@Tyler Schultz mario kart wii and melee are competitive because they are meant to be casual games that are easy to get into, but they also have high skill caps and hidden tech and have many unintended features/bugs. Hell, mario kart 8 is just as popular as mkwii was, but it's still not as competitive.
I once recorded a TAS of mine on Grumble Volcano and jesus christ, the bloom/aura around the character makes it look like they themselves are on fire. As much as I adore MKW, it's a pretty annoying thing to deal with when trying to get dat crisp HD quality.
In Mario Kart DS, it’s not the characters themselves that have different stats, but instead their KARTS. For example, If you have Mario on Standard MR, it’s the same stats as if you had Yoshi on Standard MR. Once you unlock the ability to have any character on any kart, you can have any character with any kart stats you want if the kart exists
When you complete the main game in Mario Kart DS (win all the cups from 50cc to Mirror), two things happen. 1): Your main menu screen changes 2): You can drive any kart you want, no matter which character you choose. So you can drive in the mushroom kart as Bowser, for example. Before, you could’ve only played the mushroom kart as toad.
Which is why that game is awesome. Arguably the best Kart in the game is the dry bomber but Luigi is my favorite character. Unlocking all 36 karts for each character is amazing.
That's an interesting case. 64 - yes SC - no DD, DS and Wii - yes Every game after - no So it didn't appear in two games in a row. It wasn't in Super Circuit.
The thing about shaking your remote to avoid a POW block is that you still lose your item and your momentum is locked, so it can still mess people up without being as overpowered as the Lightning (aka the "shock").
The momentum thing especially is pretty punishing if you're trying to turn a corner too, you basically need to slow down to avoid risking going into the offroad or off the map
Yeah, you're not avoiding the block by waggling, but inputing a trick while airborne which will let you keep your momentum; the way you "dodge" it on gcc or classic controller is by mashing the dpad, which is how you trick with those controllers.
This is why pow IMO is one of the best items on tracks with spirals/90 degree turns. You can correctly time a pow to target pow your opponents into walls or even off the track. On top of that, you can time a frame perfect hop to avoid losing the item and the spinout, which adds a skillful aspect to the pow
as a huge mkwii fan who plays it all the time i completely agree with practically all your points. This was such an interesting and accurate critique/analysis
Yeah and it’s so funny as a fan of mkwii because the chaotic bs this game has is actually why I love it so much, but it definitely makes sense to criticize it for being pretty unfair most of the time
I find strange how in the last few years there has been so much Mario Kart Wii love from mostly Zoomers, for years this game was hated by many and I had to defend it a couple of times with all it's flaws in consideration, but now a lot of people say it's the best game in the series, a very confusing change of pace
Because Zoomers grew up with it and never know anything different. For people who've been through the gauntlet of SMK, MK64, MKDD, etc. it's much easier to see this game's flaws
@@flyforce16 mario kart 8 was good and well made but MKWii was the best family game, it was a way to bond for the family and the more I think about Mario Kart Wii the more I remember about it.
@@kalidos7681 I dislike MK Wii in comparison to other Mario Kart games, but I agree that it was a good family game-the Wii was immensely popular for kids & parents alike, the Wii Wheel was a fun accessory, and the game came packaged with many peoples' Wii consoles. That is a high level of accessibility.
Its the circle of nostalgia. We are beginning the wii phase, and slowly leaving the gamecube phase. For the past 5 to 8 years, gamecube has been at the forefront of nostalgia, and 5 to 8 years before that the N64 was king. Its just the cycle, I remember when I first started watching gaming related youtube videos and the craze was N64. Remember when Mario Kart 64 was the BEST in the series? Now its considered not even close, Double dash is now considered the best, and in a few years or sooner Wii will take over. Circle of nostalgia.
I am barely competitively viable in Mario Kart Wii, so it was a slap to the face when I first got Wiimifi up and immediately got obliterated by everyone as Funky Kong and Daisy while I was just trying to play online as Luigi in a Sugarscoot
Here's a tip, there's 2 different types of bikes. Inside drifting and outside drifting. All Karts have outside drift some bikes have inside which allows them to cut corners better. The sugar scoot is outside drift which is the worst of both worlds imo. If you're gonna use a vehicle use an inside drifting bike or even a kart which is preferable.
Actually, characters matters more than you think it does..you see, Nintendo had this weird system for characters that allows Funky Kong and Daisy to have an extra + speed more than any other characters, as he mentioned in video. It’s weird in way it breaks the game and that’s why you only see Funky Kongs and Daisys, maybe sometimes Waluigis that help with drifting in online competitive.
@@davidjr3658 The speed stat isn’t boosted that much though. The only time where characters matter a ton are in time trials due to the times being really optimized, while when you play online, whether you’re playing competitively or casually, you wouldn’t have a big disadvantage playing Luigi on the mach bike instead of Daisy on the Mach bike. It’s just that a lot of people have the thinking of “if funky and daisy are the best (even if it’s not by much) why wouldn’t I use them?)
@@davidjr3658 Uh no, it doesn't "break" the game. Across one race, funky Kong gains like just around a second overall compared with another heavyweight e.g. Bowser. It's the vehicle that matters. And in this case, the Flame Runner and Mach Bike are broken.
Oh believe me, fans of Mario Kart Wii will still absolutely agree with you about the Thundercloud, Battle Mode, and karts being almost irrelevant (and most bikes being completely irrelevant depending on whether they have inside or outside drift). We just love the game for what it has to offer, despite some of what may be game design flaws.
Can't agree more. I think most mkwii stans would agree most or all his points so idk what hate he's talking about lol..he's just saying facts (except a few but just a few details he missed, can't blame him)
This was literally my entire childhood. The amount of nostalgia I have is immeasurable. Let's just say this, I have all 3 stars in all of the mirror maps. My poor friends. They think I'm scary without power ups? Shame. But good job with this review. I once had 12 blue freaking shells
I have a lot of complaints about MKWii, and I've been playing this series since SMK...but I firmly approve of the updated drift mechanics. It isn't just about how long you hold a drift - it will charge faster the more you push your stick into the turn. That incentivizes following a decent racing line and timing your corners so that your nose juuuuust scrapes the inside edge. I much prefer that to the "wiggle a bunch" mechanic from prior entries in the series.
Hi, retired competitive MKWii player here. Really enjoyed seeing this take on a nearly 13-year old game, and would like to add my own two cents: -A majority of the MKWii community definitely agrees with Battle Mode and the Thundercloud being both terrible and poorly executed respectively. Heck, CTGP even removes Battle Mode entirely for a fan-made "Countdown" mode instead (which is basically what happens when you combine VS and Battle Mode, and even that mode is scarce in hardcore players). -There are a handful of casual niche communities inside the MKWii community for those players who want to just play with friends and not be super serious about the game, so even if you decide to try and play online again, there's probably something for everyone regardless of how competitive you may be. If you do want to go competitive, however, there's plenty of lounges/competitive servers to test your skills among the rest of the playerbase. -Ultra shortcuts and the time trial scene not being mentioned kind of was a miss for me, but you could more or less group that with "competitive scene" though. The cool tricks you can do in this game (and more stuff being discovered nearly 13 years later) is just incredible if you ask me. Once again, I really enjoyed this take on one of my favorite games. 26 minutes well spent.
6:31 that's wrong. Actually every character has its own stats, the only thing about them is that they aren't displayed anywhere. But just as funky Kong and daisy have +speed every character has a stat bonus counter from 0 to 5 for each in-game stat showing the bonus for each of the categories
@@Magic_Ice Yes, the HUD is definitely poorly designed, but Silok still should have done some research instead of claiming that each character within a weight category has the same base stats. That is false
@@fatterplatter3029 to say someone should've known to do research on the stats is to say they should assume that the game is straight up lying to them. If it was like DS and gave you accurate stats, there would be nothing to look up.
@@silokhawk Very true, I'm not denying that. That being said, even though the HUD does lie to your face, claiming that characters in the same weight class have the same base stats is wrong regardless of the HUD. Wario does not have the same base stats as Waluigi, for example. The HUD isn't really a factor at that point because it doesn't even tell you that Wario, Waluigi, or anyone in that weight class have the same stats. Where did you get that information from?
every single time I go online there's always gotta be that one guy in the lobby that votes us to peaks and then half of us suffer because I swear that track is pure RNG
Not only the CPUs. If I play the game online I'm always ahead. The only time I loose is if I have bad RNG. I hope that the next Mk is for both player bases and not only the casuals.
@@bl00by_ 8 has a balancing issue where it's too easy to frontrun, due to the lack of off-road shortcuts on most tracks, and the fact that the speed items such as mushrooms are nerfed. If you get in 1st it's easy to stay in first, and if you fall behind it's more difficult to catch up
it's not true that's the thing. i think Hawk is just bad at mkwii, lol. not throwing shade, but as a competitive player who has also played a ton of cpus, there is absolutely NO rubber banding in mkwii.
@@lol-ih1tl You and I could 1v1 no items, no cpus, a THOUSAND times and you wouldn't take a single game. Even if you trained every day for over a year. The fact that you think the difficulty comes almost solely from the items and the CPUs shows how little you know about the game, lol. You would literally get 0 points in a pro room where everyone's hitting each other with items. The difference is pros actually know how to make the chaos work for them
Funny Story: When I first played Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, I was in 1st place all throughout my first race, until I got hit with lightning and a blue shell right as I was about to get to the finish line, knocking me into 4th. It was almost like the series was saying, “Welcome to Mario Kart, &$@#!” And I’ve loved the series ever since. (I must say, that kind of bombardment has never really happened to me since though). Side Note: You get so many invincibility frames in Tour that a red shell can essentially save you from a blue shell. This has happened to me several times.
I purposly throw bananas infront of me in first and try to time it so the blue shell doesnt register (this isnt even a pro technique I kinda made it up after realising it once)
I was into the competitive scene until my Wii broke. I’ve never had more fun, or laughed as hard, or screamed as loud since. This game will always be my personal favourite forever.
