Mario Kart Wii

****** is a kart racing video game made by Nintendo for the Wii game console which was first shown at E3 2007. It is the sixth installment in the _Mario Kart_ series and the second _Mario Kart_ title to use the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. The game was released in every country throughout April 2008, but one year later in South Korea.

_Mario Kart Wii_ features 16 new tracks, plus 16 from the previous games in the series, and is bundled with the Wii Wheel. The game was commercially successful in every region, and sold over a million copies in both Japan and the United States in less than a month. It also received very positive reviews from critics.

## Gameplay

In _Mario Kart Wii_, players choose a character from a roster having of up to 24 characters and from 36 cars. The cars are classified into three different weight classes. A character's weight decides the available types of karts and motorbikes, and their performance on the tracks. Each car has seven different parameters for characteristics: speed, weight, acceleration, handling, drift, off-road, and mini-turbo. _Mario Kart Wii_ has 32 different tracks, having 16 new tracks, four tracks each from _Mario Kart 64_, _Mario Kart: Double Dash!!_, and _Mario Kart DS_, and two each from _Super Mario Kart_ and _Mario Kart: Super Circuit_. Plus, up to twelve characters can play in a race. Players get items by driving through item boxes, which can be used for either defense, offense, or for powering up the engine. New items from _Mario_ platform games are introduced, like the "Mega Mushroom" from _New Super Mario Bros._ It allows the character to grow very big in size and flatten other players. The "_POW BLOCK_" from _Mario Bros._ allows the character to send a shockwave to all the players in front of them, spinning them out of control and making them drop any items they may be carrying (there is no effect, however, on those who are airborne). One new item to the series is the "Lightning Cloud", which raises the user's top speed briefly, but shrinks the user if it is not passed on to an opponent by colliding with them.

## Voice Cast

- Charles Martinet as Mario, Luigi, Baby Mario, Baby Luigi, Wario and Waluigi
- Sam Kelly as Princess Peach, Baby Peach, Toad and Toadette
- Deanna Mustard as Princess Daisy and Baby Daisy
- Mercedes Rose as Rosalina
- Kenny James as Bowser and Dry Bowser
- Dolores Rogers as Bowser Jr.

_Mario Kart Wii_ has 24 Nintendo characters that can be chosen, more than any of the other _Mario_ games. There are also 12 different kinds (3 weight classes, 2 genders, 2 outfits) of the Sportsmates, the digital avatar made by Nintendo. Twelve characters are available from the beginning; the other twelve and the two Sportsmate variants become available after finishing certain elements of the game. The cast of characters has 21 returning characters from the series and four new characters; Baby Peach, Funky Kong, Dry Bowser, and Baby Daisy. There are eight characters of each weight class. The Sportsmates weight class depends on its height and weight (this can be customized in the Playmate Maker), and its favorite color changes the color scheme of its clothing, while the gender changes the color scheme of their cars.

## Starters

- Mario
- Luigi
- Peach
- Yoshi
- Baby Mario
- Baby Luigi
- Toad
- Koopa Troopa
- Wario
- Waluigi
- Donkey Kong
- Bowser

## Unlockables

- Daisy
- Birdo
- Diddy Kong
- Bowser Jr.
- Baby Peach
- Baby Daisy
- Toadette
- Dry Bones
- King Boo
- Rosalina
- Funky Kong
- Dry Bowser
- Mii

## Development

_Mario Kart Wii_ was officially announced at the 2007 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3); the online features and the first footage of the game was shown. Producer Hideki Konno wanted to include online features for _Mario Kart DS_, but they were left out due to time constraints.

The game was called "_Mario Kart X_" internally for a while, before deciding on "_Mario Kart Wii_". General producer and Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto's inputs were limited to new aspects of play such as the Wii Wheel and battles over Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. The designers tested roughly 30 different prototypes with different shapes, colors and weights (based on real-life go-karts), before deciding on the final Wii Wheel design.

## Reception

The game received many positive reviews, and was commercially successful in every region, and sold over a million copies in both Japan and the United States in less than a month. Joe Sinicki of Blast Magazine comments: "While it still does suffer from some of the problems of the older games, _Mario Kart Wii_ takes the simple and accessible formula set by its predecessors and tweaks it enough to make it feel fresh and fun, creating one of the most entertaining and rewarding gaming experiences in quite some time."

In the week ending May 4, 2008, _Mario Kart Wii_ had sold over a million copies in Japan alone, less than a month since its release in the region. In the UK, _Mario Kart Wii_ was the best-selling video game in the week ending April 12, 2008, having "the eighth biggest opening sales week in UK software history," according to Chart-Track/ELSPA. As of 30 Sep 2019, Mario Kart Wii sold 37.24 million copies, which make it the third best-selling game overall.

## Infobox (vg)

- **title**: Mario Kart Wii
- **image**: Wii-wheel.jpg
- **caption**: The Wii Wheel bundled with the game.
- **developer**: Nintendo Entertainment Analysis and Development, Nintendo EAD
- **publisher**: Nintendo
- **producer**: Hideki Konno
- **director**: Yasuyuki Oyagi
- **composer**: Asuka Ota
Ryo Nagamatsu
- **series**: _Mario Kart_
- **platforms**: Wii, Nvidia Shield (Mainland China only)
- **released**: **Wii (original release):**
**Wii (Nintendo Selects):**
**Nvidia Shield:**

- **genre**: Racing video game, Racing
- **modes**: Single-player video game, Single-player, Multiplayer video game, multiplayer
- **display**: 480p, 16:9 or 4:3