It's not just one of the only few fun racing games. It's quite simply one of the best.
Unlike the other Mario Kart games, this one has 12 people in the races which can make things really complex if you are smack dab in the middle of all the racers and they are using all the really deadly items. They added this blue "flame" you get at the back of your wheels after drifting for a while which gives you a speed boost when you are done drifting. There are also bikes in this game while at the same time keeping karts (they are more like cars). The cars have better stats (only by a little) and have the orange flame that appears after the blue flame which gives you a better speed boost but bikes have wheelies which makes you go a little faster (and shoots you forward after you get a speed boost from something else). Cars have more controllable drifting while bikes have sharper drifting for cutting corners. Nintendo also added tricks into the game. Now hear me out, tricks are not really for show, they give you a speed boost after you land, THAT is the point of tricks. There are exactly 27 characters, 36 vehicles, and 32 courses. Half of the courses are courses from past Mario Kart games. Each of the new courses are creative and most of all, fun.
I am prepared to talk about some of the more frustrating things in the game. Like sometimes 1 mistake can put you all the way back in 12th place. Sometimes it's not even a mistake, it's that you get hit by an item and then a frenzy of racers come at you and ruin the race for you, by knocking you in last place. A perfect example would be this: You are in 1st place, not that far ahead but you are in 1st place and you are happy, next thing you know, you get hit by a red shell because you could not block it with a fake item box, then the racer passes you along with a ton of other racers one having a star that bumps into you knocking you to the side, before you can even start your engine back up a person who used a bullet bill rams into you, knocking you even farther to the edge, you are relieved that you didn't fall off, but then the person in last place bumps into you and you are knocked off the edge and in last place. Yes, stuff like this happens all the time in the game, which gives you a good reason to try and get really far ahead in the race so stuff like that won't happen.
You know what truly is the worst item in the game? Is it the blooper? The fake item box? The storm cloud? No, the worst item...is the freaking blue shell. Yes! The blue shell. I hate the blue shell with a passion, and for a number of good reasons. First of all, if you are the one using the blue shell, it does not benefit you in any way what-so-ever. You are trying to get to first place and you're in like, 7th, you throw the blue shell and think, "Wow, that really accomplished a lot," it just doesn't help you, it's only an item that makes the person in first place angry. Secondly, it has a 99% chance of hitting you. It is nearly unavoidable. There are only like 5 ways to avoid it but you just about never get the chance to do any of those ways, 4 of the ways include using items that you can't get in 1st place, the last way is going through a cannon (like the one at DK mountain), the blue shell will miss. Lastly, the blue shell can cost you a race or at least 1st place. Many times online I lost a race only because the blue shell hit me right before I crossed the finish line, then like 3 to 5 people will pass me afterwords (most of the time only 1 person will).
Note: Don't worry the review is almost over!
Battle has changed a bit. They added a coin battle which involves collecting coins (it's not that exciting). Balloon battle is where it's really at. Although it is not the same exactly it is still fun. 6 people on both teams each person has 3 balloons (you can get more balloons by bumping into someone while using a mushroom). The point of the game is to hit the other teams people with items to get points (1 point for every hit). When someone loses all their balloons you don't just get a point, the other team loses a point and then that person is respawned. The team with the most points at the end of the time limit wins. 10 battle courses including new and old.
The last thing I want to talk about is the online play. I like how they have this "VR" system, which I can only guess stands for "valued reputation" (Unlike brawl which had absolutely nothing). You gain or lose VR depending what place you are in and how many people are in the race. You either play battle online or race against other people. Now then, I'm glad I'm finally done explaining stuff in this game.
Overall, I highly recommend this game for any person that likes Mario, racing games, or is just a wii owner. I'm sorry my review was a little long but I'm just trying to be as detailed as I can. I think this is the best racing game ever made and you might think so to (Because a lot of other racing games don't have items which makes it boring). The reason I like it so much is because it's about nothing but gaining speed. Just give it a chance. Anyway, that is all for the review, I hope you enjoyed it, now if you'll excuse me I have some people online I have to beat on Mario Kart Wii.
Note: If you wanna play online with me just PM me.