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Price
  • $49.99
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Mario Kart Wii (Wii)

common sense media says

Fun family-friendly game that's hard to put down.


parents & educators say

What parents need to know

Parents need to know that this game is perfectly suitable for players of all ages. The ESRB warning of "comic mischief" relates to the combative nature of the arcade race, where players can shoot turtle shells at other go-karts to trip them up or when giant hammers flatten riders on their way to the finish line. The game can be played with up to 12 players online, but Common Sense Media doesn't recommend unsupervised online gaming for anyone under age 12.

Educational value: Not applicable.
Positive messages: Not applicable.
Violence & scariness: Mild cartoon violence, including shooting items at rival racers.
Language: Not applicable.
Consumerism: This is part of the Mario brand of video games from Nintendo.

More on Mario Kart Wii

What to talk about

Talk to your kids

Families can talk about how the two new key features –- wireless, motion-sensing control (including the free wheel) and online multiplayer support for 12 gamers -– helps separate this sequel from the past Mario Kart games. Is this enough to move this franchise forward or is it more of the same but with a couple of extra bells and whistles? Also, is it possible for a game to live up to its tremendous hype?

What's the story?

What's the story?

Nintendo Wii gamers with the need for speed won't be disappointed with the much-hyped MARIO KART WII, an incredibly fun and accessible cartoon racing game for kids and kids-at-heart. As with past games in the series, players first choose a familiar Nintendo character – such as Baby Mario, Luigi, Donkey Kong, Princess Peach, Yoshi, Toad, or even your own custom-made Mii character – before hopping into a kart car or motorcycle to enter a wild race. The goal of each match is to reach the finish line through speed and cunning use of weapons such as dropping bananas on the track to slip up opponents trailing behind or turning into a rocket for a temporary speed burst.

Mario Kart Wii ships with the small Wii Wheel, which houses the wireless and motion-sensing Wii Remote (sold seperately), so you simply hold this circular controller like a steering wheel to navigate corners while the button can be used to initiate your power-up (such as a weapon). Shake the wheel while you're in the air for a special mid-air move. Players can also choose from three other controller setups, but the wheel is the most intuitive.

Is it any good?

Is it any good?
 

Not only can gamers play against savvy computer-controlled opponents or with up to three others on the same television, but for the first time in the series, you can also log onto the Internet via the free Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection and engage in multiplayer games and tournaments for up to 12 players. The end result is a highly enjoyable game for both seasoned fans of the franchise and first-time players. The cartoon arcade action and the fast-paced racing combine to make for a thrilling solo diversion or head-to-head competition that's as easy to pick up as it is hard to put down.

Game themes & details

Game Details
Available on: Nintendo Wii
Available online
Genre: Racing
Developer: Nintendo
Released on: April 27, 2008
Price: 49.99
ESRB Rating: E for Comic Mischief

This review was written by Marc Saltzman
 
 

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Review Mario Kart Wii





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What parents & educators say

7

Most useful reviews by all members

gamegirl908
kid, 11 years old
 
i play all the time but how do you get to mirror mode


kid, 12 years old
 
Perfect for everyone
AWESOME USING WI-FI!


teen, 14 years old
 
Perfect for everyone
AWESOME USING WI-FI!


kid, 11 years old
 
Perfect for everyone
AWESOME USING WI-FI!

Zarah
teen, 15 years old
 
Lots of fun :)

donkeykong
teen, 14 years old
 
Mario Kart Wii Game Review
Mario Kart has been about for a while now and its newest release is Mario Kart Wii. This game comes with a specially designed Wii-wheel for a more life-like experience. There are many new things in Mario Kart Wii including motorbikes which come with wheelies for some extra speed, tricks which can be performed when jumping off a ramp and gives a small boost when you land again. There is also one new thing that was made to make the game fairer, instead of going left-right-left-right to get a mini-turbo you automatically get it after a duration of drifting (only on manual), bikes only get blue but karts get blue and red (this was made because of snaking and the Wii-wheel, it’s hard to go left and right with the Wii-wheel). Now onto the review... Gameplay: The gameplay is surely the best part of Mario Kart Wii because of the hard and annoying single player and the fun and addictive multiplayer. The single player is basically Grand Prix, Time Trail and unlocking characters and vehicles. The Grand Prix is made of 50cc (easy), 100cc (still easy), 150cc (hard) and 150cc Mirror (hard and made even more complicated because the track is the opposite). By finishing all of these you would have unlocked a lot of things already. And there are a lot of stuff to unlock. I give Gameplay a... 9.5/10 AWESOME Graphics: The graphics in this game didn’t get as much attention as it should have however it is still very good, there are some magnificent looking courses. The Retro courses look old and boring where as most of the new courses are beautiful (Maple Treeway and Grumble Volcano). When playing single player the graphics are very well done but when you play split-screen the graphics get much worse, especially with three or four people. The Graphics are OK and some courses look fine so I give it a... 8.5/10 Great Sound: The sound in this game sometimes is nice and peaceful but other times it’s just plain annoying. Each course has its own background music and some are pretty dramatic, there are also some nice sound effects (when you fly through the leaves in Maple Treeway there is the sound of whooshing leaves). But there are some bad things, each character has their own noises when they do a particular thing (get hit, bumped, pass someone, fall into a hole and so on...) this gets so annoying especially when you do wheelies and tricks all the time. The sound quality is great but sometimes it gets annoying so I give it... 8/10 Very Good Verdict: Mario Kart Wii is a great game, one of the best on the Wii even with its many faults. I give this game a... 9/10 SUPER! Recommendation: I recommend buying this right away if you haven’t gotten it yet, and if you don’t have a Wii, get one!

