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Mario Kart Wii

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Mario Kart Wii
File:MKWiiBoxart.jpg
Developer(s)Nintendo EAD
Publisher(s)Nintendo
Designer(s)Yasuyuki Oyagi (director)
Hideki Konno (producer)
Shigeru Miyamoto (general producer)
Satoru Iwata (executive producer)
Composer(s)Asuka Ohta
Ryo Nagamatsu
SeriesMario Kart
Platform(s)Wii
Genre(s)Racing
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer, online multiplayer

Template:Nihongo title is a racing game developed by Nintendo Entertainment Analysis and Development and published by Nintendo for the Wii console. It is the sixth installment in the Mario Kart series (excluding the two arcade games) and the second Mario Kart title to use the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. The game was released worldwide throughout April 2008, but is still not yet released in South Korea. Every copy of the game is packaged with the Wii Wheel accessory, which is designed to house the Wii Remote to allow more intuitive and conventional steering.

Changes from its predecessor, Mario Kart DS, include motorbikes and support for up to twelve racers online. Like other games in the Mario Kart series, it involves various characters from several Mario games racing each other on tracks themed from locations in the Mario series. Support for the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection allows racing against other players from around the world, and online competitions and results are available by installing the Mario Kart Channel to the Wii Menu.

Mario Kart Wii was first shown at E3 2007. It has been positively received by critics; while not revolutionary, the online capability and the large number of tracks, characters and karts has been praised. The game had a commercially successful launch in every region, and sold over a million copies in both Japan and the United States in less than a month.

Gameplay

See also: Gameplay of the Mario Kart series

In Mario Kart Wii, players choose a character from a roster consisting of up to 24 characters, separated into three different weight classes. A character's weight decides the available types of karts and motorbikes, and their performance on the tracks. Each vehicle has seven different parameters for characteristics: speed, weight, acceleration, handling, drift, off-road, and mini-turbo.[1] Mario Kart Wii includes 32 different tracks, including 16 new tracks, four tracks from Mario Kart 64, four from Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, four from Mario Kart DS, and two each from Super Mario Kart and Mario Kart: Super Circuit, and up to twelve characters can participate in a race.[2] Players obtain items by driving through item boxes, which can be used for either defense, offense, or for powering up the engine. New items from Mario platform games are introduced, including the "Mega Mushroom" from New Super Mario Bros., which allows the character to grow enormous in size and flatten opposing characters.[3]

Mario Kart Wii features 24 (26 counting the two outfits available for the Mii, the digital avatar created by Nintendo) selectable characters, more than any of its predecessors. Twelve characters are available from the beginning; the other twelve and the two Mii variants become available after finishing certain elements of the game. The cast of characters includes 19 returning characters from the series and six newcomers; Baby Peach, Funky Kong, Miis, Rosalina, Dry Bowser, and Baby Daisy, a new character in the Mario series. There are eight characters of each weight class. The Mii's weight class depends on its height and weight, and its creator's favorite color affects the color scheme of its clothing and their vehicles.

Every copy of the game is packaged with the Wii Wheel accessory

The game is packaged with the Wii Wheel, a peripheral that acts as the primary control scheme. The ability to "snake" in previous Mario Kart games, which creates speed boosts by repeatedly drifting, has been greatly reduced in favor of a new speed boost system based on how long the player actually drifts and the angle at which they drift.[4] While motorbikes can perform wheelies for a speed boost, they have a limited turning ability for the duration of a wheelie. Karts cannot do wheelies, but can get better boosts on drifting.[5] Also featured is the ability to "slipstream".[6]

Game modes

Unlike previous installments, "Grand Prix" is only available in single-player mode, although two players may participate. The player races in a series of Grand Prix Cups against eleven computer-controlled competitors. Each cup consists of four races, and may be raced at 50cc, 100cc, 150cc, or the unlockable "Mirror Mode". At the end of the cup, the player is awarded a trophy based on their finishing position and a rating based upon how well they raced. Mirror Mode, which is all eight cups in a mirrored manner at 150cc, becomes available by completing certain elements of the game. In "Time Trial", players try to finish a course as quickly as possible. Like in previous games, the fastest time will be saved as a ghost, a copy of the player's performance which can be raced against. "Versus Mode" entails one to four local players racing head-to-head in a single race on any course either with or without artificial intelligence (AI) players.[6]

The game also features "Battle Mode", consisting of "Balloon Battle" and "Coin Runners". Players are split into two teams randomly, and start on one of the ten battle courses. In Balloon Battle, each player has three balloons attached to their kart. Every time a player is hit by an opposing player, a balloon is lost, and the score for each team is altered accordingly. If a player loses all the balloons, they are given three new balloons. When the time limit is reached, the team that burst the most balloons wins. In Coin Runners, coins are scattered over the battle course. If a player drives over a coin they will pick it up, but being hit by an opposing player causes them to lose coins. The team in possession of most coins when the time limit is reached wins.[6]

Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection

Mario Kart Wii allows players to race against each other through the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, which features online racing and battle modes, supporting up to twelve simultaneous competitors. There are three options: "worldwide", "regional", and "friends". The first two options match the player against those of a similar rank, either from around the world or their surrounding geographical region, and the third option lets the player race against listed friends and uses the friend code system. The courses are decided by a voting system where the course is randomly selected from the courses voted for by the players. When playing online for the first time players are given a skill rating of 5000 points and based on wins and losses, this increases or decreases to rank the player's skill level. The game features online text chat between players where users are able to select from a set of predetermined phrases when playing with friends.[7][8]

The game has the option of installing the "Mario Kart Channel" that requires 79 blocks to the Wii Menu, which presents the current regional and worldwide rankings, and the option of sending or downloading saved time trials (ghosts) using WiiConnect24.[9] Mario Kart Channel also offers worldwide tournaments from Nintendo.[7] The channel enables users to check if any members of their Friend roster are currently online, and to participate in a race or battle with them.[10]

Development

Mario Kart Wii was officially announced at the 2007 E3; the online features and the first footage of the game was shown.[11] During Reggie Fils-Aime's presentation, he unveiled the game via a trailer that showed some of the new characters and tracks. The trailer also displayed that the game would include up to twelve simultaneous racers, and that the dual-character component featured in Mario Kart: Double Dash!! was removed. Additional details of the game were later released in conjunction with the Nintendo Fall 2007 Conference held in October 2007, where it was revealed that it would include motorbikes and the Wii Wheel. New gameplay footage from the game was also shown, and the release date was revealed to be set for spring 2008.[12]

Producer Hideki Konno wanted to include online features for Mario Kart DS, but they were left out due to time constraints. These features would, however, be implemented in Mario Kart Wii. The developers wanted to avoid races becoming more deserted as they progressed, thus altering the online matchmaking to allow players to join a race once it is finished for participation in the next one.[13] Konno had been proposing ideas involving BMX since Double Dash!!, but they were rejected. In Mario Kart Wii, the developers were able to incorporate motorbikes.[13] The game was called "Mario Kart X" internally for a while, before deciding on "Mario Kart Wii".[13] General producer Shigeru Miyamoto's inputs were limited to new aspects of play such as the Wii Wheel and battles over Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection.[13] The designers tested roughly 30 different prototypes with different shapes, colors and weights, before deciding on the final Wii Wheel design.[13]

Audio

The music was composed by Asuka Ohta and Ryo Nagamatsu, who used new interpretations of the familiar melodies from earlier games and also new material. The speaker on the Wii Remote is frequently used during gameplay, as sound effects like crashes and warning signals are emitting from it. It was during the extensive testings of the different Wii Wheel prototypes the developers decided that it would be good to have the voice actors playing the game during recording sessions.[13]

Reception

Mario Kart Wii had a successful launch and sold 300,000 copies on the launch day in Japan alone, compared to Mario Kart DS which sold 160,000 copies on its first day and Mario Kart: Double Dash!! which sold 180,000 on its first day.[23] In the week ending May 4, 2008, Mario Kart Wii had sold over a million copies in Japan alone, less than a month since its release in the region.[24] In the UK, Mario Kart Wii was the best-selling video game in the week ending April 12, 2008, having "the eighth biggest opening sales week in UK software history," according to Chart-Track/ELSPA.[25][26] The game dwarfed all other five Mario Wii games released up until then for the Wii combined when comparing first week sales.[25] In the United States, Mario Kart Wii was the second best-selling video game in April 2008, selling 1.12 million copies, according to the NPD Group; putting it behind the Xbox 360 version of Grand Theft Auto IV and ahead of the PlayStation 3 version, both released in the same week.[27] According to the NPD Group, GfK Chart-Track, and Enterbrain, the game has sold 2.409 million copies in the United States, 687,000 in the United Kingdom, and 1.601 million in Japan, respectively, for a total of 4.697 million copies sold by August 1 2008.[28] As of September 30, 2008, Nintendo has sold 9.53 million copies of Mario Kart Wii worldwide.[29] According to the NPD Group, GfK Chart-Track, and Enterbrain, the game has sold 856,000 copies in the United States, 394,000 in the United Kingdom, and 218,000 in Japan, respectively, for a total of 1.468 million copies sold in the third quarter of 2008 (July–September).[30]

Critical response

Mario Kart Wii has been received positively, especially praising the online capability and the large number of tracks, characters and karts. Joe Sinicki of Blast Magazine comments: "While it still does suffer from some of the problems of the older games, Mario Kart Wii takes the simple and accessible formula set by its predecessors and tweaks it enough to make it feel fresh and fun, creating one of the most entertaining and rewarding gaming experiences in quite some time."[31] Official Nintendo Magazine UK claimed that the Wii Wheel worked very effectively and loved the different multiplayer modes.[32] GameSpot producer Lark Anderson complimented that the game is easy to jump into for players of any skill level and that motorcycles provide a great alternative to go-karts[6], and IGN commented that "Nintendo has delivered one of the best console Karts in years".[19] Plugged In stated that the racing is easy to do and that "the Grand Prix Cup events and several team battle modes keep things interesting".

