Mario Kart Wii

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Template:Infobox Mario Kart Wii is the latest installment of the Mario Kart series. Designed from the ground up for the Wii, a Wii Wheel is included in the package for a more realistic steering experience.

Gameplay

File:Racers.PNG
A host of racers plow through Mushroom Gorge.

In Mario Kart Wii, up to twelve players race to the finish in a multi-lap race around a given circuit. Along the way, players may employ items, horseplay, and take shortcuts to earn first place.

Also, a new feature called "Stunts" is now a large part of gameplay. When player performs a stunt, the player is able to gain a momentary boost of speed, which allows characters to do a few different things, such as grabbing an Item Box out of midair. One example of stunt is pulling off acrobatics in air, which can be performed by shaking the Wii Wheel upward.

Controlling

File:MKWiiControls.jpg
Pages 3-4 of the North American instruction booklet, providing diagrams for each type of control.

The main feature is the use of the motion sensing of the Wii Remote. By tilting the remote, players can steer their karts. Nintendo hopes to address some of the issues game critics faced with the first racing game Nintendo published for the Wii, Excitetruck, by making Mario Kart Wii compatible with the Wii Wheel. Since the Wii Remote is designed to be inserted into the Wii Wheel (as it is not an independent controller) players can also play without the Wheel. So far, Mario Kart Wii showed the compability of playing using the Wii Remote with the Nunchuck attached, the Wii Classic Controller or the GameCube controller along with the Wii Wheel.

  • Accelerate: Holding the corresponding button, the kart will go forwards. Accelerating time depends on the type of the karts: Lightweight karts show a high acceleration, but low speed. Heavyweight karts tend to have a low acceleration, but a high top speed. Middleweight karts show an average top speed and acceleration
  • Steer: Steering the kart, letting drivers take corners.
  • Brake: Braking slows the kart to a stop abruptly.
  • Reverse: The character's kart will go backwards, if the user is still holding the brake button.
  • Look Behind: Players can look behind their kart. In this way, players can be alert from characters incoming to steal the player's place from the rear. This feature once appeared in Super Mario Kart.
  • Drift: Drivers drift to keep the kart's speed, and take corners much better, plus get mini-turbos. The feature can be set to happen automatically, or when a button is held.
  • Mini-turbo: After drifting for a reasonable amount of time, varying on the vehicle used, blue sparks will erupt from the player's rear tyres. Releasing the drift button gives them a short burst of speed. In a kart, players can keep drifting for longer to get orange sparks and a much longer boost.
  • Tricks: Players can pull off a stunt when they jump in order to gain a momentarily mini-turbo. Players can perform one by going through a ramp or hill in the air, by flicking the Wii Remote (or the Wii Wheel), or pressing the D-pad (on the GCN or Classic Controllers)in any direction. They do a stunt, cheer, and obtain a speed boost when landing.
  • Wheelie: Wheelies can be performed only when riding Bikes; drivers can increase the speed when they lift up the front of the bike. While the driver holds the front of the bike, he/she can hardly turn until the driver has finished the wheelie, by pressing the brake button.
File:Screenshot 183885.jpg
Drifting keeps the speed, and also allows to perform a momentary boost of speed.

Modes of Play

  • Grand Prix (1 player) Get points by winning races. After 4 races the players points will be counted. The player must have the most points to win the Grand Prix. The player can unlock many things in this mode.
  • Time Trial (1 player) A solo match for the fastest time.
  • Versus (1 to 4 players, up to 12 online) Same as Grand Prix, but with custom settings.
  • Battle (1 to 4 players, up to 12 online) Play in a team and defeat the other.
  • Ghost Race (Mario Kart Channel, 1 player) Race against Ghosts of other players who are of approximately the same level as the player.
  • Tournament (Mario Kart Channel, 1 player) Compete in limited time competitions. This mode is a replacement of Mission Mode.

Note: Grand Prix mode for 50cc using Karts, 100cc using for bikes only, 150cc using for Bikes and Karts and Mirror (Unlockable) for Bikes and Karts. By winning all the tracks in 50cc or 100cc, it's possible to play with both bikes and karts.

The mission mode appearing in Mario Kart Wii
Baby Mario collecting coins in Tournament Mode.

