Nintendo Wii

Last Updated on Wednesday, 03 February 2010 02:23 Written by Gary-Paul Robinett

What the hell happened to my Wii? Better yet, what the hell happened to Nintendo?! I'm beginning to believe that Nintendo is recovering from that severe head-up-the-ass injury that took place between 1996 and 2005. First they release Zelda, Twilight Princess... and the people rejoice at its beauty and depth. Then comes Super Paper Mario... and the people rejoice that the 2-D platformer is genuine, and has a lot of creative heart. After that comes Super Mario Galaxy... and the people rejoiced as Nintendo breathed life into a STALE genre, and single-handedly saved the platformer from certain doom... Then came Super Smash Brothers Brawl, and the people rejoiced as one of the most anticipated follow-ups of all time does not fail to impress with its multi-multi-multi faceted fighting... And now, they go and make one of the best "Casual Racing" games ever. You ask: "Do the people rejoice?" and to that I answer: "Does a bear crap in the woods?

Last Updated on Wednesday, 03 February 2010 02:14 Written by Dustin Hall Wednesday, 30 April 2008 15:01

The showdown has begun. Mario Kart Wii vs. Grand Theft Auto 4. Personally, I’m thinking GTA4 will edge out the Kart, but with the sheer number of Wii systems that have been sold, Mario Kart has the potential to outdo the competition just from playing the potential numbers. My mom has already mentioned buying it for my youngest cousin, so I know the word has certainly spread amongst the Wiis significant casual player base.

While only time will tell who will win in terms of sales, what I can tell you is the ups and downs of Mario Kart, with a hands on review. I hope Richie will drop his two cents in too, since he’s the racing expert. But I've dabbled in all of the Kart games to date, and every opinion is valid. So let's have a look, shall we?

On your marks…

Mario Kart Wii is a game that requires two reviews: one review for the game, and one for the peripheral, the steering wheel. The wheel is very simple, and thankfully, free with the purchase of the game. Extra wheels are available from Nintendo for an MSRP of $14.99. Personally, I don’t know that I would invest in the extra wheels, they seem like another needless accessory that’s just out there to pad the Big N’s margins. I know friends who have picked up an extra wheel so that their wives don’t get jealous when they play together, but while a fun little visual accessory, I don’t think they’re necessary as an aid to game play. Other reviewers have said it really helps with the control, but from my own experience, the Wii-mote works fine on its own, and all of the buttons are well positioned for play without the need for the extended B-button on the bottom. So the steering wheels remain a fun little piece for completion-ists and collectors, but are really needless in the long run. In fact, if you want to buy mine for $10, I could use the discount on the game. (Note: Already sold. Well, some folks out there seem to really like the wheel add-on. I’m just indifferent.)

But onto the game itself, which is a more satisfying investment than its hollow, plastic accoutrement.

The biggest change in this edition of Mario Kart is obviously the motion control. Happily, this works very well, the controls are very simple, smooth, and accurate. They don’t have the stupidly gimmicky feel of something like Donkey Kong Barrel Blast, and has precision, fun game play, unlike GT Racer, the Wii’s previous wheel-packed excursion.

Of course the controls aren’t perfect, either. I have had an instance where, in the middle of the Special Circuit, the Wii started reading the alignment of my remote about 40 degrees off center. Holding the ‘mote in neutral position, caused me to drag the left wall. When I check the batteries, they were fine, so it was indeed a game glitch; resetting the system took care of the problem. Controls are good, but mistakes do happen, sometimes at frustrating moments. The system will sometimes just lose track of where the central axis of the controller is, and flip you around. It’s usually a quick fix, but if you’re in the middle of Rainbow Road, this can lose you the gold, a fact that might have some chucking their ‘motes through their TV’s.

Despite the tremendous change in control style, the game feels much the same way the previous series installments did, and if you really have trouble with the motion control you can revert back to Gamecube controllers, or use the Nunchuck for its analog stick.

In addition to the play alteration, this Kart is different for all of the extras packed into it.



Most notably, this is the first game in the series that includes motorcycles in addition to the carts. The bikes have a lower top speed than the carts, but have a quick acceleration and great cornering. They can do wheelies on straight-ways for a speed increase, and also get huge acceleration boosts off of successfully performed tricks.

