With the Wii nearing the end of its lifespan and nearly all of its high-profile games already out and, inspired by a comment from one of my friends, I decided to do an honest rundown of Nintendo's revolutionary game console and its game library. The Wii did have some commendable efforts in its time, and some were actually modern classics. Here are the games that made me proud to be a Wii owner and really showed what the Wii, and only the Wii, could do:
This should be enough the justify the Wii's existence to ANYBODY. The greatest gaming package experience since The Orange Box nobody played, Trilogy collects the three incomparable Metroid Prime games, the first of which is hands-down one of the greatest games ever made, and updates them all with one of the most revolutionary and revelatory control systems ever implemented in a video game. The games are artistic masterpieces that revolutionized game narrative with one of the most stunningly moving and gutting stories ever told in a video game and set a new high bar for connecting the player to the character that has yet to be surpassed, and I'll stand by that. To top it off, they all now play like a dream, the stunning motion control adding yet another layer of immersion to the experience. Now, they're all collected for your convenience on one amazing Wii DVD. It's the definitive example of the Wii at its best and anyone who passed this up honestly did themselves an incalculable disservice.
Sonic Colours is the best Sonic game in 15 years. It's also one of the best video games, period, of the past few years. It's exactly the kind of game that should have followed the Genesis classics during the time when SEGA was busy being sidetracked by the goofy mid-90s Gaiden games and the ill-advised "Adventure" reboot. Sonic Colours is not just the first bold step forward for the franchise in over a decade, it's also a master class in visual storytelling: Featuring one of the most evocative and boundlessly imaginative game worlds in recent memory and an eerie, moody electronica-touched soundtrack Colours drips with atmosphere in a way it seemed for the longest time modern video games had forgotten how to be. Not to mention the script, which is one of the most devilishly funny bits of writing I've seen in a game since Portal. Colours reminds me of what video games used to be, what they used to mean and honestly, what they've lost in the intervening decade and a half. Not just the Sonic franchise, but the medium as a whole. It's a much-welcome breath of fresh air. It's not a perfect game by any stretch of the imagination; the level design is still a tad aggravating and you absolutely *must* play it with a GameCube controller because otherwise you're totally screwed, but for what it does for your senses and your soul it's enough reason for me to sing its praises. Put aside your preconceptions and hangups and dive into Sonic Colours: You'd be surprised and maybe, just maybe, thoroughly enchanted.
When the Wii launched, we all had visions of a future where our favourite characters would intuitively respond to our hand gestures with magical, 1:1 motion control mapping and usher in a whole new era of realism to the medium. Then the actual games came out, and we were disappointed. Then the Wii MotionPlus came out, and the dream was alive again. Then nobody actually used the thing and we all gave up. Nevertheless, there were a couple first-rate titles to do motion control right: Metroid Prime Trilogy is the standout example, even though it didn't need MotionPlus. The other one was Red Steel 2, which unfortunately had to work hard to get out from under the shadow of its infamous predecessor. Give Ubisoft credit they did try hard, with a clever samurai western style and MotionPlus control actually working, and working damn near flawlessly. Even though it arguably failed overall, Red Steel 2 was a great game in its own right and finally gave us the kind of 1:1 video game swordplay we were all hoping for. Shame none of you bought it.
The Bit.Trip games were a critical darling for Nintendo this generation, and instead of listing them all out individually I've given the nod to all of them at once by honouring this superb compilation that's almost as much of a steal as Metroid Prime Trilogy. The Bit.Trip games themselves are wonderful throwbacks to the dearly departed Atari age of gaming but with a psychedelic head trip veneer all their own. Despite the overall story smacking ever so slightly of pretension, the gameplay is fun and addicting, the visual style is gorgeous and the music is lovely and infectious. Bit.Trip Complete also offers interviews, behind-the-scenes footage, model sheets, a soundtrack CD and a slew of other bonus features to make it by far the definitive version of the cult series. Any Nintendo fan should be proud to have this series to call an exclusive.