There is a Battle Mode in this game. Additionally, both normal races and battles are playable online through the use of Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection (WFC). This is the second game in the series to utilize the WFC and the first to allow for online battles. Battles will now cater up to 12 players via Wi-Fi connection [1].

Just like Mario Kart DS, it is not possible to play Grand Prix with multiple players. Players can now only win trophies playing alone. It is possible to make Grand Prix within VS. mode, however, VS. mode won't work for unlocking new features.

It is an option to play in teams in VS. mode. Battle mode must be played in teams.

  • Balloon Battle: Get points by hitting opponents. If the player looses 3 ballons, 1 point will be discounted from the player's team.
  • Coin Runners: Get more coins than the other team.

Major Changes

File:PeachBike.jpg
Peach using the Mach Bike in 'Coconut' Mall.

While every previous Mario Kart game allowed for a maximum of eight racers on each course, up to twelve are on course at one time in Mario Kart Wii.

File:Yosherskart.PNG
Yoshi racing in Toad Factory.

In Mario Kart Wii, players can select twelve types of vehicles, six karts and six bikes for each of the three classes. Vehicles vary, depending on the character's weight type, and color schemes of every kart will also vary regarding to every character who is shown.

A notorious change of the game, is the removal of Snaking, which players tend to gain several consecutive mini-turbos after performing a powerslide. Performing a mini-turbo depends on how long a player can hold the button for drifting. However, there is a strategy to use drifting, something that has always kept on each Mario Kart game. This strategy involves managing the drifts to avoid losing speed.[1].

Another new way to gain speed is performing Tricks. This new feature allows to the players to make acrobatics in air in order to get a short speed burst once landed into the ground.

Motorbikes are vehicles in the game. Peach, Daisy and Rosalina are in an alternate outfit while riding the motorbike, as opposed to their traditional outfit while riding there karts. Motorbikes are better at tricks than karts.

Special Items, introduced in Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, were taken out for being too unbalanced. Overall, Mario Kart Wii is based heavily on Mario Kart DS, and not on Double Dash!!.

Mario Kart Wii features a text chat in Online Multiplayer Mode. Users can send pre-written phrases to other users before the series of races starts. There is no facility for a user to type his or her own message [2]. Also, the text chat is only available when racing or battling against Friends.

Point Spread Comparisons
1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th
SMK + MK64 + MKSC GP 9 6 3 1 0 0 0 0
MKDD + MKDS GP 10 8 6 4 3 2 1 0
MKWii GP 15 12 10 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
Grove-green bg signifies victory results (great clapping, character(s) cheering), best after-race music
Yellow-limegreen bg signifies moderate results (mild clapping, moderate character reaction), same music in Wi-Fi as winner (different in MKDS GP)
Normal bg signifies losing results, losing music
In Super Mario Kart to Mario Kart Super Circuit, 5th or worse forces the player to retry the race. If the racer fares this badly three times, the Grand Prix must be started over. In Double Dash to Wii, the GP normally goes forth.

Playable Characters

A total of twelve Mario characters are available from the start, while twelve more can be unlocked for a total of twenty-four playable characters. [2]

There are three types of Characters.

  • Small: These characters ride in Small karts. They have mostly a good acceration and off-road ratio, but low top speed. By their weight, these characters can be knocked apart if they try to bump onto other kart of superior weight.
  • Medium: They ride in Middle weight karts. Most of these characters show an average acceleration, weight and off-road.
  • Large: These characters are defined by their strength, capable of banging apart other karts with low weight. They ride on Large vehicles, featuring high top speed and weight, but showing low acceleration, moverbility, and off-road.



Unlockable Characters

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  • Miis are also featured as secret characters with two different costumes to unlock - a racing suit and an outfit that varies depending on the gender.

