Thanks to those fantastic stimulus checks that we received this year from the beloved IRS, a brand new Wii system is perched in my entertainment center. Ahhh. American consumerism of Japanese technology at its best. It has been a long wait but it was well worth it. Those units are an elusive bunch. Retailers claiming that once the truck arrives, they merely needed to make a single store announcement over their PA system and all 4-9 systems were sold. Not sure what the Nintendo marketing strategy is with small shipments but if they are trying to keep eager buyers, it's working.
I did not spend much time with the instructions once I ripped it open. Oh, I did some basic setup and mounted the sensor in an appropriate place but that was about it. Instead, I went on a practical mission to buy as many Wii wheels as I could find. I had to visit two stores but I managed to collect four brand new wheels. Same thing for the Wii Remotes. 4 wheels and 4 remotes. Plus that cool nunchuk which you need for boxing apparently, although I have the Sports games I haven't tried it yet.
It is clear to me that everyone should have a Wii. And everyone who owns a Wii should have the best game they make - Mario Kart!
Mario Kart on the Wii is absolutely amazing! What a fascinating piece of technology that figures out all those motions. So many calculations and surprisingly accurate depiction of the controllers. Not only was everything about this system thought through very well, but also it makes you feel immersed and yet free.
I think the wheels are surprisingly responsive. The remotes fit so precisely in the wheels. The car, or pirahnna plant, or baby stroller that you might be driving is really funny. Playing with four people is a riot because everyone gets so competitive. Just when you think you have first place, some blue shell with wings comes flying out of the sky and blows you up. Now you are in 7th place. Sure, you can find some power mushrooms to jet ahead a little faster, but then some red shell starts "homing in" on your rear end. You hear that hyper warning alarm go off. And you know you are doomed if you don't have any strands of bananas dragging behind your car to absorb the impact.
It's a blast! It's very addicting to play. I was surprised at how many levels you can open up from playing solo and winning trophies. I think the leaf bowl is pretty cool. Although, whoever thought of Mario Karting out in space takes the gold medal.
Young or old, this should be a timeless favorite for the whole family. On a scale of 1 to 10, Nintendo nailed it with a 10.
