I've picked it up, and been having a blast with it, Using the steering wheel has been a fun way to play.

Cart Friend code:
2148-8583-6085

I have it too. I'll post my code when I get a chance.

I've not been having a blast, but it's pretty good. The wheel is fun for a little while, and then I have to switch over to the Gamecube controller because I get frustrated at the lack of accuracy I feel from the wheel.

There are also lots of little changes they've made to the gameplay mechanics that I really dislike, and change the whole way I play. One example: you know how after you hit an item box, the items start spinning for a while in your H.U.D. like a slot machine, and then finally stops on the item you get? Well, in Double Dash (and I believe Mario Kart 64), you could press the "use item" button, and it would stop that spinning almost immediately. I did this after every single item and it got me a huge leg up on the other racers. It also meant that when the boxes weren't in a straight line across the track, there was potential to get two items at once.

In the new version, the "use item" button merely slows down the item selection process, and without it the wait is interminable. It's next to impossible to pull off that two-item trick I mentioned.

The other HUGE gripe I have is the button layout for the Gamecube controller. I want to meet the person in charge of it and beat them over the head with my Wavebird. First of all, why they had to change the layout from the perfectly functional layout of the previous game is beyond me. What's my problem with it? Well, everyone who's played Double Dash, imagine this: move the "use item" button from the X or Y button, and put it on the L shoulder button. First of all, that's a terrible position, but the major problem is that it takes A LOT of travel to press that button. For a game that is all about split-second decision making, that's a bad design.

I wouldn't have this complaint at all if they had just done something so simple as to give the players the option to change the button mapping. But that leads me to another complaint. I urge everyone to pick up a copy of Brawl and simply go through the options sections. I think that game has more content than any I've seen. Then comes Mario Kart, from the same first party publisher (I'm sure it's different teams, though), and what do they give us? Almost zero options at all.

I think my problem is that the game feels incomplete and very plain. It's like they didn't put much effort into it. The way I see it, they made a ton of changes to the gameplay that I think are negative, and the only thing I like more about the new game is the inclusion of classic tracks.

Sorry, I didn't mean to derail this thread with what sounds like a negative review, but I had to vent. I'm still going to play the game, but probably just with my friends. I wanted to unlock everything in the game, but they've upped the difficulty of doing that so much I just don't feel like doing it.

I think Wii owners should all pick it up because it's Mario Kart. I don't think, however, that it's a game that's worth buying the system for, which is what I did. I just did it a year and a half ago.

I only played through the Mushroom Cup on 50cc so far. Using the wheel is kind of cool, but it took some getting use to how much to turn it to make the cart turn. That mixed with my complete inability to hop (neither of the buttons in the manual worked for me) made me come in second place on a 50cc Mushroom Cup ever. Talk about traumatic.

Anybody else have problems getting it to hop?

No, I wasn't have any issues with hopping, the B button was working just fine...Question, did you have sliding on auto or manual?

Ohhhhhhh, so the Automatic or Manual was sliding and not gear selection? That is what I get for not reading the manual before playing. Guess I'll have to have another go at it tonight to redeem myself.

How does this compare to the DS version ? That was my first Mario Kart and I played it quite a bit. It sounds like in the Wii version they fixed the thing I didn't like about the online on the DS version.

They have added more to the online part, you still need to use friend codes to be able to race your friends, but there's leaderboards and such now, and it looks like they will be holding online tournaments too.

I haven't played enough to make a comparison. I don't think I played the DS one very much either. I pretty much got A on all the races/cups and called it quits I think.

Sorry, the DS version is the only one I haven't played. I've only played the GBA version for a few hours total. The others, however, have seen me at the controller for an absurd amount of time, either by myself or with a group of friends for an entire evening. I've probably said this before here, but in college, a few of us literally failed midterms because of Mario Kart 64. It was dangerous. We would play through the entire evening.

I strongly recommend that if you haven't tried it, pick up Double Dash. It took me a long time to get used to the "two players per kart" thing, but that game is a joy, and should be pretty darn cheap these days. I'm hoping that I'll adjust to MKW just like I had to with Double Dash, but I have entirely different problems with this game.

*edit*
On the whole, my favorite Mario Kart is still the first one. It doesn't hold up all that well anymore, but I still think that game had the absolute best battle mode. It was perfect, IMO.