Most developers follow a simple formula when creating sequels to their existing franchises; keep what was great from past titles, leave out what was terrible, and establish new and exciting elements to the gameplay. Mario Kart Wii seems to twist this formula around, resulting in a game that many fans of the classic kart racer will find lacking in the depth and quality of older titles in the series.
In keeping with Nintendo's initiative to make their games accessible to everybody, the difficulty of Mario Kart Wii has less of an emphasis on how skilled the player is, instead relying more on dumb luck to frustrate the player.
Although the series has a long history of cheap A.I. that use the dreaded Blue Shell to punish you for leading the pack in the race, Mario Kart Wii seems to make the scenario of going from 1st place to 4th a much more common occurrence.
A lot of gameplay elements that added depth in past Mario Kart titles have been completely taken out, such as the inclusion of character-specific powerups found in Mario Kart: Double Dash. The most notable omission is the loss of the "grinding" mechanic used to charge up a turbo boost when going into turns by waggling the analog stick back and forth. This mechanic has been completely automated in Mario Kart Wii, requiring you to merely drift around corners for a set amount of time.
One fun thing added to the series is the addition of motorcycles into the series, creating an enjoyable (if not small) new gameplay aspect. The Bike handle differently from the karts and can pop wheelies on straight-aways for an added boost, but can't gain a secondary boost by drifting. Overall, the bikes don't seem to impact the gameplay to the point of breaking it.
The controls work nicely with the Wiimote-Nunchuck combo, with no real noticable problems to report. While the game touts the ability to be played completely with motion control, the feature just ends up feeling floaty and unresponsive. The Wiimote-Nunchuck combo only uses waggle control to perform "tricks" while going off a ramp, a new feature that allows you to gain an added boost when landing.
Only half of the tracks in Mario Kart Wii are new, with the other half being a retro collection of past tracks in the franchise. While the new tracks are not terrible, they do nothing to advance the series, and seem to lack some of the fun shortcuts found in the older games.
The online aspect of the game is great, bringing back the fond memories of the simple fun found in the series' amazing multiplayer. However, the lack of voice chat and the annoying friend code system still plagues the console as a whole, and Mario Kart Wii is no exception to the rule.
Overall, Mario Kart Wii is a step back for the series, exchanging depth for accessibility. While the gameplay is still simple and enjoyable to a certain degree, the combination of the cheap A.I. and lack of skill-based mechanics like grinding will leave gamers wishing that the game offered more for them instead of their moms.