Yell and scream all you like casual game haters, Wii Sports Resort is a tight and enjoyable collection of minigames that shows off the power of the MotionPlus. Not all the games are surefire hits, but the Kendo and basketball ones alone provide hours and hours of fun for those among us who enjoy getting physical, not to mention the famous bowling! I'm a huge supporter of motion control in games and this collection shows how it can be used to elevate the sports game experience to a whole new level. It may not be as fully-featured or feature as robust motion tracking as modern Kinect and Move games, but those new systems wouldn't be anywhere without it. Motion control defenders, I know you're out there, know your roots.
Muramasa was one of the first games to come along and show how the hand-drawn, two-dimensional style of games that flourished during the Fourth Generation could still survive and find a home on Seventh Generation consoles. Essentially fusing the Castelvania-esque sidescrolling platformer with a beat-em-up, Muramasa featured a fast, stylish and engaging style of play that was easy to love. Its success helped pave the way for other such games on the console like Donkey Kong Country Returns and the Kirby Wii games. While indie offerings on the XBOX Live Arcade Store and the PSN tend to prefer the rather lame (in my opinion) "2.5 D" style, that uses a 2D perspective but polygonal graphics (thus rather defeating the purpose of doing a 2D game in the first place), games like Muramasa helped keep the spirit of sprite art alive and well far into the Generation of graphics fetishism.
While not the very best of the Smash Bros. series in my opinion, Brawl is an immensely satisfying entry with just about everything to love about it constantly on display. The roster is sprawling, bolstered by the addition of famous third party mascots who nevertheless had an important role to play in Nintendo history. The stages are all cleverly designed and gorgeous to look at and are exceedingly fun to play in do to the abundance of gimmicks and tricks. The sheer amount of unlockables and extra content is staggering and is enough to keep die-hard Smashers busy for months. While I'm not entirely happy with all the gameplay changes, Brawl is just as satisfying as its predecessors and more than earns the name Super Smash Bros. Quite simply, Brawl was this generation's incarnation of a beloved group gaming tradition and it didn't disappoint.
One thing the Wii was excellent at was providing a niche for smaller, more experimental games that couldn't find a home in the savage, expensive world of the XBOX 360 and PlayStation 3. Of course, this is a double-edged sword: A niche game by definition lacks mainstream appeal to compete with huge AAA blockbusters and often has difficulty finding an audience big enough to justify its existence. In the end, this is what doomed the Wii and, if Nintendo's not careful, it will doom the WiiU and the 3DS as well. However, they do have one or two success stories under their belt this generation, and Warren Spector's Epic Mickey is one of them. It's hard to imagine that a game like this, one that consciously attempts to bring back the long-dead open-world platformer codified by Super Mario 64 and that openly celebrates and examines animation history, could be made on the 360 or PS3. It's the most niche of niche concepts and no-one would want to take a risk on it. No-one, that is, except the makers of a console like the Wii. Epic Mickey had its problems (the ever-present camera issue all open-world platformers have for one), but its high concept approach is to be commended and is one more developers should emulate.
Kirby's Epic Yarn is a prime example of what Nintendo can do when it's on top of its game. At heart, this isn't a Kirby game: The gameplay and style is so radically different from the Kirby one that it's no surprise it wasn't originally designed to be a Kirby game. However, because only brand-name, bankable franchises sell, Nintendo retooled this creative concept about a world built entirely out of felt into a Kirby premise to give it some marquee value. Thankfully, this doesn't take away from the game which is incredibly fun and engaging to play and even manages to play around with the idea of scalable difficulty in video games. It's truly a game everybody can enjoy, but it helps if you're tuned to seeing games as works of imagination instead of disposable products.
On the surface this is an entirely cynical cash-in on Nintendo fans' nostalgia for the NES and Super Nintendo Super Mario Bros. games And...Well, you wouldn't be too far off from the truth in claiming that if I'm honest. However, the clumsily-titled New Super Mario Bros. Wii does have one or two tricks to bring to the table. The biggest addition is that of co-op multiplayer, which is something I've always longed for in a Super Mario Bros. game. Would it be nice if Mario and Luigi were teamed with Peach and Daisy instead of two generic Toads? Well, yeah, it would be, but the devolution of gender roles in the Mario series is a topic for another day. That annoyance aside, the multiplayer works fine, even if it's designed towards asshole behaviour a bit too much for my tastes. NSMBW is also a pretty challenging game by modern Mario standards and is a very solid 2D platformer overall. It's depressing to see Nintendo give up and revert to cashing in on nostalgia, but the game is at least entertaining and, on the flip side, it's nicer to see Nintendo stick to its guns and just put out a solid, unoriginal and slightly soulless Mario game then succumb to another overthought, ill-conceived lateral misfire like Super Mario Galaxy or, if I'm honest, Super Mario Sunshine.
