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Console of the Month (March 2023) - Nintendo Wii
-
RobertAugustdeMeijer
- 24-bit
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- Joined: Fri Sep 02, 2022 10:15 am
Re: Console of the Month (March 2023) - Nintendo Wii
Virtual Boy, Wii, and WiiU are the three Nintendo consoles I've never owned.
I did borrow my mom's Wii to try out Metroid Prime 3. It was horrible.
Granted, the Wii and I got off to a rocky start. I put it on and try to move the cursor using the d-pad. The interface was all squares, so using the d-pad made sense to me. I've never fully trusted controllers with batteries, so I checked them again. I didn't trust the sensor, so hooked it up again.
Ultimately I went to the video game store to have my WiiMote checked. It turned out that you have to aim the thing to select the squares. I still think it's absurd you have to use the shaky aiming mechanism.
Thanks Pretentious Hipster, I'll check the video!
Hopefully Wii games play better on emulator with a mouse and 60fps.
I did borrow my mom's Wii to try out Metroid Prime 3. It was horrible.
Granted, the Wii and I got off to a rocky start. I put it on and try to move the cursor using the d-pad. The interface was all squares, so using the d-pad made sense to me. I've never fully trusted controllers with batteries, so I checked them again. I didn't trust the sensor, so hooked it up again.
Ultimately I went to the video game store to have my WiiMote checked. It turned out that you have to aim the thing to select the squares. I still think it's absurd you have to use the shaky aiming mechanism.
Thanks Pretentious Hipster, I'll check the video!
Hopefully Wii games play better on emulator with a mouse and 60fps.
Re: Console of the Month (March 2023) - Nintendo Wii
If I wait until I have time to organize my thoughts and make a well-written post, I'll probably never post about any Wii games before the month ends. So here we go...
Cruis'n - This isn't an amazing game that broke any records, but it's just a great example of why I love the Wii. The Wii was getting games left and right that appealed to retro gamers, which was a first. We hadn't seen a new home console Cruis'n game in almost 10 years. Then they announce Cruis'n, exclusive for the Wii, and a budget $30 release. I always really liked the Cruis'n series, so to get a new game in the series at half the cost of a PS3 or 360 game was very exciting.
Cursed Mountain - So I haven't actually played this one. At least, not yet. It's been in my backlog since I picked up a copy back when the Wii was still relevant. Again, this wasn't a game that raised the bar or anything like that. But it was a survival horror action game that was exclusive to the Wii (not counting a European only PC release). Like ZRofel said, the Wii showed the world that Nintendo was still a video game juggernaut. Getting exclusive games like this for the Wii was very exciting, after the N64 and GCN.
Donkey Kong Country Returns
I think my jaw literally dropped when I first heard that a new DKC game was coming out. The SNES trilogy have been some of my all-time favorite games. I would have loved to see another, but I honestly never thought it would happen. So I was completely surprised about this release. And I had a blast playing it. It was just one of many retro style games that came out on the Wii. I can nitpick a few things about it, but it's probably one of the best 2D platformers on the Wii.
Epic Mickey
I'm a sucker for good artwork, and this cover definitely made me take notice of this game. Aside from 2D games making a comeback, I feel like 3D platformers really made a comeback on the Wii as well. This was a fairly unique game, with the paintbrush mechanics. It made great use of the Wii's motion controls, in a way that felt natural and not gimmicky. Also, the story and lore of the game was interesting. I had never heard of Oswald until this game, and it made for a great in-game universe.
Far Cry Vengeance - This game pretty much sucks, I only bring it up for my own personal history with it. I think I might have already mentioned this in my last post. The Wii had just come out, and I managed to get myself one. The launch lineup wasn't filled with many games that appealed to me. But being a big FPS fan at the time, and having played the first Far Cry on PC, this one seemed like a good choice. I haven't played this game in many years, since the early days of the Wii in fact, so I can't comment on how it might hold up. But I do recall that the graphics were horrible and it was very buggy. It seemed rushed. But I don't recall having any issues with the controls, and it made me take notice of how good aiming could be for FPS on the Wii.
Goldeneye 007 - We, as a community here, had a lot of fun playing this game online! You want to see an epic classic RB thread?
