Wii - Looking Back, what did you enjoy?

[Tanooki]

Now that I've got one again I've started researching into the library a bit more, specifically the last 1/2 of its life, even more so around and after the release of the failed WiiU. I had a pretty decent library back then, a few I'd like to own, and I could even recommend a few for this list, but I'm kind of curious what others peoples favorites may be and why. I know some games that were actually apparently fairly good to solid but got panned because it was Wii, it was not HD, or it was an oddball take on a known franchise (like the zelda-ish hack n slash Soul Calibur title for one.)

 

So the question is, what did you think stood out during its long life that really should be noted around the mountains of subpar licenses and shovelware that drowned out perhaps some un or lightly acknowledged quality that did appear in the end?

 

 

I'd throw a vote for a pair of Namco games -- Klonoa and also The Munchables. The first is a remaster of the classic and it looks and plays just wonderfully so I won't detail it since there's easily heaps of PS1 and Wii reviews around. The other is a screwball colorful game with lots of things to well, munch, it's an odd mechanic really, a bit (yet not) dissimilar to how Pac-Man gets the job done, but you really got to use the world and work the problem as it's not a maze game.

[Austin]

On the Wii, the Nintendo releases stood out the most for me. Super Mario Galaxy really made an impact for me, as did Punch-Out, Donkey Kong Country Returns, New Super Mario Bros. Wii and Excite Truck.

 

Xenoblade Chronicles was something that really surprised me. I don't normally play many RPGs, but if one is hyped up big time and is on its way to becoming an uncommon/rare title on the used market, then I may check it out--as I did for this one. I wasn't disappointed at all. The gameplay was extremely fun and the visual style and world was large and interesting, almost more so than what you would expect out of a Wii game. And man, that soundtrack.. amazing stuff.

 

There are some good compilations on the thing I played a lot of, like the Samurai Showdown Anthology, SNK Arcade Classics Volume 1, Data East Collection, etc., etc.

 

For super cheap stuff that was fun, I put a lot of time into Geometry Wars Galaxies.

 

For digital stuff, I played a lot of the Konami ReBirth games (Contra, Gradius and Castlevania ReBirth). Shame they never got a physical release as a combo pack or something, but they are worth picking up.

 

I am trying to think of some other cheap/obscure games, but I'm starting to realize I didn't really experiment as much with off-beat stuff as I should have.

[glazball]

Nobody did Wii better than the Big N themselves. All the titles Austin listed were (and still are) great. Also thumbs up to Klonoa, Geometry Wars Galaxies, and the SNK and Data East collections. The Metal Slug and Dragon's Lair collections are must-haves also.

 

A few others I really enjoyed are:

Beatles: Rock Band - because Beatles

A Boy and his Blob - clever and colorful

Castle of Shikigami III - nice shmup

Dead Space Extraction - shooter that stands out in Wii library

ExciteBots: Trick Racing - we still play this one now and then

House of the Dead: Overkill - wonderfully offensive and tacky

Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword - of course!

Lost in Shadow - platformer

Muramasa - great control and plenty of eyecandy

Super Paper Mario - not sure why some don't like this one??

Trauma Center: New Blood - interesting use of the Wiimote

Wario Land: Shake It! - another great platformer

 

And a few more that are fun to just pick up and play, but aren't winning any GotY awards:

Bit.Trip Complete

Boom Blox - my old roommate really liked this one

Gunblade NY & LA Machineguns

Luxor 3

Mercury Meltdown Revolution

Science Papa

Target: Terror - so bad, it's good

Worms: A Space Oddity

 

I'm sure there are many that I can't remember right now. The Wii library is so large, it'll take a lifetime to sift through it all. Sure, a lot of the games are not-great but even those shitty ones give me a chuckle.

[Tanooki]

You know what I forgot about that one, Dragon's Lair. I had that years ago, it's the only time I've ever really enjoyed the game because you can turn on prompts what to hit. It still has that brutal 1/2 second timing, but the confusion factor of having 100x over failures to get the rote memory down removed from the equation. I really wish more releases of that game were done with that as an option.

 

Currently I have 5 games for the system: Metroid Prime Trilogy steelbook, Wii Sports Resort, NEW SMB Wii which came with the system, Klonoa, and Super Mario Galaxy 2 which is sealed (want to do #1 first.)

