when riding motorbikes, drivers can increase the speed when they lift up the front of the bike. While the driver holds the front of the bike, he/she can hardly turn until the driver let the bike's front down.

Modes of Play

  • Grand Prix (1 player) Get points by winning races. After 4 races the players points will be counted. The player must have the most points to win the Grand Prix. The player can unlock many things in this mode.
  • Time Trial (1 player) A solo mach for the fastest time.
  • Versus (1 to 4 players, up to 12 online) Same as Grand Prix, but with custom settings.
  • Battle (1 to 4 players, up to 12 online) Play in a team and defeat the other.
  • Ghost Race (Mario Kart Channel, 1 player) Race against Ghosts of other players who are as good as the player.
  • Tournament / Competition (Mario Kart Channel, 1 player) Compete in limited time competitions. This mode is a replacement of Mission Mode.

Note: Grand Prix mode for 50cc using Karts, 100cc using for bikes only, 150cc using for Bikes and Karts and Mirror (Unlockable) for Bikes and Karts. By winning all the tracks in 50cc or 100cc, it's possible to play with both bikes and karts.

The mission mode appearing in Mario Kart Wii
Baby Mario collecting coins in Competition Mode.

There is a Battle Mode in this game. Additionally, both normal races and battles are playable online through the use of Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection (WFC). This is the second game in the series to utilize the WFC and the first to allow for online battles. Battles will now cater up to 12 players via Wi-Fi connection [2].

File:MKWiimirrorMC1.png
Luigi in a mirrored Mario Circuit 3

Just like Mario Kart DS, it isn't possible to play Grand Prix with multiple playersTemplate:Refneeded. Players can now only win trophies playing alone. It is possible to make Grand Prix within VS. mode, however, VS. mode won't work for unlocking new features.

It is an option to play in teams in VS. mode. Battle mode is split in two options. Balloon Battle: Get points by hitting opponents. If the player looses 3 ballons, 1 point will be discounted from the player's team. Coin Runners: Get more coins than the other team.

Major Changes

File:PeachBike.jpg
Peach using a motorbike in Coconut's Mall.

While every previous Mario Kart game allowed for a maximum of eight racers on each course, up to twelve are on course at one time in Mario Kart Wii.

File:Yosherskart.PNG
Yoshi racing in Toad Factory.

In Mario Kart Wii, players can select twelve types of vehicles, six karts and six bikes for each of the three classes. Vehicles vary, depending on the character's weight type, and color schemes of every kart will also vary regarding to every character who is shown.

A notorious change of the game, is the removal of Snaking, which players tend to gain several consecutive mini-turbos after performing a powersliding. Performing a mini-turbo depends on how long a player can hold the button for drifting. However, there is a strategy to use drifting, something that has always kept on each Mario Kart game. This strategy involves managing the drifts to avoid losing speed.[1].

Another new way to gain speed is performing Tricks. This new feature allows to the players to make acrobatics in air in order to get a short speed burst once landed into the ground.

Motorbikes are vehicles in the game. Peach, Daisy and Rosalina are in an alternate outfit while riding the motorbike, as opposed to their traditional outfit while riding there karts. Motorbikes are better at tricks then karts.

Nintendo have decided against Special Items, which were introduced in Mario Kart: Double Dash. The special items were quite unbalanced, and put the emphasis more on item usage than actual racing, which the game is supposed to be about. In Mario Kart DS, this concept was removed. Nintendo learned from this game in preparation for Mario Kart Wii.

Mario Kart Wii features a text chat in Online Multiplayer Mode. Users can send G-rated pre-written phrases to other users before the series of races starts. There is no facility for a user to type his or her own message [2].

Point Spread Comparisons
1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th
SMK + MK64 + MKSC GP 9 6 3 1 0 0 0 0 – – – –
MKDD + MKDS GP 10 8 6 4 3 2 1 0 – – – –
MKWii GP 15 12 10 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
Green bg signifies victory results (great clapping, character(s) cheering), best after-race music
Yellow bg signifies moderate results (mild clapping, moderate character reaction), same music in Wi-Fi as winner (different in MKDS GP)
Normal bg signifies losing results, losing music
In Super Mario Kart to Mario Kart Super Circuit, 5th or worse forces the player to retry the race. If the racer fares this badly three times, the Grand Prix must be started over. In Double Dash to Wii, the GP normally goes forth.

Playable Characters

A total of twelve Mario characters are available from the start, while twelve more can be unlocked for a total of twenty-four playable characters. [3]

There are three types of Characters.

