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The Official Mario Kart Wii Thread


Release Dates:

Japan: April 10 2008
North America: April 28 2008
Europe: April 11 2008
Australia: April 24 2008

Mario Kart Wii will be released in Europe soon (April 11th to be precise) and I thought I would be a good idea to create a thread for the game. Plus it helps keep everything neat and tidy around the forums.

To start off, here's a bit of info on the new game. I say a bit, but it's actually quite a lot.

Gameplay

One of the most important aspect in a racing game are the controls. So to kick things off, Mario Kart Wii uses five different control schemes. Players can use, the Wii Wheel, the Wii-mote tilted on its side, the Wii-mote and Nunchuck together, the Gamecube controller or the Classic controller. The Wii Wheel works similar to Excite Truck and is said to work pretty well.

You may have also noticed bikes have been included in this Mario Kart. The bikes are apparently much more manoeuvrable than the karts. You can shake the Wii-mote to perform a wheelie, giving you a short boost afterwards.

Powersliding will also be making a welcome return, this time using a different method. Players start the slide up by hitting the B button, but instead of hitting the control stick in the opposite direction, it now builds up over the time you perform your slide.

A new trick system has also been added to the game. These give small speed boosts, if performed correctly.

Multiplayer wise, Mario Kart Wii looks to be the best online Wii game so far, but let's not forget about the local multiplayer modes, which includes up to 4 players split-screen. There's also 2 player split-screen, in which you can both race online.

The single player online experience looks to be great, with up to 12 players being able to race, from around the world. A new Mario Kart Wii Channel will also support the games online experience. Players can monitor their ranking against other players, access and share ghost data with each other and also join in races that have already started.

Unfortunately, the online doesn't feature voice chat or text chat, but relies on predetermined text before a race.


Characters (24/24)

Here are a list of the confirmed characters so far:

Baby Daisy
Baby Mario
Baby Luigi
Baby Peach
Birdo
Bowser
Bowser Jr
Daisy
Diddy Kong
Donkey Kong
Dry Bones
Dry Bowser
Funky Kong
King Boo
Koopa Trooper
Luigi
Mario
Mii
Peach
Rosalina
Toad
Toadette
Waluigi
Wario
Yoshi


Tracks

There are 32 tracks confirmed for the game. Some of the new tracks have been revealed, as well as some of the classic tracks. Ten battle stages have also been confirmed.

New Tracks (16/16)

Mushroom Cup

Luigi Circuit
Moo Moo Meadows
Mushroom Gorge
Toad Factory

Flower Cup

Mario Circuit
Coconut Mall
DK Summit
Wario's Gold Mine

Star Cup

Daisy Circuit
Koopa Cape
Maple Treeway
Grumble Volcano

Special Cup

Dry Dry Ruins
Moonview Highway
Bowser's Castle
Rainbow Road


Classic Tracks (16/16)

Shell Cup

Peach Beach (GC)
Yoshi Falls (DS)
Ghost Valley 2 (SNES)
Mario Raceway (N64)

Banana Cup

Sherbet Land (N64)
Shy Guy Beach (GBA)
Delfino Square (DS)
Waluigi Stadium (GC)

Leaf Cup

Desert Hills (DS)
Bowser Castle 3 (GBA)
DK's Jungle Parkway (N64)
Mario Circuit (GC)

Lighting Cup

Mario Circuit (SNES)
Peach Gardens (DS)
DK Mountain (GC)
Bowser's Castle (N64)

Weapons

Lots of the original weapons have made a return, but some new weapons have been revealed too, they include:

New Items

POW Block
Lightening Cloud
Mega Mushroom

Original Items

Blue Shell
Green Shell
Triple Green Shell
Red Shell
Triple Red Shell
Mushroom
Triple Mushrooms
Golden Mushroom
Banana Peel
Triple Banana Peel
Invincibility Star
Bomb-Omb
Bullet Bill
Blooper

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That's all the info for now, but if there's anything else, feel free to PM me and I'll add it to the post. Other than that, discuss anything related with the game in this thread.

Thanks, enjoy!
Ross

( Edited 20.04.2008 02:32 by jb )

So this is the official 'I don't care about Brawl and I am LOVING the fact that Europe gets Mario Kart first' thread, right?

well
it tides me over between phoenix wright games.
im happy with that.

Pre-ordered MK last week, also with No More Heroes and Wii Fit. Why those three are released within the space of two months is what my wallet is crying.

( Edited 25.02.2008 18:11 by Phoenixus )

Thanks Ross, this has everything I need to know. Although i'm in no doubt more information will surface and you will update this.

Yeah i'm going to pre-order this and No More Heroes they should at least fill some of the time whilst we are waiting for Brawl.

i cant believe amario kart is hitting europe before brawl!!

the way nintendo was going on last year brawl shoudld of been months ahead of mario kart!

ah well i ned to save as i now need to get no more heroes, mario kart, wii fit all in a short space of time!

( Edited 26.02.2008 15:06 by Marco_V )

Is Lightning Cloud really a new item Marz?

I don't tend to pre-order games, especially a long time before a variety of reviews come out for it, but I've preordered Mario Kart as I think it will sell well, and is quite likely to sell out due to the wheel it is bundled with. I'll preorder wiifit too. I think Mario Kart's a safe bet too, as it's one of those games I'll play online and with my girlfriend quite a lot as she liked the gamecube one.

I probably won't pre-order... well maybe if the hype increases. I'll pre-order Brawl though.

Dam, im gettin this game on tha day! Looks awesome, love how we can compare races! And wat's this? OH, we get the game before America! THAT'S a first Oh well its only a couple days difference.

Which is it more like? The original or DD?

It's not a first we got Mario Strikers and Endless Ocean first too.

- exactly my thoughts. I may (whisper it) not even get it... don't know yet though, will probably get more and more excited when I see it in action!

It going to be another mad year of games, my list is already huge!

Nice on Ross, thanks for summing up the info.

Looking like a solid game, though will definitely need to play through it a few times to get a feel of it on Wii. If all else fails, back to the ol' GC controller

Can't wait! Have my doubts about it being a bit samey, but considering it's got a decent number of tracks and online rankings, it should be worth it!

We'll have to start a tournament or two on C3!

when will ye start the tournament F.M.I (My) because i probally be broke until i finish my state exams are over and i so don't want to miss a tournament (cause we all know i own 8)) and could we have a team tourni's aswell because 2 people can play online from the same wii? like me and my brother vs 2 other brothers? lol that would be so cool

Out of all of the game series in the world, Mario Kart pwns them all severly. Best thing ever created!!!

Yup, I think this thread is proof NoE pissed us off too much and our Brawl loving has detierated. But hell, we have Mario Kart. Right? Guys?

Well, US get Mario Kart 2 weeks after us, and we get Brawl 3 MONTHS + after US.

Yeah, at least we have Mario Kart.

Some more details about the online components on nintendo's UK website here:
http://www.nintendo.co.uk/NOE/en_GB/news/2007/going_global_with_mario_kart_wii__7448.html

Sounds good. 8) Finally, an Online Wii game I'll enjoy playing (bloody Mario Strikers. )