 

Some of the games you listed I did in fact put in a watch list I created for myself with some generalized price ranges, stuff I never did get back in the day like both House of the Dead releases and Castle of Shikigami 3. But also some of what I had a decade ago I'd like to poke at again, the better stuff, like Muramasa.

 

...I also agree with you about Beatles. I had that one and Guitar Hero 3 back then. I dislike those style of games, but the music selection of both was a must have for me to mess with. Not sure i want to dig into getting another lame guitar again, but if I did, I do have a non 'plus' controller here that would fit into it at least.

 

Currently my entire setup are those 5 games, and then the model 2 black Wii that has no gamecube support from that Mario/SMG audio CD holiday bundle complete in the box with all the parts, a second blue motion plus, an existing white controller+nunchuk and motion plus adapter, and a black classic controller pro.

[zzip]

New Super Mario Brothers Wii

Wii Sports Resort

Trackmania

A bunch of Guitar Hero/Rock Band games

Dragon's Lair/Space Ace - I've tried many versions over the years, this was probably the best version

Sam and Max tell tale games

You Don't Know Jack - Always a fun trivia game.

 

Some digital games like:

TV Show King 2 - I think that's the title, fun trivia party game

Interesting remakes of Frogger, Space Invaders, Burger Time.

A racing game whose name escapes me.

 

Everyone raves about the Super Mario Galaxy games, but I just couldn't get into them.

[BydoEmpire]

I enjoyed the heck out of the Wii, it was my favorite and most played console of the generation... although maybe that doesn't say much. Last gen was when I pretty much stopped playing modern games. Anyways, here are some standouts:

 

My top 5:

1. Metroid Prime: Corruption was amazing - my favorite Metroid game, and my favorite game of the generation
2. Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles - the best gun game ever - one that was designed for a console, and took advantage - replayable, unlockables, different paths, great audio/visuals
3. Twilight Princess was just amazing - right up there in terms of my favorite Zeldas
4. Dead Space: Extraction - way exceeded expectations for me, really fun gun game with excellent atmosphere
5. The Williams Pinball collection was awesome - perfect control, lots to do

Other games I enjoyed:

• House of the Dead: Overkill
• Wii Sports was fun for what it was, I tihnk it's the last game my wife ever played, certainly the last one we played together
• Boom Blox was fun for a while
• I remember playing Dragon Quest Swords in one hand, holding my sleeping newborn in the other hand
• Medal of Honor: Heroes 2 - the online actually worked well and it had a great light gun mode
• I liked the Soul Calibur hack & slash, but never finished... I think there was some stage I couldn't beat and got sucked into other games
• Tons of quirky, off-beat games like Order Up!
• The downloadable Excite Bikes was good
• The downloadable Alien Crush sequel was good
• The Wii gave me a TG-16 fix without having to reacquire one.

 

 

 

Everyone raves about the Super Mario Galaxy games, but I just couldn't get into them.

Me, neither. I got about halfway through Mario Galaxy and found it pretty dull.

 

 

Super Paper Mario - not sure why some don't like this one??Because it sucked! Compared to the sheer greatness of the previous two games it was just a letdown. Terrible characters, gameplay that was clever for a short time but got less and less fun as you went on, writing that wasn't as good... Another one I stopped playing halfway through.

[glazball]

Wha?? Super Paper Mario was great! OK, let's say really good. Compared to Color Splash on Wii U, which was too frustrating for me to finish, it was a solid game.

 

Personally I have a hard time recommending Twilight Princess on Wii. Sure, it was great at launch, but in hindsight the GC version is better. Or, you could say the Wii U version is now the definitive version. In the Wii version, you have to waggle for every sword swing - and it got old fast considering you spend so much time chopping grass and enemies.

 

The Dragon's Lair Trilogy also has a mode that allows you to just watch the correct inputs being used, so you can basically sit back and enjoy the animations. I know that goes against the whole point of a video "game", but having spent countless hours and quarters on DL1 and 2, it was really a treat for me.

 

Totally forgot about RE Umbrella Chronicles, also a good one. All this Wii talk.... gonna have to spend Saturday playing a bunch of Wii... as soon as I take down Calamity Ganon in BotW!

