Mario Kart Wii Review

Ever since Mario has been around there has been a group of sports which the faithful plumber likes to try his hand at. Some better than others he isn't the best at tennis or golf but he can kick some ass when fighting and drift like Paul Walker. The later of these is now out in the Europe and Japan so we have a little bit of revenge for the Rock Band pricing.
Anyway Mario Kart is back and put simply its Mario Kart but on the Wii so expect some motion contols. Mario Kart Wii is split into the usual classes/difficulties of 50, 100 and 150cc however, there is a few changes 50cc you can drive karts through 16 new tracks and 16 retro ones. So lets tackle that first the tracks. All 16 of the new tracks are up to visual standard for the Wii but nothing spectacular some new features such as ramps and a new half-pipe type jump add just enough to keep fans happy. The dissapointing thing is that while there are retro tracks some old tracks such as rainbow road and luigi's circuit have minor changes and yet are passed off as new tracks.
So onto 100cc for which you can only use bikes. Yes thats right Mr. Mario (his first name being super now) has gone down the PGR 4 route and thankfully it has payed off. Bikes keep handling very similar to that of the karts however they cannot get the full boost from drifting. This is compensated by there ability to wheelie on straights and pick up speed anyway there is just enough difference to allow people to define their favourite.
Its onto 150cc now you have your choice of bike or karts and so it all comes down to mastering the controls. You have three control schemes up for grabs the Wii Wheel which is my personal weapon of choice the wheel comes packaged in the box and just adds a bit of grip and an extension to the B button. This is followed by the nunchuck and wiimote which adds an analog stick if you feel the need but if you want to go for the retro look have a go with the gamecube pad or classic controller. All of these work and cater for everyones needs.
Multiplayer is as fun as ever with races and battles and online adds some fun with a lag free experience.
All of these new features mixed in with old make Mario Kart Wii a fun experience and keeps the series fresh the only issue for me is just how much further can this series go and so i give it a good 8.5/10