How To Unlock

How to Unlock the Characters
Daisy Win 150cc Special Cup or play 2,850 races
Birdo Play Time Trials on 16 different courses, win 250 WFC races, or play 1,350 races
Diddy Kong Win 50cc Lighting Cup or play 450 races
Bowser Jr. Obtain at least 1 Star Rank for all 100cc Retro Grand Prix Cups or play 3,450 races
Baby Luigi Unlock 8 Expert Staff Ghost Data in Time Trials, win 100 WFC Ghost Races, or play 3,150 races
Baby Daisy Obtain at least 1 Star Rank for all 50cc Wii Grand Prix Cups or play 1,950 races
Toadette Play Time Trials on all 32 different courses, win 1,000 WFC races, or play 3,150 races
Dry Bones Win 100cc Leaf Cup or play 1,050 races
King Boo Win 50cc Star Cup or play 750 races
Rosalina Have a Super Mario Galaxy save file and play 50 races, attain at least 1 Star Rank for all 150cc Mirror Grand Prix cups, or play 4,950 races
Funky Kong Unlock 4 Expert Staff Ghost Datas in Time Trials, win 25 WFC Ghost Races, or play 2,250 races
Dry Bowser Obtain at least 1 Star Rank for all 150cc Wii Grand Prix Cups or play 4,350 races

Unlocking Outfits for Miis

How to Unlock Mii
Mii outfit A (Racing suit, blue Mii logo) Win all 100cc Cups or play 1,650 races
Mii outfit B (Mario Overalls/Princess Peach Outfit, red Mii logo) Unlock Expert Staff Ghosts on all 32 courses in Time Trial mode, win 5,000 WFC Ghost Races, or play 5,100 races

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Tracks

File:Wgm.PNG
Wario races towards a steep downhill portion of Wario's Gold Mines.

Both new tracks and retro tracks from all four previous games are playable.

Race courses are divided into various Cups again: Mushroom Cup, Flower Cup, Star Cup and Special Cup for new courses and Shell Cup, Banana Cup, Leaf Cup and Lightning Cup for old courses. Notably, these are the same as Mario Kart DS.

New Courses

There are sixteen new courses in Mario Kart Wii.

Mushroom Cup

Flower Cup

Star Cup

Special Cup

Retro Courses

These courses appeared in previous Mario Kart installements, much like in Mario Kart DS. This includes 2 courses from the SNES installement, 4 from the N64 installement, 2 from the GBA installement, 4 from the GCN installement, and 4 from the DS installment. All of these have been graphically updated and have some new details such as extra trees and ramps, and also new features such as jumps, pipe tricks, and even added shortcuts. These retro courses appear in the Shell, Banana, Leaf or Lightning cups.

Shell Cup

Banana Cup

Leaf Cup

Lightning Cup

Battle Courses

Wii tracks

Classic tracks

Ghosts

In Mario Kart Wii, there are Normal Staff ghosts and Expert Staff ghosts. Beating the normal staff ghosts by a certain amount of time unlocks the Expert Staff ghosts. Unlocking Expert Staff ghosts can help unlock certain characters and vehicles in the game. Below are two tables: the first shows the Normal Staff ghosts, while the second shows the Expert Staff ghosts.

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Normal Staff Ghosts

Normal Ghosts
Course Staff Name Time Character Vehicle
Luigi Circuit Nin*sato 01:29.670 Luigi Sprinter
Moo Moo Meadows Nin*YuNya 01:37.856 Baby Daisy Booster Seat
Mushroom Gorge Nin*Murak 02:16.110 Toadette Quacker
Toad's Factory Nin*Misa 02:22.480 Toad Jet Bubble
Mario Circuit Nin*==Kony 01:44.777 Mario Sugarscoot
Coconut Mall Nin*♪SiMO 02:30.764 Daisy Sugarscoot
DK Summit Nin*mokke 02:34.693 Donkey Kong Standard Bike L
Wario's Gold Mine Nin*morimo 02:19.585 Wario Wario Bike
Daisy Circuit Nin*Toki 01:56.822 Daisy Daytripper
Koopa Cape Nin*Rose 03:03.022 Koopa Troopa Cheep Charger
Maple Treeway Nin*pico 02:58.633 Diddy Kong Classic Dragster
Grumble Volcano Nin*Gorin 02:28.237 Dry Bowser Offroader
Dry Dry Ruins Nin*Kei 02:30.949 Yoshi Classic Dragster
Moonview Highway Nin*KOZ* 02:16.802 Peach Standard Kart M
Bowser's Castle Nin*YABUKI 03:04.836 Bowser Piranha Prowler
Rainbow Road Nin*Konno 03:05.895 Rosalina Shooting Star
Peach BeachGCN Nin*HIRO 01:34.233 Peach Daytripper
Yoshi FallsDS Nin*DoTak 01:16.461 Yoshi Sneakster
Ghost Valley 2SNES Nin*YOKO 01:06.595 King Boo Standard Kart L
Mario RacewayN64 Nin*Ichiro 02:14.799 Baby Mario Bit Bike
Sherbet LandN64 Nin*Sakat 02:48.651 Baby Luigi Quacker
Shy Guy BeachGBA Nin*Kato 01:45.568 Koopa Troopa Cheep Charger
Delfino SquareDS Nin*iwaco 02:41.807 Wario Wario Bike
Waluigi StadiumGCN Nin*NARI* 02:32.882 Waluigi Standard Bike L
Desert HillsDS Nin*Sako 02:10.233 Dry Bones Bit Bike
Bowser Castle 3GBA Nin*Fukuda 02:58.30 Dry Bowser Standard Kart L
DK's Jungle ParkwayN64 Nin*Matt 02:58.264 Donkey Kong Phantom
Mario CircuitGCN Nin*♪Miz 01:59.771 Mario Standard Bike M
Mario Circuit 3SNES Nin*iwaco 01:38.880 Baby Mario Standard Kart S
Peach GardensDS Nin*Ito.y 02:34.894 Baby Peach Magikruiser
DK MountainGCN Nin*♪msk 02:57.744 Funky Kong Wario Bike
Bowser's CastleN64 Nin*GASK2 03:19.323 Bowser Jr. Standard Kart M

