10 Wii Games That Are Still Fun To Play
advertisement
VOICE OVER: Johnny Reynolds
WRITTEN BY: Ty Richardson
These games from the Nintendo Wii have aged incredibly well. For this list, we'll be looking at the games from Nintendo's motion control-centric system that we find ourselves coming back to again and again. Our list of Wii games that are still fun to play includes “New Super Mario Bros. Wii” (2009), “Metroid Prime 3: Corruption” (2007), “Donkey Kong Country Returns” (2010), “Punch-Out!!” (2009), and more!
Welcome to MojoPlays, and today, we’re taking a look at our list of 10 Wii Games That Are Still Fun to Play! The Wii is nearly two decades old now, and yet we find ourselves coming back to these classics again and again. Which Wii game was your favorite? Did it make the list? Let us know down in the comments.
Prior to this release, Retro Studios had only been known for the “Metroid: Prime” games (still are today). So, what could they do with something that wasn’t a shooter? “Donkey Kong Country Returns” was an excellent revival of the long-dormant series. Not only did it offer up fun set pieces, it also toyed with mechanics through aesthetic filters and traversal between the foreground and background. It also maintained some of the difficulty present in the original “Donkey Kong Country” games while also incorporating an assist feature for those who probably weren’t used to that level of challenge.
It’s no question that the Wii was a party toy in every sense of the term as evident by the sheer number of minigame collections that were shoveled onto the platform. But there were a few that stood out to us like “WarioWare: Smooth Moves”. It was the same frenetic energy we loved from the GBA games, but with all the weirdness tied to motion controls. Swing, shake, and fling the Wiimote in a variety of microgames, about two hundred total. Also, this was where the series introduced best girl, Penny. So, you have no excuse to hate this.
“Boom Blox” is perhaps the strangest and most underrated Wii game to ever exist. For those unfamiliar, this title came from the mind of Steven Spielberg and Electronic Arts, and it tasks players with interacting with blocks in different ways. One mode will have you trying to knock down certain blocks while another might have you grabbing blocks a la Jenga. It’s a simple premise, one most might shrug off for that reason alone, but spending a few minutes with it might unlock a new wave of serotonin for you.
There is no doubt that Mario practically carried the Wii for its entire lifespan. After all, it felt like we were getting multiple Mario titles every year or two. We promise this list won’t be dominated by Mario games, but “Super Mario Galaxy 2” should not go unnoticed. While this first game was truly imaginative in unexpected ways, “Galaxy 2” expanded upon them with new mechanics and ideas for levels. Just adding Yoshi was enough to completely turn the game on its head, and it made the game everything we possibly wanted from a sequel to that marvelous hit in 2007.
Retro Studios makes the list a second time with what was the thrilling conclusion to the “Metroid Prime” games (or it would have been until Nintendo announced a fourth game). “Corruption” was a fantastic example of how first-person shooters could work on the Wii thanks to its intuitive controls and responsiveness to the Wiimote. (We almost prefer it over the original controls, funny enough.) And would you just look at these environments? The Wii might not have been as powerful as the PS3 or Xbox 360, but for what it can do, it does it exceptionally well.
Who would have thought “Punch-Out” would have gotten a brand new game in 2009? Having been fifteen years since “Super Punch-Out”, this iteration came with a new bag of tricks in character animation. Despite much of the bosses from past games being recycled, many of them came with new attacks, telegraphs, and strategies. On top of that, we were given an excellent artstyle and every challenger exuded personality in their dialogue and voice acting. And if that wasn’t enough there was an entire second campaign where Mac must defend the title from his cheating adversaries. Oh, and did we mention Donkey Kong was a secret challenger?
Once upon a time, there was a Ubisoft that wasn’t so heavy-handed in live service games and bloated open worlds. “Rayman Raving Rabbids 2” is proof of that. Yes, it was another minigame collection, but it was hilarious fun to play. Every minigame required you to unleash your inner Rabbid and be as obnoxious as possible. Eat butterflies in the jungle, take a phone call in a movie theater, deliver a devastating belch to wreck half of France, harass your teacher, just be a total nuisance and do it better than your friends. And you have a whole campaign where you get to shoot plungers at the little miscreants as they try to invade various corners of the globe.
Now, you want a platformer with some challenge to it? “New Super Mario Bros. Wii” was just about up there with “Donkey Kong Country Returns”, and it wasn’t really because of the game itself - it was because of the multiplayer. Yes, you and up to three friends could now venture forth across the Mushroom Kingdom to save Princess Peach…or you could if you didn’t spend most of your time trying to throw each other into bottomless pits and intentionally making someone screw up a jump. Forget “Mario Kart”; this was a true destroyer of friendships.
If you still have a functioning Wii, then chances are you still boot up the console specifically for this game. “Wii Sports” was a true testament to how cool the Wii was. Are the controls perfect? Not really. Some of us figured out how to break bowling pretty quickly. Does that make the game less fun? Absolutely not! “Wii Sports” has loads for you to do across bowling, baseball, tennis, golf, and boxing between its sort of career mode, the training minigames, and the daily fitness tests. But the best thing to ever come out of this game were the dozens and dozens of videos that cropped up of fools breaking their TVs while playing bowling or boxing.
Honestly, we don’t get some of the unbridled hatred towards “Brawl”. Yes, tripping sucks. Yes, it is slightly slower and floatier than the rest of the franchise. Boo hoo. It’s still an amazing title. This was the “Smash” game where you got Snake from “Metal Gear” AND Sonic the Hedgehog. It was the start of the guest character hype. However, the one feature in this game that makes playing this worth every minute was Subspace Emissary, an entire campaign where the whole roster comes together for one massive adventure that requires them to team up and save the universe. It is everything we could want out of a story-driven “Smash Bros” adventure. So, let’s calm down on deeming this “the worst in the franchise”, mkay?