Oh, did I not cover the tricks? Tricks are a very simple, fun addition to the series that can make or break a race for a player, and give a particular advantage over the computer, which typically forgets to perform them. In both bikes and cars, you can ramp off of just about everything you can see. Curved walls, ramps, bumps, and obstacles in the tracks, when something sends you airborne, just give a quick tug back on the wheel and you’ll flip, spin, and pose. The more air you get, the better the trick you’ll pull off, and the better the trick, the bigger the boost when you land. As far as stunt games go, its no Tony Hawk, heck, its no BMX XXX; but it’s an interesting little addition that can help those who can’t master the drifts. Between these two and the drafting system, there are three mid-track boost systems that take little practice to become skilled at.

Gone is Double Dash’s function of two riders to one vehicle. This time, variety is added into the game by the vehicles at your disposal. In addition to the motorcycles, there are several different weight classes of cars, from basic karts to full-on roadsters. Immediately, each driver has six classes of vehicle to choose from, with more being unlockable. Each one has a vastly different driving style, so pick the one you’re best at, and teach the computer a lesson. In multiplayer, you can mix and match the weight classes, too, so each player can pick the car that suits them best, and no character is completely limited to being a ‘heavy’ or ‘light’ racer.

One of my personal favorite additions is the utilization of the Miis to pepper the background. Not only can you eventually unlock your Mii as a driver, but also the Miis you have saved into your system memory pop up as spectators, obstacles, and shop owners around the racetrack. With the abundance of celebrity Miis out there too, you never know whom you might see around the track. I hear Abe Lincoln has a Frogurt stand in the Coconut Mall.



Speaking of the Coconut Mall, its just one of the many tracks available in the game. And how do they compare to the tracks of the prior Kart games? That’s a difficult question to answer, because so many of its tracks are from the prior games. About 1/2 of the tracks are from other Karts, from the N64’s icy Yogurt Paths, the Cube’s DK Mountain, all the way back to the SNES’s Haunted House, complete with old school boost arrows and falling side rails. While many of the tracks aren’t original, it does have a who’s who of courses that even includes ones from the Advance and DS versions. All of these tracks are also tweaked a bit for smoother race, or even just a few new ramps and hazards. All of the revised old tracks look wonderful. The N64 era tracks look especially nice smoothed out by the Wii’s superior graphics.

 So I played a weekend full of Mario Kart, and I enjoyed it. I don’t know that its one you need to rush out to purchase, especially if you already have the old ones from the VC or on the Gamecube. There are lots of nifty new features, but I don’t feel like the fun factor has been ramped up very much from prior installments, and it isn’t as different from its predecessors as, say, Smash Brothers Brawl was from Melee. But then, I enjoyed Double Dash, which seems to have gotten a lot of shit from people over the years. This one definitely has a feel to it that’s more like Mario Kart 64, so if you preferred that installment of the series, you should give this one a look.

While it isn’t the immediate top of my list I would still call it a ‘must have’, especially if you play a great deal of multi-player games. If you like the previous Kart games but don’t own one, then hop on down to your store and buy it. It can’t top Smash Brothers or Mario Galaxies in its fun and inventiveness, but one can’t deny the game is quality fun that holds hours and hours of entertainment within. More than any other racing game of the current generation, this one will warm your motor coils.

Graphics- I will say that the game does show off the limitations of the Wii system. The spectators are flat, 2 frame animation blurbs, and if you hit a ramp near any of the piranha plants on the course, you’ll see that they, too, are 2-d, cardboard cutouts. So, the game relies on illusions rather than full 3-d models to achieve its look.

That said though, the game does still look pretty spectacular. While the Wii is limited in its graphic power, I’m still always impressed at what Nintendo is able to squeeze out of it, and this is no exception. The sprites are all well animated, and all of the tracks are very colorful. As long as Nintendo sticks with cartoony visual styles, all of their games will look wonderful. So no, its not next gen level, but for what it is, the game is beautiful. A work of art, in fact.

