Biggest Problems with Mario Kart Wii

I grew up with this game and absolutely loved it, but not so much anymore. It only seems to be at the top of the "Best Mario Kart Games" list because of nostalgia.
The Top Ten
1 The atrocious rubberbanding AI
2 The computers are brutal on 150cc
3 Blue Shells occur way too often
4 It's very prone to exploits
5 Tilt controls

Play with the steering wheel peripheral, and you'll end up back on this list. You only need a slight amount of pressure to move it, making it like a real car. Anyway, your focus should be on the RACE, so the tilting will come naturally to you.

I prefer tilt controls, especially these days because the GameCube controller feels clunky to me.

6 Playing with hackers online
7 More often than not Blue Shells will hit you when you're about to cross the finish line on the third lap

Just because that's what happens in life doesn't mean it should be here. That's not a lesson. That's just annoying.

8 Bikes are better than Karts
9 Automatic Drifting doesn't have as many benefits as Manual
10 You can only play on teams in Battle Mode

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe's battle mode is miles better. Having no teams in battle mode is part of what made it such a hit in MK64 and Double Dash.

The Contenders
11 Getting a Lightning Cloud

It doesn't matter if the arcade games had this item because those are so irrelevant to the series that they aren't even worth mentioning.

In my opinion, this is one of the worst items in Mario Kart. This should at least be booted up to 8th place.

12 Funky Kong Originating from the SNES Donkey Kong Country, in which he is the CEO of Funky's Flights, this Kong absolutely tears up the race track with a massive +4 speed and +3 off-road stat, making him the most popular character in Mario Kart Wii online play.

Not saying Funky Kong is a bad character at all - far from it - but he provides one of the most USELESS BUFFS IN THE GAME: a +6 speed boost. Yeah, that's cool and all, but once you consider how he's mostly paired with the Flame Runner, a bike with awful handling and off-road, and the fact that there's a LOT of off-road shortcuts in MKWii, a +6 speed boost doesn't really help out too much in the long run.

I'd rather stick with Rosalina or Dry Bowser, thank you - at least they actually fix the heavyweight vehicles' glaring weaknesses.

13 Some of the retro tracks

There are some good ones, but Desert Hills? Mario Circuit 3? Ghost Valley 2? That's not even mentioning Shy Guy Beach or Sherbet Land.

14 The Battle Mode

You can only play on teams. Twelve racers on the stage are way too many, and it seems totally random if you win or not.

I can't help but stress that this game RUINED BALLOON BATTLE. This was the first game that changed up Balloon Battle. Now, it is more point-based than elimination-based because if you lose all your balloons, you respawn with more. Doesn't that make you feel even more motivated not to get hit?

Every Mario Kart game that came out after MKWii now has that point-based Balloon Battle. THANKS MKWII! The old balloon battle rules were what made it such a hit. You're probably going to say that in this game there is a big selection of Battle Stages, but that's the only redeeming factor of Battle Mode.

15 The weight classes are unbalanced

Doesn't every Mario Kart have this problem?

16 It can be pretty glitchy
17 Dry Bowser Dry Bowser is the fossilized version of the main antagonist of the Mario Bros. Franchise, Bowser. He first appeared in New Super Mario Bros. on the Nintendo DS after Bowser had been dumped into the lava and was left with his skeleton. Since then, Dry Bowser has appeared as a villain in games like Super... read more

He's a clone character, and it's hard to unlock him.

18 Using the Quacker on Rainbow Road
19 Voice choices for Mii Racers

The positive side of Mii racers is that they are a great addition to the roster and are fun and unique. But honestly, it made my ears bleed when I heard the voice of Female B! It sounded almost like Minnie Mouse! All the rest are OK but a little weird, but Female Voice B is the worst.

Plus, the color choices on the vehicles are just awful when it's by the Mii's gender (mainly pink for female and blue for male). Good thing Mario Kart 7 and 8 changed it all up, including the Miis' vehicle colors that match their outfits. Even though they all got a little too squeaky, I like the changes in their voices too. I just wish the voices of the Miis were optional.

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