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=26580
A lot of people I knew at the time were spending a lot of hours playing CoD games online. I really had no interest in that. I was sick of FPS for a while, and had even less interest with the younger (than me) CoD crowd. Then comes Goldeneye, and it borrows a lot from CoD for its online multiplayer. Like having experience points and gaining weapon upgrades. There was no voice chat, but we made due without it. In fact, I can remember coming up with some things to communicate in game. Like firing at a team mate meant to wait up. Or doing a melee attack on them meant follow me. I had enough fun with the single player game, but I can barely remember it because I spent so much more time playing it online. The Wii was super easy to hack, so often you would find a lot of cheaters online. That was a bummer. If I noticed I was playing against cheaters, I would immediate quit the game. But luckily it was only here and there, and most of the time it was just good fun. If any of the members that use to play this game online with us are reading this, thank you for the memories!
"Lightgun Games" - There's really too many to list, and they more or less all have the same gameplay anyway, so I'll just group them all together here. Moving to HDTVs, I hadn't played a lightgun game in a while. It was yet another thing the Wii was perfect for. It made this type of gameplay possible again. And since the Wii was already a sort of retro gaming haven, getting tons of lightgun games just fit right in with it! I had Nintendo crossbow thing, but I also got Nyko's gun accessory. Nyko was a pretty big name for third party Wii stuff, and their lightgun was definitely the most popular from what I recall.
Kirby's Epic Yarn - Hmm, so I remember this one being an earlier release. But I just looked it up and apparently it came out in 2010, a lot later than I realized. Anyway, I didn't have much interest in this when it first came out. I guess my thoughts were regarding the art direction, and thinking "Uh.... What?" But it's yet another example of the Wii being a retro gaming haven. I gave this game a try, and immediately got sucked into the gameplay. A lot of people complain that Kirby games are too easy. They may be, but (most of them) are still really fun to play. I've actually been meaning to give this one another go.
Kirby's Return to Dreamland
I had such a blast with Return to Dreamland. I can definitely remember a lot of people at the time complaining that it was too easy. But there's just something about the Kirby gamplay, especially this game, that keeps you playing. In the good, clean fun department, this game was a 10 out of 10 for me. I played through the main game twice, since you unlock a harder difficulty after beating the game, and I played through it co-op as well, and I sunk some time into the mini games as well. Especially Ninja Dojo, that was a lot of fun. I've been wanting to replay this one again sometime. Now there's the re-release on the Switch, so I'll probably play that over the Wii version. But I suspect that Ninja Dojo was removed, as it used the motion controls.
The Legend of Zelda - Skyward Sword - I loved the art direction when this game was being hyped. I didn't pick it up at launch, but some time later (after I purchased a Wiimote with Motion Plus). I was having fun playing it, I didn't even mind when the backtracking started. But I never completed the game. I didn't at all mind the motion controls, in theory. And in practice, they worked well. But after working all day and coming home, sometimes I'm tired and I just want to play a game for an hour or two with a controller in my lap. But with Skyward Sword, I had to constantly hold my arms up and swing my hands around. Sometimes I was too tired for that, and it eventually got annoying enough that I stopped playing the game.
Lost in Shadow - So this one is still part of my backlog. Although I played the first 15-30 minutes back when it came out. Yet another example of the Wii getting a ton of retro styled exclusive games. I think this one stood out because of it's unique shadow aspect.
MadWorld - Another game that still part of my backlog. I put maybe an hour into it, and would like to play more of it one day. I loved the art direction of it. It was like Sin City or something lol. And it was just awesome that it existed as a Nintendo exclusive. Coming off the N64/GCN era where the hardcore gamers called Nintendo a kid's console, you could point to MadWorld as evidence of the contrary.
Mario Kart Wii - Wow, this game was awesome when it came out. I had a blast getting gold trophies for every cup, and I sunk plenty of hours playing it online. Unfortunately, finding cheaters online became more and more common. Eventually, I got sick of the cheaters and stopped playing it online. And now that I think about it, I haven't played this one since then. I feel like Mario Kart 8 gives you little reason to return to MK Wii.
Muramasa - The Demon Blade -
And yet another example (you will get tired of hearing me say this) of a retro styled Wii exclusive. The art style of this game is what drew me in. The gameplay is definitely fun and engaging. Although I never finished it for some reason. I'll have to give this one another go at some point.