[Tanooki]

I'd argue it doesn't ruin but enhances that Dragon's Lair game because it converts it from a frustrating game only for people with eidetic memory or close to that, and into a timing/rhythm type game just without the music but visual queues instead which is still a challenge since many are no better than like a 1/2 second.

 

Light gun games got a hell of a restart on Wii, and I hope the Switch picks that up since the joycons are an evolution of that old wiggle stick of theirs. I'd totally buy any VC-light gun 1st party games (other than Gumshoe.)

[Atariboy]

Almost wish I had bought the Dragon's Lair Trilogy now, but too late these days given the price it goes for.

 

Any value in the Mad Dog McCree collection? It's generally hated, but I suppose someone must like them given their resurrection on the Wii. I think that besides Samurai Shodown Anthology, that's the only other classic gaming collection on the Wii that I've ignored and don't own (Although I skipped Metal Slug Anthology thanks to owning it on the PS2 already and the messed up controller options it had).

Edited March 31, 2017 by Atariboy

[Tanooki]

$20 too much for you? Pretty sure it goes for that and it has DL1+2 and I think Space Ace on there too if I remember right. Given the quarters needed to memorize those psychotic messes $6-7 a game is cheap.

 

Mad Dog on there from what I recall got middling reviews, kind of depended on the reviewer though. If you were a fan of the old games using a light gun or a mouse depending on the way you did it, it's just the game so if you like it, it's worth owning, but if you're not into cheesy acted wild west light gun shootout type games you'll hate it. You have all the collections eh, guess that means House of the Dead 2+3 too? I didn't see that come up.

 

Speaking of goodies on this system alone, half tempted despite it being system bound to grab 2 TG16 CDs I once really owned, then had on my original Wii a decade ago -- Ys Book1+2 and Dracula X. Solid stuff. That or learn how hard it is to throw homebrew channel on there and go that way considering that pre-Eshop probably is on its last legs anyway.

[Austin]

... as soon as I take down Calamity Ganon in BotW!

 

That won't take you long.

[Atariboy]

Prices I see start around $50 for a used copy. At that price, I'd rather just download them elsewhere.

 

I own House of the Dead II/III, as well as the Gunblade NY & L.A. Machineguns pack. And while just a single game, Ghost Squad is also another must have if you enjoy Sega lightgun style arcade shooters. I passed on House of the Dead Overkill though.

Edited March 31, 2017 by Atariboy

[Tanooki]

Huh good selection, also keep in mind that Medal of Honor Heroes 2 has a really excellent light gun game tacked onto the ported up PSP title. I got some good mileage out of that one back in the day.

 

I grabbed for $5 Heavenly Guardian today for Wii, it's the delicensed trilogy sequel to Pocky and Rocky that never happened as Natsume changed their minds on UFO so they had to rebrand the visuals/story without P&R assets. It's a cool little under the radar title.

[Atariboy]

Medal of Honor: Heroes 2 was one of my first Wii games back in 2007.

[onmode-ky]

Ys Book1+2

Unless you specifically want the TG16 editions, I would recommend skipping the system-locked Wii release and going for the 2009 remake Ys I & II Chronicles instead, available in North America in the PS Store (PSP release, PSV compatible) and Steam/GOG/etc. for PC. It looks and sounds gorgeous, with 2 versions of character portrait art and 3 versions of the soundtrack available. I got the limited edition of Xseed's UMD version way back when it released.

 

I grabbed for $5 Heavenly Guardian today for Wii, it's the delicensed trilogy sequel to Pocky and Rocky that never happened as Natsume changed their minds on UFO so they had to rebrand the visuals/story without P&R assets. It's a cool little under the radar title.

Er, you have your company and property names on the wrong side of the Pacific. That game was originally being developed by Starfish SD as a new entry of Taito's Kiki Kaikai series. However, Taito owner Square Enix revoked the license, so Starfish changed the story and assets into a new IP of their own. UFO Interactive was just the North American localizer/publisher and was not involved with the IP change. FYI, the game is available nowadays on both sides of the Pacific as a PS2 Classics download.