  • Small: These characters ride in Small karts. They have mostly a good acceration and off-road ratio, but low top speed. By their weight, these characters can be knocked apart if they try to bump onto other kart of superior weight.
  • Medium: They ride in Middle weight karts. Most of these characters show an average acceleration, weight and off-road.
  • Large: These characters are defined by their strength, capable of banging apart other karts with low weight. They ride on Large vehicles, featuring high top speed and weight, but showing low acceleration, moverbility, and off-road.



Unlockable Characters

Template:Spoiler

  • Miis are also featured as secret characters with two different costumes to unlock - a racing suit and an outfit that varies depending on the gender.

How To Unlock

How to Unlock the Characters
Daisy Win 150cc Special Cup
Birdo Play Time Trials on 16 different courses or get 250 wins online
Diddy Kong Win all 50cc Retro Cups
Bowser Jr. Obtain at least 1 Star Rank for all 100cc Retro Grand Prix Cups
Baby Luigi Unlock 8 Expert Staff Ghost Data in Time Trials
Baby Daisy Obtain at least 1 Star Rank for all 50cc Wii Grand Prix Cups
Toadette Play Time Trials on all 32 different courses
Dry Bones Win 100cc Leaf Cup
King Boo Win 50cc Star Cup
Rosalina Have a Super Mario Galaxy save file and play 50 races, or attain at least 1 Star Rank for all 150cc Mirror Grand Prix cups
Funky Kong Unlock 4 Expert Staff Ghost Datas in Time Trials
Dry Bowser Obtain at least 1 Star Rank for all 150cc Wii Grand Prix Cups

Unlocking Outfits for Miis

How to Unlock Mii
Mii outfit A (Racing suit, blue Mii logo) Win 100cc Special Cup
Mii outfit B (Overalls (Like Mario)/Princess Outfit (Like Peach), red Mii logo) Get an Expert Staff Ghost on all 32 courses in Time Trial mode.

Template:Endspoiler

Tracks

File:Mariokartwii sslg2.jpg
Wario and Peach race towards a steep downhill portion of Wario's Mines.

Both new tracks and famous retro tracks from all four previous games are playable.

Race courses are divided into various Cups again: Mushroom Cup, Flower Cup, Star Cup and Special Cup for new courses and Shell Cup, Banana Cup, Leaf Cup and Lightning Cup for old courses. Notably, these are the same as Mario Kart DS.

New Courses

There are sixteen new courses in MKWii, a feature that has been used since MK64.

Mushroom Cup

Luigi Circuit

A new version of Luigi Circuit, this course bears many resemblances to Double Dashes version, most notably the long turn near the end of the track with Dash Panels on the outside. There is also a large Luigi statue near the beginning.

Moo Moo Meadows

A course resembling Moo Moo Farm from Mario Kart 64. This course is distinctly different from the version featured in Mario Kart 64 as players must dodge the cows crossing on the track. The Cows from Wii Play's 'Charge!' were going to be in this course, but were cancelled.

Mushroom Gorge

A course located in a mountainous zone, with canyons. From the abyss, tall mushrooms rise over there, which the drivers can jump on their tops to pass the abyss. The track is not very protected, and any player could fall into the abyss. The course resembles somewhat to some high land stages from New Super Mario Bros where tall mushrooms act like platforms.When inside the cave the mushrooms are harder to jump on.

Toad's Factory

This course shows some conveyor belts on the track, which can change slightly the speed of the karts and some items that stand still on the track, such as Bananas and Fake Item Boxes. Also there is a mud section with Dash Panels, however the panels are sometimes covered by giant bulldozers.

Flower Cup

Mario Circuit

This course features Princess Peach's Castle and other stone buildings to the side of a very wide track. Lush lawns and trees can be seen at the sides. As such, Toad Town may have inspired this course. The stage's backdrop is reminiscent of World 1 from New Super Mario Bros. A blurry sign that may read "Mario Circuit" indicates that this course may be a new version of the classic. Basically a Figure-8, just with a random S-turn not far from the start, Goombas wander around. Also an obstacle is a Chain Chomp.

Coconut Mall

The course takes place around the inside of a mall. This course has two levels and features escalators which can be used to gain a short boost.

DK's Summit / DK's Snowboard Cross

This track bears a resemblanse to DK Pass where racers compete in a snowy-covered slope and racing along in a half-pipe, similar to a snowboarding track. This course includes a cannon.

