Game Review: Mario Kart

No Nintendo console would be complete without its own version of the legendary kart-racer, which mixes deceptively cute characters and visuals with spectacularly brutal game play in which a volley of power-ups will assault you just when you think you're winning. But the Wii version has to be the best yet. It comes with a wheel into which you clip the Wiimote. It works beautifully, providing all the fine control you need and rendering power-slides easier to pull off than ever. There is a smattering of great new tracks, containing clever devices like conveyor belts, and giant bouncy mushrooms, bikes for the first time (which handle much like karts), a few new power-ups (such as one which temporarily turns you into a giant) and the ability to produce tricks in mid-air, which bring corresponding speed-boosts when you land. The end result is, as ever, a game that will make you chuckle and curse simultaneously, and is so painfully addictive it may lead to rehab. Essential if you own a Wii.