Today is the three year anniversary of the market leader this generation, the Wii. To celebrate this anniversary,
I'm going to do exactly what I did for the DS in September. I'm going to review and rate every game in my Wii collection-- all seventy-five games (or at least the ones I've played)! Some are fantastic, some are great, some are merely good, while others are less than stellar and/or suck horribly. So here are we are! As always, all quickie reviews are from 1 to 5. Let's crack our knuckles and get working on this, shall we?
Animal Crossing: City Folk - The third Animal Crossing release to hit North America may not have changed the formula up as heavily as Wild World did before it, but did it offer a quality experience with friends and with your many animal neighbors. New holidays meant new experiences, and the city brought with it new shops and fun. Online play with Wii Speak (a much underutilized gaming peripheral) is the icing to this proverbial Animal Crossing cake.
4/5
Battalion Wars II - Ten hut! While much more serious wars are going on halfway around the world, Battalion Wars II takes the concept of war and makes it light-hearted. Of course, war is a deadly, sad, and brutal concept, but somehow Battalion Wars II makes it work with colorful visuals, real time action and strategy, new units, and a surprisingly robust online mode. This is one war that you will want to enlist into.
4/5Blast Works: Build, Trade, and Destroy - The concept of Blast Works is based of a game called Tuniki Fighters where destroyed ships could stick to your own vessel, allowing their weapons to be used for your advantage. The most impressive feature of this bargain bin game is that ability to create your own ships, enemies, and levels. To use the word again, this creation system is quite robust for only twenty bucks! While the developer created shmup is pretty bland, you can create some very interesting things to share with the Blast Works community.
4/5Boom Blox - Here comes the boom! Boom Blox is the first game based off the collaboration between famed Hollywood director Steven Spielberg and Electronic Arts. Those expecting some huge epic blockbuster probably became disappointed once viewing what the game was about. It really is a blockbuster, however, in the most literal sense imaginable. The ability to create your own puzzles and levels, tinker around with the various tools and blocks makes for an enjoyable experience.
4/5Boom Blox Bash Party - And here comes the blox! Boom Blox: Bash Party adds even more to the formula with new levels, new challenges, and new puzzles. You can now send your created levels to be downloaded by all. The goal of Boom Blox is always changing. Sometimes it is to knock down towers of blocks in as few throws as possible while others it's to knock down as many point blocks as possible or protect a fort from invaders by chucking balls and bombs at them A great sequel to a great game.
4/5A Boy and His Blob - A boy, a blob, and a mystical fantasy platforming/puzzle adventure that only a strong friendship could bring. A Boy and His Blob puts you in control of said boy as he throws beans around to transform his newly found blob friend into all sorts of useful objects to bypass danger whenever possible. There's approximately forty main levels in all and forty harder challenge levels to tackle when you've grown brave enough. A charming little platformer. Recommended.
4/5Bully: Scholarship Edition - Let's face it. High school blew for most of us. Not so much for Jimmy Hopknis. He's taking it to every clique, teacher, and principal he can get his hands on in his efforts to rule the school. From the developers of Grand Theft Auto, this game features the same mission structure and open-world (well, open-town) gameplay. The Wii version shows off its awesome controls with various classes from dissecting frogs to solving math problems.
4/5Call of Duty: World at War - War is hell, and if there isn't any other series that glamorizes war I'd hate to see it. With that said, that doesn't stop the game from being enjoyable to play, and it doesn't hurt when you're destroying Nazis either, I guess. Released at the same time as the other versions, this game went onto sell over one million copies worldwide. Not bad for an okay port.
3/5The Conduit - You conduit if you really try. That's what High Voltage Software did. Sure, IGN Wii made total jackasses of themselves by essentially being their cheerleading marketing team, but the game isn't half-bad. The level design is pretty poor in early stages, the story is riddled with lame cliches, and the art design could use some touching up majorly, but HVS nailed the controls of how a Wii FPS should feel. Despite being an average game, the controls show that Wii FPSes can handle much better than their dual-analog counterparts.
