Super Mario Mario Kart Wii Online

[Colossal Spoons]

Should be good, way too soon though

 

[Telekinetic]

are you talking about the release date ?

 

[Colossal Spoons]

Yeah

 

[Telekinetic]

Do you think it didnt have enough time in development ?

im sure it will be fine, they wouldnt release it without thinking it was perfect

 

[Colossal Spoons]

Most of us will still be playing the crap outta SSB though lol

 

[Telekinetic]

Haha yeah im gonna be going back and fourth

theyre pretty much the only games that made me get a wii

i still need to try out TP, what other entertaining games are there ?

 

[Colossal Spoons]

Yeah, those 2 sold me on the Wii too. That and my brother buying it

 

[Shifty]

Time to hoard Wavebirds! Or Classic or Gamecube controllers.

More Mario Kart Wii Impressions
Matt weighs in with his thoughts on Nintendo's forthcoming Wii racer.
by Matt Casamassina

March 11, 2008 - Well, I've put several hours into Mario Kart Wii now. Bear in mind that the Wii units which let us play pre-release software are unable to go online, so obviously I couldn't test what is bound to be the racer's biggest draw. (And even if I could, I'm under an embargo not to discuss the online mode.) But one thing I can write about now is the fact that given the choice between playing the game with the Wii remote or a more traditional pad, I would definitely go with the latter, easily, without question. And this, mind you, is coming from perhaps the only IGN editor who forced himself to play Super Smash Bros. Brawl with the Wii remote.

You guys might have listened to my early impressions of Mario Kart for Wii on our Wii-k in Review Podcast (which, by the way, will post on Mondays and with a new name going forward). However, here are some brief thoughts on what I've played thus far, just in case you don't want to download our podcast.

Kart for Wii looks a lot like Double Dash!! with a new 16:9 widescreen mode and bloom effects. The texture work is not overly defined and the character models and environments seem a little light on polygons, but the title does run at a solid 60 frames per second and it does have a clean, colorful style and an overall good sense of polish. The tracks are wide – perhaps wider than those in the GCN effort and the sense of race speed falls somewhere between Double Dash!! (which is slower, in my opinion) and the DS project (which is faster). There are three different race speeds, from 50cc to 150cc, the latter being the only acceptable choice – everything else is both too slow and too easy.

Mario Kart Wii controls adequately with the Wii remote. The karts themselves are heavier and looser than the new motorbikes and this is especially noticeable during power-slides (or drifts, if you prefer), which must be utilized throughout races if you're to stand any chance of winning. You'll quickly find that you need to time power-slides earlier with karts because they don't turn as quickly; trying to take corners using the same technique with motorbikes will send you into the wall, though.

Snaking is out – a good thing, in my opinion -- but you will still gain boosts from power-sliding and the longer you hold your drift, the greater your boost will be. Boost power is also affected by the cars you choose prior to the races. One thing I've noticed, though, is that regardless of my vehicle or how long I hold a drift, the end boost is usually pretty insignificant – it's not like you get this sudden speed burst that really propels you forward; rather, your car more or less farts and by the time you even notice you've gained some speed, it's over. It's just not very pronounced and as a result it's not as satisfying. Yet, there's definitely some strategy to using the slides, as has always been the case. If you time them well, you can drift around corners without losing speed and when you're good enough, you'll be able to drift around a right curve and readjust for a left one without losing much momentum. That stuff is still really fun.

However, it's much more fun with a GameCube or classic controller, I've found. The Wii remote makes an already loose control scheme feel even looser and it is particularly difficult to quickly switch from a right curve or a left one (or vice versa) using the peripheral. After some frustrating rounds in which my Kart became very friendly with the barriers surrounding the tracks, I plugged in the GCN controller and found a much tighter experience waiting. I immediately noticed a dramatic improvement in my rank throughout the courses, too.

I know that Bozon had mentioned in our podcast that he couldn't find a way to perform tricks or wheelies in Mario Kart Wii using a GCN or classic controller. You can, though – the functionality is just mapped to the D-Pad. So when you go off a jump, tap up on the D-Pad and you'll trick. Same for wheelies. That seeming omission was the biggest drawback to using the old controllers, which otherwise offer improved maneuverability mapped to the analog stick, but have no fear because it's all good. It's in there.

