Mario Kart Wii has burst onto the scene much as expected. Millions around the world have purchased it within its first month, and praise abounds. Still, there is a disgruntled segment within the gaming community that dislikes the game. Some going so far as to call it the worst Mario Kart game yet. Now that I've played the game myself for a few weeks, here's my take. On this game, and those opinions.

It's very obvious right from the start that one of Nintendo's major intentions with this game was to get back to its Super NES roots, and to a great extent it does. Some of the races are shorter rather than too many more of the Marathons we've had to endure more recently. In fact, two of the stages are remakes of classic SNES stages, which were known for their brevity. Power sliding is back to what it was originally. The music has more toots, whistles, and Super Mario Kart feel to it than recent offerings. Even the super start/start boost has the same timing as the original, which feels very nostalgic and satisfying.

Including the two aforementioned SNES courses, Super Mario Kart Wii has 32 to choose from, and 8 different Grand Prix sets to choose from. All in all, there are 16 new courses, and 16 classics from the various incarnations of the game. Some of these are as easy as they come. While some are just murderous once you include opponents and the games weapons. There are courses now that feel somewhat like Roller Coasters, containing much more up and down and wavy action than before. And after you've mastered them all via a first place finish in all 150cc divisions, you gain the now classic mirror mode, which spices things up even further.

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