3/5
Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop - The original Dead Rising is one of my favorite 360 games. Chop Till You Drop takes the 360 game and moves it to Wii into a more streamlined experience. No longer do you have to worry about a time limit or a silly saving system. Instead you do things at your own leisure in a linear mission progression. While there aren't as many zombies, the RE4 Wii controls lend themselves well to this overlooked and underrated game.
4/5de Blob - The other blob in my collection is simply known as "de Blob". His adventures take him to coloring up the dull confines of Chrome City, and taking on the evil INKT corporation. This is one of the more creative platformers that have come out this generation, and it's one that will certainly color your mind, heart, and spirit... Whatever the hell that means. The point is that de Blob is one Wii game that platforming fans should leap on immediately.
4/5Dewy's Adventure - Do the dew! No, not Mountain Dew. I'm talking about Dewy's Adventure. This was another cool platformer that you controlled by tilting the Wii remote to move little Dewy around. Unfortunately, the controls feel a little too loose. This is a problem in later stages where the platforms are very small. Regardless, if you can find it for cheap, Dewy's Adventure is an admirable adventure worthy of your time and perhaps money, too.
3/5Donkey Kong Barrel Blast - The first game on our list that was supposed to be a Gamecube game before being moved to Wii, Barrel Blast was originally supposed to utilize the DK Bongos from Donkey Konga and Jungle Beat. Now you have to drum the Wii remote and nunchuk. One to move right, one to move left. This works fairly well, yet it was pounced on by critics. Perhaps my love for the hairy ape got the best of me this time around?
3/5Dragonball Z Budokai Tenkaichi 2 - Dragon, dragon. Rock the dragon. ...The f%#$? Stupid lyrics and stupid show aside, DBZ Budokai Tenkaichi 2 comes with a cast of more than fifty incredible battlers in this 3-D fighting game. The story mode takes you through the various sagas of the Dragon Ball Z franchise. It's amazing how I can despise the show, but fall in love with some of these games. Good work, Atari!
4/5Dragonball Z Budokai Tenkaichi 3 - Take the fighting engine of the second Tenkaichi game, add even more new characters to the roster (a DBZ fan's dream), and keep pretty much the same gameplay and you have DBZ Budokai Tenkaichi 3. If you've played the second, there's really not too much of a reason to move onto the third-- unless you're a fan of broken online play.
3/5Elebits - The goal of Elebits is to suck up and capture as many of the electricity-empowering creatures as possible in order to open up new doors and areas in this 3-D first-person puzzler. It's somewhat like Katamari Damacy as the goal is to get bigger so you can access different areas of each level. This was an early Wii game, so turning and opening doors wasn't quite as up to snuff as I would have liked. Despite this, this is a very imaginative game that comes from the same fine folks that made Dewy's Adventure.
3/5Excitebots: Trick Racing - I didn't know what to expect with Excitebots. I knew I enjoyed Excite Truck, but I didn't know if I'd love this goofy style of gameplay. The fact of the matter is I loved it to pieces. Playing as various animal bots, speeding and careening around turns, leaping off ramps, getting super sandwiches (SUPER SANDWICHES, MY GOD!), vaulting off red bars, spinning around gold bars, playing online seamlessly, and very much enjoying myself. Without a doubt, this is my racer of the year.
5/5
Excite Truck - The type of truck that would give Grave Digger a run for its money, Excite Truck was one of the many launch games for the Wii console three years ago. It had the same type of gameplay as Excitebots which was gathering as many stars as possible (by performing tricks, getting first place, etc.) to advance to the next race. Excite Truck remains my second favorite game of the Wii launch despite its grating soundtrack.
