Mario Kart wiizzes onto the Wii

Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Monday, 10 March 2008 09:57

Your IT - Entertainment

Arriving April 24 into Australian retail stores, the legendary Mario Kart makes its official debut onto the Nintendo Wii at last, while coming with the Wii Wheel that users place their Wii-motes into for a more wii-alistic wace expewiience.

Forget about wascally wabbits, Mario Kart has the world’s most famous pint-sized plumber weady to wace with a host of characters old and new, classic and new race tracks, new vehicles, a new ‘Mario Kart’ Wii channel, the Wii Wheel and makes use of the Nintendo Wi-Fi connection.

Nintendo says that the new Wii Wheel is intuitive, making it “simple for everyone to pick up and play Mario Kart Wii, no matter what your previous gaming experience may be”.

But use of the wheel is not mandatory – you can use the Wii Remote turned sideways instead, you can make use of the Wii Remote and Nunchuk combination, you can use the new Classic Controller or you can even use an old Nintendo GameCube Controller, potentially making it a game with the most controller options ever.

To keep fans of this long-standing franchise happy, there are 16 “classic race tracks” from the Nintendo 64, the Nintendo DS, the Super Nintendo and the Gameboy Advance, as well as 16 “spectacular” new race tracks and 10 battle arenas.

There are also a range of new characters to choose from, including your own Mii, while new weapons and vehicles make an appearance, too.

Nintendo have also added to the range of vehicles by allowing users to race with either karts or motor bikes, with bikes making their appearance for the first time. Nintendo says that racing with a motor bike “will offer different game play possibilities and manoeuvres such as ‘wheelies’, which can be crucial in making it first over the finish line” – perhaps you won’t win by a nose, by but a wheel!

So, what about multiplayer Wii, both through the Internet with up to 11 others (for a total of 12 players) or for a total of four players in your living room? And how much does Mario Kart Wii cost? Please read onto page 2.