There is a notable lack of racing games for Nintendo’s Wii platform, a fact that has frustrated many a Wii owner. When a console’s top rated racing game is a kart racer, you may have a problem. Not that there is anything less than great about Super Mario Kart Wii. It’s just that sometimes you want to drive a Ferrari, and Mario doesn’t have one. That’s where Need for Speed: Nitro comes in, or at least where it *should* come in.

Don’t get me wrong, this game is extremely fun. The flaw is in it’s long-term appeal. Nitro suffers slightly from a lack of content and variation in the career mode and course selection departments. There is also only one camera view (chase cam), which is extremely unusual for a modern racer. For those of you old enough to remember what a video arcade was, this racer is much like the racing games of yore: you sit down, plop a quarter in and BAM! You’re speeding down a track and having a blast. Nitro is exactly like that, without the quarter. Or the leaving your house to go to the arcade.

Since it’s for the Wii it better have a great control scheme, and it does. Several, actually. You can use the Wii remote by itself to steer, accelerate, drift and nitro boost similar to the controls for Mario Kart and other racers, or you can use a number of other control schemes including one where you can use the control stick on the Nunchuk to steer. That will appeal to folks more used to racing controls on the Xbox or Playstation platforms.

There is a career mode that spans five locations, and while it’s fun it isn’t nearly as deep as most racing gamers are used to. The arcade mode on the other hand gives you exactly what you might expect: Just pop into arcade mode, pick any one of ten tracks and choose from over 40 different cars, then hit the pavement with your tires spinning.

Nitro offers six different game modes and a star-based rating system that rewards you not only for winning races but also for precision driving aggression in the form of specific challenges. The more stars you earn in career mode, the faster you unlock cars, locations and other goodies. Customization options range from decals to painting your cars by hand — literally, with your Wii remote.

Visually the game won’t impress PS3 or Xbox 360 owners in the slightest, but Wii owners will recognize that the  developers did a great job pushing the graphical limits of Nintendo’s system. Considering the console’s reputation as a casual gaming machine, most Wii owners will probably enjoy this game a great deal. The only real flaws lie in the fact that Need for Speed: Nitro’s career mode won’t keep your interest for hours on end. I almost feel leaving the career mode out entirely would have been an improvement in the sense that the game wouldn’t be trying to be anything that it’s not, but of course that’s silly because some people are sure to enjoy the career mode option. Nitro’s true strength lies in it’s accessible, sit-down-and-play arcade mode though.

Wii gamers may know the MySims series and if so will likely find the soundscape of this game quite familiar, but they haven’t seen those cute little figures in karts armed to the teeth with cartoon weapons until now. MySims Racing offers the quick race and multiplayer (but no online play) options most Wii owners will expect and put to regular use, but don’t overlook the story mode! It has all the originality and depth of a Super Mario plot, but that didn’t stop Nintendo’s classic franchise from being ridiculously fun and entertaining, and the same goes for MySims.

Like the later games in the Super Mario series, the MySims Racing story mode offers you a map which restricts your movement until you complete the challenges facing you at each of the points of interest. There are multiple game modes so each event is different from the others around it and it makes for a progression that is both fun and unique for a racing game, even a Wii kart racer. There are forks in the road and you can choose to skip some events in favor of others, or master all of them to earn medals which can then be used to purchase upgrades.

The gameplay itself is standard fare for a kart racer, with standard types of controls and standard-ish weapons and power-ups that isn’t to say it’s at all boring, there’s just nothing new. For Mario Kart fans it will be something akin to playing all new tracks, with all new vehicles and characters, but not much more than that. Except — there is some vehicle customization, which is a little surprising for a kart racer. Don’t get too excited, it’s a very simplistic system but you can upgrade engines, steering and the like. There is also a fair selection of purely ornamental upgrades you can buy to pimp your ride.

Keeping with the theme, courses don’t offer anything really new and in some ways are less challenging than the courses veteran kart racers may be used to, but they’re still well designed and fun to race on, with a fair variety in style from track to track. Weapons also seem to be less powerful than usual for a kart racer, but that can be a good thing because it puts focus back on the racing itself. There are a bunch of other minor differences MySims Racer has in comparison with previous kart racing games but none of them can really be said to markedly improve or detract from the gameplay, or take the genre to the next level for that matter.