4/5Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon - I was new to the roguelike-style games, and this one is practically one for beginners. That isn't to say it isn't challenging though. Chocobo took take on new jobs giving it new skills and abilities to unleash on the various familiar Final Fantasy monsters infesting the game's various randomly-generated dungeons. The soundtrack is some of the best remixes of Final Fantasy music ever heard in a game-- even beating out Dissidia. If you're looking for an RPG-style experience-- one genre missing heavily on the Wii-- then Chocobo' Dungeon is for you.
4/5Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn - The one thing that angers me about this game is that there's no Mii integration. No, I'm just kidding, of course. Radiant Dawn was the fourth title to hit North American shores, and it's also one of the more difficult games in the series. The traditional gameplay is all present and accounted for with beautiful visuals and an engaging story.
4/5Ghost Squad - This is was an arcade game before it was ported to the Wii. It's your standard on-rails shooter. There's only three levels total, but the trick is that you can pick different paths through the levels. As you complete a given mission, new paths open up to explore. As you complete missions, you earn points that earn you new weapons and costumes from police officers to panda bears.
4/5The House of the Dead: Overkill - While Agent Washington may be getting sick of zombies, Wii owners don't seem to be. House of the Dead: Overkill lasts six missions of zombie-blasting, head-sniping fun for the whole family. As you play through the levels, you earn points to purchase and upgrade new weapons. Nothing's more fun than bringing and overpowered shottie into battle with the zombie menace! No, sir!
4/5Klonoa - Klonoa went under the radar of many Wii games. Why shouldn't it have with the meager marketing given to the title? I digress since those who frequently visit SPC know my stance on that. Anyway, this three-hour platforming adventure is a wonderful, whimsical good time. Klonoa can grab enemies, and then leap off them to gain more height in his jumps. Now don't be alarmed by the the three hour nature of the game. That's roughly ten dollars per hour, but this is the type of game you'll want to go through more than once. Trust me.
4/5Kororinpa: Marble Mania - Roll with the changes. The object of Kororinpa is to tilt the playing board so your marble can reach the goal at the end of the level. There's over eighty Kororinpa (the playing board) in total, and multiple types of marbles to unlock from slow-rolling pandas to oinking pig marbles. While on the short side, Kororinpa is the type of game where going for the high score is always a fun distraction.
3/5The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess - The premier launch title for the Wii and later the Gamecube's last hurrah, Twilight Princess brought with it an epic tale surrounding Hyrule and the mysterious twilight, engaging gameplay, horse-based combat, wolf-based gameplay, traditional dungeons with big keys, keys, maps, compasses, and big bad bosses, new items such as the clawshot, spinner, and ball and chain, and a haunting world to explore. Some may not like the wolf portions of the game and the desire of wanting to know what to do or where to go next, but Twilight Princess was a wonderful adventure regardless of these problems.
4/5
Little King's Story - It's good to be king. Really, it is. Commanding a squadron of different-classed citizens, some who can build bridges for their king to cross, some to shoot down foes from afar, and some who can build rising elevators to reach otherwise inaccessible areas. You can also lead your troops to their deaths and not even attend the funeral! You have the power, my liege! Try out the best third party game of the year on Wii.
4/5MadWorld - A game that I think was doomed to fail just by being black and white and in the same genre as God Hand, MadWorld is an unapologetically visceral, violent, and crude game that goes over the line many, many times. If you can get over the repetitive nature of the levels, you'll be treated to an incredible army of boss battles that are some of this gen's more interesting.
4/5Major Minor's Majestic March - Keep... on... march... ing! I received this game as part of my work at another site. While the game is rather cute and sports interesting characters, the controls just kill the game. The Wii remote without Motion Plus is like a horse carriage without wheels. It just doesn't work as well as it should. That's the problem with this budget-priced title. Avoid.
1/5Marble Saga: Kororinpa - When you have a good thing, you should keep it, right? Why fix something that isn't broken in the first place? Well, apparently the developers of Marble Saga didn't read or hear this bit of wisdom as they completely ruined the physics of the Kororinpa franchise making for an extremely frustrating game with near broken controls. The level design is as great as ever, but it's not worth the aggravation at all. Avoid this one, too.
