The Wii launched in Europe on December 8th 2006, exactly 5 Years ago today. The Wii has commonly been brushed off as a casual console during it's reign and it was always an assumption I disagreed with, if you swim through the shovelware the Wii has a very respectable library. To show this we thought we would celebrate the 60 months the Wii has been out by giving you a list of 60 of the greatest titles on the console.
As you can imagine it would take far to long to write reviews for 60 individual games so I have tried to limit myself to a few sentences in note form about what I enjoyed the most. Another thing, obviously the games chosen are based on my own opinions and I can't include games I have yet to play, so make sure to let us know in the comments about what your favourite Wii games are! Without further ado...
007 Goldeneye
Possibly the best first person shooters on Wii with hours of online multiplayer potential as well as a nice modern retelling of the classic Goldeneye story from the movie/N64 game for a campaign (play through it on the highest difficulty for the classic amour/health bars!).
Possibly the best first person shooters on Wii with hours of online multiplayer potential as well as a nice modern retelling of the classic Goldeneye story from the movie/N64 game for a campaign (play through it on the highest difficulty for the classic amour/health bars!).
Animal Crossing: Lets Go to the City
Although it doesn't try many new ideas to expand on the previous installments but Animal Crossing: Let's Go to the City (or City Folk in America) is still just as fun as any other Animal Crossing and ever so addicting, if you haven't played Wild World I'd highly recommend this.
Art Style: Penta Tentacles
Penta Tentacles (Rotatzoa to you America) is a very stylized and simple WiiWare title that offers a surprising amount of content and can
be enjoyed by anyone while still giving a fair challenge, very well presented for a downloadable game.
Battalion Wars II
A real-time
strategy game with a cartoony world war theme, includes great online
multiplayer modes and many more vehicle and unit options than the first game.
BIT.TRIP Runner
A very strong downloadable title and great addition to the series, retro feeling and challenging gameplay sticks true to what the series is about and I would highly recommend any BIT.TRIP game to gamers (you might want to look at the BIT.TRIP complete package releasing next year in Europe) .
A very strong downloadable title and great addition to the series, retro feeling and challenging gameplay sticks true to what the series is about and I would highly recommend any BIT.TRIP game to gamers (you might want to look at the BIT.TRIP complete package releasing next year in Europe) .
Boom Blox Bash Party
A block bashing
puzzle game with tones of levels! Boom Blox has plenty of modes, competitive multiplayer and a very strong level
creator that will keep you coming back every so often, definitely a must own for puzzle fans.
Cave Story looks and feels just like a classic NES game in terms of music and graphics but also boasts a much deeper story and a very enjoyable one at that, very stylized and unique game, retro gamers will love this one.
de Blob 2
de Blob 2 is a very enjoyable platformer that has received a much improved coat of paint compared to the original games controls and level design. Offers the same unique and fun gameplay as the first as well as the new 2D sections which feel original and add an intresting element to the gameplay.
Disaster: Day of Crisis
'One hell of a day' indeed, following a day in the life of ex rescue specialist Ray in Disaster is certainly an event in itself. With what feels like a movie plot you explore, drive, shoot and rescue citizens in a world under threat from natural disasters and nuclear threats from terrorist this game has it all.
Dead Space: Extraction
'One hell of a day' indeed, following a day in the life of ex rescue specialist Ray in Disaster is certainly an event in itself. With what feels like a movie plot you explore, drive, shoot and rescue citizens in a world under threat from natural disasters and nuclear threats from terrorist this game has it all.
An incredibly tense and surprisingly scary game all packaged
into a great atmospheric on-rails shooter Dead Space: Extraction is a prequel to Dead Space on the Xbox 360 and PS3 and manages to prove the Wii can handle 'Mature' games.
Donkey Kong Country Returns
Donkey Kong is back into his prime(ape) in a classic 2D
platformer by Retro Studios, a sequel to the SNES trilogy with a similar amount of challenge. Makes clever uses of the foreground and background of levels and adds in many modern elements while remaining faithful to Donkey Kongs roots.
Dr. Mario & Germ Buster
Pretty much the classic Dr. Mario puzzle gameplay with some added extra modes and online multiplayer, perfectly suited for a downloadable title and great to come back too every once in a while.
Endless Ocean offers a relaxing underwater exploration experience that is great to look at and perfect for when you just want a change in
pace while gaming. Relaxing, simple and manages to give an amazing sense of exploration with all the sights to see.
Excite Truck
A very satifying racer in which coming first place doesn't always guarantee you victory, instead you can win by performing stunts and tricks and even by hitting into other players, an exciting reboot to the franchise, you might want to check out the sequel Excite Bots Trick Racing also but we unfortunately didn't receive it here in Europe.