Expert Staff Ghosts

Fast Ghosts
Course Staff Name Time Character Vehicle
Luigi Circuit Nin*Uta♪ 01.19.419 Luigi Mach Bike
Moo Moo Meadows Nin*Tkym 01.25.909 Baby Daisy Bullet Bike
Mushroom Gorge Nin*Miki 02.01.011 Toadette Mini Beast
Toad's Factory Nin*GQO 02.05.593 Toad Blue Falcon
Mario Circuit Nin*fuyu 01.33.702 Mario Sprinter
Coconut Mall Nin*MUGI* 02.13.333 Daisy Wild Wing
DK Summit Nin*KOZ* 02.17.546 Donkey Kong Flame Flyer
Wario's Gold Mine Nin*♪Ryo 02.04.800 Wario Flame Flyer
Daisy Circuit Nin*Taeko 01.41.362 Daisy Mach Bike
Koopa Cape Nin*morimo 02.41.370 Koopa Troopa Bubble Bike
Maple Treeway Nin*MUGI* 02.37.812 Diddy Kong Sneakster
Grumble Volcano Nin*Gorin 02.11.852 Dry Bowser Spear
Dry Dry Ruins Nin*Akito 02.14.286 Yoshi Sneakster
Moonview Highway Nin*Koh 02.04.163 Peach Mach Bike
Bowser's Castle Nin*Masa 02.42.098 Bowser Flame Bike
Rainbow Road Nin*Syun1 02.44.734 Rosalina Jetsetter
Peach BeachGCN Nin*Taeko 01.23.140 Peach Dolphin Dasher
Yoshi FallsDS Nin*FJ 01.09.175 Yoshi Super Blooper
Ghost Valley 2SNES Nin*sira〉 00.58.907 King Boo Spear
Mario RacewayN64 Nin*Yuuki 01.59.053 Baby Mario Mini Beast
Sherbet LandN64 Nin*FJ 02.28.356 Baby Luigi Blue Falcon
Shy Guy BeachGBA Nin*Matt 01.32.867 Koopa Troopa Magikruiser
Delfino SquareDS Nin*TARO 02.24.169 Wario Honeycoupe
Waluigi StadiumGCN Nin*♪Ryo 02.12.367 Waluigi Piranha Prowler
Desert HillsDS Nin*solami 01.52.686 Dry Bones Tiny Titan
Bowser Castle 3GBA Nin*A24 02.39.391 Dry Bowser Flame Runner
DK's Jungle ParkwayN64 Nin*Syun1 02.37.782 Donkey Kong Flame Flyer
Mario CircuitGCN Nin*Dai8 01:29.670 Mario Wild Wing
Mario Circuit 3SNES Nin*Shige 01.49.939 Baby Mario Bullet Bike
Peach GardensDS Nin*==Kony 01.26.659 Baby Peach Mini Beast
DK MountainGCN Nin*Miyam 02.38.130 Funky Kong Flame Flyer
Bowser's CastleN64 Nin*Kentan 02.55.933 Bowser Jr. Sneakster