New Super Mario Bros. Wii
This was like "Are you fucking kidding me!?!?!?!" for me lol. The DS got New Super Mario Bros., and I was super salty about it because I didn't own a DS at the time. I was still a huge fan of 2D sidescrolling platformers, and I was disappointed that I wouldn't be able to play a New 2D SMB game. It made sense that the DS got a game like this, being not as powerful as a home console it often got games that were in a more throw back style. But then New SMB Wii came out, and I was shocked to see such a big profile 2D platformer on a mainstream home console. Now I feel like New SMB Wii U is the best in the series for a bunch of reasons, but New SMB Wii will always be my favorite. I think I might actually like the level design, as a whole, better.
Resident Evil 4 - The Wii version is actually the first time I played through this game. Using the Wiimote for aiming made this such a fun play on a home console. At the time, I couldn't imagine playing this game on the PS2 or GCN. But this is a great game regardless of what system it's on. There's a reason it's been ported to basically every system LOL.
Super Mario All-Stars - Remember this controversy? A lot of people were complaining about the lack of effort or content of this release. I mean, it did have that artbook and CD IRRC. But a lot of people complained it was JUST the SNES ROM on a DVD, which it basically was. At the time, people felt like it could have been a $10 Virtual Console game, but Nintendo instead tried to cash in. And then in typical Nintendo fashion, you couldn't buy a copy anywhere for a while.
Super Mario Galaxy 1 & 2 -
Both of these games came out in the midst of me enjoying game after game on the Wii. I just haven't had that much fun with a console in a long while. And since I could for the first time buy many games for a current gen system, I perhaps enjoyed the Wii more during its lifetime than I did any other console. Anyway, there really isn't a whole lot I can say about these games. They're awesome. Period.
Wario Land Shake It - Yet another retro styled Wii exclusive. I tend to forget about this one, as I didn't play it during its prime. But I keep coming back to it, as it's pretty fun.
Xenoblade Chronicles (and also The Last Story and Pandora's Tower) - Remember Operation Rainfall? These games were NOT going to be released in North America, but fans got it to happen. It was sort of surreal to see happen. I don't recall ever see anything like this happen before, or even since. Anyway, Xenoblade Chronicles really blew me away. Just looking at the environments, they were sort of breathtaking. The Wii wasn't HD, or even a very powerful SD console, but that didn't stop it from having some very nice looking games, and this was definitely one of the better looking games I saw on the Wii. I put something like 30-50 hours into Xenoblade, which unfortunately was not nearly enough to finish it LOL. Last Story and Pandora's Tower I have owned, but have not yet played.
The Virtual Console - Ground breaking, really. Not so much that it was a digital store front on a home console, although this was the first generation we've seen it, but making your back catalog available like that was a really amazing thing. Learning about what the Wii was for the first time. Oh, you turn the controller sideways and it's basically a NES controller? The Wii was not only nearly 100% backward compatible with the Gamecube, it gave you the ability to play NES, SNES and N64 games as well.
And it wasn't enough to have past Nintendo console games available, they gave us other platforms as well. Having stuff like SMS, NeoGeo and TG16 made some games available to people that never heard of them or had the ability to play them before. And it was the first time you could officially play Castlevania Rondo of Blood on a North American home console, which was huge for me.
WiiWare - If you're only getting into the Wii now, you must hack it so that you can experience WiiWare titles. There's definitely some games that aren't available elsewhere and are definitely worth your time. There were some cross platform releases, like Mega Man and Sonic. But then there was exclusives, like the Konami ReBirth games that I think someone already mentioned. I can't speak so much for Gradius and Contra as I haven't spent much time with either, but Castlevania The Adventure ReBirth is simply amazing and definitely worth playing for any Castlevania fan.
I could talk about more games, but these are just some from my collection and I cherry picked to have some thoughts on. And with such a huge library, there's tons of games I haven't yet to try. Not even hidden gems, I'm sure there's plenty of well known games that I haven't tried yet. Zack and Wiki comes to mind, I never tried that one for some reason.
Just some more random thoughts on the Wii hardware...