@@BigWarningSign yeah saw that, really cool idea, still makes for a hot potatoes like moments, but instead of people avoiding it, everyone instead fights for it! Absolute carnage
I agree mostly. Just a few stuff he missed like wild wing snaking, no need for modding to play online, drift mechanics still advanced just different, rubber banding being a lot more stronger in Mario kart 64. Everything else is accurate
@@dastick9767 yeah the wild wing alternatives. It happens to be the popular choice for online play that's all. Maybe I'm wrong but last time I checked not all but some yes. The fastest kart has low drift and mini turbo Makin it the worst for snaking. Or any similar karts
Can we please talk about how awesome it was to play a few races with friends or family, and see some of your Miis on posters and stuff? I really miss Miis
I find it ironic how I just 100%'d this game 4 months ago after 10 YEARS OF TRYING. It's so funny to see a video talking about it all. The feeling of your heart beating 1000 bpm as you pray that you don't get smited with a blue shell at the last second on mirror mode rainbow road, is something I'll remember for the rest of my life. It's so rewarding to go to the main menu and see every single square filled with gold after a decade of effort and losing. Thank you so much for making my childhood, Nintendo. For anyone who's interested, my stats on the day I fully beat the game are as follows: *Overall Rank - A* Times 1st Place Achieved - 1567 % Race Time in 1st Place - 50% Item Hits Delivered - 7881 Item Hits Received - 10267 (Yikes.) Competitions Entered - 14 Times (R.I.P Competitions.) Total Distance Travelled - 19988 Total Race Count - 2671 Total Battle Count - 229 Wii Wheel Usage Rate - 97% Tricks Performed - 25208 *(HOLY MOTHER OF FREAKING GOD, I SHOOK THAT DAMN WII REMOTE OVER 25 THOUSAND TIMES.)*
There's a mod that turns the Thundercloud into what's called a Mega Thundercloud. What happens is that the TC acts as a Mega Mushroom rather than a Shock, which is so much better imo. Instead of playing hot potato with the TC, you're effectively playing keep-away. If Nintendo used that in a future entry, I think it'd be pretty cool
Oh boy, this is going to take a while. First of all, Silok, thank you for being fair to the game. I pretty much agreed or at the very least respected all of your opinions. In particular, this game being Mario Kart’s answer to Melee. That’s something I’ve believed for ages now and I was so happy to see you think that way too. Also, thank you for bringing up CTGP and the fan base keeping the game alive. You covered both sides of the coin, the good and the battle mode, which showed you weren’t biased to the old games. My only real complaints are the fact that you weren’t really drifting enough to properly take the turns when you were using manual (which hey, it does take a while to get used to if you don’t do it much and it’s not like you were as bad as Poofesure. Seriously, watching him play was genuinely uncomfortable for me to watch) so it looked like you were just complaining because you weren’t that good and the fact that you completely ignored that you _do_ lose a point if you lose all your balloons in balloon battle. Aside from that, I have no big issues with the video and I’m so glad. As I said in the community post nobody saw, I’m very attached to this game and I held a record on a 200cc custom track at one point. Silok, you did the community proud. Even though you probably won’t see this, I had to say it just in case you somehow do. If you’ve read all this, thanks for listening to me ramble. You don’t have to, but if you could like this comment so Silok can see it, it would mean a lot to me. ...don’t use the standard kart it sucks. Edit: Oh god this has been turned into a war zone. Tread carefully.
@Xxxx There are still people out there who use karts over bikes and actually can play really well with them. Majority would go for bikes, that's true yes. There are still a lot of players out there that can surprise you with the combination they choose, even to this day. :)
Unless I'm thinking of a different part, the bit about complaining about drifting is how it's *supposed* to be welcome to newcomers, (being on the wii and all) yet it doesn't properly accommodate for different play styles
@@demetriuskafkoulas5005 well he's right at that at least. if you have 0 points, if i recall correctly, it doesnt take away points from you or your team. i don't think you can go intot he negatives
He means as in nothing really punishing and different comes from losing all of your balloons on you than losing a balloon. Yeah you lose some time and respawn somewhere random but it doesnt feel like it's punishing enough for losing all your balloons. You respawn very quickly and recover almost as if nothing happened. And he is saying that it wouldn't be that different compared to just losing points when hit.
As someone who got back into MKWii around last summer, and who has been playing it consistently since, I appreciate the research that went into this video. I love this game and community and it makes me happy to just see more people talking about it. The thing I love most about this game is that while the items are total bull, (nobody can refute this) regardless, after playing for a while, you get a feel for what place can pull what item, and it starts to feel like a game that considers mechanical driving skill, AND item strategy. A fun example of this in the competitive scene is that in clan wars, each team of 6 will have one designated "bagger" who tries to outdrive the other team's bagger, in REVERSE. This is so that they can stay in 12th place, and try to get the shock, which is much more likely in 12th place than 11th. Then they coordinate with their team to use items like stars or mega mushrooms right before the shock goes off to get a "shock dodge", solidifying that their team gets top 5. It's stuff like this that makes me love the game, despite the fact that it has obvious balancing flaws. People look at the item balance flaws, and go "well how can we best manipulate the hand we've been dealt" and somehow when everyone tries to work around the broken parts, it works so smoothly that it almost feels like nintendo knew what they were doing the whole time.
DS still has the best battle mode of them all. Especially that starting with 5 balloons but having to stop to inflate them really was great and being able to steal balloons when having a boost.
You might know but there is an option in the settings to set the items to either chaotic strategic or normal. The game defaults to chaotic. I have no clue why people do t mention this because it makes the item problem way better
The game defaults items to normal. Me and my friends always played on frantic mode because it sounded more fun. Recently we’ve been playing on ctgp wiimfii where it is always normal items. Frantic is actually more balanced than normal items. Far more pows and lightnings in normal. First through third place get way less defense in terms of bananas in normal. There are WAY more bloopers and less golden shrooms in normal. There aren’t enough blue shells in normal (sometimes frantic has too many too I know lol).
Yackis Panther haha no worries. I don’t to strategic too often but it’s pretty fun with the extra green shells. Tbh green shells are way more fun to get than red shells lol
Definitely know why I feel like a hardened mario kart veteran. Actually beating Mario Kart Wii, with a kart, takes some skill due to the items permanently set to frantic (9 goddamn blue shells man)
i was like 9 when i 100% completed wii with drybones and karts but i never found it hard for me and now im in my 20s and wondering how tf i managed to become a god in that game
also, MKWii online no longer needs modding, just go to your console's internet settings and type in a custom DNS and you're done they also added a SBMM (skill based matchmaking) esque system where the game won't put you in a server full of 9000+ VR players when you got like 5000+
@Holden The Gamer technecally daisy and funky kong as characters aren't as broken as meta knight. You meant to say vehicles lol which is similar to melee as some are viable and some are trash
@Holden The Gamer The characters really don’t matter that much. I’ve never noticed any difference picking one over another. I know they all have different stats, but they still all feel the same to play. It’s the vehicles that make all the difference.
@@Tom-jw7ii very true characters honestly don’t matter at all when playing in races and all it’s just annoying when you have like 12 funky Kongs in one room with no diversity. Time trials is a whole other story, but that’s to be expected
I absolutely love this game. It was my first Mario Kart and I hold it dearly. But I have to take the rose tinted glasses off sometimes and point out that it's not perfect. It has MANY flaws. The items and balancing especially. But I think it's still great and it's basically become Mario Kart's Melee. People keeping it alive for all these years cause they found it fun and interesting. I think that's magical.
you forgot to mention that you can use a gamecube controller and a wii classic controller you have 4 controlling options EDIT: he also forgot about the tournaments yes I know they are discontinued but that doesnt change the fact that they existed and you can use a patch to play them again
17:45 actually, you DO lose points for losing all your balloons. That’s like the whole point. albeit it should probably be more points, but saying there’s no penalty for losing all your balloons is just a lie
The bi-monthly competitions were such a big bonus for Mario Kart Wii while they were live. A great replacement for the missions on DS, and something I wish they would implement on MK8 to keep things fresh and interesting
12:09 isn’t that a good thing for Wii? I feel like the game is less fun when you can consistently get 1st with little effort or challenge. Sure it could seem “unfair” to have gone from 1st to 8th from a blue shell, but contrastingly it makes the game more fun for less experienced players knowing they can rely on items to even the playing field, and pushes the better players to challenge themselves to play better to recover.
As a MKWii player, this is amazing for playing with friends but extremely annoying online. It’s not really a big issue and it gives worse players a chance, but I probably would have broken my Wii remote if it wasn’t so durable.
I'm personally more mixed on this stuff. For all the reasons you mentioned, I find it absolutely fantastic in a multiplayer setting where there are fewer CPU opponents and more human opponents, and far less stakes, and makes races more memorable with others. When playing in Grand Prix to unlock most of the characters, karts, and bikes, it just becomes exhausting and only serves to artificially draw out the length of the game. Items are far too frequently devastating in Grand Prix to the point where it just detracts from the fun. It doesn't really add any challenge to the game, but rather, just potentially create impossible situations for the player when combined with the rubberbanding, forcing the player to unnecessarily redo the entire cup from the start. I think a few minor tweaks could make the situation a lot more palatable (as a matter of fact, it does - Bob-Ombs and Blue Shells don't send you flying up in the air and they no longer take away the item you have in reserve in future games, and that really went a long way in making the Grand Prix of those games more enjoyable - and replayable). I'm certainly open to more challenge to staying in first, but I'd rather have that in the track design as well as a more strategic use for items, rather than the game sending multiple blue shells and lightning bolts per lap because it wanted to. It doesn't completely turn off the game for me (although a non-functioning Wii will), but later games are less frustrating to deal with, and I think 7 and 8 Deluxe do a much better job at finding a game balancing middleground during Grand Prix (8 on Wii U kind of has the opposite problem as Wii, with only about half the items in the playing field at once, it's a bit too easy to maintain first, which makes it a bit stale on revisits, but I'd rather that instead of Wii's which kind of wasted my time). As of September 2019 though, I've admittedly started to be more forgiving and somewhat appreciative towards Wii's ridiculous item balancing, and it's almost entirely due to the existence of an entry that allows the CPU to spam blue shells like it's a golden mushroom.
im gonna do a very strong comparison with mk8 here, on the behalf of mkw the game is waaaay more fun when the cpu is actually trying and is always on your tail, unlike 8 where you can get a really big advantage over everyone else and just be 1st the whole grand prix, plus the fact that you get to use more fun items the more behind you are, in 8 you just get coins bananas and shells occasionally, so you never really get to use any fun or interesting item, unlike mkw where you cn basically use every item on 1 race if you're lucky enough. I preffer mkw's balancing for it is more defined and even tho it might get tiring only playing funky with a flamerunner every race, thats what cpus and your friends are for, those are your fun grounds and online is the competitive grounds. If you wanna have fun, play with cpu or friends, wanna get competitive? play 8 or mkw's online for an even more competitive scene.
@@dead_veloper4765 Tell that to any decently skilled MKWii players that finish every CPU race at least half a lap ahead due to abusing wheelies and shortcuts
@Noah Cheng those were when troy was playing online mogis, and mogis are sweat right? obviously he doesn't do that anymore but he is still pretty skilled, I know it's kinda of a bad example, but it is still correct.
@@ewan1118 No, he used to play clan wars competitively back in 2009-2011 (and he was pretty fucking good at them), but now he's just a family friendly guy for the kids.
i mean melee's top 10 players have hovered around using 6-8 different characters for nearly a decade now. no other smash game is even close to having that much character diversity in their top 10
At least Smash characters are fundamentally different. Mario Kart... It's sad because characters are just walking stat modifiers, and not alarmingly noticeable ones at that. So seeing a full room with the same characters is a pretty depressing sight, it comes across as "min-maxer try hards".
