Mario Kart grows up a little, Nintendo with it

The Game Developer’s Convention is going on now– yes, now. Meaning i should be getting live updates from my comrades on the Intendo test blog. Hint… HINT.

Let’s un-digress. Mario Kart info is out and some of it is real boss. It’s not quite up there with the other 2 consoles’ standard of an online title yet, but it has more features than i personally expected. Check it, as gleamed by IGN from a demo and as parsed together by me in run-on paragraphs with selective bolding.

Every racer has 3 cars and 3 bikes apiece. Don’t worry, i forgot it had bikes too. 50CC will be karts only, 100CC restricted to the hogs, and 150CC will combine em. I believe the give behind bikes is that they have better boosts (pop wheelies) but sucky turning. Karts get their boosts from powerslides depending on how long they hold it, which seemingly kills snaking, thank the holy Mother(3). You can perform stunts in this version, and when you pull them off during a jump you’ll get a boost once you touch down, just like in Excite Truck. Continuity across franchises, awesome.

Track info: Peach Beach and Waluigi Stadium from Mario Kart Double Dash, Yoshi Falls and Delfino Square from Mario Kart DS, Mario Raceway and Sherbet Land from Mario Kart 64, Shy Guy Beach from Mario Kart Advance, and Ghost Valley 2 from Super Mario Kart. New ones: Luigi Circuit, Moo Moo Meadows, Mushroom Gorge, Toad’s Factory, Mario Circuit, Coconut Mall, DK Summit, and Wario’s Gold Mine.

The online mode supports 12-player races in case you forgot. The best part: you can play 2 people per console, so you and a pal can race against 5 other two-manned Wiis via wifi, potentially. That’s my favorite part. Wish i actually had some friends, though. Voice chat aint coming, but that’ll make my Q1. The other best part: You can race your Miis. Finally some sense of self in competitive Mario Kart!