[#] Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo, Wii, 2007)

Drive like wahoo.

My hottest take in all of gaming is that this is the first good Mario Kart. Now that I have your attention, no, I don't believe that, but I do maintain that they get a lot nicer to play the newer you get. Wii is my favorite, and as much as I don't like Nintendo as a company, it is the perfect distillation of the kind of pure, unpretentious fun that made Nintendo rule the roost in the mid-2000s. You can be as casual or as committed as you want with Wii, right down to your choice of controller. The Wii's motion controls can steer your kart from here to DK's Jungle Parkway, but if you want a level of precision above that? GameCube controllers also welcome. Seriously, Nintendo thought of everything.

The physics in Wii are terrific. With the Mode 7 Mario Kart games driving in a way I can only describe as "stodgy", and Mario Kart DS feeling a little weightless, these karts and bikes (you can choose either/or depending on mode and grand prix cup, bikes being my favorite) handle exactly as you'd hope, without a second thought. While I do love the "retro" cups, bringing back good'uns like Ghost Valley 2 and Delfino Square in stunning 480p, the new tracks—Maple Treeway, Koopa Cape, Mushroom Gorge, Coconut Mall—have become absolutely iconic for a reason. They're just fun! They bounce, they're colorful, they're twisty and windy and imaginative and have lots of alternate paths for you to master.

Each racer (out of a pool of ultimately 26) has a size rating and selection of karts and bikes that balance arcade immediacy and you being able to tune your racing experience to your preferences. For much of the game, I dominated with the Koopa Troopa on his Standard Bike until dcb started eating my lunch with the much faster, though tighter in turns and drifts, Bullet Bike, necessitating a rethink of my efforts. Mario Kart Wii really does have it all, the initial jolt of adorable Nintendo magic directly to the pleasure center of your brain to start, and the depth necessary to keep you dedicated to beating every last Expert Staff Ghost in the time trials. You can even still play it online today through modding.