A comment on the blue shells, I rarely get them but when I notice this they always come, “I haven’t been hit with a blue shell In ages” Nintendo: “ok here’s 4 of them in the span of 2 minutes”
Honestly great video, lots of very valid points, some thoughts: - Basically every single criticism you had on the item was completely valid lmao, it's got cool parts but it's very rough. - Honestly this game has my favorite battle mode *map selection* of any MK game, it's honestly incredible aesthetically and super varied, the restrictions of the mode itself are very rough though. (Balloon Death does take half your points like in future entries, but it rounds down instead of up for how many it takes) - The biggest appeal of this game for me personally is that the racing physics feel *really good*, the weight, level of control, feeling of speed, and movement potential for mastery are all great for me. - The original track selection is incredible agreed, although for me the retro track selection is quite good, but not incredible. - On a related note, MKW has by far the most varied and satisfying shortcut design for its tracks than any other mario kart game, and not just on the new tracks, it's both free form in its possibilities in addition to complicated and interesting intended shortcuts, it's a little thing in the grand scheme of things, but it really adds up how much you think and engage with the tracks overall. - The soundtrack is amazing, so many of the game's tracks are super memorable and great, and not just the track themes, the menus and cutscenes have great themes too, it's a 10/10 soundtrack almost across the board. - I love the drift change personally, the fact that how quickly you get your boost is dependent on how tight you turn adds so much depth to how you form your routes around the tracks, spin drift also adds an extra layer of mastery to it too. - I really like the kart vs bike differences personally, both playstyles are really fun and also very distinct from each other in pros and cons, the problem is that wheelies are overtuned and outside drift is undertuned, which results in the dramatic meta shift, it's unfortunate but below a competitive level karts are still really fun. - Your complaints on the bloom effects are completely valid, but outside of that I adore this game's visual direction, the UI and menus, vehicle designs, special effects, art style, especially track design are all gorgeous. - I do want to give a small shoutouts to the monthly challenge mode in online, it was super fun and varied and it's really unfortunate that a free use implementation didnt happen when the service went down in an official manner. And that's about it, congrats for anyone that reads through that lol, I enjoyed thinking about and talking about MKW again!
9:30 Honestly it was your fault that you messed up that corner. Karts pull a little to the opposite direction of the drift in the very beginning of it. Thus the correct way to take that corner (even with the bad initial alignment) would've been to steer a little to the left for just a moment and then initiate a drift to the right during which you hold hard left on your stick. The problem you faced was that you drove that Kart into the corner as if it was a bike.
Competitive gaming has driven me so far from playing online for most games. I’m a casual player that just wants to play a game for fun. I just can’t seem to do that with games like this because most other people seem to care to damn much about being the best player at said game and making sure they know how many frames and microseconds every action lasts. Even in games that offer competitive and casual modes, people can still be super fucking competitive in the regular mode.
@@Dimitri_gdr Yeah, so-called "casuals" that just so happen to get mad that others take the game more seriously should realize that they aren't casuals, they're just bad and are looking for an excuse. People like winning and will look for any advantage they can. Either up your game or accept your role as a casual shitter and get used to losing more often than not.
I'm super nostalgic to DS and Wii, yet I play CTGP-7 and old 8 more. Honestly, CTGP is pretty tight overall; a great community project that has a few rough edges, but an absolute blast for anyone willing to put in the time and effort to get it running.
@@fernandotena7093 CTGP stands for custom track grand prix; it's a community-developed mod pack for mario kart wii that includes online servers and fan-made tracks alongside the vanilla game
It's pretty funny how mkwii was seen to have been a casual game, and then becoming one of the most competitive nintendo games out there (melee beats it by a long shot tho)
As one who grew up with this game, I can honestly say it's very similar to driving your first car again after a long time. Better cars have come out, certain issues have been fixed, and overall the ride is a lot sooner. But when you sit in the seat that's worn down by your past self, take hold of the steering wheel in the same rubbed away places you've been gripping for years, and it takes that familiar extra second long to crank, all the memories come flooding back. And that motherfucker will outpace every other car you've ever driven, dented drive shaft and all, because you're one with it. It's an extension of you. Oh wait, we were talking about Mario Kart
14:11 No offense here but I’m just here to correct something. The bloom effect is visible here because of how emulation works, on actual Wii Hardware the bloom effect isn’t really visible. How do I know? I’ve been playing this game on emulator and real hardware.
Mario Kart Wii was one of the first video games I ever played, and was my very first Mario game. Despite it being frustrating at times, it will always have a special place in my heart.
Your argument about this being less technical/strategic than other entries confuses me. The reason I still play MKWii online is because it’s so much more technically advanced that future entries. 7,8 (and Tour) all fall into the same comfortable modern Mario Kart experience. The only remotely technical things left are the mushroom blue shell dodge, which was ruined by the addition Super Horn, and Fire Hopping, which was removed in 8 Deluxe. Soft drifting still exists but it’s use cases are more limited given wheelies aren’t in the game anymore. Meanwhile MKWii has chain wheelies, slip drifting, spin drifting, low tricks, standstill mini-turbos, rail riding, mushroom physics and of course all the incredible shortcuts/ultra shortcuts. Also the new drifting system relies on more than just how long the drift is held for. It also relies on the angle of your drift. The choice between going for a fail drift, a soft drift or a hard drift is another layer to the game.
@@owainthorp3536 He knows what he’s talking about, that’s why he didn’t talk about this stuff. He knows he’s casually playing the game, ha die talked about his experience.
But the point in mario kart wii is that none of that really matters, because with funky kong and flame runner the only thing you can do it's just to learn the route for that track and hope that the rng graces you
Definitely agree with the blue shell comment. I remember getting blue shelled THIRTEEN times on Bowser Castle 3 and coming second after the final one hit me before the finish line
The drift boost isnt based on how long you're drifting, its based on how tight you drift. Its like winding a marionette. if you drift at the default with the stick in the middle it takes a while. say if youre drifting right, while holding right, it charges much faster. if you're drifting right but holding left, it charges much slower. Snaking isnt impossible in mkwii but it is much harder
YES! I admit I kinda look past some of its flaws because I played it so much as a kid and love it a ton, but I still think it's a good time, would love to see what he thinks.
Am I the only one who genuinely enjoys the motion controls in this game? I’ve never had problems with it and I believe it works great once you get used to the sensitivity of the turning. Edit: after watching the video, it might be because I play with a bike the majority of the time.
22:40 Anyone else get shy guy bazaar (from MK7) vibes from Siloks old design (Thats a compliment considering he designed a track on level with nintendo at that age)
10:05 the balancing has always been bad in every Mario Kart game. However, the thing I love about Wii the most is despite the balancing issues, the amount of freedom to control the bikes, great turning and the fact that Funky Kong is such a cool meta character kinda alleviates this issue for me. Plus, the problem I have with a game like MK8DX is that, while it is more balanced in a way, it is also less interesting considering that for a game that's as customizable as MK8DX. Online, you also only see Waluigi with Wigglers everywhere. I argue that the meta of MK8DX is even more lame than Wii considering the amount of customizable options for Kart combinations.
Just watched the whole video and I agree with your item balancing and battle mode points but I think the racing is some of the most chaotic fun I've ever had. And yes, the rubberbanding is egregious, but I think it ultimately makes it more fun. I have a lot more fun when I'm actually having to fight for first. If I were going for a fast time I could just play time trial, which I am disappointed you didn't touch on. I think the other thing you should have mentioned is the speedrunning scene, specifically, Ultra-Shortcuts. But ultimately very good video. You lay out all of your points in a fair way with evidence to back them up. Just because I don't agree with them doesn't make your points invalid.
As a person who’s delved into the competitive scene and knows a LOT about the game’s mechanics and absolutely adores this game, I think you did a very fair review. This game has a ton of flaws and I think you touched on a lot of them that others forgot to mention, like how awful Karts feel in this game, and how the visuals feel washed out and rather characterless. A lot of your criticisms were ones I also have with the game personally and I think that you did a great job on reviewing this game. I think the main reason a lot of us MKWII fans enjoy the game is that it’s just such a wacky and unique game in comparison to other games and that really makes it a lot more fun when playing them all back to back at least. The games following the Wii entry kind of feel almost sterile in a way, and they don’t have as much character as other entries like 64 or DS do. This game is very flawed in many ways but a lot of us have come to terms with the flaws and embraced them, like with the vehicles. It also helps that this is probably the easiest Mario Kart game to mod for sure and that we have some great UA-camrs that are keeping interest for the game high. I’d also say that the other thing keeping the game so alive are the crazy physics, because this game probably has the most insane shortcuts of any other Mario Kart and a lot of the Time Trial runs are truly fascinating to watch. The Rainbow Road or Maple Treeway glitch runs in particular are beautiful and I think that even people not interested in the game probably enjoy watching the records or TAS runs for this game, or maybe enjoy just messing around with the wack physics. This game is so weird that it’s just kind of fun to go to a track like Mushroom Gorge and do some insane mushroom physics lol. I do recommend checking out wiki.tockdom.com/wiki/Main_Page because it has a lot of nice little mods and custom textures or characters that can help mitigate the visual issues, or checking out the guides on making a custom track, because there are a lot of nice resources to help you out and I think MKWii is probably the simplest for one to mod, because I also was interested in making tracks myself and finding out that there were detailed guides to help you was a very nice feeling. I also recommend trying out a few mods just to see how much they’ll spice up your experience ;) As said before though, wonderful review, it even satisfied a MKWii nut like me and I hope other MKWii nuts see where you’re coming from and don’t automatically dislike for you criticizing their beloved game. This is my favorite Mario Kart by far and I still thought your review was more than fair haha.
@@coopinatormusic6214 i assume by too sterile that person meant it's too clean and the way nintendo wants it to be made. Meaning no techs or exploits. Mario kart 8 deluxe removed fire hopping from the Wiiu for example and as a result there isn't as much depth to it compared to the Wii in terms of driving skills and techniques By character i see more character in Mario kart 64 where whenever you don't get a good placement a funny cutscene will play when you lose getting bombed, or in Mario kart wii you go to a ceremony they don't have any of this in Mario kart 8 and i don't think it is necessary but it is always nice to know that nintendo think about their fans whenever making a game I guess the best way to explain is that it is too professionally made to the point where it's not fun and quirky anymore
@@coopinatormusic6214 it's good. Some of us just grew up with some of that freedom and creativity and many stuff they used to be. Lately nintendo has been very stingy about it haha
@@flyforce16 It really isn't, though. Battle mode was bad for like one or two games (never played 7 so can't judge on that), but they got their stuff together with 8 and 8 DX
@@doomse150 actually it was only good on DS imo. It's the ONLY mario kart game with permadeath and cpus in the battle modes. MK8 Deluxe is okay since losing your balloons is more punishing than in wii, but it's not the same. also fuck that timer
I can see why they removed/replaced snaking, you literally win almost every time by snaking the entire race. Yes, that is the reward of being extremely skilled at something, but it's still pretty op, you have a clear advantage over whoever doesn't snake. It's not even that hard to do. For the rubberbanding, I feel like there needs to be some rubberbanding incorporated into racing with CPU. Without it you will front-run every time without rubberbanding no sweat. That's not fun, theres no challenge. However MKWII overdoes it by a landslide.
this was the first game I even remember playing, and now I've been playing for 13 years. it warms my heart whenever I see someone even talk about this game. I still even play on my original modded Wii. (And battle mode is absolute garbage)
As a Mario Kart Wii veteran, I do agree with your statement on Item Bombardment, but I personally don't mind it because it makes the game fun and challenging
Another way MKW is similar to Melee is the Phantom Hits at 19:50 (If you don’t know, Phantom Hits occur when you get hit but no knock back happens, just like at the previously stated clip).
