Video Game Review: Mario Kart for WII

My video game review today is Mario Kart for Wii. It is a challenging game that has up to 4 players so the whole family can have fun. With lots of different characters in the game, you can choose to be:
1. Mario
2. Luigi
3. Yoshi (which is personally my favorite)

4. Diddy Kong
5. Donkey Kong
6. Peach
7. Baby Peach
8. Baby Mario
9. Toad
10. Rosalina
11. Wario
12. Waluigi
13. Bowser

There are also a lot of karts you can drive. Medium sized characters can drive karts like the wild wing. Small characters can drive the bullet bike. Big characters can drive the Wario bike. There are 4 races in each 'Cup'. If you play a Cup race, you can win the Cup like the Banana Cup. Confused? So am I.

The different places you can race are Koopa Cape (which is my favorite because you can go down in a pipe which goes to the other side of the race which is an island ruled by the Koopas). You can also race Maple Tree Way in which you are on a tall tree that you get blasted out of a cannon on to another tree. Or you can choose to race on Rainbow Road which is really hard because there are barely any railings (but it's easy for me)! You can race against all the other players which is pretty out of control.

Some of the hazards are: Banana peels, lightening strikes, pows, Omega's cloud (which is pretty much the same as the lightening strike). And the good power ups you can get are mushrooms, king mushrooms, mushrooms left over by a pow, lightening strikes, pows, red shells, and green shells. My favorite- the blue shell which goes to the person in first place and then flips them upside down! And I almost forgot- there's one more power up- called the Bomb Omb. Which is like the blue shell but it doesn't go to first place- you can put it in front of you or behind you. All I have to say about this game is that I give it 10 out of 10 Apples.

It's Go Kart Time!

Last weekend, I drove to Carlsbad to go K1 Go Kart racing. When I walked in, I could see there were hoods from famous race cars hanging from the walls. They have two different races- one for adults adn one for juniors. The junior cars go 25 miles per hour. The cars are electric. I got lucky and there were only 5 kids racing that morning. I had a 2 for 1 ticket so it only cost $20 for two races.

Driving the cars is hard during a race. There are a lot of corners you have to turn at high speeds or else you'll spin out. You are not allowed to bump the other racers. I unfortunately got bumped by my friend and crashed into the sidewall. 

If you really want to win, don't go around the corners fast! But if you really really really want to win, you can go as fast as you want around the corners. I went one of the fastest laps of the month- 34.25 seconds was the time to beat and I had a 34.53 lap.

In one of my best races, I was ranked 35,976 out of 1,263,331 for all the junior races at K1. That is the top 97%. Basically if there were 100 people doing the race, I would have gotten 3rd. After races, you get a scorecard that tells you your lap times and what place you got. They also have a snack bar which has Gatorade, ice cream, chips, cookies, Oggi's pizza, and Corn Nuts- my favorite.  And as you wait between races, you can play air hockey, video games, and shoot hoops. There's even a winner's podium for the champions. All I have to say is that K1 is the best place to go Go Kart racing. It's fun!