During it's lifetime, I never cared that it wasn't HD. I had component cables, and although I could tell the graphics weren't as nice as my PS3, I really didn't care. And the art direction for a lot of the games (especially the retro styled ones) sort of hid the fact that it was SD. That said, in 2023, it's kind of a pain in the ass. Right now I have my Wii going through a RetroTINK 5x, but it looks kind of soft. I just learned of a new HDMI mod for the Wii, and I'm thinking about getting it.
The Wiimote took AA batteries, but I never had a problem with it back in the day. 2 AA batteries seemed to last a good while in a remote, Nintendo is good like that. And I eventually got rechargeable battery packs with a charging cradle. The problem in 2023 though is that I'm not using my Wii every day like I did back in 2010. Those rechargeable batteries are always dead when I go to use them, and even when I charge them they don't last as long as they use to. So I'll have to swap in regular old alkaline AA batteries, but I don't always have two fresh ones on hand, so that's annoying. More recently I finally started investing in rechargeable AA batteries, and those seem to work fine in the Wiimote.
No one really put any thought into the internal storage that the Wii had, or the lack thereof. It didn't matter, it was way more than enough for system updates and game saves. I don't think Nintendo realized how popular the VC would become, or how WiiWare would take off. You didn't have to download very many games before running out of space. Nintendo fixed this with a system update, that let you store your downloaded games on an SD card. The annoying thing about this is the Wii couldn't play the game from the SD card, so it would have to flash it to the Wii's internal storage every time you wanted to play something. I found that to be annoying.
Although I still have a Gamecube, the Wii became my console of choice for most Gamecube games. Especially GCN games that supported progressive scan, or even widescreen, because the Wii lets me play those on an HDTV with component cables (something that was a total pain in the ass for the GCN). I know I could use my Wii U in the same way, and get HDMI output for Wii games, but I like to try and keep wear and tear off of console as much as possible.
That said, I have an earlier Wii that I put a lot of hours on. My disc drive started acting up, and it started back when the Wii was current gen. I fixed it, twice I think, but it always goes back to making grinding noises. I'm done opening the Wii up to fix it (it's such a pain in the ass). So I eventually soft modded it so I could play games off a HDD instead. It's kind of a pain in the ass because I'll want to rip a game to the HDD before playing it, and I do that as needed because I don't want to invest the time in ripping all of my games (or downloaded them and transferring them over). But that prevents me from just playing games here and there for short bursts. I do have a backup Wii with a drive that doesn't make horrible noises, but I haven't switched to it as my main Wii. I like using my OG one.
I used the Classic Controller, and later the Classic Controller Pro, for a few games. I don't mind the motion controls that they put in New SMB and DKC Returns, but it always pissed me off that they didn't give those games Classic Controller support. I have the gold Classic Controller Pro that came bundled with Goldeneye. One thing that always bothered me is that it plugs into the Wii remote. So it's not really wireless, and you have to sit with the remote in your lap. I never understood why someone, a third party even, never made a Classic Controller that also mimicked a remote. Hmm, now that I think about it, I don't recall ever seeing third party Wii remotes. Maybe that was hard tech to copy, so no one bothered with it? Well at any rate, it would be cool if someone one day makes a really nice controller for the Wii that allows you to bypass the need for a remote. At least, for games that natively support such a controller, just being able to navigate the system menu and launch the game. Perhaps it'll never happen because it's already possible with emulation, and that also fixes other issues like going form SD to HD.
Cruis'n - This isn't an amazing game that broke any records, but it's just a great example of why I love the Wii. The Wii was getting games left and right that appealed to retro gamers, which was a first. We hadn't seen a new home console Cruis'n game in almost 10 years. Then they announce Cruis'n, exclusive for the Wii, and a budget $30 release. I always really liked the Cruis'n series, so to get a new game in the series at half the cost of a PS3 or 360 game was very exciting.
Cursed Mountain - So I haven't actually played this one. At least, not yet. It's been in my backlog since I picked up a copy back when the Wii was still relevant. Again, this wasn't a game that raised the bar or anything like that. But it was a survival horror action game that was exclusive to the Wii (not counting a European only PC release). Like ZRofel said, the Wii showed the world that Nintendo was still a video game juggernaut. Getting exclusive games like this for the Wii was very exciting, after the N64 and GCN.