Race AI is cheap. The chances are very good that if you're in first place coming into the second lap, you will get nailed by a blue shell, lighting bolt, the squid, a POW block, and maybe a cloud for good measure. You can go from first to twelfth place in a matter of a few seconds, or the other way around. It's all good and fine if you happen to slide into first at the end of a race; you probably won't complain too much. On the other hand, try to imagine yourself bombarded by a host of cheesy items just before you finish a race, only to drop in place behind a half dozen competitors or more – not because you messed up, but because the AI kicked in. This issue is multiplied by the presence of 11 additional racers; more karts, more chances for the deployment of annoying items. It's discouraging stuff. On the flipside, I've actually seen karts ahead of me slow down to let me catch up – almost patronizing me, really – which is also a pretty cheesy way to keep some semblance of balance.

Still, the core experience remains in tact and it's entertaining so far. The more I play it, the more I like it. And frankly, it's unfair to judge the racer based on what I've played of the single-player mode alone. That'd be like rating Smash Bros. on its Subspace Emissary option. The Kart titles have always been decent single-player and exceptional multiplayer affairs and I'm expecting nothing different from the Wii iteration. In fact, with 12-player matches online, I have really high hopes. I would like a very competitive experience. I also hope that – unlike the single-player option, which enables you to turn off or set sporadic delivery of items – you will be able to determine exactly which power-ups you want to individually turn on or off. Like Super Smash Bros. Brawl, in other words. Why not allow that kind of customization? It would definitely make players like me happy.

When I finally do go online, though, I'll be holding a Wave Bird.

 

[Shifty]

Does anyone else feel like this is a bad release time for this game? It's been soooo underhyped. Plus, we don't even have a confirmed name for it yet: Mario Kart Wii? That's it?



This just seems like bad marketing... Reggie, what are you doing?!

We'll see what their marketing is like. Just over a month until the game! Just in time for my birthday.

NINTENDO SPEEDS INTO SPRING WITH MARIO KART WII

Hotly Anticipated Racing Game Includes Innovative Wii Wheel

REDMOND, Wash., March 12, 2008 - This year, the typical signs of spring will be accompanied by the sweet sound of revving engines and the sight of lightning-fast shells whizzing around every corner. Mario Kart® Wii is zooming toward its launch in the United States on April 27. The game comes with the intuitive Wii Wheel™, which makes it easy for novices to compete against veterans, so no one is left in the dust. And with a broadband hookup to Nintendo® Wi-Fi Connection, players can compete with up to 11 other drivers from around the world for racing dominance.

"Mario Kart Wii transforms one of our most popular franchises into a race that every member of the family can join," said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America's executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. "Driving with the Wii Wheel could not be more natural, and this is one place where speeding is encouraged."

Mario Kart Wii will include 16 new courses and 16 classic courses from previous Mario Kart games. For the first time ever, players have the option of racing with either karts or motorbikes. Players can also hit the road as their personalized Mii™ caricatures in addition to the handful of classic Nintendo characters found in the game. True to the series, the game features tons of racing, plenty of power-ups and oodles of objects for players to use to slow down other drivers. And 10 battle arenas will keep players busy between trips around the circuit.

The easy-to-use Wii Wheel will also be sold as a separate accessory, giving every driver in the household a chance to get behind his or her own wheel. And if veteran Mario Kart fans are afraid of getting smoked by rookie drivers using the Wii Wheel, they can rest assured that Nintendo has them covered. Mario Kart Wii supports four different control options: Wii Remote™ with or without the Wii Wheel, Wii Remote and Nunchuk™ controller combo, Classic Controller and even the Nintendo GameCube™ controller. So there's bound to be a configuration that fits everyone's style.

Mario Kart Wii launches with a new channel added to the Wii Menu to enhance game play: The Mario Kart Wii Channel. This new channel builds on the huge online community of Wii owners and lets players compete in tournaments, check worldwide rankings, see when their friends are playing and download ghost data.

Remember that Wii features parental controls that let adults manage the content their children can access. For more information about this and other Wii features, visit Wii.com. For more information about Mario Kart Wii, visit MarioKart.com.

 

[Shifty]

Team Battle looks great.

