Mario Kart Wii is a kart racing game featuring single-player and multiplayer modes. The players control one of many selectable Mario franchise characters and participate in races or battles using karts or bikes on courses thematically based on locations from the Mario franchise. During gameplay, the player views the action from a third-person perspective that tracks the player from behind his or her kart. The player can perform tricks while driving that produce speed boosts, such as mid-air stunts, drifting, slipstreaming, and wheelies (bikes only).[2]
While driving, the player collects power-ups from item boxes placed in various points on the track. These power-ups allow the player to attack opponents, causing them to slow down or spin out of control; defend against such attacks, or gain boosts in speed. These include the series staple items, such as the Mushroom, Koopa shell projectiles, the Starman, and banana peels. There are also three new items: the Mega Mushroom (which is a less effective Star), Thunder Cloud (which automatically activates the moment a player receives it from an Item Box), and the POW Block (which is a less effective Lightning), none of which return in Mario Kart 7. The Mega Mushroom temporarily grows the player to an enormous size and allows them to flatten opposing karts, the POW Block causes all racers ahead of the user to spin out and drop their items if used (unless they dodge it by being mid-air or shaking the Wii Remote), and the Thunder Cloud gives the recipient a speed boost and off-road capabilities, but the recipient has to collide with other racers to pass it onto them before the item delivers a shock, spinning them out and shrinking them to a tiny size.
Mario Kart Wii supports four different control schemes. The primary control scheme is the Wii Remote, optionally used in conjunction with the plastic Wii Wheel accessory, which uses the controller's motion-sensing to simulate operating a steering wheel. The other supported control schemes are the Wii Remote with the Nunchuk attachment; the Classic Controller; and the GameCube controller.
