libertus

Oh dear. Scarcity doesn’t imply quality.

It was ages before I found Mariokart Wii in a shop. I remembered being a fan of the previous versions of the game on the SNES and N64 so had no reservations about buying it for the Wii. I wish I hadn’t.

My criticism boils down to one critical thing – after a week of play, I’ve yet to have any fun. MKW is not a skill-based racing game. It is an obstacle course that handicaps you according to skill. I recall from playing the previous versions that the further you are from the lead, the more likely you are to get powerful weapons. It’s worse now because there are several weapons available with ultimate power, that is, all other players are affected except yourself. This is highly frustrating to anyone who wants to play a game of skill.

Low fun coupled with a clunky user interface (“I have to press the A button how many times to play?”) and an embarrassing initial on-line experience (“How many times do I have to lose before I get to play against people at my skill level?”) and its fate is sealed. It’s going on Ebay.

Disappointing. Not for me.