 

My Wii library:

 

- Dragon Quest Swords: The Masked Queen and the Tower of Mirrors - A spiritual sequel to the prop-based standalone console Kenshin Dragon Quest (2003), it expands the game scope but is a step backward in the quality of the basic gameplay; due to being a pre-MotionPlus game, you had to first use the IR pointer to target your sword strikes, or else they'd just default to passing through screen center. A MotionPlus/PS Move/Kinect version would have been much more satisfactory. I've beaten this game.

 

- One Piece: Unlimited Adventure - The first of the Unlimited series of One Piece-based games (of which I think we only got two in North America), it's got so much to do that I'm still far from the end, even with over 50 hours played over several years. The combat isn't its strong point, though. New copies are rare and pricey these days.

 

- Ultimate Shooting Collection - Called "Milestone Shooting Collection" in Japan, this is a collection of 3 Milestone-developed vertically scrolling bullet hell shooters, Chaos Field (previously had a North American GameCube release), Radio Allergy/Radirgy (had a canceled North American GameCube release), and Karous. Pretty good games, with some nifty mechanics.

 

- Castle of Shikigami III - Already mentioned. The real fun part of this game is all the wacky dialogue you can get when pairing different player characters together. Best characters: scatterbrained Reika Kirishima (on loan from Taito's Time Gal FMV game) and first boss Yukari Horiguchi, who got demoted from her fourth boss position in Castle [of] Shikigami II.

 

- Klonoa - Already mentioned. I got it new for $10 at a Best Buy in 2010. Having not played the original, or any sequels, this one was a pleasant surprise for me--but man, it sure got hard at the end. I decided to forgo the post-game expert mode.

 

- The Last Story - One of the Operation Rainfall games. I haven't played much of it, but it certainly blows away all my other Wii games graphically.

 

onmode-ky

Edited April 1, 2017 by onmode-ky

[Tanooki]

You got me there, picked the wrong companies, but the intent was there. It's still the pocky and rocky trilogy game that never was.

 

That One Piece game I saw one today at a gamestop complete, wasn't much, and looking fast at ebay right now it's not going for as high as you think unless we're talking new as it's selling in very nice shape complete between $20-30. I recall in the past there was a One Piece game or two on(or both on) Gamecube/Wii, maybe it slipped?

 

Klonoa you pegged that one, I had it back in the day, got it back days ago and it's fantastic, glad I nailed it down for basically 1/2 price too as it's a good $40 title and yes it's hard in the end, not so much up front but it's an overall really fun ride. Shikigami I have experience with the prequel as a Gamecube import and it was solid so I'd expect as much if they didn't foul it up. I do want that Ultimate Shooting COllection and forgot about it as I never got Radirgy on GC or DC and wanted it, did never get Chaos Field either so it was a good choice.

 

I never finished Dragon Quest Swords sadly, at least I don't think it did unless the ending was forgettable.

 

 

Today at a church sale I bagged Alien Syndrome complete spotless for $2, also Metroid3 and ZeldaTP for $2 and $5 respectively witha banged up pack-in Wii Sports (probably dead, not tested) for free, then found for $3 Guitar Hero 3 (the only one I ever liked other than RB Beatles. I saw that for $5 but unlike GH that dumb game requires using instruments and a mic, can't slide by on a gamepad.

[Austin]

Alien Syndrome is kind of repetitive and it looks mundane, but I still sunk a lot of time into it because it was addictive. Think Diablo meets sci-fi and guns, it's basically that kind of dungeon crawler.

 

I tried playing the Last Story but ironically couldn't get into the story part of it. All the characters seemed like major a**holes. Maybe it gets better later, but if a RPG doesn't grab me in the beginning for one reason or another, it's hard for me to justify going back to it.

 

Pandora's Tower on the other hand seems interesting. I only played it for a few minutes a few years back, but it has a unique premise and setting. It's more of an action game than the other two Rainfall games that were RPGs. Might be worth checking out.

[Tanooki]

Agreed and it is mundane, but in a fun way, like space Diablo as you put it. I had it back in the day, and I liked it then too so for $2 it was a no brainer grab.