 Sound- Donkey Kong sounds like he’s gotten brain damage. Some time after DK Jungle Beat, he spent too much time in a garage with the engine on and the door shut, and now he’s pretty much unintelligible. Aside from a few rather bizarre SFX choices, everything here is good. The music is wonderfully fun, and the remastered tracks from older Kart games will have your ears alight with the joys of nostalgia.

Gameplay- I would have really liked it if the once rare lightening bolt hadn’t become a common item. Or the POW block. Or all of the items that cause ever racer on the track to simultaneously stop. It happens far too often, and give high acceleration a big advantage over top speed cars. Nit picking aside, the game is still very fun. I’ve found myself addicted to it already, and with the supremely fun multiplayer additions, its well worth the pick-up.

Replay- Unlockable characters, bikes, cars, and tracks. Yeah, there’s a lot of reason to play through the game again. And with the battle and time trial modes awaiting you, at home as well as online, you’ll be sure to visit the Kart over and over. Its addictive to a slightly lesser degree than Smash Brothers, but Kart 64 is still played by my friends a decade later, and I’m sure this title will go the same way.

Overall- I stand by my previous statements, you may not need to rush out right away to get Mario Kart Wii, but make no mistake you should have it in your collection. Kart is a staple in Nintendo’s arsenal, and there’s good reason why. It’s a racing game that both racers and casual gamers can play and enjoy. It puts emphasis on game play over car collection, fun over style. It doesn’t, for my money, draw me in as much as Super Smash Brothers, Mario Galaxies, or maybe even Zelda: TP, but it’s a title I’m glad to have in my library, and will recommend to others.

Score: A-

Last Updated on Wednesday, 03 February 2010 02:19 Written by Matthew Nyquist Friday, 22 May 2009 15:36

I must preface this review with the admission that the first Punch Out!! for the NES was one of my absolute favorite games growing up.  I had the Mike Tyson version and it wouldn't be too far fetched to say that I played it on an almost daily basis.  The odd thing is that I care nothing for boxing.  I just fucking love the game play.

Punch Out!! for the Wii is basically a remake of the original Punch Out!!  Many of you may remember Super Punch Out for the SNES which came out a few years after Punch Out!!  I never really got into Super Punch Out!! due to my feeling that the game play wasn't quite as good.  The controls didn't seem as tight to me, and the characters weren't nearly as good.  I know many liked  that game, and I understand that, I did not.

The Wii version basically eschews many of the new elements in Super Punch Out and returns a formula very close to the NES classic.  I think the 1up review already said this, but I completely agree with it.  A remake should attempt to make you feel as you did when playing the original for the first time.  Punch Out!! for the Wii does that for me.  I immediately stood up and was into it.  Despite the fact that the opponents are basically the same as the NES version, it was like fighting them for the first time.  I think a large part of that is that it takes or retro rose colored glasses and amplifies them.  The bosses are humongous and Little Mac is huge.  Much more so than the original, yet it is exactly how you remember it.  

The characters have little cinemas added as well as voice acting and exaggerated animation.  There are great throwbacks to the original such as some of the original intro music for the specific characters play during these cinemas.  Little touches like Don Flamenco's rose return and new things like his toupee to cover up his baldness really work well.  It is all a mixture of, "Oh, I remember that!" and "This is awesome!"

There really isn't a whole lot more to say about this game.  It works!  If you like the original Punch Out!! there is absolutely no reason for you to not get this game.  Otherwise, you should definitely rent is as the gameplay still works really well today and the game it is trying to replicate is a fixture in gaming history.

Score: A

Last Updated on Tuesday, 08 June 2010 00:32 Written by Greg Niecestro Monday, 07 June 2010 12:52

New Super Mario Bros Wii

 Mario is back! 

Said I, in a Marrrrio voice.  If you’ve played New Super Mario Bros for DS, you know what you’re getting yourself into with New Super Mario Bros Wii.  If not, here’s the deal: 

Mario Bros for NES was great, right?  Well, what if you took that game, updated it, added Yoshi, some crazy colorful bad guys, and some new power-ups?  You'd have New Super Mario Bros Wii. 

What do you need to know?  The game is great.  GREAT