2/5Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games - Waggle. It's often used to describe all types of motion control. Unfortunately, not all forms of motion controls is actually waggling (i.e. shaking the Wii remote back and forth furiously). However, if one would describe the majority of the controls to Mario and Sonic's first outing, waggle would be an appropriate term. While the game sold great, it didn't really control all that great.
2/5Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games - This time around, SEGA got rid of waggle for most events. There's few occasions where you have to shake the controller, but these make sense under the context. It's easier than button-mashing at least. Regardless, new dream events allowed players to take on skiing the slopes of Sonic Heroes' Seaside Hill and Mario Kart's Mario Circuit. Very cool. Almost all of the events are enjoyable to play, and it's great multi-player game with friends.
4/5Mario Kart Wii - Featuring the most complete set of options, tracks, racers, and online play the series has ever seen, Mario Kart Wii is a fantastic edition to the Mario Kart series. There's absolutely nothing wrong with it. Wait. Am I forgetting-- *gets hit by series of CPU items* Ah, yes. The ridiculous amount of items being used since there's now twelve racers. If you can lower your frustration levels, this game can be quite fun to play (save for 150 cc and up).
4/5
Mario Party 8 - What was supposed to be a Gamecube game was given Wii remote controls in several of the mini-games, and they work quite well, too. The main problem of the series is that the odds are stacked against you against the computer, and the game is all too much luck-based. With friends, however, this party game is a blast to share with one another in heated competition.
3/5Mario Strikers: Charged - Here in North America, soccer [see: football] isn't a very popular. That didn't stop Mario Strikers: Charged from lighting up the charts here, however. Made by the same developer who would later go onto make Punch-Out! for Wii, Charged is a fast and frenetic soccer game full of power-ups, powerful AI, and a wide number of arenas, characters, and
Waluigi crotch chops.
4/5Mario Super Sluggers - Now baseball... that's more in line with North America-- especially the U.S. And Japan... but they're not in North America, so let's move on. Mario returns to the diamond with more characters, stadiums, and options than ever before. The motion controls for this game are pretty spot on, though I'd love to hold the Wii remote like an actual bat to swing. Nonetheless, this game is one both for Mario fans, baseball fans, and both!
4/5Medal of Honor Heroes 2 - This was the first major multi-player FPS for Wii. It also came out for PSP hence the lackluster visuals. The game itself suffers from severe linearity, drab graphics, and poor AI. The controls serve their purpose well, and the online (even though there's no voice chat of any kind) runs rather smooth.
3/5Metroid Prime 3: Corruption - The climax of the Metroid Prime trilogy comes to a glorious end. This is still one of more artistically-pleasing games on any system, and it also has one of the best uses of the Wii remote with all of its aiming and shooting fun. The world was much more broken up than in past Primes with three different main worlds to explore. Rest assured, all your favorite power-ups were present and accounted for from the space jump to the screw attack. This is as close to perfection as Metroid can get (besides the original Prime and Super Metroid).
5/5
Metroid Prime Trilogy - Take one of my favorite games of all time in Metroid Prime, add in a touch of Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, and finish it off with a bit of Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, and you get Metroid Prime Trilogy for Wii. If that weren't enough, the game has most of the bonuses from each Metroid Prime game included such as the Metroid Fusion costume for the first Prime, the multi-player from Echoes, and the achievements from Corruption.
5/5The Munchables - What do you get when you combine Katamari Damacy with Pac-man? You get The Munchables, a cute and charming action-platformer where the goal is to gobble up as much as possible as you progress through more than twelve levels of gobbledy-goodness. The visuals are nice and colorful, the gameplay is fast and fun, and the unlockables are vast and many. For only thirty dollars, pick The Munchables up today.
4/5Muramasa: The Demon Blade - Muramasa is an absolute work of art. The game is gorgeous, the backgrounds are oozing with beauty, and the framerate makes everything steady. My main problem with this game is all of the repeated backgrounds and backtracking that the game forces you to suffer through.
