[Scarlet_Fox]

I gave it a 4...but it should really be like a 3.5 - 3.75 so I ended up rounding it up.

Single-Player: I'd say this is probably the toughest single player since 150cc on the original game for Super Nintendo. After picking up a bit of the differences in control style between this game and the last ones I was able to breeze pretty easily through 50cc. 100cc was a bit more difficult as the AI becomes generally a better driver and more items head your way. 150cc is a headache, I can't go half a lap without being Blue Shelled from first, then immediately Red Shelled from Second, and Just plain run over (with either the Star or SuperMushroom) from 3rd, and ending up way at the back of the pack all without me moving more then 3 feet from the original blue shell attack. So if you want a Mario Kart Single-Player with a challenge, its available here.

Multiplayer Battle: Sadness, they neutered multiplayer Battle Mode. Why oh why! 64 battle mode is the best local battle mode. You want to play battle mode, plug that in avoid this mess.

A: No more Free For all. You are forced into teams, even locally. No more 4 player Madness in Block Fort for you.
B: No more being "out" in Balloon fight. Lose all 3 balloons, its ok, here are 3 more! I suppose crappy players do deserve to play as well...but they should not be bringing their team down by losing all their balloons more then once...its just not fair to the team they are on.
C: Teams are randomly chosen online. Umm...You know, I have my friend over to play with him online...and we don't get to choose if we want to be on the same team??? Whats with that!?

Multiplayer Full Tracks: Racing the Full tracks will 11 others (or with 10 others and a friend split screening) online is pretty sweet. Plenty of good players out there to fight off, and I just don't feel as cheated when a real player picks up a blue shell and fires it off, then when I do when the computer seems to time it just so perfectly as to ruin me for the rest of the race. The one real issue is if you don't have the full lineup. It is still playable to half a line-up (6), but if you drop below that...then it is no longer as fun. The Items you get are based off of assuming there are 12 players, so if there are only 6 and you fall behind...the chance of you getting a blue shell is nearly nothing, a bullet bill exactly nothing (I've never gotten one above 7th), a lightning bolt, nearly nothing. But you will still be picking up all the lousy weapons, like Item boxes, squids, and Banana peels at a very alarming rate. So if the guy in first gets a short lead (just 3-4 seconds), he will likely remain unmolested for the rest of the race, since nothing anyone fires will hit him. In a full race though, enough blue shells and lightning bolts are fired to keep anyone with a short lead on a short leash.

The Wii Wheel is a cute gimick, that works well with the karts, but fails miserably (for me) with the cycles. The Cycles are a great addition to the game and are responsible for a fair amount of the fastest times you can achieve on a course due to its wheelie speed burst. But Despite my best attempts, I can't activate/deactivate that wheelie at whim with the Wii Wheel, it just does not respond. I'd recommend a WaveBird GC controller, or the Nunchuck combo if you are using a Cycle, or just if you are going for best times in general.

Hope this helped.