A very satifying racer in which coming first place doesn't always guarantee you victory, instead you can win by performing stunts and tricks and even by hitting into other players, an exciting reboot to the franchise, you might want to check out the sequel Excite Bots Trick Racing also but we unfortunately didn't receive it here in Europe.
Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn
A great strategy game that like other Fire Emblem titles went straight under the rader for some reason, a great game with a nice length and challenge for fans of strategic RPG games.
A great strategy game that like other Fire Emblem titles went straight under the rader for some reason, a great game with a nice length and challenge for fans of strategic RPG games.
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King
My Life as King offers a different perspective on a Final Fantasy game, making you play as the king of a town to control resources and hire, equip and send out Warriors to collect even more resources to in turn build new buildings to expand your kingdom.
My Life as King offers a different perspective on a Final Fantasy game, making you play as the king of a town to control resources and hire, equip and send out Warriors to collect even more resources to in turn build new buildings to expand your kingdom.
Geometry Wars: Galaxies
The ultimate version of a Geometry Wars game, this version features a brand new upgrade system to add more depth to what was an Xbox Arcade title, also boast fun co-op multiplayer, tons of unlockables and online leaderboards.
The ultimate version of a Geometry Wars game, this version features a brand new upgrade system to add more depth to what was an Xbox Arcade title, also boast fun co-op multiplayer, tons of unlockables and online leaderboards.
Ghost Squad
A port of the classic arcade shooting game by Sega but with new
added content and even more multiple paths to take which gives the game plenty of replay value that will keep you coming back whenever you want a quick arcade style shooting fix.
Hydroventure
Tilting the Wii remote to control a puddle of water, cloud or steam or block of ice, Hydroventure is incredible for a WiiWare title and has great level design and a well implemented control
scheme, not to mention plenty of hidden extras.
A great Kirby platformer
with all the traditional Kirby elements and added four player co-op allowing other players to control Meta Knight, Waddle Dee and King DeDeDe adding new and interesting dynamics to gameplay.
Epic Yarn scraps most of the standard
Kirby formula to provide a unique yarn filled platforming experience, very fun and suitable for younger players, although try going for every bead possible and you will find a big enough challenge.
A remake of the
classic Playstation 2.5 platformer with slightly nicer graphics and the same old awesome
gameplay, one of the first games of it's kind and if you didn't play original this is a perfect way to do so.
Kororinpa
A underrated marble puzzle
game similar to classics like Marble Madness, however instead of controlling the ball you tilt the Wii remote to tilt the whole stage and roll the ball to the end, very smoothly pulled off concept.
Link's Crossbow Training
A decent target
shooting game with a Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess theme, seeing you revisit parts of Hyrule to shoot wooden targets enemy's and pots to gain a high score. Also bundled with the Wii Zapper which adds a bit of extra value.
Little Kings Story
Pikmin style gameplay with a mix of RPG elements and
surprising amount of challenging gameplay.
MadWorld
Bloodshed at its best, MadWorld can be found for very cheap these days and it is definitely worth a look for anyone looking for their violence fix on Wii.
Mario Kart Wii
Your typical Mario Kart madness, now with 12 player online
support! Mario Kart Wii has a variety of control options, making the title accessible for all, look no further for multiplayer.
Metroid: Other M
A slightly controversial title among fans but Metroid being my favourite franchise of all time there was no way I was leaving this one of the list, Metroid: Other M contains well presented cut scenes and a new style of gameplay for the series which blends 3rd and 1st person elements and a few new takes on the Metroid formula which I think works quite well.
Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
One of the first games to really pull off the Wii remote controls for a first person game, Corruption closes off the Metroid Prime story arc and has all the small deatils of Retro Studios other work.
A truly massive game in every way possible, Monster Hunter Tri contains literally hundreds of hours of content with regular downloadable quests to play online and all the collectable items and weaponry, has a steep learning curve though so make sure to stick with it at first .
One of the most artistic and stylized Wii games with an impressive mix of RPG and brawler style gameplay, has many traditional Japanesse culture references throughout it's stroy and it's art style really shines through.
Your classic 2D Mario side scroller with the well
implemented addition of four player multiplayer, a great co-op game that can be enjoyed by classic Mario fans or new gamers alike.
New Play Control! Pikmin/Pikmin 2
Okay so these are not strictly Wii games (which was the reason I excluded Metroid Prime Trilogy and Twilight Princess) but I felt that these two amazing GameCube classics were really enchanced for Wii. Both titles are greatly improved with the additional pointer controls which really make controlling the Pikmin simple.
No More Heroes
A very fun and humorous game that has many throwbacks to the retro 8-Bit era, especially noticeable with the catchy soundtrack. You can find it fairly cheap and is a very well made game, kudos to Suda51!
