A high impact game that touches the Wiis capabilities in a satisfying manner
It plays crisp and sharp and rarely does one run into technical errors. However the game lacks some single player depth, as it is quite short of a game. It also fails to maintain a multiplayer as exciting as the single player. With these flaws in mind it still manages to excel and you'll find plenty of replay value inside of it. In the sense of going back and mastering the tracks and challenges.
Gameplay - 9
The controls are very responsive, and after you get used to them, you wont want to return to the traditional method of racing. The terrain morph is a wonderful gameplay mechanic that brings out the better features of this game beautifully. Graphics - 8
This game runs and plays beautifully and is on par with any last generation racing game. The reflections and lighting all run smoothly and its quite a pretty racer. Be that as it may, it does have its shortcomings however. Such as when your high in the air, the ground distorts and looks ugly in certain places, and some of the trees are oversimplified.
Sound - 6
Fair enough sound effects but a terrible music selection. Tacky guitaring without much diversity whatsoever. The sound track gets annoying quite swiftly to boot.
Overall - 8.6
An excellent game that touches the Wiis capabilities in a satisfying manner. However the overall lack of singe player depth kills the experience in many ways, regardless its a great game and defiantly worth checking out.
[Updated 12.9.06]
I raised the score to 8.6 for the following reasons, i tried super excite & mirror mode and they add a great layer of depth and furthermore the game is insanely addictive.