Ok, the items are annoying but there is a technique called a stand still mini turbo where you drift in place after getting hit to get a mini turbo and speed up faster which definitely makes it better.
@@pavango3812 True but also the games acceleration isn’t bad just the heavyweights have very bad acceleration. Heavyweight characters are a lot worse without stand still mini-turbos so casuals might here the funky flame runner is the best combination but then not to good since they don’t know how to stand still mini-turbo. The game would be way better balanced stand still mini-turbos didn’t exist.
@@rowlet4ever I’m not sure if I’d like removing ssmts since I like the idea. Maybe making it so they rely on mini turbo stat and take longer to charge up would be better
The modern Mario Kart Wii community hates battle mode in Wii. Trash talk about it all you want and we will agree with everything you say. TWD98 literally played battle mode for 5 minutes and went back to racing as battle mode is so bad.
@@silokhawk No no, it actually exists. Since you reference TWD98 I'll just mention that he has at least one or two videos on it. Blueshell showdown or something.
You can like super mario kart for its simplicity You can like Mariokart 64 for its incredible speedrunning, You can like super circuit for starting retro stages You can like Double dash for its uniqueness. You can like ds for mission mode and battle mode You can like Wii for its physics engine. You can like 7 for all of its new features And you can like 8/8dx for being the most polished entry in the series. Just play what you like and don't let people tell you otherwise.
Silokhawk doesn't seem to realize that you actually lose 1 point from losing all your balloons in battle mode but that's still not not enough of a punishment. Also I do agree that there should be an option to switch between 'Last Man Standing' and Score Battle' for not just Balloon Battle but for any other mode that would work well in these two options because both versions of Balloon Battle are as fun as each other as well as the option to turn off teams and if you thought 9 Spiny Shells in Bowser's Castle was crazy, the crazier part is that it's somehow okay to have Spiny Shells in Battle Mode, why!?
I think that the item system being ruthless is actually a good aspect of this game. Whenever I play any other mario kart with most people, I’ll easily win every race because the items and cpus are less brutal and don’t penalise you as much. In this game, everything is crazy, you can never feel secure but you can still be good enough to break away- it’s much more enjoyable because extremely good players will still have to worry about losing to their friends.
I search all comments to see someone say what you said, and I do agree with your opinion. Items being ruthless make exciting races and a thing you can't neglect in contrast with other MK games where you care less about items strategy.
It is just funny how nintendo thought mario kart wii was going to be the most casual mario kart but it became the most comptetitive
It has a lot of broken features that are exploitable for quicker lap times, it was prone to be competitive 😂
@@MrOiram46 but nintendo did not intend that
@Tyler Schultz well more players have brawl than melee so explain that
@Tyler Schultz pretty sure mario kart wii's time trial scene is immensly more competitive and popular than mario kart 64's??
@Tyler Schultz mario kart wii and melee are competitive because they are meant to be casual games that are easy to get into, but they also have high skill caps and hidden tech and have many unintended features/bugs.
Hell, mario kart 8 is just as popular as mkwii was, but it's still not as competitive.
"you can visibly see a halo around the player model on certain tracks"
this is because dry bones is the patron saint of bullet bikes
Timestamp: 14:11
I once recorded a TAS of mine on Grumble Volcano and jesus christ, the bloom/aura around the character makes it look like they themselves are on fire. As much as I adore MKW, it's a pretty annoying thing to deal with when trying to get dat crisp HD quality.
so true
Praise be
St. Dry Bones, patron of bullet bikes and Boners, pray for us!
This isn’t relevant but I got an ad for a Popeye’s Chicken Sandwich while eating a Popeye’s Chicken Sandwich and I think that’s neat
that is neat!
Neat that they’re spying on you
Hey question are they good?
@@gamergaymer965 personally, I really like them
@@Mr_Mimestamp i should 100% try popeyes sometime
I used to see ads for it all the time
Still don't know what was happening with the sandwich tho
In Mario Kart DS, it’s not the characters themselves that have different stats, but instead their KARTS. For example, If you have Mario on Standard MR, it’s the same stats as if you had Yoshi on Standard MR. Once you unlock the ability to have any character on any kart, you can have any character with any kart stats you want if the kart exists
Wait what?
When you complete the main game in Mario Kart DS (win all the cups from 50cc to Mirror), two things happen.
1): Your main menu screen changes
2): You can drive any kart you want, no matter which character you choose. So you can drive in the mushroom kart as Bowser, for example. Before, you could’ve only played the mushroom kart as toad.
The only REAL thing that changes is the Weight, depending on the character.
The characters contribute weight, which is why you see so much dry bones in the egg, and bowser on the dry bomber.
Which is why that game is awesome. Arguably the best Kart in the game is the dry bomber but Luigi is my favorite character. Unlocking all 36 karts for each character is amazing.
"If an item appears in two games in a row, it becomes a series mainstay"
*did ya forget the fake item box*
That's an interesting case.
64 - yes
SC - no
DD, DS and Wii - yes
Every game after - no
So it didn't appear in two games in a row. It wasn't in Super Circuit.
@@EJthemad7174but it literally did right after that
my brother in christ you literally just pointed out how it appeared THREE times in a row@@EJthemad7174
The thing about shaking your remote to avoid a POW block is that you still lose your item and your momentum is locked, so it can still mess people up without being as overpowered as the Lightning (aka the "shock").
The momentum thing especially is pretty punishing if you're trying to turn a corner too, you basically need to slow down to avoid risking going into the offroad or off the map
Yes! Thank you! You lose your item and you fly straight, so if there's a turn to bump into the wall. The shock is still more powerful
Yeah, you're not avoiding the block by waggling, but inputing a trick while airborne which will let you keep your momentum; the way you "dodge" it on gcc or classic controller is by mashing the dpad, which is how you trick with those controllers.
This is why pow IMO is one of the best items on tracks with spirals/90 degree turns. You can correctly time a pow to target pow your opponents into walls or even off the track. On top of that, you can time a frame perfect hop to avoid losing the item and the spinout, which adds a skillful aspect to the pow
ya kinda just straight disagree with the item being bad because of your points, surprised he didn't even mention how it makes you lose your item.
"It's all Funky Kong?"
"Always has been."
Wiimmfi in a nutshell , sometimes daisy and some other characters appear
Me not knowing that Funky Kong existed when I played Mariokart wii casually
Wot
@@shyfuzzy3941 same, i found funky kong in the time trial ghosts before i ever played online and unlocked everything
all hail our king funky!
as a huge mkwii fan who plays it all the time i completely agree with practically all your points. This was such an interesting and accurate critique/analysis
Ooh I dont
Yeah and it’s so funny as a fan of mkwii because the chaotic bs this game has is actually why I love it so much, but it definitely makes sense to criticize it for being pretty unfair most of the time
I find strange how in the last few years there has been so much Mario Kart Wii love from mostly Zoomers, for years this game was hated by many and I had to defend it a couple of times with all it's flaws in consideration, but now a lot of people say it's the best game in the series, a very confusing change of pace
Because Zoomers grew up with it and never know anything different. For people who've been through the gauntlet of SMK, MK64, MKDD, etc. it's much easier to see this game's flaws
@@flyforce16 mario kart 8 was good and well made but MKWii was the best family game, it was a way to bond for the family and the more I think about Mario Kart Wii the more I remember about it.
@@kalidos7681 I dislike MK Wii in comparison to other Mario Kart games, but I agree that it was a good family game-the Wii was immensely popular for kids & parents alike, the Wii Wheel was a fun accessory, and the game came packaged with many peoples' Wii consoles. That is a high level of accessibility.
Its the circle of nostalgia. We are beginning the wii phase, and slowly leaving the gamecube phase. For the past 5 to 8 years, gamecube has been at the forefront of nostalgia, and 5 to 8 years before that the N64 was king. Its just the cycle, I remember when I first started watching gaming related youtube videos and the craze was N64. Remember when Mario Kart 64 was the BEST in the series? Now its considered not even close, Double dash is now considered the best, and in a few years or sooner Wii will take over. Circle of nostalgia.
welcome to the sonic community
I am barely competitively viable in Mario Kart Wii, so it was a slap to the face when I first got Wiimifi up and immediately got obliterated by everyone as Funky Kong and Daisy while I was just trying to play online as Luigi in a Sugarscoot
Here's a tip, there's 2 different types of bikes. Inside drifting and outside drifting. All Karts have outside drift some bikes have inside which allows them to cut corners better. The sugar scoot is outside drift which is the worst of both worlds imo. If you're gonna use a vehicle use an inside drifting bike or even a kart which is preferable.
Yeah...that's what happens when you play one of the worst vehicles in the game.
Actually, characters matters more than you think it does..you see, Nintendo had this weird system for characters that allows Funky Kong and Daisy to have an extra + speed more than any other characters, as he mentioned in video. It’s weird in way it breaks the game and that’s why you only see Funky Kongs and Daisys, maybe sometimes Waluigis that help with drifting in online competitive.
@@davidjr3658 The speed stat isn’t boosted that much though. The only time where characters matter a ton are in time trials due to the times being really optimized, while when you play online, whether you’re playing competitively or casually, you wouldn’t have a big disadvantage playing Luigi on the mach bike instead of Daisy on the Mach bike. It’s just that a lot of people have the thinking of “if funky and daisy are the best (even if it’s not by much) why wouldn’t I use them?)
@@davidjr3658 Uh no, it doesn't "break" the game. Across one race, funky Kong gains like just around a second overall compared with another heavyweight e.g. Bowser. It's the vehicle that matters. And in this case, the Flame Runner and Mach Bike are broken.
the fact that silok was still in the game at the end after being hit by almost 9 of the blue shells, proves that he’s such a trooper.