NGamer, however, claimed that the tracks are too big for local multiplayer matches. Also, IGN criticized the rubber band AI in the 150cc races of the Grand Prix[19] and NGamer UK was disappointed that Battle mode can now only be played in teams; no free-for-all option is offered which removes the 'last man standing' element of previous Mario Kart Battle modes. Reviewers such as GameTrailers and IGN also commented that it is easy to fall from first place to last by being continuously attacked by several weapons, many of which are unavoidable, leading to a certain amount of luck in racing. This makes it more accessible for beginners, but can be extremely discouraging for skilled players.[17][19] GameSpot also noted that "nostalgia doesn't save most of the classic courses from being boring".[6] It won multiple Wii-specific awards from IGN in its 2008 video game awards, including Best Racing Game[33] and Best Online Multiplayer Game.[34] IGN also nominated it for Best Family Game for the Wii.[35]

References

  1. ^ "Guides: Mario Kart Wii Guide p.6". IGN. Retrieved 2008-05-24.
  2. ^ "Mario Kart Wii Weapons Website". Nintendo. Retrieved 2008-03-24.
  3. ^ Nintendo. "Mario Kart Wii Courses Website". Retrieved 2008-05-04.
  4. ^ "Snaking Removed From Mario Kart Wii". GoNintendo.com. Retrieved 2008-05-06.
  5. ^ "Guides: Mario Kart Wii Guide p.10". IGN. Retrieved 2008-04-24.
  6. ^ a b c d e f "GameSpot Mario Kart Wii Review". GameSpot. Retrieved 2008-04-26.
  7. ^ a b "Nintendo Announces Worldwide Mario Kart Tournaments". 1UP.com.
  8. ^ Casamassina, Matt (2008-02-27). "Mario Kart Wii Text Chat Details". IGN.
  9. ^ "Mario Kart Wii Detailed news from 1UP.com". 1UP.com.
  10. ^ "Wii.com". uk.wii.com.
  11. ^ "E3 2007: Not Your Father's Mario Kart". IGN. 2007-07-18. Retrieved 2007-08-03.
  12. ^ "Nintendo Conference 2007 Fall". IGN. 2007-10-11. Retrieved 2008-04-17.
  13. ^ a b c d e f "Iwata asks: Mario Kart Wii". Wii.com. 2008. Retrieved 2008-04-14.
  14. ^ "Review: Mario Kart Wii - EDGE magazine". Future Publishing. Retrieved 2008-04-11.
  15. ^ "Mario Kart Wii Review". Eurogamer. Retrieved 2008-03-20.
  16. ^ "Famitsu Mario Kart Wii Review". Famitsu. Retrieved 2008-04-02.
  17. ^ a b "GameTrailers Mario Kart Wii Review". GameTrailers. Retrieved 2008-04-25.
  18. ^ "Mario Kart Wii review at GameSpy". GameSpy. Retrieved 2008-04-29.
  19. ^ a b c d "Mario Kart Wii Review - wii.ign.com". IGN. Retrieved 2008-04-20.
  20. ^ Nintendo Power, Future US, April 14, 2008 {{citation}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Missing or empty |title= (help)
  21. ^ "Mario Kart Wii Reviews". Game Rankings. Retrieved 2008-09-21.
  22. ^ "Mario Kart Wii (wii: 2008): Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 2008-12-06.
  23. ^ "Mario Kart Wii Sold 300,000 Copies?". Kotaku. Retrieved 2008-04-15.
  24. ^ Michael McWhertor (2008-05-08). "Ain't No Stopping Mario Kart Wii In Japan". Kotaku. Retrieved 2008-05-08.
  25. ^ a b UK CHARTS: Mario Kart Wii smashes records as it hits No.1
  26. ^ "British Sales Charts". Kotaku. Retrieved 2008-04-15.
  27. ^ Brendan Sinclair (2008-05-15). "NPD: US game revs spike on 2.85M GTAIVs". GameSpot. Retrieved 2008-05-24.
  28. ^ "Leading Market Research Firms Join Forces to Provide First Multi-Continent View Of Video Game Software Sales" (Press release). NPD Group, GfK Chart-Track, Enterbrain. 2008-08-21. Retrieved 2008-08-23.
  29. ^ "Financial Results Briefing for the Six-Month Period Ended September 2008" (PDF). Nintendo. 2008-10-31. p. 6. Retrieved 2008-10-31.
  30. ^ "Third Quarter 2008 Sales Results From Top Global Video Games Software Markets Released" (Press release). NPD Group, GfK Chart-Track, Enterbrain. 2008-11-10. Retrieved 2008-11-14.
  31. ^ "Mario Kart Wii - Blast, The Online Magazine". B Media Ventures. Retrieved 2008-05-01.
  32. ^ "Mario Kart Wii - Nintendo UK product information page". Nintendo.
  33. ^ "IGN Wii: Best Racing Game 2008". IGN.com. 2008-12-18. Retrieved 2008-12-19.
  34. ^ "IGN Wii: Best Online Multiplayer Game 2008". IGN.com. 2008-12-18. Retrieved 2008-12-19.
  35. ^ "IGN Wii: Best Family Game 2008". IGN.com. 2008-12-18. Retrieved 2008-12-19.
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