 

I went around the central south/southwest area of the county hitting up some lame gamestops and also 2 of the local ma n' pa chain called BME. I found 4 Wii games for keeps and a cheaply marked 5th I'm going to sell (Tiger Masters 2012 for $7, sells post ebay fees for $20.) The keepers were HotD 2&3 Return ($10), Samba de Amigo ($5), Onechanbara ($7), and COD MW Reflex ($5.) I'm impressed overall, actually of the lot, pretty surprised about two things. One how much HotD 2 hasn't aged well especially compared to 3. The other big one, Onechanbara which I wussed out buying in the Wii days as it's one hell of a fun mindless Final Fight type game but with swords, bikinis, and zombies -- a good combination to go nuts on.

 

CODMW Reflex is interesting, seems to just be a cute partial renaming of a copy cat of the PC game so far but with nice Wii aiming. I'll have to do more than the boat sinking part to see how it goes, but i remember it looking/sounding much the same on my middling budget laptop of the time though I wonder if Nintendo was cool with the airport slaughter.

[Hydro Thunder]

I absolutely still heart the Wii. I enjoy the downloadable retro games; for some reason I enjoyed the way the Wii handled old SNES / Sega games more than most consoles, the settings and visuals just seemed right.. As well, I enjoyed a few Gamecube games on it (and liked using the Wavebird for this purpose). As well I second / third / fourth the motion that it had a revival of light gun games. Only disappointment is that they didn't re-release Virtua Cop 1 and 2 for the Wii. Also love a few of the WiiWare games, like Rage of the Gladiator. Just loved it.

My favorites that I have in rotation to this day: Mario Kart (of course), Geometry Wars Galaxies (make sure to use the Classic controller, basically unfun / unplayable any other way), Ghost Squad, Gunblade NY/ LA Machineguns, HOTD 2 / 3, HOTD Overkill, Link's Crossbow Training (somehow I love this game), Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles, Rayman Raving Rabbids, Phantasy Star Online (From the DC to the GC to the Wii, wheeee), Pac Man World Rally (GC to Wii), Wii Sports / Resort. I no longer own but remember enjoying Kororinpa: Marble Mania quite a bit too. Just a really great console all things considered, definitely one of my favorite of all time.

[Kaicer]

To be true I still enjoy the Wii, it have so many underrated games that people need to at least try it. Many arcade ports specially the light guns arcades game that where great from sega.

[Tanooki]

Yesterday I found Call of Duty 3, and today a new one for me Tales of Symphonia Dawn of the New World. I forgot how fun for the most part COD3 really was outside of a few rare spot of screwy motion control tidbits. Decent story, aims/fires well, good ww2 style atmosphere, made me really hate that was the last from the CoD world until World at War which did amazing then they abandoned it again for dumber reaches. The other, loved and still own on the GC but this game so far starts kind whiny but a good 1 1/2 in gets interesting and fun, a nice blend of that best of the Tales series (for many) but also some Shin Megami Tensei action with the beasts using in battle and joining your party by request. Hope it keeps itself interesting, also love, no random monster battles as I'm fed up with those pretty much in RPGs. I think the GC game was not random either but it has been so so long.

[Atariboy]

Yesterday I found Call of Duty 3, and today a new one for me Tales of Symphonia Dawn of the New World. I forgot how fun for the most part COD3 really was outside of a few rare spot of screwy motion control tidbits. Decent story, aims/fires well, good ww2 style atmosphere, made me really hate that was the last from the CoD world until World at War which did amazing then they abandoned it again for dumber reaches.

 

While I don't know if Activision will support the Switch despite solid support traditionally with this franchise until the impossible nature of the Wii U succeeding from a business standpoint became obvious, it's all but confirmed that they're returning to a WWII setting this year.

 

Until 2014, Nintendo had a console release for each year's iteration except for 2009's Modern Warfare 2, which is the year when the Wii got its belated Call of Duty 4 port after Activision initially had passed the Wii over for 2007's hit release.

 

Hopefully if they do support the Switch, we don't see them return to what they did with Black Ops 3 on the 360/PS3, the last iteration to appear there. That version only featured a cut down representation of the online mode, with the single player campaign absent.

 

While that probably was just fine for 90% of their potential customers, as someone that buys these on the cheap for a fun 5-6 hour campaign, that obviously presents a problem.

Edited April 10, 2017 by Atariboy

[homerj]

Mad Dog Mcree is just as terrible as it was 20+ years ago but I still love it just as much as I did 20+ years ago.