Absolute Unit
@douglas passanante might of not of been in first for all of the 9 blue shells to hit him
@@buildinggates6238 Poor, Yoshi
@@mariajimenafigueroa233 rip yoshi Lap 1-Lap 3
such a... koopa trooper
Oh believe me, fans of Mario Kart Wii will still absolutely agree with you about the Thundercloud, Battle Mode, and karts being almost irrelevant (and most bikes being completely irrelevant depending on whether they have inside or outside drift). We just love the game for what it has to offer, despite some of what may be game design flaws.
Can't agree more. I think most mkwii stans would agree most or all his points so idk what hate he's talking about lol..he's just saying facts (except a few but just a few details he missed, can't blame him)
@@soaringstars314 Maybe he expected to be hated Upon. Luckily the MKWii community Is pretty comprehensive
@@antusFireNova idk i seen otherwise lol but maybe he said it right without triggering anyone and he was pretty much speaking mostly facts
I’m a fan of Mario Kart Wii and I personally enjoyed battle mode. It’s personal preference though I guess.
This is peak Mario kart with its tech
7:07 “There are so many Babies!”
*MK8 and MK8deluxe sweating profusely*
Three words: Pink Gold Peach
@@synthmark7687 Now imagine: BABY PINK GOLD PEACH
@@sonichasafishonhishead1462 look in baby park remake's background, you might see a baby pink gold peach
pink gold peach man, oh my gosh
@@synthmark7687
Pink Gold Peach is good. Now Baby Rosalina- THAT'S a bad character, tell me why she's not as disliked as PGP again?
This was literally my entire childhood. The amount of nostalgia I have is immeasurable. Let's just say this, I have all 3 stars in all of the mirror maps. My poor friends. They think I'm scary without power ups? Shame. But good job with this review. I once had 12 blue freaking shells
Sounds about right
This game and new super mario bros wii are so nostalgic to me
@@brodyyates4744 Yesss
@@brodyyates4744Twilight princess Wii Sports and Wii party.
same and mario galaxy too
I swear if this guy disses Coconut Mall, I might just co-comit a co-co-crime
Edit: He's in the co-co-clear my co-co-crew
co-co-fantastic dude
Co co cool
Co-co- catastrophe avoided
All co-co-clear!
Coco puffs
I have a lot of complaints about MKWii, and I've been playing this series since SMK...but I firmly approve of the updated drift mechanics. It isn't just about how long you hold a drift - it will charge faster the more you push your stick into the turn. That incentivizes following a decent racing line and timing your corners so that your nose juuuuust scrapes the inside edge. I much prefer that to the "wiggle a bunch" mechanic from prior entries in the series.
It also adds a lot of nuance with the need delayed drifts and slipdrifts
Plus, imagine the arm cramps if you had to charge MTs the old way with motion controls.
@@TT-rl7pu You bet!!
Hi, retired competitive MKWii player here. Really enjoyed seeing this take on a nearly 13-year old game, and would like to add my own two cents:
-A majority of the MKWii community definitely agrees with Battle Mode and the Thundercloud being both terrible and poorly executed respectively. Heck, CTGP even removes Battle Mode entirely for a fan-made "Countdown" mode instead (which is basically what happens when you combine VS and Battle Mode, and even that mode is scarce in hardcore players).
-There are a handful of casual niche communities inside the MKWii community for those players who want to just play with friends and not be super serious about the game, so even if you decide to try and play online again, there's probably something for everyone regardless of how competitive you may be. If you do want to go competitive, however, there's plenty of lounges/competitive servers to test your skills among the rest of the playerbase.
-Ultra shortcuts and the time trial scene not being mentioned kind of was a miss for me, but you could more or less group that with "competitive scene" though. The cool tricks you can do in this game (and more stuff being discovered nearly 13 years later) is just incredible if you ask me.
Once again, I really enjoyed this take on one of my favorite games. 26 minutes well spent.
CTGP also fixes most of the issues of the TC, with the mega TC option, which just turns it into a high-risk mega mushroom
EWWWW. Imagine being so hard of a tryhard that you play mariokart competitively.
@@AshenDemon imagine being so toxic that you don't just let others do what they want.
Don't inflict your insecurities onto others.
@@AshenDemon ADAM SNAP OUT OF IT
Eh I'm looking back at this comment and this wasn't a good comment not going to lie.
6:31 that's wrong. Actually every character has its own stats, the only thing about them is that they aren't displayed anywhere. But just as funky Kong and daisy have +speed every character has a stat bonus counter from 0 to 5 for each in-game stat showing the bonus for each of the categories
But if it’s so unnoticeable to most players then it is still a problem
@@Magic_Ice Yes, the HUD is definitely poorly designed, but Silok still should have done some research instead of claiming that each character within a weight category has the same base stats. That is false
I mean, he did really praise Mario Kart DS, but he still needed to at least do more research instead of just saying it not there.
@@fatterplatter3029 to say someone should've known to do research on the stats is to say they should assume that the game is straight up lying to them.
If it was like DS and gave you accurate stats, there would be nothing to look up.
@@silokhawk Very true, I'm not denying that. That being said, even though the HUD does lie to your face, claiming that characters in the same weight class have the same base stats is wrong regardless of the HUD. Wario does not have the same base stats as Waluigi, for example. The HUD isn't really a factor at that point because it doesn't even tell you that Wario, Waluigi, or anyone in that weight class have the same stats. Where did you get that information from?
I could just imagine you ending off that final line with a screenshot of mushroom peaks.
funni mushroom go: UR TOO LOW
every single time I go online there's always gotta be that one guy in the lobby that votes us to peaks and then half of us suffer because I swear that track is pure RNG
@@haeilsey Some people just want to see the world burn
@@haeilsey peaks isn't bad, you are
@@nonononononono2022 still a boring track even if you learn the shrooms
“In other games, if I get first I can hold that position reliably” Is that positive though? In 8 I’m always so far ahead of the CPUs it’s just boring
Not only the CPUs. If I play the game online I'm always ahead. The only time I loose is if I have bad RNG. I hope that the next Mk is for both player bases and not only the casuals.
I'm not. Maybe I'm just bad at Mario Kart but it's weird because i can still win every match in Mario Kart Double Dash and Wii
@@bl00by_ 8 has a balancing issue where it's too easy to frontrun, due to the lack of off-road shortcuts on most tracks, and the fact that the speed items such as mushrooms are nerfed. If you get in 1st it's easy to stay in first, and if you fall behind it's more difficult to catch up
it's not true that's the thing. i think Hawk is just bad at mkwii, lol. not throwing shade, but as a competitive player who has also played a ton of cpus, there is absolutely NO rubber banding in mkwii.
@@lol-ih1tl You and I could 1v1 no items, no cpus, a THOUSAND times and you wouldn't take a single game. Even if you trained every day for over a year.
The fact that you think the difficulty comes almost solely from the items and the CPUs shows how little you know about the game, lol. You would literally get 0 points in a pro room where everyone's hitting each other with items. The difference is pros actually know how to make the chaos work for them
"Mario Kart Wii is the best Mario Kart for the Nintendo Wii, but at that point it's also the worst."
Ah yes I see you're a person of culture
I get that reference. I too use words
A Fellow Celibate!
the man who said that hates walls and owns sonic jam, can he be trusted??
@@Spoonkid222 yes he can
Trust me, even the MKW stans hate the battle mode
It’s true I am one of them
Can confirm
Yup
RIGHT LOL
Occasionally coin runners can be bun but for the most part I agree
Funny Story: When I first played Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, I was in 1st place all throughout my first race, until I got hit with lightning and a blue shell right as I was about to get to the finish line, knocking me into 4th. It was almost like the series was saying, “Welcome to Mario Kart, &$@#!” And I’ve loved the series ever since. (I must say, that kind of bombardment has never really happened to me since though).
Side Note: You get so many invincibility frames in Tour that a red shell can essentially save you from a blue shell. This has happened to me several times.
I purposly throw bananas infront of me in first and try to time it so the blue shell doesnt register (this isnt even a pro technique I kinda made it up after realising it once)
@@Inksploded Cool!
I was into the competitive scene until my Wii broke. I’ve never had more fun, or laughed as hard, or screamed as loud since. This game will always be my personal favourite forever.
couldn’t have clicked faster
My LITERAL thought
ikr
Same
So True
Facts
They should've made the Thundercloud function more like a Shell and it would've been passable as an item
Wdym?
@@wilsonklingelhofer1005 I'm gonna assume that he meant that you should be allowed to throw it at someone instead of having to bump into them
yeah, if you get it in online mode after first round you basically lose
In ctgp there is an option to turn on mega clouds where when you get the cloud and get shocked it’s the same as a mega mushroom.
@@BigWarningSign yeah saw that, really cool idea, still makes for a hot potatoes like moments, but instead of people avoiding it, everyone instead fights for it! Absolute carnage
As a member of the mkwii community, I can confirm this guy is spitting straight facts
I agree mostly. Just a few stuff he missed like wild wing snaking, no need for modding to play online, drift mechanics still advanced just different, rubber banding being a lot more stronger in Mario kart 64.
Everything else is accurate
@@soaringstars314 wild wing snaking? you realize every kart can snake...
@@dastick9767 yes but not as effective. I found some karts snaking useless because of low mini turbo.
@@soaringstars314 im talking about flame flyer and mini beast not... THE OTHER 33 KARTS BLEGH
@@dastick9767 yeah the wild wing alternatives. It happens to be the popular choice for online play that's all. Maybe I'm wrong but last time I checked not all but some yes. The fastest kart has low drift and mini turbo Makin it the worst for snaking. Or any similar karts
Can we please talk about how awesome it was to play a few races with friends or family, and see some of your Miis on posters and stuff? I really miss Miis
I find it ironic how I just 100%'d this game 4 months ago after 10 YEARS OF TRYING. It's so funny to see a video talking about it all. The feeling of your heart beating 1000 bpm as you pray that you don't get smited with a blue shell at the last second on mirror mode rainbow road, is something I'll remember for the rest of my life. It's so rewarding to go to the main menu and see every single square filled with gold after a decade of effort and losing. Thank you so much for making my childhood, Nintendo.
For anyone who's interested, my stats on the day I fully beat the game are as follows:
*Overall Rank - A*
Times 1st Place Achieved - 1567
% Race Time in 1st Place - 50%
Item Hits Delivered - 7881
Item Hits Received - 10267 (Yikes.)
Competitions Entered - 14 Times (R.I.P Competitions.)
Total Distance Travelled - 19988
Total Race Count - 2671
Total Battle Count - 229
Wii Wheel Usage Rate - 97%
Tricks Performed - 25208 *(HOLY MOTHER OF FREAKING GOD, I SHOOK THAT DAMN WII REMOTE OVER 25 THOUSAND TIMES.)*
Now get 3 stars on every cup!!!
