My Wife and I bought Mario Kart for the Nintendo Wii last night and invested in the Mario Kart Wii driving wheels, I must say that it is a blast! Let me highlight some of the great things about Mario Kart for the Wii.

• Local (not online) play is a lot of fun even with just yourself or two people.
• The game has a lot of different Karts and Bikes to choose from which adds to the fun.
• The online experience is second to none!
• The Wii Wheel really adds to the experience, you could in theory play the game without it, but the wheel actually is fun to use!

General Description and Review: Mario Kart is a lot of fun by yourself. You can race the computers and play tournaments, etc. But Mario Kart's true strong point is the online experience. There's something exciting about being able to race people on the opposite side of the world! I must also suggest that you get the Mario Kart Wii Wheel because it does add to the experience and it's pretty inexpensive.

The wheel is basically a shell for the main Wii controller but it makes it more "realistic", for the lack of a better term. Another unique aspect about Mario Kart is it features something that is relatively hard to find on the Wii, an online Co-op mode. What that means is you and someone right next to you can play Mario Kart Wii in split screen mode online against other players!

That may not sound too fancy but my wife and I bought the Nintendo Wii in hopes to be able to do just that, and few Wii games offer this option! If you're anything like me, you're probably looking at Mario Kart Wii and thinking it looks like it was made for 6 year olds, and you're probably right, but I must say that 5 minutes into the game I wasn't even thinking about it! Mario Kart Wii is so much fun and if you give it a chance you'll see why it's one of the most highly rated racing games on the Nintendo Wii!

Mario Kart Wii has lots of new levels in it and one really enjoyable aspect for the online modes is that you're able to play on maps from some of the older versions like from Nintendo Gameboy Advance, and I believe even some Nintendo 64 levels too. They have the Balloon mode and the Coin grabber modes which I will explain a little further in detail below for those that don't know.

My wife and I both consider it to be the best Wii multi-player game that we've purchased so far and look forward to many more hours of racing and shooting turtle shells at our opponents.

Online Modes:
Mario Kart Wii features to distinctively different online modes which I will explain below.

Balloon Mode: Balloon mode is pretty simple, you have three balloons above you and the goal is to shoot other people's balloons off of them. Each time you shoot someone they lose a balloon and you get a point. But if you get shot and lose your three balloons then you lose your points and you have to start all over. This continues until the time limit is reached.

Coin Grabber Mode: This mode is fun but can get frustrating if you drive all over the place. Gold coins appear on the map and you have to collect them before other people do. Each coin gives you points, but if an opponent shoots you, you drop some of these points and you have to try and grab them back up before your opponents do. This also continues until the time limit has lapsed.

Drawbacks: This game only has one real flaw and that is in how it really tries to even out the game playing field. When you're in first place you get hit with nearly every weapon fired, especially that blue flying shell. when you're in last place you keep getting the flying bullet that rapidly flies you around the course to keep you in the game. I believe Nintendo did have their hearts in the right place but it can lend for a slightly frustrating experience. If this is the worst thing that Mario Kart has to offer then that's not bad at all!

All in all, Mario Kart for the Wii is a very strong game that I believe few will be disappointed with. Nintendo did a great job with Mario Kart and I look forward to future Marios Kart's and the new ideas they will come up with.