4/5MySims - MySims was EA's attempt to tap into the Japanese market. They failed to do this, but they managed to get a hit franchise in the Western world all the same. The object of MySims is to get as many people in your town as possible, search for essences, the building blocks of MySims, and help build furniture and items for various Sims. If you can get past the dreadful slowdown and loading times, you'll be in for a fun adventure!
3/5MySims Kingdom - In MySims Kingdom, you and two friends go from island to island by request of the king, solving each islanders' problems. Some want you to build specific objects using specific essences. Others want you to connect pipes to irrigate their soil. The performance problems of the previous MySims have been fixed, and this time the writing has been touched up to be suitable for kids and adults.
4/5New Play Control! Donkey Kong Jungle Beat - The beat is on with DK Jungle Beat. This game was originally designed for the Gamecube's bongo controller, but now it's been retooled to work on Wii, controls and level design. Now you use the analog stick to move around, and the A button to jump. Simple enough. The motion controls come in when attacking enemies. It works surprisingly well, and it's a great game for anyone looking to play a game from the Mario Galaxy team.
4/5New Super Mario Bros. Wii - After more than a decade without a 2-D console installment, Super Mario Bros. is back and with a vengeance this time around with New Super Mario Bros. Wii. It takes some familiar aspects from previous Mario games, constantly throws in new challenges and surprises at the player, and makes each world better than the last. Wiping away nostalgia, I'd claim this game to be superior to Super Mario Bros. 3. I don't think I can say the same for Super Mario World (still have nostalgia on that one).
5/5
NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams - The NiGHTs gameplay you know and love is back. Unfortunately, it's been given so much filler that it's ruined the experience! Why could it not have just been more flying around through rings all whimsically? In addition to that problem, the cutscenes are unable to be skipped, and the on-foot sections of the game are poor.
2/5
No More Heroes - Now announced for the HD consoles, so all can enjoy this quirky otaku's dream. The Wii version offers something everything else doesn't though, cool motion controls. These aren't shoe-horned in. They're used for finishing blows and other awesome moves. The overworld hub, however, is pretty poor in general, and levels can be quite linear and repetitive. Overall, if you have the money, check out the cheap Wii version or wait for the HD port coming sometime next year to North America.
3/5Okami - Some consider this game better than Twilight Princess. I can't really agree, but I do see where they are coming from for sure. Okami is very much a visually-impressing game. The Wii version features Wii remote brushing that works much less often than not. For those looking for a better experience, I recommend playing the Playstation 2 original. You won't even have to deal with a stupid IGN watermark either!
3/5Punch-Out! - This one may be unpopular, but I didn't really enjoy the new Punch-Out! It's a wonderfully made game, but it's all about timing. From timing your shots to blocking your opponent's shots, the game just felt repetitive and not very much fun. I do love Next Level Games' effort, but perhaps another franchise would have excited me more.
2/5Rayman Raving Rabbids - The rabbids are without a doubt one of my favorite new characters this generation. Forget that boring old Rayman-- the rabbids are where it's at! Their premier game had a co-starring role with Rayman as he played through various mini-games in order to save his captured friends. The mini-games used all of the abilities of Wii remote and used them well, but at the end of the day, this is just another mini-game collection.
3/5Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition -
On my top ten, I listed Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition as one of my favorite games period. This still holds up true today. Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition is without a doubt the ultimate version of the game with all the great bonuses from the Playstation 2 version and terrific controls exclusively to Wii (plus traditional Gamecube controls for those disliking the Wii's controls for whatever reason). While more action-themed than previous Resident Evils, RE4 takes the adrenaline to a whole 'nother level. Masterful game.
5/5
Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles - With Darkside Chronicles releasing this week, it's a good time to look back at this game, yes? Umbrella Chronicles was a very comprehensive package full of goodies to unlock and zombies to blow away. The game took players to an all-new chapter in the snowy northern regions of the world where Umbrella was planning even more no-nos for our heroes to take out for good. I didn't really care for killing zombies in one-hit by hitting the edge of their skulls, but other than that, this was a great game.