On a system with such a pronounced drought of racing titles, especially ones that are half-way decent or better, MySims Racing rises to the top like the creme de la creme. It isn’t really. Truly, it’s astounding that the bar is set so low, but things being what they are a pretty good racing game can get high praise. MySims Racing is not groundbreaking or even “great” in any objective sense but it’s a really fun racer. It also happens to be one of the best racing games available for the Wii console.

Review Based On Xbox 360 Version – Also available on the Wii and PS3

Codemasters’ latest racing title, Dirt 2, is an offroad racer that pits you against some of today’s top drivers. As a relative unknown, you don’t start with much but do well in a few races and you’ll find yourself with some sweet new rides. There are nearly forty vehicles in the game and each one is defined by it’s handling, acceleration, and top speed. Upgrades kits become available as you progress and although there is not a lot of vehicle customization and tuning available, there is some and it’s very straightforward even for beginners to tweak their rides to be more in line with their driving style.

Drivers of all skill level can play all the way through the career mode and have a blast doing it. With over 100 events, Dirt 2 will feed you hours upon hours of adrenaline pumping high-speed action before you finally reach the pinnacle of your offroad racing career, and that’s not even counting the superb multiplayer game. Wherever you race, you’ll be staging out of your RV which acts as a first-person interactive menu keeping you immersed in the game world. It also serves to display trophies and souvenirs you collect from the different races and locations you visit.

You can adjust difficulty settings prior to each race so if you’ve just started driving a new vehicle or your last run went a little more offroad than you would have liked you can tune it down for the next race. Conversely, if you were playing it safe but a few races in you feel like you’ve really got the hang of it and want to up the challenge you can, any time mid-career. There is also a flashback feature that allows you to undo driving mistakes mid-race. How many flashbacks you get is determined by what difficulty level you are currently playing at.

The AI is pretty good. Your opponents drive strategically and are not pushovers to beat, and when they do make mistakes they can be even more dangerous if you happen to be behind them. An odd little feature Codemasters added in is other (computer controlled) drivers will change their opinions of you over time depending on how well you do and your racing history. This is seen primarily by things they say to you during the race. It’s an interesting idea and certainly adds a bit more to the illusion that you’re really a part of their community and eventually they see you as one of their peers.

Multiplayer, while lacking a split-screen option, is otherwise fantastic. There is little-to-no lag and every experience from the single-player game is available in multiplayer: All game modes, all vehicles, all tracks. The vehicles and tracks, by the way, look amazing. They are somewhat stylized so people who crave ultra-realism may not be thrilled but if you’re at all flexible on that then you will be impressed by the way this game looks. Of course, a major complaint often tied to great looking games is that the framerate suffers when there’s too much going on at once. This doesn’t seem to be the case at all with Dirt 2, which had the occasional screen jitter but for the most part ran perfectly.

Overall, Dirt 2 is both an accessible racer anyone can and will enjoy, and a thrilling challenge for experienced veterans. If you love offroad racing, or if you just think you might “like” it, you will love this game.

The Mario Kart franchise has been around for over a decade and is the gold standard by which all other kart racing games are inevitably measured against. Mario Kart Wii is the first kart racer, and indeed the first significant racing game of any kind, on Nintendo’s Wii platform. Despite the pressure, the game doesn’t disappoint and instead pushes the franchise ahead, maintaining its well-earned place at the head of the pack.

Since it’s a Wii game though, the first question should play to the strengths of the console: how are the controls? In a word: fantastic. There are a number of control schemes you can choose from, ranging from using the control stick on the Nunchuk to steer (something that will appeal to players who are used to playing racing games on other consoles) to simply holding the Wii remote sideways and tilting it (right/left to steer, forward/back for acceleration). All the control schemes work well and will likely set the standards for future titles released on the Wii.

