That's right.  I had completely forgotten about that stuff.

 I didn't learn about those moves until long after I had stopped playing Melee.  None of the people I played with did those kinds of moves.

First off, snaking was an unfair advantage and I'm glad that it was gotten rid of. Whenever someone knew how to do it, it would be me and that person trying to outsnake each other which was lame. I know that everyone is saying that winning in this game is a crap shoot. I say BULL to that about 90% of the time. It just takes a lot of play time to get very good at this game. Whenever I play the Grand Prix on any difficulty I usually not only win every race but get at least a one star ranking unless I seriously mess up. Trust me, I know that it seems impossible to get a star ranking in 150 cc and Mirror Modes at first, but after a while it really isn't that hard. 2 star rankings are doable too. It's the 3 star rankings that has me tearing my hair out. But eventually I'm sure I'll get those on a semi-consistent basis after a lot of practice. Against players as skilled as you, sure it comes down to luck, but if you're really good that doesn't happen often. Most races have two players in front usually. Ever notice that? Another thing. I've read several reviews stating to not use the wheel and that it's for casuals and that it misreads your movements. I ONLY Play with the wheel and have unlocked everything in the game. I almost have a 2 star ranking overall, and plan on working toward a 3 star ranking. The wheel works extremely well. You just have to get used to it. Then again I also prefer shooters that I point and aim instead of using an analog stick too. I'd like to finish by saying that anyone that thinks this is easier than any other MK game obviously has not played it very much. It is harder but not impossible. For the record, I couldn't stand Double Dash. This and the N64 version are the two best versions in my opinion and both are AAA games.

what is snaking? I have no clue

Snaking is when you powerslide back and forth really fast in order to get a HUGE boost.

Regardless of review averages both Mario Kart Wii and Wii Fit will sell millions of games and move millions of Wii systems

This is very true. I just get tired of hearing the SAME invalid complaints about a game. That's all.

 You're selling this game way short.  The controls are superb and easily this is my favorite Mario Kart.  You owe it to yourself to play this one, I don't think you'll be disappointed if you do.

 And IMO, I'd say Kart is a must have over Brawl.

Taking away snaking is like taking away "I Win!" button. What's so bad about it?

That's not quite fair, Galaki.

Anyway, I think that a lot of the disagreement about Mario Kart's scores comes about because people think about reviews in two different ways. You can look at the game in isolation or as a sequel. If it didn't come from an established franchise, it might well have gotten 9s. However, we also expect improvement from title to title in a franchise, and it just doesn't provide that for most people.

If you're hardcore MK fan, you're upset about the increased accessibility and the removal of snaking. If you've played the past titles as party games, you don't understand why you can't play offline races without computer players and you really, really miss classic Block Fort. This is an important point - it's not just hardcore fans of the series that have problems with the game. Lots of things that casual players want are inexplicably absent. And lots of the things that the hardcore perceive as being sops to casual gamers really aren't - the items are, but we were never really aware of snaking anyway, and the radically different playstyles of karts and bikes lead very quickly to suspicions of unbalance. I expect that most playgroups are going to use one type of vehicle exclusively.

That's the real problem with MK Wii. No matter who you are, there's some element that seems to have been put in or left out for no other reason than to make you unhappy. It's very hard to justify a 9 for a game when there are so many things that you would have done differently. It remains very fun, of course, but it's hard to call it a wonderful product. I think an 8.5 is very fair. As a traditional title, it'd be worth a 9 or more if it had snaking and had been more skill-dependent. As a casual title, it'd be worth a 9 or more if it was more suitable for offline parties. These really aren't mutually exclusive, and I think it's really what most of both groups was looking for.

You can play offline without computer players, FYI.