Mario Kart Wii - 150cc Special Cup

This is a capture of me playing through the 150cc Special Cup in Mario Kart Wii for the Wii. This was recorded directly from my Wii (not the Wii U). I'm using my favorite character, Luigi, and earning a 3-star rating.

Mario Kart Wii is possibly my favorite game in the Mario Kart series. I picked this game up on its release date in 2008 and it was basically the first home console game that I played online. During the first few months of the game's release I did a decent number of online races, but in the years following that, I only raced online here and there. I had a little more fun with The Conduit and especially Conduit 2, so I favored those games. Also, Funky Kong, hackers and random items hampered this game's online, which drove me away at times.

Nonetheless, I loved playing this game with friends whenever possible, especially using the splitscreen online function. Peter and Drew both joined me for quite a bit of racing and battle mode using this feature, and it was a ton of fun. The game also had excellent local multiplayer. I loved the fact that I could race with up to three friends while also competing against the AI. That made the game feel a little less competitive and a little more cooperative. To me, Mario Kart Wii just had the most content compared to any prior Mario Kart game, and it was endlessly replayable.

This game also features some of the best course designs in the series. Grumble Volcano, Wario's Gold Mine and Koopa Cape are some of my favorite courses, and I was really happy to see them return for Mario Kart 7 and 8 (although I despise Mario Kart 7). I can't think of a single bad or even mediocre course in this game.

Unfortunately, the Wii's Wi-Fi Connection was shut down in May of 2014, so I haven't been able to play Mario Kart Wii online since then. However, I've been itching to play this game some more, and since I hadn't recorded any Grand Prix footage for this game, I decided now was a good time. Also, this was a good excuse to show off the game's native frame rate of 60 fps. All of my prior online footage was uploaded in 30 fps because Youtube didn't support 60 fps back then.

Despite all of my praise, however, the Grand Prix has terribly imbalanced AI because of how items are distributed. If you're trying to get a 3-star rating, as I'm doing here, you have to rely on a great deal of luck. You have to race fast, finish in first every time, and not fall off a single course. Considering that a single blue shell or some other item can easily knock you off a course or out of first place at the last second, the coveted 3-star rating can present a massive amount of frustration.

In this video I completed the Special Cup in the 150cc class.

Recorded with the Hauppauge HD PVR and the Wii's component cables at 60 frames per second.

I'm using a Wii Wheel.