Like some grandiose fantasy novel about orcs and elves and the lands of men, our eyes are — fittingly — fixed on the West, where Super Smash Bros. Brawl is tearing up Wii sales charts, kicking ass and taking names like Reggie Fils-Aime, and otherwise making gaming better for everyone involved.
However, in our haste to acquire every little morsel about Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and of course acquire the game itself (due out next month here in the States, *cough*), I can’t help but think another Nintendo title is sneaking in behind us all to throw a go-kart into the Wii while we aren’t looking.
We know very little about Mario Kart Wii, even as we know a lot, and in hindsight it reminds me very much of the run up to Smash Bros. Today, a hands-on Mario Kart Wii preview from GamePro tells us a few things of note. Mainly, core gameplay, like Brawl, remains largely untouched. Great for veterans of the series and good for newbies — this game isn’t about brain surgery, it’s about cartoony racing action and throwing banana peels. There’s also the control options, which like Brawl are legion:
Perhaps the biggest reason Mario Kart will be a hit with the casual audience is the Wii Wheel, confirmed to be shipping with every copy of the game. Simply insert your Wii Remote into the wheel, and you’re ready to race. But the wheel is just one of five control options for the game, so if the wheel isn’t your thing, don’t fret. You can also use the Wii Remote horizontally, the Remote and Nunchuk together, the Wii’s Classic Controller or the GameCube controller.
There’s more, like the Kart Channel, but I won’t spoil GamePro’s original reporting. Go check it out if you can tear yourself away from the Dojo for a few minutes. It’ll be there when you get back.