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/31805.html
http://www.gametrailers.com/player/31807.html
http://www.gametrailers.com/player/31806.html

 

[Havok83]

Next month? I didnt think this was coming out till the summer

 

[Shifty]

Next month? I didnt think this was coming out till the summer

Me too. I believe this game was bumped from Q1 to Q2. Nintendo must have confidence for the second half of 2008 with SSBB, MKW, Wii Fit, Wii Ware all being released in the first 5 months of the year.
E3 should have some big news.

 

[Shifty]

Mario Kart Wii's Battle Mode
The addiction returns, but now it's online. Impressions and new footage.
by Matt Casamassina

March 14, 2008 - Nintendo's long-anticipated follow-up to Double Dash!!, Mario Kart Wii, has nearly arrived. It's set to debut April 10, 11, 24 and 27 in Japan, Europe, Australia and America respectively, and it will come to the Big N's latest console complete with an online component. A 12-player online battle mode is amongst a host of online features included in the package. We've been previewing Kart's single-player mode for the past week, but we finally took some time to play around with the offline portion of the game's battle mode – the online bit isn't functioning in our pre-release builds – and we're happy to report that, yes, it looks and plays like all of the Kart battle offerings before it, which is good news.

The offline portion of Kart Wii's battle mode can be played by four players via a split-screen view, which has remained the standard through the years. Up to eight additional CPU-controlled characters, however, can populate four-player matches, which creates a very frenzied multiplayer configuration. Alternatively, one player can test their skills against 11 AI-powered opponents, which is what we chose to do for the purposes of this preview and in our included video footage, as it best represents the experience that will be played and seen online. Characters are separated into red and blue teams and there doesn't appear to be any means to modify the team structure. Thus, in online matches with 12 players, battles will always be divided into two teams of six.

Gamers will be able to quickly jump into the battle mode, choosing from 12 initial Mushroom Kingdom characters (more are opened up throughout the single-player mode), from Mario and Luigi to Peach, Donkey Kong, Waluigi and Yoshi. Players can also select whether they want to play with karts or motorbikes and even determine some game rules that will have a direct bearing on the matches that follow. For example, the difficulty of CPU characters can be set between easy, normal and hard; CPU vehicles can be set to all, bikes or karts; stages can be set to appear randomly or in order; items can be configured to balanced, aggressive or strategic, and it's even possible to determine the win count during matches.

There are two unique battle modes to pick from: Balloon Fight and Coin Runners. The differences between the two are actually pretty subtle. Nintendo 64 owners will remembers the countless hours they dedicated to four-player Balloon Fights in battle mode and exactly the same setup applies to Kart Wii's offering. Gamers enter battle with three balloons tethered to their karts or motorbikes and every time an opponent successfully hits them with a weapon or item, they lose a balloon. In Coin Runners, there are no balloons – instead, gamers race through courses attempting to amass as many coins, which are scattered about, as possible. Whenever opponents nail players with an item, they lose some coins, and, of course, the racer with the most money at the end of the battle wins.

Meanwhile, regardless of which mode is selected, there are 10 different stages to choose from, all of them available from the start. The selection includes five Wii-specific courses and five "retro" stages. On the Wii side, there's Block Plaza, which is a recreation of the classic N64 battle stage Block Fort. Delfino Pier is, as the name suggests, inspired by the same location in Super Mario Sunshine. Funky Stadium, which features a DK theme, is one of our favorites. It's like a giant skate park filled with acceleration arrows and jumps, not to mention opportunities to power-slide around the entire rim of the level. Chain Chomp Wheel is setup like a roulette wheel with a humungous chain chomp rolling around and squashing racers in its path. And Thwomp Desert revolves around a sandy whirlpool whose center houses an oversized Thwomp.

Classic stages include the SNES Battle Course 4, GBA Battle Course 3, N64 Skyscraper, GCN Cookie Land and DS Twilight House, the latter of which is overrun with ledge drop-offs which can spell disaster for players who don't carefully monitor their power-sliding technique.

The same driving mechanics from the single-player race stages apply. Gamers control their driver with the Wii remote held sideways, a classic controller, a wired GCN pad or a Wave Bird. The Wii remote suffices; players can turn quickly enough by twisting the peripheral to the left and right, power-slide by holding 1 and 2 together around corners, and fire off items by tapping up on the D-Pad (for forward throws) and back (for backward tosses). That noted, we still prefer to play the battle mode with a traditional controller, as it just feels more responsive. Skidding around corners by holding the R trigger on the Wave Bird just feels better, and throwing items with the L trigger is far more intuitive.

