When the N64 Mario Kart arrived and the use of four players, I was ecstatic! Mario Kart 64 was a lot of fun even with me whining about getting rid of that Kamek guy (the little sorcerer dude from Yoshi's Island) in favor for the generic Donkey Kong who was already in the SNES on anyway! But it was still fun.
I skipped out on the portable ones and went right for the Gamecube incarnation called Mario Kart: Double Dash. I didn't like it at first with two players in one kart that had to be selected but it grew on me and there were parties. In fact, I was hoping for the Wii one to combine Double Dash and 64 for a superior game.
They didn't.
Instead, they really botched on the power-ups. That's the Wii versions greatest downfall. Like I'm sorry I'm so good and hanging out in first place. You will have bombshells, weapons that hurt everyone and believe me there are plenty, and whatever else they have in store for you to get to first place. It sucks.
But the biggest delight was the online play. I must admit I had a ball with the online connectivity. However, I just wish they had it for Double Dash more than this game. I give it credit because it does have a bunch of throwback courses, especially love for the SNES ones, so it isn't all bad.
I hope Nintendo learned from this and fixes it for the next installment, otherwise people will jump ship from this franchise.