I beat the game during the summer when I was 13. I think I honestly played for 8-12 hours most days. There was a lot of yelling involved lmao
I managed to get 3 stars on every cup a few years ago. Mostly what helped is practising online and in time trials
@@james_crawfordI’m currently replaying mario kart Wii on a new license trying to get all 32 cup 3 star ranks again. It is not fun lmao
> Wii Wheel Usage Rate - 97%
Well that explains the difficulty ;)
There's a mod that turns the Thundercloud into what's called a Mega Thundercloud. What happens is that the TC acts as a Mega Mushroom rather than a Shock, which is so much better imo. Instead of playing hot potato with the TC, you're effectively playing keep-away. If Nintendo used that in a future entry, I think it'd be pretty cool
The item is op though
Oh boy, this is going to take a while. First of all, Silok, thank you for being fair to the game. I pretty much agreed or at the very least respected all of your opinions. In particular, this game being Mario Kart’s answer to Melee. That’s something I’ve believed for ages now and I was so happy to see you think that way too. Also, thank you for bringing up CTGP and the fan base keeping the game alive. You covered both sides of the coin, the good and the battle mode, which showed you weren’t biased to the old games.
My only real complaints are the fact that you weren’t really drifting enough to properly take the turns when you were using manual (which hey, it does take a while to get used to if you don’t do it much and it’s not like you were as bad as Poofesure. Seriously, watching him play was genuinely uncomfortable for me to watch) so it looked like you were just complaining because you weren’t that good and the fact that you completely ignored that you _do_ lose a point if you lose all your balloons in balloon battle.
Aside from that, I have no big issues with the video and I’m so glad. As I said in the community post nobody saw, I’m very attached to this game and I held a record on a 200cc custom track at one point. Silok, you did the community proud. Even though you probably won’t see this, I had to say it just in case you somehow do.
If you’ve read all this, thanks for listening to me ramble. You don’t have to, but if you could like this comment so Silok can see it, it would mean a lot to me.
...don’t use the standard kart it sucks.
Edit: Oh god this has been turned into a war zone. Tread carefully.
@Xxxx Me? Because I dislike how bikes look.
@Xxxx There are still people out there who use karts over bikes and actually can play really well with them. Majority would go for bikes, that's true yes. There are still a lot of players out there that can surprise you with the combination they choose, even to this day. :)
Wait so one of your complaints with his review is that he’s bad? I don’t get that.
Unless I'm thinking of a different part, the bit about complaining about drifting is how it's *supposed* to be welcome to newcomers, (being on the wii and all) yet it doesn't properly accommodate for different play styles
@@Wingcapman yeah but those people use karts like the wild wing, the flame flyer and the mini beast, karts that are viable not the standard kart
17:41
balloon battle: "you don't lose points"
> -1 as you lost your last balloon
And then at 18:12 he's like "no points were lost" even though the player he idolized never even had points to begin with.
@@demetriuskafkoulas5005 well he's right at that at least. if you have 0 points, if i recall correctly, it doesnt take away points from you or your team. i don't think you can go intot he negatives
He means as in nothing really punishing and different comes from losing all of your balloons on you than losing a balloon. Yeah you lose some time and respawn somewhere random but it doesnt feel like it's punishing enough for losing all your balloons. You respawn very quickly and recover almost as if nothing happened. And he is saying that it wouldn't be that different compared to just losing points when hit.
As someone who got back into MKWii around last summer, and who has been playing it consistently since, I appreciate the research that went into this video. I love this game and community and it makes me happy to just see more people talking about it.
The thing I love most about this game is that while the items are total bull, (nobody can refute this) regardless, after playing for a while, you get a feel for what place can pull what item, and it starts to feel like a game that considers mechanical driving skill, AND item strategy.
A fun example of this in the competitive scene is that in clan wars, each team of 6 will have one designated "bagger" who tries to outdrive the other team's bagger, in REVERSE. This is so that they can stay in 12th place, and try to get the shock, which is much more likely in 12th place than 11th. Then they coordinate with their team to use items like stars or mega mushrooms right before the shock goes off to get a "shock dodge", solidifying that their team gets top 5.
It's stuff like this that makes me love the game, despite the fact that it has obvious balancing flaws. People look at the item balance flaws, and go "well how can we best manipulate the hand we've been dealt" and somehow when everyone tries to work around the broken parts, it works so smoothly that it almost feels like nintendo knew what they were doing the whole time.
DS still has the best battle mode of them all. Especially that starting with 5 balloons but having to stop to inflate them really was great and being able to steal balloons when having a boost.
You might know but there is an option in the settings to set the items to either chaotic strategic or normal. The game defaults to chaotic. I have no clue why people do t mention this because it makes the item problem way better
The game defaults items to normal. Me and my friends always played on frantic mode because it sounded more fun. Recently we’ve been playing on ctgp wiimfii where it is always normal items. Frantic is actually more balanced than normal items. Far more pows and lightnings in normal. First through third place get way less defense in terms of bananas in normal. There are WAY more bloopers and less golden shrooms in normal. There aren’t enough blue shells in normal (sometimes frantic has too many too I know lol).
@@ryanfield4926 thanks, I guess I just have bad memory. i always used to play on strategic becouse my brother couldnt stand any of the others
Yackis Panther haha no worries. I don’t to strategic too often but it’s pretty fun with the extra green shells. Tbh green shells are way more fun to get than red shells lol
Definitely know why I feel like a hardened mario kart veteran. Actually beating Mario Kart Wii, with a kart, takes some skill due to the items permanently set to frantic (9 goddamn blue shells man)
i was like 9 when i 100% completed wii with drybones and karts but i never found it hard for me and now im in my 20s and wondering how tf i managed to become a god in that game
"Baby Daisy? That's not even like a real character."
Well now that she's in this game...she is now!!
I’ll never not be mad about them overlooking Luma to add baby Rosalina to mk8. Like COME ON it’s a perfect fit! Lol
@@KevSB07 i mean, baby rosa should never exist either way, isn't she like immortal?
Sander L. Not really, I mean we have rosa’s backstory as a child in the storybook from Galaxy, so that is a part of her timeline
@@KevSB07 oh, right, I only played galaxy 2 :p
also, MKWii online no longer needs modding, just go to your console's internet settings and type in a custom DNS and you're done
they also added a SBMM (skill based matchmaking) esque system where the game won't put you in a server full of 9000+ VR players when you got like 5000+
Ahhh, I miss the days back when Games were Broken and Unfair, Aaaahhhhh, Good Memories
Competitively speaking, it's the most fun, so I like it.
@Holden The Gamer every character in Wii is viable, Funky and Daisy are just the best, like how every game has a best and worst character.
@Holden The Gamer technecally daisy and funky kong as characters aren't as broken as meta knight. You meant to say vehicles lol which is similar to melee as some are viable and some are trash
@Holden The Gamer The characters really don’t matter that much. I’ve never noticed any difference picking one over another. I know they all have different stats, but they still all feel the same to play. It’s the vehicles that make all the difference.
@@Tom-jw7ii very true characters honestly don’t matter at all when playing in races and all it’s just annoying when you have like 12 funky Kongs in one room with no diversity.
Time trials is a whole other story, but that’s to be expected
competitive gang
I absolutely love this game. It was my first Mario Kart and I hold it dearly. But I have to take the rose tinted glasses off sometimes and point out that it's not perfect. It has MANY flaws. The items and balancing especially. But I think it's still great and it's basically become Mario Kart's Melee. People keeping it alive for all these years cause they found it fun and interesting. I think that's magical.
you forgot to mention that you can use a gamecube controller and a wii classic controller you have 4 controlling options
EDIT: he also forgot about the tournaments yes I know they are discontinued but that doesnt change the fact that they existed and you can use a patch to play them again
@@lol-ih1tl whats the point of you saying that its A Critical Video About Mario Kart Wii
17:45 actually, you DO lose points for losing all your balloons. That’s like the whole point. albeit it should probably be more points, but saying there’s no penalty for losing all your balloons is just a lie
Yea but it’s small compared to 8dx where your points are cut in half
The bi-monthly competitions were such a big bonus for Mario Kart Wii while they were live. A great replacement for the missions on DS, and something I wish they would implement on MK8 to keep things fresh and interesting
12:09 isn’t that a good thing for Wii? I feel like the game is less fun when you can consistently get 1st with little effort or challenge. Sure it could seem “unfair” to have gone from 1st to 8th from a blue shell, but contrastingly it makes the game more fun for less experienced players knowing they can rely on items to even the playing field, and pushes the better players to challenge themselves to play better to recover.
As a MKWii player, this is amazing for playing with friends but extremely annoying online. It’s not really a big issue and it gives worse players a chance, but I probably would have broken my Wii remote if it wasn’t so durable.
I'm personally more mixed on this stuff. For all the reasons you mentioned, I find it absolutely fantastic in a multiplayer setting where there are fewer CPU opponents and more human opponents, and far less stakes, and makes races more memorable with others.
When playing in Grand Prix to unlock most of the characters, karts, and bikes, it just becomes exhausting and only serves to artificially draw out the length of the game. Items are far too frequently devastating in Grand Prix to the point where it just detracts from the fun. It doesn't really add any challenge to the game, but rather, just potentially create impossible situations for the player when combined with the rubberbanding, forcing the player to unnecessarily redo the entire cup from the start. I think a few minor tweaks could make the situation a lot more palatable (as a matter of fact, it does - Bob-Ombs and Blue Shells don't send you flying up in the air and they no longer take away the item you have in reserve in future games, and that really went a long way in making the Grand Prix of those games more enjoyable - and replayable). I'm certainly open to more challenge to staying in first, but I'd rather have that in the track design as well as a more strategic use for items, rather than the game sending multiple blue shells and lightning bolts per lap because it wanted to.
It doesn't completely turn off the game for me (although a non-functioning Wii will), but later games are less frustrating to deal with, and I think 7 and 8 Deluxe do a much better job at finding a game balancing middleground during Grand Prix (8 on Wii U kind of has the opposite problem as Wii, with only about half the items in the playing field at once, it's a bit too easy to maintain first, which makes it a bit stale on revisits, but I'd rather that instead of Wii's which kind of wasted my time). As of September 2019 though, I've admittedly started to be more forgiving and somewhat appreciative towards Wii's ridiculous item balancing, and it's almost entirely due to the existence of an entry that allows the CPU to spam blue shells like it's a golden mushroom.
im gonna do a very strong comparison with mk8 here, on the behalf of mkw the game is waaaay more fun when the cpu is actually trying and is always on your tail, unlike 8 where you can get a really big advantage over everyone else and just be 1st the whole grand prix, plus the fact that you get to use more fun items the more behind you are, in 8 you just get coins bananas and shells occasionally, so you never really get to use any fun or interesting item, unlike mkw where you cn basically use every item on 1 race if you're lucky enough. I preffer mkw's balancing for it is more defined and even tho it might get tiring only playing funky with a flamerunner every race, thats what cpus and your friends are for, those are your fun grounds and online is the competitive grounds. If you wanna have fun, play with cpu or friends, wanna get competitive? play 8 or mkw's online for an even more competitive scene.
