Welcome to another installment of Wiikly WiiWare Wiiview. The games this week were Family Go-Kart Racing, Mouse House, and GhostSlayer. Expectations weren’t very high for this week and yet we are still managed to be met with some disappointment…

Family Go-Kart Racing
Well, they’re back. Despite hopes that they would finally be gone for good, Billy, Sarah, Mommy, and Daddy have returned to torment us with yet another Family game. And this time, they’ve brought along two previously-unseen family members: Auntie and Gramps. In this latest offering, the family takes to the tracks with a kart-racing game full of twists, turns, and mediocrity. As we have seen in the past, this family has a tendency to join already-flooded markets and Go-Kart Racing is no exception. And as we have come to expect, it simply cannot stand up against the competition.

Upon starting the game, I could see right away that this was not meant for large televisions. Many of the images were very pixelated, which is a bit odd considering that previous Family games looked just fine. But surely this couldn’t be an early indication of the game’s overall quality…right? Believe me, something this minor is the least of your worries. Even if the game is played in a smaller screen, there’s no denying that the visuals can only hope to contend with the earliest Nintendo 64 games. But again, this is quite minor compared to so many of the game’s other faults.

Given the popularity of the Wii and its motion controls, as well as the popularity of racing games, using the Wii remote as a steering wheel is fairly commonplace. So, it makes one wonder how Go-Kart Racing managed to get it so horribly wrong. I am hard-pressed to remember a game with steering controls as awful as this. Rather than gradually turning with the tilt of your controller, driving a kart seems to yield only three different directions: straight, slight left, and slight right. If you have any intention of playing this game, hopefully you like walls because you’ll be hugging one the entire time. Except for areas devoid of any sort of railing, of course, in which case most of your efforts will be put into not flying off of the road.

For whatever reason—perhaps to compensate for the incredibly dull and unoriginal level designs (of which there are 12)—the courses are full of nearly impossible sharp turns and regardless of how much you tilt the controller or how you time the braking, your driver will only turn ever so slightly. This might be great for merging and changing lanes, but it takes all of the fun out of what is supposed to be a racing game. To add to the frustration, making contact with any surface or obstacle will bring you to an abrupt near-stop, forcing you to build up again. Considering how much time you spend slamming into things, this will make up the majority of your races. Sadly, even finally getting the hang of the controls will still inhibit your driving ability greatly.

If you can manage to get to the item boxes ripped straight out of Mario Kart 64, you will be “rewarded” one of six power-ups, including an oil slick, an invincibility bubble, exploding bowling ball, a speed boost that slams you into the walls at an impressive velocity, and a psychic ability of some that causes everyone else to drive as poorly as you. Easily the best power-up of the bunch is one that zaps your kart with lightning and temporarily drives it for you. This is one of the rare instances of the game in which you will drive normally and have a chance to see what the game could be like if it were almost decent.

Perhaps the best feature of Family Go-Kart Racing is the ability to quit to the main menu after each race. There is also a multiplayer mode, which is probably your best bet of ranking in the top three. Sadly, even with a couple of friends to tough it out with you, this is game is greatly lacking enjoyment. It might have a chance if the controls were manageable and they did something original, but for now, if you’re looking for a cheap and halfway decent kart-racing game, Heracles Chariot Racing is your best bet. Better yet, you may want to splurge just a bit and treat yourself to Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing, which is infinitely more fun.

Score: 1/10

Mouse House
If many of your favorite puzzle games are just a bit too difficult for the kids, perhaps Mouse House will be right up their alley. When it comes to puzzlers, it doesn’t get much simpler than this. While not particularly compelling, this is a fun little game in which you take control of a cute little mouse on the hunt for some cheese. In order to satiate your little mouse appetite, you will have to navigate through 100 different levels as you fill up on that yellow dairy delight. But watch out because rats, wasps, and slimes are on the prowl and they’ll do whatever it takes to keep you from swiss bliss. Somebody, please stop me.

If the title isn’t any indication, Mouse House is a rather cute game, but in a fairly unisex way. It is cute enough for girls, but not too cute for boys. It’s a perfect balance of cuteness presented with nice high-quality visuals that are reminiscent of the NES days while still looking fresh and new. Animation is a bit stiff and could certainly use a few extra frames here and there, but it doesn’t necessarily take away from the overall look of the game. Controls are equally simple consist entirely of using the directional pad for movement and the B button for firing the occasional fireball.

This little mouse excursion is enjoyable, but it suffers from a severe lack of progression. The entire game is basically laid out before you in the first 7 levels as it introduces you to every kind of obstacle instead of spacing everything out. There are variations of the rats that show up a little bit later, but even before getting halfway through the game, you have experienced the majority of what it has to offer. And oddly, there is no sort of scoring or award system whatsoever and you can play any level at any time, which leaves you with self-satisfaction as the only incentive. It can be a bit difficult to feel motivated about completing a game when you can simply skip to the last level whenever you feel like it.