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Vehicles

There are 36 total vehicles in the Wii installment (Here can be seen all the karts and bikes [3]). 18 karts, 18 bikes, each divided into the 3 weight classes, making 6 and 6 available to each character, 3 and 3 to begin (thus making half of the vehicles unlockables. Each has 7 stats which are shown during character selection:

  • Speed: How high the top speed of the vehicle is. This does not affect off-road travel.
  • Acceleration: How quickly the vehicle's top speed is achieved from a non-moving position.
  • Weight: How heavy a kart is. With a higher weight, the player can knock lighter characters away by ramming them. Bikes are lighter than karts.
  • Handling: How tight the kart can normally turn. Usually opposes the drift rating.
  • Drift: How tight the kart turns while using the drifting maneuver. Usually opposes the handling rating.
  • Off-Road: How much speed the kart retains when off of the track. A low rating of this can cause a near-standstill for the vehicle.
  • Mini-Turbo: When using the manual drift option, how effective a mini-boost will be.

There are six "types" of bikes and karts (as each kart has a bike with similar stats):

(Note: the type names are all conjecture. If someone has the actual names, please add them to this section.)

  • Standard: These are well-rounded and are suitable for beginners. Examples would be the Standard Kart L or Standard Bike S.
  • Speed: These are very fast and have a good drift, but have poor off-road and acceleration. Examples would be the Wild Wing or the Flame Runner.
  • Control: These are rather slow, but feature exellent control and off-road, making them mirrored to Speed vehicles. Examples would be the Booster Seat or the Sugarscoot.
  • Cruiser: These control similarly to Control types, but have more speed and off road but less acceleration and handling. Examples would be the Piranha Prowler or the Zip Zip.
  • Rally: These vehicles are almost perfectly well rounded, but have great off road in return for poor drift. Examples would be the Tiny Titan or the Shooting Star.
  • Jet: Normally unlocked later in the game, these vehicles are incredibly fast and quite heavy, but are poor in all other stats. Examples would be the Sprinter or the Jet Bubble.

The following table includes: vehicles in order of class primarily and karts first, bikes second (small karts, small bikes, medium karts, medium bikes, large karts, large bikes). The last half of each of these six sub-sections are unlockables; the right-hand column describes the requirement to unlock it: if it is a single cup, it must be simply won. Each individual statistic is generalized into the following:

very high, high, mid-high, medium, mid-low, low, very low

Two of the same color does not necessarily mean the stat is exactly equal.

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Vehicle Stats
Vehicle Sp We Ac Ha Dr OR MT How to Unlock

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Items

Mario Kart Wii includes three new items: the Mega Mushroom, the POW Block and the Thunder Cloud. Items can be earned by driving through Item Boxes on the courses, just like in previous games. Once a player has done so, an item will be selected via the Item Roulette. In general, players tend to obtain a weak item as a banana or a green shell when they come first. However, if players are in second or a lower place, obtaining a powerful item such as a red shell or a thunderbolt is more frequent. Usually, the lower the place of the player, the rarer and more powerful the item they get.

The least likely items (Stars, Bullet Bills, and thunderbolts) are very rare in multiplayer split-screen. Bullet Bills almost never occur in two player splitscreen but stars and thunderbolts are obtainable. In four player split-screen there is a higher chance of getting the rarest items while three, two, and one player games often only offer green shells, red shells, and fake item boxes.

The player can also decide what type of items can be obtainable during a race. The options include as follows:

  • Balanced - The default option. This gives everyone items depending on what position they are in and how far behind they are. Extreme items may not be as common.
  • Aggressive - Each player gets items pertaining to what place they are in. Green Shells and single bananas are rare while extreme items become more common as the player progresses to last place.
  • Strategic - Extreme items are unavailable. Weaker items take head-forth and last place gets better but not extreme items.
  • None - No items at all.

Voice Cast

Official Artwork

Characters

Items

Promotional

Trivia

  • Part of the Title Screen Music is a remix from Mario Kart DS. Also, part of the second half of the credits is a remix of the main theme of Mario Kart DS.
  • Since Mario Kart 64, four avatars of the leading characters (or all eight in Mario Kart DS) were shown on the left side of the screen. In Mario Kart Wii, they were removed.

References

External Links

Template:Mario Kart Series