“Donkey Kong Country Returns” (2010)
Prior to this release, Retro Studios had only been known for the “Metroid: Prime” games (still are today). So, what could they do with something that wasn’t a shooter? “Donkey Kong Country Returns” was an excellent revival of the long-dormant series. Not only did it offer up fun set pieces, it also toyed with mechanics through aesthetic filters and traversal between the foreground and background. It also maintained some of the difficulty present in the original “Donkey Kong Country” games while also incorporating an assist feature for those who probably weren’t used to that level of challenge.
“WarioWare: Smooth Moves” (2006)
It’s no question that the Wii was a party toy in every sense of the term as evident by the sheer number of minigame collections that were shoveled onto the platform. But there were a few that stood out to us like “WarioWare: Smooth Moves”. It was the same frenetic energy we loved from the GBA games, but with all the weirdness tied to motion controls. Swing, shake, and fling the Wiimote in a variety of microgames, about two hundred total. Also, this was where the series introduced best girl, Penny. So, you have no excuse to hate this.
“Boom Blox” (2008)
“Boom Blox” is perhaps the strangest and most underrated Wii game to ever exist. For those unfamiliar, this title came from the mind of Steven Spielberg and Electronic Arts, and it tasks players with interacting with blocks in different ways. One mode will have you trying to knock down certain blocks while another might have you grabbing blocks a la Jenga. It’s a simple premise, one most might shrug off for that reason alone, but spending a few minutes with it might unlock a new wave of serotonin for you.
“Super Mario Galaxy 2” (2010)
There is no doubt that Mario practically carried the Wii for its entire lifespan. After all, it felt like we were getting multiple Mario titles every year or two. We promise this list won’t be dominated by Mario games, but “Super Mario Galaxy 2” should not go unnoticed. While this first game was truly imaginative in unexpected ways, “Galaxy 2” expanded upon them with new mechanics and ideas for levels. Just adding Yoshi was enough to completely turn the game on its head, and it made the game everything we possibly wanted from a sequel to that marvelous hit in 2007.
“Metroid Prime 3: Corruption” (2007)
Retro Studios makes the list a second time with what was the thrilling conclusion to the “Metroid Prime” games (or it would have been until Nintendo announced a fourth game). “Corruption” was a fantastic example of how first-person shooters could work on the Wii thanks to its intuitive controls and responsiveness to the Wiimote. (We almost prefer it over the original controls, funny enough.) And would you just look at these environments? The Wii might not have been as powerful as the PS3 or Xbox 360, but for what it can do, it does it exceptionally well.
“Punch-Out!!” (2009)
Who would have thought “Punch-Out” would have gotten a brand new game in 2009? Having been fifteen years since “Super Punch-Out”, this iteration came with a new bag of tricks in character animation. Despite much of the bosses from past games being recycled, many of them came with new attacks, telegraphs, and strategies. On top of that, we were given an excellent artstyle and every challenger exuded personality in their dialogue and voice acting. And if that wasn’t enough there was an entire second campaign where Mac must defend the title from his cheating adversaries. Oh, and did we mention Donkey Kong was a secret challenger?
“Rayman Raving Rabbids 2” (2007)
Once upon a time, there was a Ubisoft that wasn’t so heavy-handed in live service games and bloated open worlds. “Rayman Raving Rabbids 2” is proof of that. Yes, it was another minigame collection, but it was hilarious fun to play. Every minigame required you to unleash your inner Rabbid and be as obnoxious as possible. Eat butterflies in the jungle, take a phone call in a movie theater, deliver a devastating belch to wreck half of France, harass your teacher, just be a total nuisance and do it better than your friends. And you have a whole campaign where you get to shoot plungers at the little miscreants as they try to invade various corners of the globe.
“New Super Mario Bros. Wii” (2009)
Now, you want a platformer with some challenge to it? “New Super Mario Bros. Wii” was just about up there with “Donkey Kong Country Returns”, and it wasn’t really because of the game itself - it was because of the multiplayer. Yes, you and up to three friends could now venture forth across the Mushroom Kingdom to save Princess Peach…or you could if you didn’t spend most of your time trying to throw each other into bottomless pits and intentionally making someone screw up a jump. Forget “Mario Kart”; this was a true destroyer of friendships.
“Wii Sports” (2006)
If you still have a functioning Wii, then chances are you still boot up the console specifically for this game. “Wii Sports” was a true testament to how cool the Wii was. Are the controls perfect? Not really. Some of us figured out how to break bowling pretty quickly. Does that make the game less fun? Absolutely not! “Wii Sports” has loads for you to do across bowling, baseball, tennis, golf, and boxing between its sort of career mode, the training minigames, and the daily fitness tests. But the best thing to ever come out of this game were the dozens and dozens of videos that cropped up of fools breaking their TVs while playing bowling or boxing.
“Super Smash Bros. Brawl” (2008)
Honestly, we don’t get some of the unbridled hatred towards “Brawl”. Yes, tripping sucks. Yes, it is slightly slower and floatier than the rest of the franchise. Boo hoo. It’s still an amazing title. This was the “Smash” game where you got Snake from “Metal Gear” AND Sonic the Hedgehog. It was the start of the guest character hype. However, the one feature in this game that makes playing this worth every minute was Subspace Emissary, an entire campaign where the whole roster comes together for one massive adventure that requires them to team up and save the universe. It is everything we could want out of a story-driven “Smash Bros” adventure. So, let’s calm down on deeming this “the worst in the franchise”, mkay?
