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 , offense, or for powering up the engine. New items from *Mario* platform games are , 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  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*".

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. 

## References