Most of the puzzles are also extremely easy. Some of the levels can be rather tricky, but most won’t take much thought. This difficulty level is appropriate for children, but it may bore someone with a decent grasp on logic and problem-solving. Sadly, the simplicity of the game doesn’t allow much room to be clever. In fact, trying to do so on a number of occasions got me stuck—literally. While trying to use balls to trap a rat and clear a path (instead of blocking the wasps’ stingers), the game glitched and I got trapped in the ball somehow. This unfortunately was something encountered quite a few times. Serves me right for trying to outsmart the game, eh?

Mouse House isn’t necessarily a bad game; it just isn’t anything special. Despite having 100 levels, the game can be completed in no time at all thanks to the small challenge, which may help lessen the chance of the one song driving you crazy. It would be a great addition for any younger kids in the household because it’s easy enough for them to understand while still providing a degree of accomplishment, but any puzzler veteran will likely want to pass. With all of the great puzzle games currently available through WiiWare, Mouse House doesn’t quite stand out, but if you’ve got an hour to kill, 600 points isn’t a bad price.

Score: 6/10

GhostSlayer
Ghosts are taking over the world and it’s up to you to stop them with your mighty sword. Personally, I’m a bit more partial to proton packs, but this will do. Highly anticipated—considering the brief period in which people were aware of it—by many in the WiiWare gaming community, GhostSlayer takes the swordfighting from Wii Sports Resort and puts an eerie Chinese folklore spin on it. Buyer beware: the game’s functionality relies heavily on the Wii MotionPlus. You can play without it, but it will be a far less enjoyable and intuitive experience.

Despite the old PlayStation1 survival-horror technique of using fog to obscure pop-in and do away with the need for detailed backgrounds, GhostSlayer looks pretty decent. The environment isn’t anything to fawn over, but the character, enemy, and sword designs are quite nice. The colors are very muted, however, and it is hard to discern whether or not this is intentional. Even in the menus, everything looks so dull and faded; initially, I had thought my television went into EnergySaver mode. It would seem that perhaps someone thought this was a good way to make the game look a bit spookier, but it was mostly just a strain on my eyes.

Still, questionable color choices aside, seeing this game in action is rather entertaining and it looks like a lot of fun. Actually playing it, however, is less exciting. While it manages to be enjoyable throughout most of the levels, there isn’t a whole lot going at any given time. There is only a small handful of levels, each of which don’t take more than a few minutes to complete. And although the higher difficulty levels are quite challenging, the groups of enemies are small and you take each ghost on one at a time. The enemies also don’t vary much and one of the most challenging types is one that disappears and reappears behind you. But because this is a first-person on-rails game, the camera automatically swings around for you so you can fight while completely ignoring anything else behind you.

The weapons also don’t vary much. In addition to the starting sword, you can unlock three others as you play through game. Granted, they look interesting, but there is no discernable difference between any of them, although they are supposedly quite different according to the developers. Not that it matters much, though, because what it really comes down to is your swinging and blocking skill. If you have a MotionPlus, this aspect is pulled off rather nicely. The disembodied sword floats around smoothly and swings in whichever direction you please. To block, just hold down the B button and position your sword wherever the enemy appears to be attacking. Holding down A will allow you to execute a power move that will take down most enemies in a single swing. It feels quite a bit like the Showdown Mode in Wii Sports Resort, but there are some calibration issues due some of the excessive flailing that is required in some situations.

For those without a MotionPlus, it is best to not bother with GhostSlayer. Playing the game sans MotionPlus is drastically different and turns the game into a complete drag. It certainly makes the game more challenging, but for all the wrong reasons. Instead of freely moving the sword about, it will simply sit in the middle of the screen and will only slash in one direction. If you want to go a different direction, you have to hold down the block button, rotate the sword, release the block button, and swing. Playing this way is incredibly boring and it seems to suck the life right out of you. Even with MotionPlus, it’s not super exciting, but it least it manages to be fun. Playing like this is awful and I imagine there must have been a better way to make the game accessible to everyone.

If you have a MotionPlus and an extra 600 points, GhostSlayer might be worth a shot as long as you don’t mind a game that is less than an hour long. Although the colors could use some work, the game provides an interest and creepy atmosphere with some nice music. And as long as you make it to the higher difficulty levels, there is a decent challenge to be had and this could be a good way to hold yourself over until the release of Red Steel 2. But as I mentioned previously, anyone without MotionPlus will want to steer clear. The controls in this mode are a joke and it makes for an entirely boring experience.

Score: 6/10

Family Go-Kart Racing was developed by Arc System Works and published by Aksys Games.

Mouse House was developed by Plaid World Studios and published by Big John Games.

GhostSlayer was developed and published by Gevo Entertainment.

All titles were released for WiiWare in North America on 2/22/2010.