So Wii hasn’t had the best year, to say Nintendo have abandoned it for the 3DS and the impending Wii u isn’t too much of an exaggeration, and we’re not going to lie, it was a bit of a struggle to get a 5, 10 would have been impossible. Good job previous years have been so good it’s created a backlog of amazing titles to keep Wii owners happy! David Dakota and myself have gotten together to collate our top 5.
5. de Blob 2
de Blob was a fantastic, indie created Wii exclusive that sole near a million copies. de Blob 2 is also fantastic, even better than the original; but why did they make it multi-platform? Well we all know, to make more money; but across all 3 consoles it sold 20% of what the original did just on the wii. de Blob, is a Wii game, it belongs on Nintendo platforms, it has the same spirit and energy as Nintendo games and it’s just a great fit; putting it on all 3 platforms was clearly a putt off; 360 and PS3 owners didn’t want it (it still sold best on Wii) and Wii owners were probably put off after constantly receiving weaker versions of pretty much all multi-platform titles. The publishers simply didn’t count for the power of exclusivity. It looks like Epic Mickey is about to make exactly the same mistake
4. Kirbys Epic Yarn
Get over the fact that the game is insanely easy (all Kirbys are) and you will find a joyful, imaginative platformer with an excellent 2 player co-op mode. The real gem of the game though is its art style, like Skyward Sword, the technical limitations of the hardware are overcome with some of the best art design you’ll find in any game on any console; the style influences a lot of the games creativity and is always wonderful to play because of it.
3. Rayman Origins
The Wii is home to some of the greatest 2D platformers created and the final 2D platform hoorah is absolutely stunning (on all platforms). The game has everything – it looks amazing, is huge, has a fantastic multiplayer and some of the most creative and brilliantly designed levels. Unfortunately the game has bombed (probably for the same reasons as de Blob 2) but that just means at the prices it’s crashed to you have no excuse not to pick this up!
2. Xenoblade Chronicles
Monolith Soft deliver some fresh ideas to the genre with a sprawling RPG. With a new take on the RPG combat system – a clever fusion of auto-attack and traditional battle controls – Xenoblade Chronicles is a dream to play; tight and responsive. Additions like save-anywhere and warping from one town to the next help to streamline the adventure (I rarely use warping features, but found it invaluable here). This is one beautiful game, some of Wii’s finest art and character design bring the world to life – and despite some huge creatures and high number of NPC characters, Wii rarely struggles to cope. An intriguing, cinematic story caps off what is truly one of Wii’s greatest games.
1. Zelda
To the Zelda fan, Skyward Sword tells the story of early Hyrule (Link and Zelda’s homeland), it sets up the Legend and (unless Nintendo run out of time frames) acts as the ultimate prequel. To anyone else, its a joyful and inventive use of the Wii Motion+ peripheral – from (near) 1:1 accurate swordplay, to flying beetle devices and geometric puzzlery. Skyward Sword is hands down one of the greatest games created.
We missed any great games?
Leave a Reply