Every Mario Kart game — from the earliest game on the SNES to the latest iteration on the Wii — drifts or crashes on the strength of its track library.

By this yardstick, the new half of Mario Kart Wii's 32-course menu more than makes up for its weaker classic counterpart. The 16 new tracks are awesome, entertaining marvels of amusement-park design and risk-reward strategy. It's an utter blast, as your own Miis look on from the sidelines, to blaze up the escalators and fountain courts of Coconut Mall. The snow-riddled DK Summit, meanwhile, encourages you to launch your kart skyward off gigantic half-pipes like you're the new Shaun White.

The classic side of the game's grand prix equation has been graphically buffed and remastered, but it can't disguise the fact that some of the old courses just aren't that interesting. After you've tasted the rollercoaster glory of the new tracks, sliding through a dog like the N64 Sherbet Island, where the only hook is slippery ice, is a bigger come-down than being bombed out of first on the final stretch.

And that'll be happening a lot. The Mario Kart series has always winked broadly at the balance between skill and luck — the quintessential MK experience involves powersliding your way to a huge lead … and still gagging on defeat when Wario drops a spiny shell on you from eighth place. Nintendo's, um, answer to this is adding three new items to the warchest, all of which are devastatingly powerful. The POW block, an item that smacks everyone in front of you and makes 'em drop their items, is particularly painful.

With eleven other CPU racers on the course, races can often feel like being trapped in a bad game of dodgeball. After a stretch in which you've been flattened by a lightning-bolt/POW block/red shell triple-combo, you may find yourself wishing for a little less melee and little more free driving.

The characters can now ride motorcycles and dirt bikes (and in fact, they have to on the 100cc grand prix circuit) and unleash airborne tricks to get turbo-boosts by shaking the Wiimiote while in midair. It's a fine (and fun) strategic antidote to the snaking turbo-boost technique that unbalanced previous entries in the series.

The game comes packed with the Wii wheel, a plastic steering wheel casing that handles the Wiimote's motion control surprisingly well — frankly, better than any other Wii peripheral Nintendo's served up so far. (Plus, your arms will get a workout holding it out in front of you). If analog's your preferred control scheme, that's an option, too.

Online racing's a smooth and welcome option, but nothing beats bashing karts with a set of friends in the same room. As party games go, you're not going to find a better one than this.

Contact Aaron Conklin through features@madison.com