So far, we've encountered several recognizable items in the battle mode, such as single and multiple heat-seaking red turtle shells and green shells, bobombs, single and string bananas, all manner of boosts, the POW block and squid, and the invincibility star.

We've been hard on Mario Kart Wii because it seems so similar to previous Kart outings and the sense of speed does not appear to be dramatically different from its predecessors, if at all. However, having toyed around for a little while with the battle mode, we can already see the potential for some seriously addictive online experiences. We state all this with the caveat that Kart for Wii run as smoothly online as it does offline. Looking to the already-released DS version for an indication of what to expect, though, we're not terribly worried.

Be sure to check out today's video montage for a closer look at the offline battle mode in Mario Kart Wii, and stay tuned to IGN Wii through April as we continue to cover Nintendo's racer.

Battle Course 4 was the best from the SNES and 12 racers is going to be crazy. Disappointing there will only be two teams possible in battle.

 

[TLH]

I might just get a Wii simply for this game.

 

[batman44]

Me too. I believe this game was bumped from Q1 to Q2. Nintendo must have confidence for the second half of 2008 with SSBB, MKW, Wii Fit, Wii Ware all being released in the first 5 months of the year.
E3 should have some big news.

Can't wait!!

 

[iambilly81]

Me too. I believe this game was bumped from Q1 to Q2. Nintendo must have confidence for the second half of 2008 with SSBB, MKW, Wii Fit, Wii Ware all being released in the first 5 months of the year.
E3 should have some big news.

i agree. forthem to be busting out there big guns so early in the year like brawl and mario kart. they must have some great ideas and games for later in the year and christmas time. you have to keep in mind, most of the money companys make of games and systems are at christmas time. so for them to be able to have these games out this time of year. theyve got something big comming.

 

[Raiden]

i agree. forthem to be busting out there big guns so early in the year like brawl and mario kart. they must have some great ideas and games for later in the year and christmas time. you have to keep in mind, most of the money companys make of games and systems are at christmas time. so for them to be able to have these games out this time of year. theyve got something big comming.

I can't think of other Nintendo franchises that are as big as Brawl and Mario Kart, though.

 

[Jennifer Walters]

I can't think of other Nintendo franchises that are as big as Brawl and Mario Kart, though.

Mario, Zelda, Metroid, Star Fox, Pokemon, and Kirby would like words with you.

 

[Raiden]

Mario, Zelda, Metroid, Star Fox, Pokemon, and Kirby would like words with you.

Well, they already came out with Mario, Zelda, Pokemon, and Metroid games on Wii already; I guess Nintendo is preparing Star Fox and Kirby for this holiday season then.

 

[Shifty]

We can expect to see Animal Crossing and Kirby at least in Japan.
Disasteray of Crisis may have some gameplay that the hardcore audience will love.
Some would love see Pikmin 3. Wii Music should be out later this year as well.
Is Nintendo going to take a year off and not release a Mario Party game?
Brawl, Kart and Fit will sell well all year long.

 

[Raiden]

We can expect to see Animal Crossing and Kirby at least in Japan.
Disasteray of Crisis may have some gameplay that the hardcore audience will love.
Some would love see Pikmin 3. Wii Music should be out later this year as well.
Is Nintendo going to take a year off and not release a Mario Party game?
Brawl, Kart and Fit will sell well all year long.

I heard that Nintendo will release games that will be compatible with Wii Fit, so that might be good news if they are innovative and fun. I doubt they will have anything as big as Brawl in the holiday, but they just need to have another solid title in the wing or two. I also hope eventually Nintendo will consider releasing another version of Wii, preferably with HD; I just want to store some data in my Wii console without going over, dammit.

 

[Jennifer Walters]

We still could get news of relaunches of other series that have been in the wings for a while that have been rumored to be in development (Kid Icarus and Ice Climbers.)

 

[GregComicFan]

I've watched several gameplay videos.... does anybody else but me think the music is severely lacking? it's boring, not memorable, not catchy....

 

[SuBe]

I know this is probably Off Topic, cause it is, but anyone hear of a Star Fox Game in the Works?

 

[iambilly81]

the wiimote is perfect for another starfox game... so its a given....