The Nintendo Wii was a rather paradoxical console, in hindsight. On the one hand, it was inundated with shovelware, and it forced us all to endure several years of half-baked waggling from the entire game industry. On the other hand, it was one of Nintendo’s best-selling consoles to date, and nestled beneath all the slop were some genuine gems of games. I guess it all depended on how much you were willing to fight for your fun.
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For those who were, there were more than a few Wii games that were always fun to boot up, whether you were alone, with friends, or had even beaten them already. Yes, the waggling got a little tiresome sometimes, but it’d be dishonest to act like we never had any fun with the console whatsoever. It was thanks to these games in particular that we always had a reason to hook the Wii up.
Seven Run ‘N Gun Classics In One
If replayability’s the goal, arcade games have had it down to a science for several decades now. The Wii had access to lots of classic arcade-style games thanks to its Virtual Console, though it also had dedicated collections of some big-name classics. One such collection was Metal Slug Anthology, which included Metal Slug 1-6, plus Metal Slug X.
Most of these games are emulated versions of the original home console ports released on the Neo-Geo AES, while Metal Slug 6 is a direct port of the arcade version. Either way, Metal Slug was the king of running and gunning back in the day, and each game in the series maintains that same quarter-munching appeal without actually costing you any quarters. It’s a convenient way to experience an integral part of arcade history, and just fun besides.
While this particular collection was released before quality-of-life really became a thing in the industry, it did have some anti-frustration features, such as adjustable difficulty, unlimited lives, and toggle rapid-fire. Nothing says Saturday night like covering your TV in pixelated gunfire for a couple of hours.
9
The House Of The Dead 2&3 Return
Everyone Loves Suffering Like G Did
One of the Wii’s most heavily advertised perks was the ease with which you could use it to play arcade-style lightgun games. That’s the whole reason they released the Wii Zapper peripheral; you’re already pointing at the screen with the Wii Remote, might as well make it easier to aim. The quintessential Wii Zapper game, at least for my money, was the double port of House of the Dead 2 and 3.
I have yet to attend a LAN party that can’t be more enjoyable with a quick jaunt through House of the Dead 2, possibly several jaunts, time permitting. The simple fun of gunning down zombies and mutants cannot be overstated, and when you’ve played the game enough that you know all the corny voice lines by heart, it becomes something akin to attending a screening of your favorite bad movie.
House of the Dead 3 is fun too, though it wouldn’t be unreasonable to assume that 2 is the main thing you’d buy this duology for. One run through either game only takes like 45 minutes tops, so it gives you and your friends something to laugh about for a good little while.
One Of The Console’s Go-To Fighters
If you wanted to play proper arcade-style fighting games, the Wii was, generally speaking, not the console to do it on. There were barely any fighting games to play, and a lot of them were waggle fests. One of the few that wasn’t, though, is a hidden gem of a Capcom fighting game, one that remains trapped on the Wii to this day: Tatsunoko VS Capcom.
Rather than Marvel, this Capcom crossover fighter merges a variety of Capcom big names and deep cuts with the heroes and villains of Tatsunoko Productions’ various anime and movies. Even if you don’t know who Yatterman and Hurricane Polymar are, it’s still got all the ingredients of an excellent Capcom crossover fighter, and it was one of the few Wii games with online play, shaky though it was.
One particularly neat feature was that, in lieu of the usual two-man team, you could opt for a single gigantic fighter from either side of the aisle, specifically Gold Lightan or PTX-40A. Yeah, it didn’t make for the best balancing, but it was a lot of fun, and just going for random matches is a great way to spend some time.
7
Resident Evil 4
Perfect On Any Platform
Speaking of Capcom, the original Resident Evil 4 remains one of the greatest games the company has ever put out, at least in my humble opinion. This remains true no matter which platform you play it on, though remarkably, one of the most complete versions you could play, at least back in the day, was the Wii port.
The Wii version of Resident Evil 4 incorporated all the extra junk that was added in both the PC and PS2 versions of the original GameCube game. Additionally, against all odds, the motion controls actually worked really well in the Wii version, providing responsive aiming and easy movement controls. You still had to waggle a lot for the QTEs, but y’know, that’s Resident Evil 4 for you.
Part of what gave the original Resident Evil 4 its incredible staying power was its inherent replayability. Unlocking weapons, uncovering secrets, or just experiencing the cool setpieces again were all good justifications for another playthrough, and that’s still true to this day. The remake is good and fine as well, but you just can’t beat that distinctly cheesy vibe of the OG.
6
New Super Mario Bros. Wii
Bouncing Off The Walls
The original New Super Mario Bros. released on the DS in 2006 and did quite well for itself. It was a major return to form for Mario sidescrollers at the time, which prompted Nintendo to start funneling resources into refining the formula further. The first big payoff from this pursuit was New Super Mario Bros. Wii, another major bank-breaker and a contributor to the Wii’s continuing longevity in 2009.
New Super Mario Bros. Wii was pretty much just a straight upgrade over the previous game. It had new levels, new power-ups, new mechanics like rotating platforms with the Wii Remote, and most notably, four-player co-op featuring Mario, Luigi, and two Toads. Ideally, this co-op scenario would have all four players working together to complete the game in an expedient fashion, though that’s not always what happened.
