Fun, fast, and full of surprises, the Wii edition of Mario Kart provides some top notch racing, and is an ideal way to transform your TV into a racetrack. This edition comes with the Wii steering wheel, a peripheral that our testers deemed unnecessary for the game. In fact, they preferred to race with the Nunchuk instead.

Once you sign in by either creating a Mii or using an existing Mii icon, you choose a car and Nintendo character. Or you can put your personalized Mii behind the wheel.

There’s a wide variety of multiplayer features in this game. You can play either in split screen mode or compete against 11 other players online. There are 32 racetracks (16 new and 16 from previous Mario Kart games) and a variety of cars, including a rocketpowered baby carriage. A big part of winning the race is in your ability to defend your car by dodging missiles, mud baths or zaps of electricity. There’s plenty of random events to keep things interesting, including a set of cows that might wander onto the track. With Mario Kart Wii, Nintendo also announced the “Wii Wheel,” a non-electrical accessory that is rally more a prop than a controller. You can also drive with the Wii Remote, Wii Remote & Nunchuk combination, or older Nintendo GameCube controller in case you can’t afford Nunchuk/Wii Remote sets. Visit www.mariokart.com to see the latest scores. Our high school intern, Jon, says, “This game has the best controls for a Wii racing game I’ve played yet.”

Link to buy Mario Kart Wii