@@dead_veloper4765 Tell that to any decently skilled MKWii players that finish every CPU race at least half a lap ahead due to abusing wheelies and shortcuts
@@doomse150 we dont talk about them, they scare me
He used Troy to make an example of the sweat in online 💀💀
well, he isn't wrong?
@Noah Cheng those were when troy was playing online mogis, and mogis are sweat right? obviously he doesn't do that anymore but he is still pretty skilled, I know it's kinda of a bad example, but it is still correct.
@Noah Cheng He is so wrong and I cant agree with you more.
@@ewan1118 No, he used to play clan wars competitively back in 2009-2011 (and he was pretty fucking good at them), but now he's just a family friendly guy for the kids.
@@swordiexd yeah troy was a sweat. and he's been playing so long now, even if he's more casual, 2021 troy could probably beat 2011 troy's results
Thank you Silok Hawk I waited 13 years for your review on this game. Now I can safely purchase the game
When he says when the competitive scenes only using a few couple characters.
Melee starts sweating profusely
i mean melee's top 10 players have hovered around using 6-8 different characters for nearly a decade now. no other smash game is even close to having that much character diversity in their top 10
At least Smash characters are fundamentally different.
Mario Kart... It's sad because characters are just walking stat modifiers, and not alarmingly noticeable ones at that. So seeing a full room with the same characters is a pretty depressing sight, it comes across as "min-maxer try hards".
A comment on the blue shells, I rarely get them but when I notice this they always come,
“I haven’t been hit with a blue shell In ages”
Nintendo: “ok here’s 4 of them in the span of 2 minutes”
Honestly great video, lots of very valid points, some thoughts:
- Basically every single criticism you had on the item was completely valid lmao, it's got cool parts but it's very rough.
- Honestly this game has my favorite battle mode *map selection* of any MK game, it's honestly incredible aesthetically and super varied, the restrictions of the mode itself are very rough though. (Balloon Death does take half your points like in future entries, but it rounds down instead of up for how many it takes)
- The biggest appeal of this game for me personally is that the racing physics feel *really good*, the weight, level of control, feeling of speed, and movement potential for mastery are all great for me.
- The original track selection is incredible agreed, although for me the retro track selection is quite good, but not incredible.
- On a related note, MKW has by far the most varied and satisfying shortcut design for its tracks than any other mario kart game, and not just on the new tracks, it's both free form in its possibilities in addition to complicated and interesting intended shortcuts, it's a little thing in the grand scheme of things, but it really adds up how much you think and engage with the tracks overall.
- The soundtrack is amazing, so many of the game's tracks are super memorable and great, and not just the track themes, the menus and cutscenes have great themes too, it's a 10/10 soundtrack almost across the board.
- I love the drift change personally, the fact that how quickly you get your boost is dependent on how tight you turn adds so much depth to how you form your routes around the tracks, spin drift also adds an extra layer of mastery to it too.
- I really like the kart vs bike differences personally, both playstyles are really fun and also very distinct from each other in pros and cons, the problem is that wheelies are overtuned and outside drift is undertuned, which results in the dramatic meta shift, it's unfortunate but below a competitive level karts are still really fun.
- Your complaints on the bloom effects are completely valid, but outside of that I adore this game's visual direction, the UI and menus, vehicle designs, special effects, art style, especially track design are all gorgeous.
- I do want to give a small shoutouts to the monthly challenge mode in online, it was super fun and varied and it's really unfortunate that a free use implementation didnt happen when the service went down in an official manner.
And that's about it, congrats for anyone that reads through that lol, I enjoyed thinking about and talking about MKW again!
True the battle tracks are amazing. But rather bad maps with a fun battle mode.
You forgot to mention that the pow only works on players in front of you
enter: strategy
Thats like complaining that red shells dont work against the guy in 12th place
@@adifferentusername999 the shock, which functions similarly to the pow, does affect all players, in front and behind you
@@guyfauks2576 actually they can
9:30 Honestly it was your fault that you messed up that corner. Karts pull a little to the opposite direction of the drift in the very beginning of it.
Thus the correct way to take that corner (even with the bad initial alignment) would've been to steer a little to the left for just a moment and then initiate a drift to the right during which you hold hard left on your stick.
The problem you faced was that you drove that Kart into the corner as if it was a bike.
Competitive gaming has driven me so far from playing online for most games. I’m a casual player that just wants to play a game for fun. I just can’t seem to do that with games like this because most other people seem to care to damn much about being the best player at said game and making sure they know how many frames and microseconds every action lasts. Even in games that offer competitive and casual modes, people can still be super fucking competitive in the regular mode.
That should not be a problem if you're casual because if you really are you wouldn't be upset if you get last every game
@@Dimitri_gdr Yeah, so-called "casuals" that just so happen to get mad that others take the game more seriously should realize that they aren't casuals, they're just bad and are looking for an excuse. People like winning and will look for any advantage they can. Either up your game or accept your role as a casual shitter and get used to losing more often than not.
10:08 "A problem that other mario kart games are not guilty of"
*laughs in mario kart 8 waluigi with wiggler and roller wheels metagame*
Plus Metal Mario with b dasher and red monster
When i played mkwii balloon battle and i lost all my balloons, i... did... loose my points...
so... no ultra-shortcuts?
*smashes keyboard*
I'm super nostalgic to DS and Wii, yet I play CTGP-7 and old 8 more. Honestly, CTGP is pretty tight overall; a great community project that has a few rough edges, but an absolute blast for anyone willing to put in the time and effort to get it running.
What's CTGP?
@@fernandotena7093 I... hope you're joking. He talks about it in the video.
@@fernandotena7093 A mod for mario kart wii I think
@@fernandotena7093 CTGP stands for custom track grand prix; it's a community-developed mod pack for mario kart wii that includes online servers and fan-made tracks alongside the vanilla game
It's not that hard to get it to run, at least for me it wasn't
The star is the only item that makes you completely invincible. You could still get it in mega mushroom with a bullet or star.
I felt your pain when you were talking about that one race when you got hit with nine blue shells, yikes.
It’s games like this that make you realise how powerful nostalgia is and how it can really shape all of your future and present views and opinions
The people that were raised on it grew up and now it’s loved but back in the day everyone hated it (outside of casuals)
It's pretty funny how mkwii was seen to have been a casual game, and then becoming one of the most competitive nintendo games out there (melee beats it by a long shot tho)
I think ult is way more competitive then it gets credit for (not ad much as melee) but deff not casual
Which is weird, you’d expect 8 to be more competitive-friendly because the item balance is less extreme in 8
I grew up with Mario Kart Wii somehow
same
Yup, same here. Summer camp had thjs going all the time
same
As one who grew up with this game, I can honestly say it's very similar to driving your first car again after a long time. Better cars have come out, certain issues have been fixed, and overall the ride is a lot sooner. But when you sit in the seat that's worn down by your past self, take hold of the steering wheel in the same rubbed away places you've been gripping for years, and it takes that familiar extra second long to crank, all the memories come flooding back. And that motherfucker will outpace every other car you've ever driven, dented drive shaft and all, because you're one with it. It's an extension of you.
Oh wait, we were talking about Mario Kart
14:11 No offense here but I’m just here to correct something.
The bloom effect is visible here because of how emulation works, on actual Wii Hardware the bloom effect isn’t really visible. How do I know? I’ve been playing this game on emulator and real hardware.
Also, with the latest build of Dolphin they have a Native Bloom Fix graphic mod.
huh, thats an odd quirk. good to know good to know
Mario Kart Wii was one of the first video games I ever played, and was my very first Mario game. Despite it being frustrating at times, it will always have a special place in my heart.
Your argument about this being less technical/strategic than other entries confuses me.
The reason I still play MKWii online is because it’s so much more technically advanced that future entries. 7,8 (and Tour) all fall into the same comfortable modern Mario Kart experience. The only remotely technical things left are the mushroom blue shell dodge, which was ruined by the addition Super Horn, and Fire Hopping, which was removed in 8 Deluxe. Soft drifting still exists but it’s use cases are more limited given wheelies aren’t in the game anymore.
Meanwhile MKWii has chain wheelies, slip drifting, spin drifting, low tricks, standstill mini-turbos, rail riding, mushroom physics and of course all the incredible shortcuts/ultra shortcuts.
Also the new drifting system relies on more than just how long the drift is held for. It also relies on the angle of your drift. The choice between going for a fail drift, a soft drift or a hard drift is another layer to the game.
Yeah you have so many more mobility options in this game. Honestly SilokHawk doesn't know what he's talking about
@@owainthorp3536 He knows what he’s talking about, that’s why he didn’t talk about this stuff. He knows he’s casually playing the game, ha die talked about his experience.
@@owainthorp3536 don’t you know that videos like this are opinion pieces
But the point in mario kart wii is that none of that really matters, because with funky kong and flame runner the only thing you can do it's just to learn the route for that track and hope that the rng graces you
Definitely agree with the blue shell comment. I remember getting blue shelled THIRTEEN times on Bowser Castle 3 and coming second after the final one hit me before the finish line
The drift boost isnt based on how long you're drifting, its based on how tight you drift. Its like winding a marionette. if you drift at the default with the stick in the middle it takes a while. say if youre drifting right, while holding right, it charges much faster. if you're drifting right but holding left, it charges much slower. Snaking isnt impossible in mkwii but it is much harder
10:08 my mans doesn't know about funky kong's successor, MK7 Metal Mario and MK8 Waluigi Wiggler
Goddamit i hate waluigi wiggler
But funky is even more broken than those 2, btw I prefer mk8dx
As a person who plays mk7 online recently.
Yeah I see Metal Mario with the B Dasher and Red Monster wheels alot.
@@adifferentusername999 Funky is arguably broken, it's the character+vehicle that matters.
@@adifferentusername999 nah, characters matter too.
I’d honestly really like to see Silok Hawk do a video about Sonic Rush
sonic rush is so fun but i am 100% sure that he will absolutely despise the billions of bottomless pits
YES! I admit I kinda look past some of its flaws because I played it so much as a kid and love it a ton, but I still think it's a good time, would love to see what he thinks.
He actually did make a video on Sonic R - ua-cam.com/video/-vew6LJPtKY/v-deo.html
@@mariokartwii6663 im very good at the game so I dont fall into them
@@السراقالمجهول wow sorry didnt realise you were a pro sonic rush player
Am I the only one who genuinely enjoys the motion controls in this game? I’ve never had problems with it and I believe it works great once you get used to the sensitivity of the turning.
Edit: after watching the video, it might be because I play with a bike the majority of the time.
I do as well. I pulled this out for the first time in years a few months ago and really like it BUT I use the wheel peripheral all the time.
@@LARKXHIN I used to as well as a child, but now it feels a touch more comfortable without the wheel.