Wario's Gold Mine

A course with wide roads set in a canyon. A sign with Wario’s face decorates the course along with Warp Pipes and cabins out of reach of the racers. This course features steep declines and sharp turns and may lend itself to the frantic, roller coaster game play of Wario Colosseum from Double Dash. Segments of the track lack siding to allow players to fall off. Additionally, this course employs Boost Pads.

Star Cup

Daisy Circuit

Daisy Circuit is the first course of the Star Cup in Mario Kart Wii. The course travels across a seaside town with a sunset background on a shore. Daisy's castle can be seen in a baroque-style from the background. In front of the palace there are two circular fountains. On the top of the first stands a large golden statue of Daisy and Luigi holding hands with each other while dancing, while the second shows Daisy in her infant form as Baby Daisy.

Koopa Cape

Koopa Cape is a track that is situated around a river and waterfalls. A few Goombas surround wooden ramps which players can jump over and perform a trick. Later, players will reach the river which speeds up the Karts if it is ridden on; after the river finishes meandering, racers will fall down a pipe and go under water.

The music changes when the track is under the water. There are a few revolving bars that are charged with electricity and supported by Koopa Shells; if hit, they will cause the player to shrink as if hit by a Lightening Bolt.

Maple Treeway

A colorful course that is located in a large orchard that seems to be in the autumn. It has falling leaves that somewhat blind the player and two Wigglers that may get in the way as they wander around in a large open space.

A cannon is located near the start that will fire players into a large tree; from there, large branches of the tree must be scaled in order to reach the top whereupon the racers will then decend another set of large brances.

There is a bouncy net towards the end of the course which can be used to perform multiple tricks. Also, situated around the course are piles of leaves which, when hit, may cause a Banana or Mushroom to fall out.

Grumble Volcano

Here, the course starts with a banked curve. There's a few ramps, some stone, some not. Obstacles are flames and Podoboos. There, obviously, is lava, and parts of the course fall away and sink into the lava as the race goes on.

Special Cup

Dry Dry Ruins

Many Pokeys and Swoopers reside in and around the ruins. Inside there is also sand falling from the ceiling, building small sand hills. It has a similar starting point as Dry Dry Desert and the Yoshi Sphinx of Yoshi Desert in Mario Kart: Super Circuit. As usual, an oasis appears.

Moonview Highway

Moonview Highway is a course that takes place in a city. It has a bridge that is lit up with lights as well as the city. The setting for the course takes place at night with the moon in full view. There is also an huge billboard featuring Princess Peach. Lots of traffic travel the road.[3]

Bowser's Castle

A new version of the castle full of lava and Thwomps. It features once again a fire-spitting Bowser Statue, like Bowser's Castle from Mario Kart: Double Dash.[3]

Rainbow Road

A new version of the rainbow-colored rollercoaster track. It takes place above the stratosphere. The track features mainly a 90 degrees downhill, located once after the starting line. This course has a few Mario Galaxy-themed features: Star Bits appear in the background, there is a Launch Star cannon, and part of the music is a remix of the Good Egg Galaxy. This version of Rainbow Road consists of many parts taken from previous versions; A point where the track splits (from Super Mario Kart), a steep drop from the start (Mario Kart 64), Jump Panels/Half-pipes (Mario Kart: Super Circuit), a warp near the middle to the end (Mario Kart: Double Dash), and a Corkscrew (Mario Kart DS).

Reappearing/Retro Courses

These courses appeared in previous Mario Kart installements, much like in Mario Kart DS. This includes 2 courses from the SNES installement, 4 from the N64 one, 2 from the GBA one, 4 from the GCN one and 4 from the DS installment. All these have been graphically updated and have some new details like extra trees and ramps and also new features like jumps, pipe tricks and even added shortcuts. These retro courses appear in the Shell, Banana, Leaf or Lightning cups.

Shell Cup

Banana Cup

Leaf Cup

Lightning Cup

Battle Courses

Wii tracks

Classic tracks

Vehicles

Small
Karts Bikes
Standard Kart S Standard Bike S
Booster Seat Bullet Bike
Mini Beast Bit Bike
Cheep Charger Quacker
Tiny Titan Jet Bubble
Blue Falcon Magikruiser
Medium
Karts Bikes
Standard Kart M Standard Bike M
Nostalgia 1 Mach Bike
Wild Wing Sugarscoot
Super Blooper Rapide
Daytripper Nitrocycle
Sprinter Dolphin Dasher
Large
Karts Bikes
Standard Kart L Standard Bike L
Offroader Flame Runner
Flame Flyer Wario Bike
Piranha Prowler Shooting Star
Dragonetti Phantom
Aero Glider Torpedo

