Top 10 VG Countdown - #8: MARIO KART

The latest version of this much-beloved game brings to the table new tracks, characters, and controller options. For those of you who have never played Mario Kart (and I am sad for your childhood), it is a racing game filled with Mario characters and crazy tracks where you can not only pick up boosts and other useful assists, but can deter your enemies by dropping bananas or throwing brightly coloured shells at them. Sounds childish? Well, this is Nintendo, remember, and Nintendo knows how to do things fun and colourful.

Mario Kart Wii, in my opinion, is the ultimate party game. I love it because non-gamers can have a ton of fun playing it even if they have never gamed before (note: I didn't say they'd be good at it, I said they'd have fun. The game does take some skill and practice to get good at, for you gamers who like a challenge).

The Wii version doesn't mess too much with the Mario Kart formula (which is fine with me), and just adds a few bells and whistles to enhance the play. You can use motion-controlled steering so it seems like you are using an actual wheel as pictured above (I find this incredibly difficult and prefer to use a Nunchuck, however I know lots people who like it). There are a total of 32 tracks, half of which are from previous games. You can use bikes in addition to karts (and they are awesome. The mach bike and the dolphin dasher are my favourites). There are also a few new items, like a lightning bolt that gives you a boost and then shrinks you if you don't bump into an enemy and pass it on, and a POW block that spins everyone out and gets rid of their items.

There are some super fun tracks, including the difficult Maple Treeway and Rainbow Road. And I thought the Rainbow Road track was fun in the Nintendo 64 version... they have improved it in this one by taking away the walls! (heheh yes, that was irony. Most of my friends hate that track because it is so hard.)

The AI is especially challenging in single player mode on 150cc, reacting to both your position in the race that you are playing and your overall number of points towards winning the cup. Get ready for a challenge if you want to unlock everything in this game!

Well, Nintendo, I applaud you for reviving one of my favourite games from the 64 in such a spectacular manner. If you love racing games with incredibly fun multiplayer modes, this one's for you!