It's not out yet as of this writing, but Nintendo already seems damned determined to make The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword one of the most memorable entries in the venerable franchise. With one of the most complex and seeded plots in the series history and promises of the biggest, most sprawling open world yet seen and perfected MotionPlus-enabled 1:1 swordplay, Skyward Sword does seem quite the boastful one. Nintendo has a lot of work to do to revive the aging series and dispel its tarnishing image issues (it's telling that of the Zelda games released since 2003, the only ones that did anything to excite me were the remakes and ports). However, should Skyward Sword actually deliver on the promises it's made, it'll go down as one of the best games in the Wii library and, possibly, the entire Generation. One to watch for diehard Zelda fans and those looking to get some last mileage out of the MotionPlus at any rate!
Another example of a niche property finding a home on Nintendo's underpowered, undervalued little white box. Not Capcom of course, whose Street Fighter franchise is wildly popular the world over and who is well known for its crossover fighting series, but Tatsunoko, a legendary Japanese cartoon firm that is largely unknown stateside. The game is as solid as any Capcom-produced 2D fighter and is one of the only Wii games that actually makes use of the system's online functionality in a reasonable fashion. Like Epic Mickey, Tatsunoko vs. Capcom should appeal to both traditional video game fans and fans of animation history and is well worth a look if you fit into one or both of those sets.
Though initially released on the PlayStation 2 in 2006 where it went on to be a cult smash, Okami sadly found itself overshadowed on a Sixth Generation console in an environment where the XBOX 360 had been established for a year and where the Wii and PlayStation 3 had just launched. Fortunately, it found second life on the former console, which was arguably a better fit for the game in the first place. Since Okami's main gameplay is focused around the use of paints and paintbrushes, it seemed stupidly logical to port it over to the virtual easel of the Wii. In addition to motion control, the Wii transfer also gave Okami a graphical upgrade and a number of other enhancements. Sadly, it didn't do much better over there, once again proving niche, clever games just can't find an audience anywhere. Those who played it loved it though, and it can still be found easily in department stores. So go pick it up if you haven't: Amaterasu bids it.
There are about sixty fucktrillion ports of Resident Evil 4, which only makes sense because it's one of the most groundbreaking games of the past decade. Anyone remember it was originally a GameCube exclusive? Nintendo sure did, because Capcom gave them what is for my money the definitive version of the game for the Wii. In addition to all the bonus content from the PC and PlayStation 2 ports, RE4 Wii also had the obligatory motion control. However, it was one of the very few early Wii games (and, arguably, Wii games in general) to get motion control *right*, released into an environment where developers still didn't quite know how to work with it. It is immensely satisfying to swing your arms around blasting not-zombies with your shotgun and then to spin around and slice at oncoming baddies with your knife, conveniently mapped to the nunchuk. I know RE4 just got a nice HD upgrade, but, for my money, the Wii version is still the place to go to get the full experience.
You'd think sports games would be a natural fit for the Wii, especially after the advent of the MotionPlus. Unfortunately, with the exception of Wii Sports Resort and arguably the pre-PlayStation Move incarnations of Tiger Woods PGA Tour there was never really much of an effort to take advantage of the system's unique possibilities in this vein. Thankfully, EA Sports did give us one bone, the eminently playable Grand Slam Tennis. The graphics weren't the most appealing things in the world to look at, but the actual gameplay was very, very good; accurately mapping tennis strokes to the appropriate hand gestures with the Wiimote. It helps a lot that the controller itself sort of feels like a tennis racket, making jumping into the game with pre-existing tennis skills pretty easy and intuitive. As a tennis player, it's a fine way to practice during the off-season. But then again, that's just me. I know many gamers have some kind of weird aversion to physical activity. Maybe that explains the Wii better than anything else.
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