How to Unlock

Template:Spoiler

How to Unlock the Karts
Small
Cheep Charger Attain at least 1 Star Rank for all 50cc Retro Grand Prix Cups
Blue Falcon Win Mirror Lightning Cup
Tiny Titan Unlock 1 Expert Staff Ghost Data in Time Trials
Medium
Super Blooper Win 50cc Leaf Cup
Daytripper Win 150cc Leaf Cup
Sprinter Unlock 24 Expert Staff Ghost data
Large
Piranha Prowler Win 50cc Special Cup
Dragonetti Win 150cc Leaf Cup
Aero Glider Attain at least 1 Star Rank for all 150cc Retro Grand Prix Cups


How to Unlock the Bikes
Small
Quacker Win 150cc Star Cup
Jet Bubble Win Mirror Leaf Cup
Magikruiser Play Time Trials on 8 different courses
Medium
Rapide Win 100cc Lightning Cup
Nitrocycle Attain at least 1 Star Rank for all 100cc Wii Grand Prix Cups
Dolphin Dasher Win Mirror Star Cup
Large
Shooting Star Win 100cc Star Cup
Phantom Win Mirror Special Cup
Torpedo Unlock 12 Expert Staff Ghost Data in Time Trials

Template:Endspoiler

Items

Mario Kart Wii includes three new items: the Mega Mushroom, the POW Block and the Thunder Cloud. Items can be earned by driving through Item Boxes on the courses, just like in previous games. Once a player has done so, an item will be selected via the Item Roulette. In general, players tend to obtain a weak item as a banana or a green shell when they come first. However, if players are in second or a lower place, obtaining a powerful item such as a red shell or a thunderbolt is more frequent. Usually, the lower the place of the player, the rarer and more powerful the item they get.

Voice Cast

Official Artwork

Characters

Items

Promotional

  • Mario kart wii artwork.JPG
    Group
  • Beta Game Logo
    Beta Game Logo
  • Official Game Logo
    Official Game Logo

Trivia

  • Part of the Title Screen Music is used from Mario Kart DS.
  • Princess Peach, Princess Daisy & Rosalina wear biker suits when riding on a bike. However, Wario, the only character in Mario Kart Wii who wore a biker suit in past games, does not wear one in the game.
  • Miis are often seen at the side of the courses, posters, or even on obstacles, throughout the game.
  • The "weight class" system is replaced by a "size class" system. The taller or bigger the character, the bigger (and heavier) the kart is.
    • This explains why Waluigi (who was a middle weight character in past Mario Karts) and Rosalina are classified as large size characters. It is also the first that Diddy Kong and Bowser Jr. are medium size characters (they were light weight in Mario Kart Double Dash!!).
    • The Mario Kart Wii website and instruction manual still uses the weight class system.
  • In the introduction movie, Peach doesn't have her hair tied up in a pony-tail.
  • Since Mario Kart 64, four photos of the leading characters (or all eight in Mario Kart DS) were shown on the left side of the screen. In Mario Kart Wii, they were removed.

References

  1. ^ Matt Casamassina: Mario Kart Wii Impressions
  2. ^ http://uk.wii.ign.com/articles/855/855033p1.html Text Chat on Mario Kart Wii
  3. ^ a b [1]

External Links


Template:Mario Kart Series

[Edit]
Wii games
Super Mario franchise Super Paper Mario (2007) • Mario Strikers Charged (2007) • Mario Party 8 (2007) • Super Mario Galaxy (2007) • Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (2007) • Mario Kart Wii (2008) • Mario Super Sluggers (2008) • Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games (2009) • New Super Mario Bros. Wii (2009) • Super Mario Galaxy 2 (2010) • Super Mario All-Stars Limited Edition (2010) • Mario Sports Mix (2010) • Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games (2011) • Mario Party 9 (2012)
Donkey Kong franchise Donkey Kong Barrel Blast (2007) • Donkey Kong Country Returns (2010)
Wario franchise WarioWare: Smooth Moves (2006) • Wario Land: Shake It! (2008)
Other Super Smash Bros. Brawl (2008) • Captain Rainbow (2008) • Punch-Out!! (2009) • Rhythm Heaven Fever (2011) • Fortune Street (2011) • Skylanders: SuperChargers Racing (2015)
New Play Control! Donkey Kong Jungle Beat (2008) • Mario Power Tennis (2009)
Downloadable Dr. Mario Online Rx (2008) • WarioWare: D.I.Y. Showcase (2009) • Virtual Console games (2006–2010)
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