@@LARKXHIN same my hands muscle memory is so ingrained in the wheel that with just the wii remote it feels so tiny and hard to use
I didn't mind motion controls I beat the game with a kart all gold cups with motion controls.
@@freezie828 I only use manual and it works fine for me, but that’s probably because I stick with Waluigi and Flame runner most of the time
22:40 Anyone else get shy guy bazaar (from MK7) vibes from Siloks old design (Thats a compliment considering he designed a track on level with nintendo at that age)
10:05 the balancing has always been bad in every Mario Kart game. However, the thing I love about Wii the most is despite the balancing issues, the amount of freedom to control the bikes, great turning and the fact that Funky Kong is such a cool meta character kinda alleviates this issue for me. Plus, the problem I have with a game like MK8DX is that, while it is more balanced in a way, it is also less interesting considering that for a game that's as customizable as MK8DX. Online, you also only see Waluigi with Wigglers everywhere. I argue that the meta of MK8DX is even more lame than Wii considering the amount of customizable options for Kart combinations.
I thought: “wow, a compliment towards mario kart tour. Nevermind” XD
20:58 DON'T DISS MY GUY TROY
Just watched the whole video and I agree with your item balancing and battle mode points but I think the racing is some of the most chaotic fun I've ever had. And yes, the rubberbanding is egregious, but I think it ultimately makes it more fun. I have a lot more fun when I'm actually having to fight for first. If I were going for a fast time I could just play time trial, which I am disappointed you didn't touch on. I think the other thing you should have mentioned is the speedrunning scene, specifically, Ultra-Shortcuts. But ultimately very good video. You lay out all of your points in a fair way with evidence to back them up. Just because I don't agree with them doesn't make your points invalid.
This ^ forreal tho in other Mario kart installments it feels so easy to just coast in first
The worst thing about MKWII is that hyper fans of the game will not give MK8DX a chance and always criticize it for small things.
This game is the most agonizing, soul draining, mind meltingly difficult experience I've ever had, and I love it
As a person who’s delved into the competitive scene and knows a LOT about the game’s mechanics and absolutely adores this game, I think you did a very fair review. This game has a ton of flaws and I think you touched on a lot of them that others forgot to mention, like how awful Karts feel in this game, and how the visuals feel washed out and rather characterless. A lot of your criticisms were ones I also have with the game personally and I think that you did a great job on reviewing this game.
I think the main reason a lot of us MKWII fans enjoy the game is that it’s just such a wacky and unique game in comparison to other games and that really makes it a lot more fun when playing them all back to back at least. The games following the Wii entry kind of feel almost sterile in a way, and they don’t have as much character as other entries like 64 or DS do. This game is very flawed in many ways but a lot of us have come to terms with the flaws and embraced them, like with the vehicles. It also helps that this is probably the easiest Mario Kart game to mod for sure and that we have some great UA-camrs that are keeping interest for the game high.
I’d also say that the other thing keeping the game so alive are the crazy physics, because this game probably has the most insane shortcuts of any other Mario Kart and a lot of the Time Trial runs are truly fascinating to watch. The Rainbow Road or Maple Treeway glitch runs in particular are beautiful and I think that even people not interested in the game probably enjoy watching the records or TAS runs for this game, or maybe enjoy just messing around with the wack physics. This game is so weird that it’s just kind of fun to go to a track like Mushroom Gorge and do some insane mushroom physics lol.
I do recommend checking out wiki.tockdom.com/wiki/Main_Page because it has a lot of nice little mods and custom textures or characters that can help mitigate the visual issues, or checking out the guides on making a custom track, because there are a lot of nice resources to help you out and I think MKWii is probably the simplest for one to mod, because I also was interested in making tracks myself and finding out that there were detailed guides to help you was a very nice feeling. I also recommend trying out a few mods just to see how much they’ll spice up your experience ;)
As said before though, wonderful review, it even satisfied a MKWii nut like me and I hope other MKWii nuts see where you’re coming from and don’t automatically dislike for you criticizing their beloved game. This is my favorite Mario Kart by far and I still thought your review was more than fair haha.
I don't see how 8D is sterile and characterless but whatever. It's the most alive feeling MK IMO.
@@coopinatormusic6214 i assume by too sterile that person meant it's too clean and the way nintendo wants it to be made. Meaning no techs or exploits. Mario kart 8 deluxe removed fire hopping from the Wiiu for example and as a result there isn't as much depth to it compared to the Wii in terms of driving skills and techniques
By character i see more character in Mario kart 64 where whenever you don't get a good placement a funny cutscene will play when you lose getting bombed, or in Mario kart wii you go to a ceremony they don't have any of this in Mario kart 8 and i don't think it is necessary but it is always nice to know that nintendo think about their fans whenever making a game
I guess the best way to explain is that it is too professionally made to the point where it's not fun and quirky anymore
@@soaringstars314 I see. I get what you're saying. But I guess I never really cared about that stuff so it doesn't really bother me.
@@coopinatormusic6214 it's good. Some of us just grew up with some of that freedom and creativity and many stuff they used to be. Lately nintendo has been very stingy about it haha
Yeah I grew up with Wii and 7 lol.
"a critical video about mario kart wii"
*depression sounds*
@@lol-ih1tl more like you clearly dont know what a joke is
The last thing I think when it come to “competitive” is Mario kart
maybe try watching TWD98, NMeade or Emil and you might change your opinion 🤣
You would be surprised, there are several big UA-camrs that pump out MKWii content, like the ones mentioned above.
What’s next mario party?
@@Ketchup1810 If it doesn't have inside drift, cool shortcuts, or a strong online server then probably not lol.
Yeah lol this game is more luck based than Mario party 😂
24:22 the third demographic is speedrunners
He does realise he lost a baloon at around 17:40 right?
"this is the entry that forever ruined battle mode" damn that hurts
It's true though
Nah, I like the new Battle Mode.
I never like the old one.
@@mariajimenafigueroa233 have you played ds battle mode?
@@flyforce16 It really isn't, though. Battle mode was bad for like one or two games (never played 7 so can't judge on that), but they got their stuff together with 8 and 8 DX
@@doomse150 actually it was only good on DS imo. It's the ONLY mario kart game with permadeath and cpus in the battle modes. MK8 Deluxe is okay since losing your balloons is more punishing than in wii, but it's not the same. also fuck that timer
I can see why they removed/replaced snaking, you literally win almost every time by snaking the entire race. Yes, that is the reward of being extremely skilled at something, but it's still pretty op, you have a clear advantage over whoever doesn't snake. It's not even that hard to do.
For the rubberbanding, I feel like there needs to be some rubberbanding incorporated into racing with CPU. Without it you will front-run every time without rubberbanding no sweat. That's not fun, theres no challenge. However MKWII overdoes it by a landslide.
this was the first game I even remember playing, and now I've been playing for 13 years. it warms my heart whenever I see someone even talk about this game. I still even play on my original modded Wii. (And battle mode is absolute garbage)
Yes i came back to this still love this from my childhood
Grew up with the wii
As a Mario Kart Wii veteran, I do agree with your statement on Item Bombardment, but I personally don't mind it because it makes the game fun and challenging
10:14
HE ADDED COCONUT MALL, LADS
LETS GOOO
perfectly represents the chaos
Imagine being so try-hard you turn Mario Kart Wii into a competitive game.
Another way MKW is similar to Melee is the Phantom Hits at 19:50 (If you don’t know, Phantom Hits occur when you get hit but no knock back happens, just like at the previously stated clip).
Ok, the items are annoying but there is a technique called a stand still mini turbo where you drift in place after getting hit to get a mini turbo and speed up faster which definitely makes it better.
Also blueshells are a lot less annoying if you are playing with people online that are good at the game so you are not in first at all times
He’s speaking from the casual point of view. The casual shouldn’t have to learn the stand still mini turbo in order to mitigate the bad acceleration.
@@pavango3812 True but also the games acceleration isn’t bad just the heavyweights have very bad acceleration. Heavyweight characters are a lot worse without stand still mini-turbos so casuals might here the funky flame runner is the best combination but then not to good since they don’t know how to stand still mini-turbo. The game would be way better balanced stand still mini-turbos didn’t exist.
@@rowlet4ever I’m not sure if I’d like removing ssmts since I like the idea. Maybe making it so they rely on mini turbo stat and take longer to charge up would be better
The modern Mario Kart Wii community hates battle mode in Wii. Trash talk about it all you want and we will agree with everything you say. TWD98 literally played battle mode for 5 minutes and went back to racing as battle mode is so bad.
Little did you know, Silo was playing the “75% of items are blue shells” mod edit 12:46 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥he spitting mad facts
Ah yes, the very well known "75% of items are blue shells" mod that totally exists
Yeah I’ve only ever had something like maybe 4 or 5 never 9
_But I might be pushing away the trauma_
@@silokhawk No no, it actually exists. Since you reference TWD98 I'll just mention that he has at least one or two videos on it. Blueshell showdown or something.
I think this is troys video where he plays it ua-cam.com/video/UFetZg0_AHA/v-deo.html
@@miibrawler that video is misleading, that's just an average mkwii race. (i'm joking don't shoot me)
You can like super mario kart for its simplicity
You can like Mariokart 64 for its incredible speedrunning,
You can like super circuit for starting retro stages
You can like Double dash for its uniqueness.
You can like ds for mission mode and battle mode
You can like Wii for its physics engine.
You can like 7 for all of its new features
And you can like 8/8dx for being the most polished entry in the series.
Just play what you like and don't let people tell you otherwise.
Mario Kart Wii is a perfect game and every other game is trash.
Silokhawk doesn't seem to realize that you actually lose 1 point from losing all your balloons in battle mode but that's still not not enough of a punishment. Also I do agree that there should be an option to switch between 'Last Man Standing' and Score Battle' for not just Balloon Battle but for any other mode that would work well in these two options because both versions of Balloon Battle are as fun as each other as well as the option to turn off teams and if you thought 9 Spiny Shells in Bowser's Castle was crazy, the crazier part is that it's somehow okay to have Spiny Shells in Battle Mode, why!?
Please for the love of god use punctuation
@@jolonghthong true
Yes, yes! Thank you, I was hoping you would review this gem!
My favorite thing about the game is how the drifting handles, that's been the real deal breaker for newer titles for me :/
22:26 I’m 99% sure someone was probably modding these into the game right now
I think that the item system being ruthless is actually a good aspect of this game. Whenever I play any other mario kart with most people, I’ll easily win every race because the items and cpus are less brutal and don’t penalise you as much. In this game, everything is crazy, you can never feel secure but you can still be good enough to break away- it’s much more enjoyable because extremely good players will still have to worry about losing to their friends.
I search all comments to see someone say what you said, and I do agree with your opinion. Items being ruthless make exciting races and a thing you can't neglect in contrast with other MK games where you care less about items strategy.