4/5Samba de Amigo - This is another game that would have greatly benefited from Motion Plus because as it is the Wii remote just isn't fast enough to catch all the required movements the game throws as you. It's a shame, too, because the soundtrack is excellent with many familiar tunes like
Take On Me and
Walking on Sunshine.
2/5Shaun White Snowboarding: Road Trip - Road trip! That's exactly what a bunch of friends decided to do in their attempt to make the coolest snowboarding video ever. I loved how you could either use the balance board and Wii remote or just use the Wii remote. Both control methods worked absolutely flawlessly a majority of the time. The tracks were designed well with lots of white powdery snow to skim over. A great snowboarding game, and I'm very interested in checking out World Stage now.
4/5Sonic and the Secret Rings - One of the best 3-D Sonic games since Sonic Heroes, and I guess that's not saying much. You used the Wii remote to tilt Sonic to move him left and right, thrusted the Wii remote for a jump and/or homing attack, and it was pretty much good. Some of the level design was questionable as was trying to back up in a given stages. I also didn't like mission formula. I wanted a cohesive experience, not a repeat level but this time collect all rings deal.
3/5Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity - Who hasn't dreamed of racing with Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Eggman, and others? ...Anyone? How about if we replaced "dreamed of racing with" with "killing"? Yeah, I thought so. Regardless, Zero Gravity is a challenging racing with a host of options, tracks, and characters to unlock including SEGA characters like Billy Hatcher and Ulala! The only thing I really didn't like about the game was that there was no difficulty option. The difficulty just got harder and harder the more you unlocked!
4/5Super Mario Galaxy - There's a reason this game is one of my favorites of all time. The level design is cohesive, and there's multiple moments during gameplay where you just stare in awe at the new challenges constantly being presented to you, much like New Super Mario Bros. Wii. A good half of the soundtrack is actually orchestrated this time around, the visuals are some of the Wii's best, and pacing is just phenomenal. Run, don't walk to pick up Super Mario Galaxy if you haven't already.
5/5
Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz - Another launch title for the Wii, Banana Blitz drove
me bananas with its crazy courses and finicky controls. They weren't horrible, mind you, but the jumping was something that made levels much more difficult than usual. The other half of the game was a cesspool for broken mini-games. Thankfully, the upcoming step and roll will have not emphasis on jumping.
2/5Super Paper Mario - This game had a cool gimmick to it, if not under-realized. As Mario (and only as Mario unfortunately), you could switch between 2-D and 3-D on the fly. This opened up hidden areas, items, and enemies that you otherwise wouldn't be able to see! My main gripe with Super Paper Mario is that there's way too much talking. Way too much talking. Why does one need to talk so much to make a point? Just stop talking already. Talk, talk. That's all they do. Just stop. No more talking. Okay.
4/5Super Smash Bros. Brawl - The brawl for it all! Super Smash Bros. Brawl featured a huge single-player experience known as the Subspace Emissary, 35 characters including Solid Snake and Sonic the Hedgehog, multiple-tiered arenas, online play (though broken on random), and vast amount of trophies, music tracks, and stickers to collect. By the time you're finished experiencing everything Brawl has to offer... Wait. Are you even done experiencing everything Brawl has to offer?
5/5Super Swing Golf: Season Two - Get into the swing of things with Super Swing Golf: Season Two. This game features and impressive story mode where you have dozens of challenges to complete. You can even doll up your characters with purchased costumes and gear. If you don't wish to play with the motion controls, you can always play via analog input. The only unfortunate part of this package is that their isn't any online play which would have been fantastic.
4/5Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Smash Up - Cowabunga, dude! The turtles are back after a short video game break with an all-new Brawl rip-off. Don't take me the wrong way as this rip-off is a rather good and competent fighter. There's a wide variety of characters (though a better pick for some would have been better), a fair amount of destructible arenas, and online play thrown in for good measure!
