If it's one thing Kart fans have been dreading it's the fate of Mario Kart Wii's online mode ever since Smash Bros. Brawl's was reported widely as a lag fest. No such troubles here. MKWii supports races and battle matches for up to 12 players that run as smooth as a baby's bottom. You can choose to race against friends, people within your region or even people around the world. The player also has the option of downloading the Mario Kart Channel, which runs independently of the game and offers up regional and worldwide rankings, downloadable time trial ghost data and competitions from Nintendo.

While online play is unquestionably Mario Kart Wii's biggest strength, it's not enough to mask the fact that this edition feels dumbed-down from predecessor Double Dash!! Aside from the absence of dual-seated racers, the gameplay feels disturbingly unbalanced in favor of newbies. No matter how skilled a driver you are, it's impossible to play through a course without getting repeatedly hammered by something. Between unrelenting Blue Shell assaults (which are routinely launched and unavoidable) and items like the POW Block and Bullet Bill, it's far too easy for a poor driver to quickly advance from last to first. This and seemingly random speed boosts throughout courses makes Mario Kart Wii's racing feel far more luck-based than skill.

The game's tracks are uninspired and too wide for local multiplayer matches. Aside from a few innovative locales like the escalator-rampant Coconut Mall and rollercoaster-like Wario's Gold Mine, most longtime Kart fans will prefer reliving the Classic courses like Ghost Valley 2 and Sherbet Land. Battle mode has been reduced to team matches only and is much more forgiving, with a driver losing all of his/her balloons no longer being instantly disqualified.

It's clear that after 16 years across seven systems, the Mario Kart series is starting to become a little too vintage. The overpowered items and more forgiving battle mode might make Mario Kart Wii more accessible to beginners, but it punishes series vets who rightfully deserve to show their mad driving skills to the world. Still, despite the simplified, almost random racing and recycled courses, the game is nearly exonerated by its online mode. Between leaderboards, sharing ghost data and engaging in 12-player races from people all over the world, it's simply a blast (voicehat or not). Despite showing its age, there's still nobody that does kart racing better than Mario Kart. At least for now.