KinbJune
teen, 13 years old
 
Mario Kart has Done it Again!
This was a great game to play and so easy! I also love striving for new records and unlocking things. It is also realistic and you can actually drive with a steering wheel! You should definitely check out this game!

Smarty1999
kid, 13 years old
 
Better than Mario Kart DS
easy to play, fun tracks, a lot more fun than Mario Kart DS. One of my FAV wii games.

bluekangaroo13
teen, 13 years old
 
Perfect for Anyone who can work a Wii remote
This game is perfect for everyone and is a family-fun game. All of my friends from ages 7+ love it, my brothers love it, my mom loves it and I love it! It is perfect for sleepovers, rainy days and just about any time.

NASA RULES
kid, 10 years old
 
AWSOME!!!!
LOVE IT !!!!! IT IS SO AWSOME I DO NOT WANT TO PuT THE WII REMOTE DOWN!!!!!

rebma97
teen, 14 years old
 
This game can be addicting
Yet another wonderful Mario game comes out: Mario Kart Wii. Like most Wii games you use the remote in a direction you would do if you were doing it in real life; in other words you move the Wii remote like you're driving. Races are fun and there are cool powerups to get. But that's where the bad messages come in. You throw objects (bombs, lightning zap but no one gets hurt badly and no blood) at the opponent and your player mocks them if they hit them. Also when you lose, the characters make too much of a big de about it, like in mist games. This is what also makes it iffy for kids. I think 7+ is age appropriate

tummytalk1
kid, 12 years old
 
gta 4 cript ceeper :)
way to hard its fun if you like nintendo.

mkalv
teen, 17 years old
 
Mario fans will love this game
This is a very zany, crazy racing game, with beach levels, thu der, shells that hit your car, and othe madness. And it is very fun, mybe even the best racing game for the Wii.

MarioMii
teen, 15 years old
 
I rate this game iffy for ages 6 and up because there can be shrinking because of thunder and throwing shells. Another thing that can be iffy is mii voices becasue they sound so weird. For example, one of the light male voices sounds deep and creepy, one stuffy voice for a heavy male, a dumb gogo phrase for a medium male, a hunky voice for another heavy male, another medium male sounding like he has a fever, and one of the medium female sounding like she has a stuffy head. One of my friends said that the heavy male mii in the light blue was his least favorite so that's why I rate this iffy for kids 6 and older including teens. These voices can scare babies so that's why I rate this off for ages 5 and under. It's easy to play this game.

Sosie98
teen, 14 years old
 
Awesome Game!!
This is a really great game filled with all sorts of action. It takes a little while before you become a pro but now I get 1st every time!!

coolpup
kid, 13 years old
 
buy the wii one not the ds one
i got the game for my wii and ds i never played the ds one and ended up selling it but i loved the wii one i loved the motion in the game i wish a mario kart wii 2 would come out buy it now

SuperMario958
teen, 13 years old
 
Mario Kart Wii
This game is a lot of fun. The game is completely family friendly and the violence in it is only when you send items like turtle shells to hit the other races to slow them down or if you fall off a ledge the game shows a black screen and then puts you at a checkmart. This game has great graphics for the Wii and is one of my favorite Mario game I would recommend it to anyone.

SuperPrincessP ...
teen, 15 years old
 
This is a great game. It has tons of characters you can play as and lots of great tracks. My favorite part is that you can race others around the world with Nintendo WFC (which is 100% safe). Totally worth the money. ;)

SingleMomOf2Boys
parent of 5 and 7 year old
 
Fun for the whole family
My youngest was playing this game at the age of 4 and had no problems (although he almost never wins). It is one of the few games that my two children can play together and have fun doing it (minimal bickering). Even a year later, it's still one of their favorite games and they love that we can all play together.

joshrulz98
kid, 13 years old
 
Great Game!
Awesome Game!

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ON: Content is appropriate for kids this age.
PAUSE: Know your child, some content may not be right for some kids
OFF: Not age appropriate for kids this age