4/5Tenchu: Shadow Assassins - Known as Tenchu 4 in Japan, this game is also available on the PSP. The difference between the versions are the Wii has motion control that doesn't always register whereas the PSP version uses button input for stealth attacks but suffers from longer and more loading times. I very much enjoyed renting this game, so much so that I decided to buy it. It's well worth the money spent.
4/5Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09 All-Play - This was my first time playing a Tiger Woods game, and it was fantastic. This was the year prior to Motion Plus, but playing without was much easier. No need to worry about whether the ball would unintentionally hook or fade. Online play was terrific, too, with real-time matches where everyone could play at the same time, and also a lack of friend codes. Despite the All-Play moniker, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09 is a great golfing experience.
4/5Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 - Foooore! Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 was one of the first games to support Nintendo's new Motion Plus peripheral for added precision. Boy, did it ever give added precision. Now not only did the speed of your follow-through matter, but so did the angle of your wrists. This made the experience all more realistic. Add several more courses to make the total 27, and you have one of the best golf games period with enough modes (career and online) to last months.
5/5Wario Land: Shake It! - Wario Land is one of my favorite platformers on the Wii. Most definitely my favorite 2-D one next to New Super Mario Bros. Wii. Sure, you could dart through the levels not exploring, but that would be like going to Toys 'R Us for just batteries. Did that metaphor even make sense? Moving on. No, it's truly exploring the levels that you see the intricacies of the level design, searching for treasure, completing level challenges, and racing through to the finish on the last leg of each level. Great, beautiful game.
4/5
Warioware: Smooth Moves - This game was essentially a tech demo to show off the things the Wii remote could do. Each micro game, most of which being 2-10 seconds in duration, has you holding the Wii remote in a set position, over your head, in front of your nose, to your side, etc. The problem with this game is that the single-player is very short, and multi-player is only unlocked after the game is beaten. Not very cool, Nintendo! I say "Nintendo" like they're actually reading this blog.
3/5We Love Golf - Remember Mario Golf? That was great. It was also made by Camelot who developed Golden Sun and yes, Mario Golf. Well, We Love Golf is better-- at least from the Gamecube version. We Love Golf had eight distinct courses, an easy driving, chipping, and putting interface with motion controls used, each character being able to wear a Capcom costume from Apollo Wright to Arthur from Ghosts 'n Goblins, and entertaining online play. Perhaps it's just SuperPhillip Loves Golf, but it's still a fabulous golf game.
4/5Wii Music - I never understood the hate for Wii Music as evidenced by the many articles in support of the game. I guess message board gamers are just overly whiny about everything nowadays. Anyway, I had blast playing my own interpretations of various songs and fooling around with each individual instruments from bugles and trumpets to cat meowing and dog barking.
4/5Wii Sports - Not much more of a game than a tech demo for the possibilities of the Wii remote, Wii Sports included five individual sports with different events to them. There's baseball, bowling, golf, tennis, and boxing. This is a great game to just unwind to-- pick up and play. It's not much for long sessions, however, at least to the hardcore gamer.
3/5Wii Sports Resort - WSR presents twelve sports, two of which returning from the previous Wii Sports, bowling and golf. This game is Nintendo's premier game using Wii Motion Plus, and the new peripheral works great. Some of my favorite sports are bowling, archery, table tennis, and air sports. There's also several stamps that can be earned by performing certain in-game tasks-- achievement style. No matter what your preference, Wii Sports Resort has a sport for you.
4/5
Zack and Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure - This was a creative game that once again proves that IGN Wii has an agenda to push with their Buy Zack and Wiki campaign. Regardless, the game was fun early on, but one mistake could send you redoing an entire level. Motion Plus would have been perfect for this game because as it is now, many of the motions required just don't register. A slammed and then broken Wii remote can attribute to that, no?
3/5There we go! Even more Wii games than DS games. Crazy!