Multiple game modes are available, but the main attraction is Grand Prix, which is basically a career mode that takes you through the games more than 30 race courses on the way to winning cups in progressively more challenging circuits. Some tracks will be familiar to players who have followed the game’s predecessors, but most are redesigned or altogether new for the Wii version. The variety and creativity in course design will entertain your eyes while simultaneously boggling your brain with seemingly impossible track segments that can only be conquered through the magic of cartoon physics.

Speaking of cartoon physics, players will notice ramps scattered all over the new race courses. These are not just for taking jumps for a brief respite from the crowded track down below, they also allow you to perform stunts in midair that give you speed boosts when you land. The stunts are easy to perform and basically just require you to flick the Wii remote in any direction.

Mario Kart Wii features 25 classic characters from the Nintendo franchise whom you can race as, or against. New vehicles are also available in the form of motorbikes and hogs. What sets kart racers apart from other racing games isn’t the karts though, it’s the weapons. All the old weapons are back, from blue turtles to banana peels, and some new items have been added in to make things even more interesting.

Several multiplayer modes are offered, including a variety of cooperative and battle modes. These can be played either in split-screen mode by up to 4 players locally or with up to 11 other players online. Whether you are going to play the single player Grand Prix mode, have some friends over for a split-screen battle, or race against gamers from across the globe, one thing is for certain: This game has something for you. It’s the definitive kart racer and currently the best racing game of any kind on the Wii. If you own a Wii but don’t yet have this game, you should seriously consider adding it to your library.

Review Based On Xbox 360 Version – Also available on the PS3 and Wii

Nearly twenty years after Nintendo sent some of their most famous characters onto the racetrack, Sega has decided it’s their turn. Granted a good chunk of Sega’s popular icons come directly from the Sonic franchise itself, which the title of this kart racer makes no secret of, and you may not even recognize or remember half the other racers Sega decided to include but don’t let that fool you. Cartoon celebrities do not a-great-kart-racer make. At least not not on their own. Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing has strong gameplay and excellent visuals that will quickly win you over.

The game offers 24 exquisitely animated race courses that include everything you’d expect from a kart racer, from power ups to shortcuts. They range in difficulty from challenging enough to keep your interest, to challenging enough to demand your full attention and some serious kart racing skills. Every detail of the tracks seems to have been considered by the design team. Brilliantly re-conceived, yet familiar landscapes based on your favorite Sega games fly by at high speed as you speed through the tracks. Twists and turns keep you barely able to maintain control on courses narrow enough to make the other racers a serious hazard to anyone trying to get to the front of the pack. From form to function this game doesn’t disappoint.

Where the game fails to impress is in the power-ups and character specific abilities. In short, there’s nothing new. You can snag missiles to fire at drivers ahead of you and bombs to drop in the path of karts coming up behind, and that’s certainly fun but it’s standard fare for a kart racer and almost requisite to the genre. Each character does have their own unique power that can be used once per race but while the animations are creative, relevant to the character (Sonic turns into Super-Sonic, etc), and fun to watch, the actual in-game effect each character’s power has is identical: you get to go really, really fast for a few seconds.

It would have been nice if Sega made these different abilities actually DO different things, like one character can get a super-weapon, but another creates an earthquake that knocks all the other drivers off the course briefly. It doesn’t take much imagination to figure how they might have really knocked it out of the park with these unique (looking) powers each character has. Thankfully, it doesn’t detract from the game at all, it’s just a sore point because it could have made this excellent kart racer something altogether magnificent.

The single player missions are well done and break up the the action nicely. You’re not always competing against a fleet of other racers for first place, much of the time you are tasked to collect certain items or perform specific maneuvers on course, which helps keep the game from getting monotonous. A plethora of unlockables also keeps the gameplay fresh and players will want to keep coming back for more. There is also a very strong multiplayer component that offers standard racing online, and a few more advanced options (such as battle mode) in split-screen. The split-screen mode with some friends is likely to be this game’s most popular because it is a straight-up blast.

Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing has smooth controls, great courses, beautiful graphics, and all wrapped in a shell that is stylistically and unmistakeably Sega. As a kart racer it doesn’t bring anything particularly new to the table, but it is definitely a game worth playing for both kart racing fanatics weary of continually replaying their classics, and also new players who have never jumped behind the wheel of a kart racer before.