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Frequently, the co-op would become “co-optional,” with players bouncing off each other, kicking each other down pits, and otherwise self-sabotaging. This wasn’t a bad thing, mind you; on the contrary, it was hilarious, and was fun to play with your friends so long as nobody took things too seriously. It’s like playing Monopoly, except it doesn’t take as long, and it’s less likely to result in broken teeth.
5
Kirby’s Return To Dream Land
Fun Solo Or With Friends
Kirby was in a bit of a weird place circa 2011. All of his traditional platformers were relegated to handhelds, while consoles only got unusual offshoots like Epic Yarn. Thankfully, that year, we finally got a new console-based, traditional Kirby game, and not only was it great, it also emphasized co-op multiplayer!
Kirby’s Return to Dream Land was the biggest Kirby game of its time, a large-scale platforming adventure complete with drop-in four-player co-op. Player one gets Kirby privileges, while the others get to be Meta-Knight, King Dedede, and Bandana Waddle Dee (who really needs a shorter name). In typical Kirby fashion, you had a healthy mix of simple levels and levels with bigger, wackier setpieces, so there was always something interesting to go back and do again if you were so inclined.
Return to Dream Land is also when the Kirby games started ramping up their post-game content with the inclusion of Extra Mode, The Arena, and The True Arena, all of which you could play to challenge yourself if you found the base game too easy. These modes actually got pretty intense, so it was a cool way to really ramp things up on yourself if you were bored.
4
Super Mario Galaxy
So Good, They Made A Movie Out Of It
Of course, we can’t talk about the Wii in any capacity without highlighting its definitive killer app, its patron mascot platformer, Super Mario Galaxy. It was the first new 3D Mario platformer since Super Mario Sunshine, and hoo boy, it was a big deal. Such a big deal, in fact, it’s got a movie based on it!
Super Mario Galaxy was everything a 3D platformer sequel needed to be: larger in scope, more and weirder power-ups, lots of items to collect and uncover, so on and so forth. It was also the first appearances of several Mario franchise mainstays, specifically Rosalina and Captain Toad, both of whom I am very thankful to have around.
More to the point, Galaxy was just… fun. It was just good fun, and it remained good fun no matter how many times you played through a particular level. Whether there’s a challenge you enjoyed doing or a boss you liked fighting, it started fun and stayed that way. There’s not really any deeper logic to it, it was just a good, strong game, and sometimes that’s all the justification you need to boot it up again.
3
Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Still Smash, Even With Tripping
Compared to its siblings, Super Smash Bros. Brawl hasn’t aged the best. It’s slow and floaty, the balancing is weird, and there’s a bunch of dumb mechanics like tripping. However, in spite of all that, it’s still one of the highlights of the Wii library. Know why? Because it’s still Super Smash Bros., and you still love it, even if it’s not EVO-viable.
I still have fond memories of the hype-fueled leadup to Brawl’s release, with new characters getting drip-fed to us at a steady clip, including the first third-party characters, Snake and Sonic. It’s still a very feature-rich game, even compared to Ultimate, with the Subspace Emissary single player mode for solo enjoyment, regular and special Brawls for multiplayer, and all the other miscellaneous stuff like Classic Mode, All-Star, Event Matches, and more.
Even the most minute elements of the game, like collecting trophies, could keep you engrossed for hours. You could burn an entire stack of coins on the Trophy Shooter, go fight a quick Brawl for more, and then blow them all too. Even if it hasn’t aged spectacularly, it’s still Smash, and it still has all of that perfect lizard brain-tickling goodness.
2
WarioWare: Smooth Moves
The Ultimate Party Game
While most of the original WarioWare games on handhelds were strictly single-player affairs, the release of Mega Party Games on the GameCube showed that the microgame concept works great for both single and multiplayer. The first game in the series to realize that in its full potential, though, was WarioWare: Smooth Moves, the game that made it fun to make yourself look dumb.
As nearly every WarioWare game has some manner of control gimmick, Smooth Moves’ was, of course, the Wii Remote, with which you would hold in various “forms” to play 10-second microgames rapid-fire. While it was more physically intensive than the handheld games, it was a lot of fun, especially after you beat the main story and could just play each stage endlessly. Just setting up a stage and setting high scores with your friends can keep you busy forever.
Besides that, there are also a bunch of multiplayer-specific minigames. Some are just microgame marathons, while others offer a twist like pumping up a balloon or passing a bomb back and forth. It’s still one of the quintessential party games, and you don’t even need to play video games to enjoy it.
1
Mario Kart Wii
Still A Gold Standard
Mario Kart Wii was the definitive console Mario Kart experience for nearly a decade following its release in 2008. Mario Kart 7 was on the 3DS, which wasn’t ideal, and the original version of Mario Kart 8 was on the Wii U, and I didn’t know anyone who owned one of those things. Until the Switch and 8 Deluxe released, it was all about Mario Kart Wii, and the game has aged surprisingly well.
Mario Kart Wii represented several firsts for the series, from being the game to introduce bikes alongside karts to being the first entry in the series to have motion controls, thankfully optionally. Mario Kart Wii also gave us some of the greatest tracks to grace the entire series. Remember Coconut Mall and its incredibly ear-wormy music? Yep, that was Mario Kart Wii.
All that aside, though, Mario Kart Wii met an excellent middle ground between fun and competitive viability. You could play for fun solo, with friends, or online, but you could also plug in a proper controller, crank it to 150cc, and really race to the finish. Anyone who gets really sweaty on Mario Kart these days, there’s a strong chance they got their start on Mario Kart Wii.
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