Title: Mario Kart Wii
Platform: Wii
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Nintendo
ESRB Rating: E for Everyone

Any Nintendo fanboy knows that the latest Nintendo console offering just isn't complete without some kind of tasty Mario title. Call it a family tradition of sorts if you will, like trimming the Christmas tree or putting shaving cream on a napping dad's hand for Father's Day. Usually gamers receive a steaming plate of platform goodness such as Super Mario 64 or Super Mario Galaxy with each consecutive console release; let's not forget a Mario RPG or an all-out Mario brawl with other infamous Nintendo icons. Even on the portable DS and SP, you can find a plethora of titles mimicking their console counterparts. So with the debut of the Wii console just last year, it was only a matter of time before some incarnation of the Kart library made an appearance.

Now that Mario Kart Wii has arrived (and just in time to keep everyone from going outside to play in the heat), does it live up to its five predecessors as well as the other Mario titles released since Christmas? That's a good question. Naturally, many hard-core fans will disagree with any negative answer. In comparison to other Kart titles, the Wii installment remains virtually unchanged at its core, save for the unique controller setup and additional players, circuits and weapons. But when compared to Mario Galaxy and Smash Bros. Brawl, it's just not as exciting and is the lackluster title of the trio. In fact, Mario Kart Wii gets to be downright annoying, and here's one reason: it only takes one smack of an opponent's weapon to knock you down from first to 12th place.

But Mario Kart Wii certainly has its share of good points that make it a worthwhile purchase. And there's certainly no argument that the main selling point is the unique remote control input and the accompanying wheel clip-on (aka "The Gimmick"). But overall, Mario Kart Wii offers more of the same and doesn't strike out on its own. Indeed, it doesn't take the franchise to new levels and certainly won't grab anyone by the family jewels. Sure, you can steer that imaginary vehicle like you're sitting in an actual kart (without the cockpit visuals). Sure, you can head online and race against other players regionally or worldwide. But as mentioned, why can't these games do something entirely new?

Mario Kart Wii features the same kind of exciting gameplay as previous titles in the series but add a few new touches.

Evidently, someone doesn't want to rock the boat. Of course, there's always the argument that there's nothing wrong with the same old same old no matter what you say. The idea is to improve on the formula, and with Mario Kart Wii, we see three major improvements in the overall franchise: the visual upgrade to a dozen older tracks, online gameplay and the unique Wii remote function. As for the latter, this gimmick was rather cool initially, and Nintendo did the right thing by including the wheel with the actual game. Players simply take the Wii remote and snap it into the front horizontally so that the power button is to the left and the 1 and 2 buttons are to the right. Gamers accelerate with #2 and hit the brakes using #1. The "B" button underneath activated the current power-up. Believe it or not, this setup was incredibly easy to use and captured the feel of driving a bumper car or an actual kart.

But somewhere along the way, the wheel became a total nuisance. There's no real clue as to what actually happened, as this cool gimmick really worked well for most of the Grand Prix. However, by the time the last two circuits of 150cc came around (namely Lightning and Special cups), that very wheel found itself thrown at the wall, at the floor and everything else that might actually cause it harm. It was almost as if the programmers purposely tinkered with the steering, making it incredibly impossible to stay on track in the latter circuits. Hooking up the Gamecube controller did a world of good; however in doing so, some of the initial "kart" feeling generated by the cool wheel was ultimately lost.

In all honestly, the wheel itself only offered that "kart" feeling and wasn't necessarily mandatory in most cases. We actually removed the remote from the wheel and played the game holding it horizontally as if it were still attached, and actually found Mario Kart Wii easier to play. We even broke out the nunchuck and tried the remote/nunchuck combo but found that wasn't even close to the easy GameCube setup. Overall, however, the GameCube controller proved to be the most accurate in steering and overall performance. There was even speculation that the wheel's problematic steering was the result of one's hand moving over the sensor window (ultimately, that did not turn out to be the problem). Is the wheel highly recommended anyway? Sure if you like the idea of the simulation gimmick, only keep that GameCube controller handy when the game kicks up the insane difficulty.

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