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The newsthat Mario Kart Wii has hit the top of the UK sales chart is nosurprise. MK is one of the few games that unites both core Nintendofans and the new Wii demographic. I've been playing it over the lastfew days and erm, it's been fine. Multiplayer is as amusing as ever.But, to be honest I've been ever so slightly underwhelmed. And lookingat the average review scoresit looks like I'm not the only one. Hardcore games mag Edge gave it a6/10 while 8/10 is common across the main gaming sites. Sure, 8/10 orthe equivalent is clearly a solid score, but the Mario Kart brand -sorry - has historically reviewed higher. So what's happened? Has therebeen some kind of gamer backlash?
Look at the wheel peripheralincluded with the game. It's neat and cleverly designed, perfect formore casual gamers. But personally I've found it lacks the sensitivityand feeling of control that the old style pads had. Nintendo clearlyrealised this by offering numerous controller options - classic,gamecube etc - but have obviously designed the courses with the wheelin mind. The game just doesn't feel as challenging as older editions ofthe series.
Is Mario Kart Wii the first of the classic Nintendofranchises to be dumbed down for the new broader gaming audience? Or amI just suffering a grumpy old gamer moment? Answers on a SNEScontroller to the usual address...