 

Games to be on the lookout for:

 

Muramasa

Lost in shadow

Sin & punishment star successor

Kirby's epic yarn

Kirby's return to Dreamland

No more heroes

Tatsunoku vs Capcom

Batman the brave & the bold

Madworld

Rayman origins

Donkey Kong country returns

Red steel 2

[Tanooki]

Atari: Add me to that list of people who grew up knowing FPS games as 'single player mode' not 'campaign mode' and later 'campaign mode tiny to wrap up a DLC goldmine online game.' They figured out awhile back with a few sucker games failing as a test you have to do that as selling a console game alone an online game only bombed in comparison like MAG on PS3.

 

I had no idea they were doing WW2 again, I ignore the franchise up until I see some TV ad trying to show it off. Once it arrives I'll play it, one way or the other. I'd prefer it on Switch, but that said my i7 with 16GB of RAM and a 980M Nvidia 8GB video card would get along just fine as well.

 

I think Activision will back the Switch, I really have no doubt about that one. They hung in there nearly the longest with that WiiU embarrassment other than Ubisoft and unlike EA actually tried with their 2nd go around of titles to make stuff look/run their best and didn't just troll and make excuses. Prior, as you pointed out, Wii got most of the COD franchise and it looks and plays shockingly well. I said days ago I got the first Modern Warfare on there to try it out as I was familiar with the PC release and it's good. World at War I had on Wii back in the day, problem was it has a few bad stages the lower resolution didn't lend well to not dying from invisible enemies so I ditched that back then for the PS3 (then PC) release which was a shame. Doing it as multiplayer only on Switch as a compromise only I couldn't see happening as I'm positive the demographic on there wouldn't pay them for it like they'd hope for.

[onmode-ky]

As long as I'm reviving threads that I should have replied to a month ago . . .

 

That One Piece game I saw one today at a gamestop complete, wasn't much, and looking fast at ebay right now it's not going for as high as you think unless we're talking new as it's selling in very nice shape complete between $20-30. I recall in the past there was a One Piece game or two on(or both on) Gamecube/Wii, maybe it slipped?

"unless we're talking new" - The sentence in my post that you were responding to actually starts with the words "new copies." And (in North America), there were 3 One Piece games on the GameCube (also on the PS2), of which I have Grand Battle and the Western-exclusive Grand Adventure; the third one, Pirates' Carnival, is a board game. In North America, the Wii only got Unlimited Adventure, while Europe did get the Unlimited Cruise sequels as well.

 

Shikigami I have experience with the prequel as a Gamecube import and it was solid so I'd expect as much if they didn't foul it up. I do want that Ultimate Shooting COllection and forgot about it as I never got Radirgy on GC or DC and wanted it, did never get Chaos Field either so it was a good choice.

I have Shikigami II in its horrifically localized (the script was probably just as nonsensical in Japanese, but the English voice work we got is abysmal) PS2 release, actually localized with an Arabic numeral 2. Also, it should be noted that Ultimate Shooting Collection has only the arcade version of Chaos Field. That title's GameCube release, called "Chaos Field Expanded" in Japan, added a new mode that made it more than a bosses-only game.

 

I tried playing the Last Story but ironically couldn't get into the story part of it. All the characters seemed like major a**holes.

That's probably just because they all had British accents.

 

The other big one, Onechanbara which I wussed out buying in the Wii days as it's one hell of a fun mindless Final Fight type game but with swords, bikinis, and zombies -- a good combination to go nuts on.

I've often wondered what percentage of Westerners who played games in that series read its title as "1-Chanbara" (instead of "o-NEH-chan-ba-ra," for anyone unfamiliar). Did not help that certain references to the game around the Web camel-cased it as "OneChanbara." I understand that it's due to the Japanese wordplay behind the title (お姉ちゃん overlapped with チャンバラ), but for the uninitiated, it just magnifies "ONE."

 

Hope [Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World] keeps itself interesting, also love, no random monster battles as I'm fed up with those pretty much in RPGs. I think the GC game was not random either but it has been so so long.

The original Symphonia did not have random battles either, correct. I don't have Dawn of the New World, but I've been meaning to get the PS3 remaster of the pair at some point.

 

onmode-ky