Thursday, January 26, 2012

Most Overlooked Wii Games - Part Seven

We move on from Most Wanted to Most Overlooked with the seventh edition of the Most Overlooked Wii Games. Every one of these titles was released in the second half of last year, and was not received well commercially, at least in the West. I hope that through giving these games some recognition that perhaps you'll pick one or more of these Wii wonders up.

Fortune Street

Mario meets Monopoly as well as Dragon Quest in this stock market-styled board game. Play on boards with themes like Delfino Plaza, Mario Stadium, Bowser's Castle, and a pirate ship as you either compete against the computer, against friends, or against total strangers through Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. Buy stocks, purchase properties, and outplay your opponents as you aim to reach the target capital goal in Fortune Street. Needless to say, stocks aren't typically the way to sell your game to the masses, and this game had niche all over it from the word "go" even with the combo of Mario and Dragon Quest being featured in the game.


Go Vacation

Go Vacation has sold approximately 200,000 copies in Japan which is quite good for a title at the end of the Wii's lifespan, but in the West it is a different story. Apparently even in winter Wii owners are fine about not taking a virtual vacation to Kawawii Island to play one of fifty unique activities such as skydiving, ATV off-roading, skeet-shooting, surfing, snowboarding, scuba diving, mini golfing, skateboarding, and many more. Exploring the four unique resorts for hidden treasure and new activities, beating high scores, and pimping your villa with new furniture and goods are all feats that can be performed in this above average mini-game collection from Namco Bandai.


Rayman Origins

Already listed in both the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 Most Overlooked lists, Rayman Origins was also glanced over by the majority of consumers this past holiday season. A combination of being a platformer not named Mario, a hefty price tag, poor marketing, and being released in the thick of the busy shopping season made for a sales disaster for poor Rayman. That's a shame, too, as while it's not better than New Super Mario Bros. Wii, it is definitely a capable platforming adventure. Whether you're rescuing Electoons from their cages or slapping your friends in local four player multiplayer, Rayman Origins has got the goods for one enjoyable journey. Note: The screens below are from the HD versions of the game.


Fishing Resort

The creator of Sonic the Hedgehog goes from the blue blur, a boy who rolls eggs to squash enemies, and a game where you tap, tap, tap to the Wii's best fishing game, and there's been a bucket full of them. Go into marshes, lakes, rivers, and oases in search of fish of all shapes and sizes to add to your personal aquarium. Fishing Resort released at the low price of $19.99, but one could opt to get bundle at $29.99 that came with a fishing rod shell for ultra-immersion. Who needs to go outside and fickle with tangled lines, messy bait, and annoying flies when you can lounge in a chair and play Fishing Resort?


Bit. Trip Complete


A darn good deal if there ever was one, Bit. Trip Complete takes all six WiiWare Bit. Trip games and puts them into one compendium. Join CommanderVideo through his rhythmic quests in Bit. Trip Beat, Bit. Trip Void, Bit. Trip Core, Bit. Trip Fate, Bit. Trip Runner, and Bit. Trip Flux with no need to use up precious blocks of Wii system or SD card memory. All of the games are on one disc for your entertainment. What a steal! Regardless, the game had no marketing whatsoever and was limited to stores like GameStop which did their best to hide the game behind their counter. The total first month sales of Bit. Trip Complete was a pitiful 1,000 copies.


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Just in case you missed a previous installment, I have all six in one convenient place right here:

Wii - Part One
Wii - Part Two
Wii - Part Three
Wii - Part Four
Wii - Part Five
Wii - Part Six

Until next time, SPC faithful!

2 comments:

Matt Sainsbury said...

Couldn't agree more with this list.

Especially Fortune Street. That game is utterly incredible and deserves far more recognition than it actually got.

Parko said...

I wouldn't mind trying out Fishing Resort sometime and Rayman Origins eventually.

As for Fortune Street, I wish I could say I liked it more. I think I would have if I could have gathered more than just one other person to play a game with.