GamerBunny Speaks

When Mario Kart Wii was announced, people were pretty psyched. Mario Kart is a classic Nintendo title that fans have been flocking to for years, and with a very successful installment on the popular DS and the potential of the Wiimote, gamers were really excited about what kind of racing experience Mario Kart Wii would bring.

Sadly, a lot of us were disappointed. However, I’m not going to delve into how Nintendo decided to only have 16 new tracks instead of many more (especially since the new ones were so imaginative), instead opting to have 16 retro tracks as an accompaniment, or how the Battle mode was poorly made or how the graphics could’ve been a lot lovelier or how 12 racers is just too damn much for one track.

No, instead, I am going to talk about the cheapness of those damn powerups found in the item boxes.

Now, we all know that in Mario Kart games, there is a bit of an item bias. If you’re cruising about 20 seconds ahead in 1st place, you’re probably not going to get a Bullet Bill or a Star or even a trio of Red Shells, and if you’re in way last place, you’re chances of getting a Blue Shell are typically higher. This is just to ensure that the first place people are given a bit of a challenge and the one tailing behind have a chance to catch up.

However, Mario Kart Wii goes way beyond this bias and creates an absolute circus if you happen to be the skilled player that takes the lead. Especially in the higher cups, like 150cc and Mirror Mode, you will find yourself being barraged with an amazing amount of Red Shells, Blue Shells, Bullet Bills, POW Blocks, Squids, and even Green Shells will seem to magically hit you more often. Usually, these strikes will happen consecutively and only seconds away from crossing the finish line, and you find that by the time you recover, about four other racers have already overtaken you and you’re left in 5th place. Cue wanting to throw your Wiimote at the TV screen and curse Daisy or Wario to hell.

And all this time, you’ve only gotten powerups such as Bananas, a Green Shell, or a False Item Box, which you can use as some form of protection, but some of the more powerful items completely ignore them. Plus, certain items (such as POW Blocks and Blue Shells) completely take away any items you may have been holding, leaving you vulnerable to another attack (which usually comes only seconds later). Not to mention that when these powerful items hit you, the recovery time is so long that usually a handful of racers have already passed you by the time you are done spinning around in crazy little circles from a hit. It’s really utter, frustrating madness.

Now, I understand wanting to make a game challenging. Everyone who plays Mario Kart strives for that gold medal and it’s usually pretty easy to obtain, so each game needs to be a little more challenging than the previous one. However, this barrage of destruction on first place racers takes the game from being a challenge to being nearly an impossibility. It’s not even about being a skillful driver anymore, but more about how much luck you have during that particular race. You can race your best race ever, but you’re at the mercy of the items ultimately. Even if you’re race is perfect, you can still get in 7th place because of some opportunely placed items only few meters away from winning. This not only makes the game ridiculous, but it also really stops motivating gamers from wanting to ever pick up the controller to try again. You end up getting so goddamn angry at the game that it drains all enjoyment from the race again. (And if you’re anything like me, you start developing grudges against certain Nintendo characters … *cough* Baby Peach)

It’s a real shame when such a classic game like Mario Kart stop being about actual racing and starts being more about luck and cheap shots. The powerups ideally should be a lot more evenly spread out among the racers and the more powerful ones should appear very rarely. I understand that a good Red Shell to the ass of an opponent can be a pretty satisfying feeling, but a Red Shell followed by a POW Block followed by a Blue Shell seems almost cheap, almost like cheating. I think Nintendo really missed the mark on this one when they configured the AI of the other racers and it’s sad to think that perhaps only one or two lines of programming code could’ve been edited to prevent such an error that has annoyed so many Mario Kart fans. I say, if they really wanted to make the game more challenging, they should’ve looked in a different direction … such as making the racers all faster. Now that would’ve been an enjoyable race.

Of course, in this long rant, let’s not forget about some of Mario Kart Wii’s perks, such as it’s enjoyable online play, the great amount of unlockable characters, the huge variety of new karts and bikes, and the innovative new tracks. It’s just sad to think that this game had so much potential and Nintendo seemed to travel the same trodden path once again.

I’m convinced I will be able to beat Mirror Mode, though. I will let you all know.

GamerBunny