Port of the PS2 game that looks right at home on the Wii, 16:9 graphics and the Wii remote IR pointer add to the games already amazing gameplay, has plenty of lovable characters
and a beautiful art style.
One of few great Wii RPG’s that also has a very unique battle system, a charming art style and Eathbound style charm and quirky-ness. This game is so criminally underrated and still lacks the acknowledgement it deserves, I could seriously write a whole article about this game, check Opoona out!
Punch-Out!! returns after a 15-year hiatus
bringing amateur boxer Little Mac back into the boxing ring, nice comeback for one of Nintendos most loved series and well suited to the Wii remote and nunchuck control scheme, as well as providing the NES control scheme for veterans.
Red Steel 2 is one of the few great games that really shows off the Wii
Motion plus controls and how the can be used in fun and deep gameplay, the game manages to seamlessly blend swordplay and shooting into a intuitive control scheme. Ignore the first game, they are completely unrelated and this second title offers much more polish to similar concepts.
A Harvest Moon spin
off with all the basics of farming and building social relationships plus the added dungeon crawling and RPG combat gameplay, adds great variety to an already fun style of game.
Silent Hill Shattered Memories
Silent Hill Shattered Memories
One of the most brilliant on rails shooter ever and sequel to the Japan-only cult
classic. Despite being on-rails the gameplay doesn't feel restrictive and this one is well worth your time!
Sonic in a game that surprised everyone as a comeback for the series. A great 3D Sonic game that manages to improve the foundations layed out by previous titles like Sonic Unleashed, also blends in the occasional 2D section perfectly.
A genuinely great kart racing game in the famous Mario Kart style
but SEGA themed with tons of unlockable characters, tracks, music and extras.
What more can you say that hasn't been said before? Two of the
finest platformer games of this console generation and both are absolute must own titles for any Wii owner.
A great take on a football game that it pure fun and doesn't take itself to seriously, online rankings and matches add plenty of extra hours worth of content.
Super Paper Mario takes all the charm of the Paper Mario RPG series into the
form of a 2D platformer that may disappoint fans but otherwise offers a few quirky innovations and a humour filled script.
By far the best
fighting game on Wii featuring an All-Star cast of characters from Nintendo’s long history, a true homage to Nintendo and the ultimate love letter to fans. As always Super Smash Bros. delves into Nintendo's roster of characters, also allowing you to pit Mario against SEGA's Sonic the Hedgehog or Hideo Kojima's Solid Snake.
A great 2D arcade fighting game in the style of the Marvel vs
Capcom crossovers which includes many of the Capcom characters such as MegaMan and Veiwtiful Joe, as well as more obscure anime characters from Tatsunoko, all of which are very interesting and fun to play..
Your standard Tetris experience with added online
multiplayer support which can get very competitive, and contains over 20 additional game modes to mix things up.
The Conduit is a linear and generic FPS in the nicest way possible, the game is nothing special but also has a short story mode that is fun to play meaning you will want to replay it many times. The game still stands a a testament to fully customizable control schemes.
Everything you could
expect from a Zelda title made even better by perfecting the use of Wii Motion Plus. Offers a beautiful story in itself as well as founding the origins to other titles in the series, another must play title on this list. Truly an amazing send off to the Wii at what seems to be one of the last releases (although it was recently confirmed we'll be getting two certain RPG's in Europe!)
Wario Land: The Shake Dimension
Pure and simple 2D platforming with beautiful
hand-drawn animation and
environments, plenty of replay value with achievement like challenges and collectables.
Containing over 200 crazy fast paced micro games that make
excellent use of the Wii remote controls WarioWare: Smooth Moves is the same humourous and exciting gameplay the series had defined.
The ultimate tech demo if you will, Wii Sports Resort demonstrates the Wii motion plus perfectly
and is great for multiplayer with freinds and family alike, offering much more choice and variety than Wii Sports.
The ultimate party
game for anyone of any age, has over 80 unique mini games, many of which have more depth than your typical mini games and are enjoyable to play repeatedly on their own. I've personally enjoyed this much more than expected, well worth a look.
A addictive and innovative puzzle game with a subtle dark story and art style, nice downloadable option for puzzle fans.
Xenoblade Chronicles
The best RPG on the Wii and the best I have played in a long time, fun battle system and hours of story to play through, luckily American gamers will get the chance to experience this title next year!
The best RPG on the Wii and the best I have played in a long time, fun battle system and hours of story to play through, luckily American gamers will get the chance to experience this title next year!
An underrated
point and click puzzle game, Zack and Wiki makes excellent use of the Wii remote capabilities and is the type of game that is hard to come by these days.
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