Donkey Kong Country Returns
I think my jaw literally dropped when I first heard that a new DKC game was coming out. The SNES trilogy have been some of my all-time favorite games. I would have loved to see another, but I honestly never thought it would happen. So I was completely surprised about this release. And I had a blast playing it. It was just one of many retro style games that came out on the Wii. I can nitpick a few things about it, but it's probably one of the best 2D platformers on the Wii.
Epic Mickey
I'm a sucker for good artwork, and this cover definitely made me take notice of this game. Aside from 2D games making a comeback, I feel like 3D platformers really made a comeback on the Wii as well. This was a fairly unique game, with the paintbrush mechanics. It made great use of the Wii's motion controls, in a way that felt natural and not gimmicky. Also, the story and lore of the game was interesting. I had never heard of Oswald until this game, and it made for a great in-game universe.
Far Cry Vengeance - This game pretty much sucks, I only bring it up for my own personal history with it. I think I might have already mentioned this in my last post. The Wii had just come out, and I managed to get myself one. The launch lineup wasn't filled with many games that appealed to me. But being a big FPS fan at the time, and having played the first Far Cry on PC, this one seemed like a good choice. I haven't played this game in many years, since the early days of the Wii in fact, so I can't comment on how it might hold up. But I do recall that the graphics were horrible and it was very buggy. It seemed rushed. But I don't recall having any issues with the controls, and it made me take notice of how good aiming could be for FPS on the Wii.
Goldeneye 007 - We, as a community here, had a lot of fun playing this game online! You want to see an epic classic RB thread?
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=26580
A lot of people I knew at the time were spending a lot of hours playing CoD games online. I really had no interest in that. I was sick of FPS for a while, and had even less interest with the younger (than me) CoD crowd. Then comes Goldeneye, and it borrows a lot from CoD for its online multiplayer. Like having experience points and gaining weapon upgrades. There was no voice chat, but we made due without it. In fact, I can remember coming up with some things to communicate in game. Like firing at a team mate meant to wait up. Or doing a melee attack on them meant follow me. I had enough fun with the single player game, but I can barely remember it because I spent so much more time playing it online. The Wii was super easy to hack, so often you would find a lot of cheaters online. That was a bummer. If I noticed I was playing against cheaters, I would immediate quit the game. But luckily it was only here and there, and most of the time it was just good fun. If any of the members that use to play this game online with us are reading this, thank you for the memories!
"Lightgun Games" - There's really too many to list, and they more or less all have the same gameplay anyway, so I'll just group them all together here. Moving to HDTVs, I hadn't played a lightgun game in a while. It was yet another thing the Wii was perfect for. It made this type of gameplay possible again. And since the Wii was already a sort of retro gaming haven, getting tons of lightgun games just fit right in with it! I had Nintendo crossbow thing, but I also got Nyko's gun accessory. Nyko was a pretty big name for third party Wii stuff, and their lightgun was definitely the most popular from what I recall.
Kirby's Epic Yarn - Hmm, so I remember this one being an earlier release. But I just looked it up and apparently it came out in 2010, a lot later than I realized. Anyway, I didn't have much interest in this when it first came out. I guess my thoughts were regarding the art direction, and thinking "Uh.... What?" But it's yet another example of the Wii being a retro gaming haven. I gave this game a try, and immediately got sucked into the gameplay. A lot of people complain that Kirby games are too easy. They may be, but (most of them) are still really fun to play. I've actually been meaning to give this one another go.
Kirby's Return to Dreamland
I had such a blast with Return to Dreamland. I can definitely remember a lot of people at the time complaining that it was too easy. But there's just something about the Kirby gamplay, especially this game, that keeps you playing. In the good, clean fun department, this game was a 10 out of 10 for me. I played through the main game twice, since you unlock a harder difficulty after beating the game, and I played through it co-op as well, and I sunk some time into the mini games as well. Especially Ninja Dojo, that was a lot of fun. I've been wanting to replay this one again sometime. Now there's the re-release on the Switch, so I'll probably play that over the Wii version. But I suspect that Ninja Dojo was removed, as it used the motion controls.
The Legend of Zelda - Skyward Sword - I loved the art direction when this game was being hyped. I didn't pick it up at launch, but some time later (after I purchased a Wiimote with Motion Plus). I was having fun playing it, I didn't even mind when the backtracking started. But I never completed the game. I didn't at all mind the motion controls, in theory. And in practice, they worked well. But after working all day and coming home, sometimes I'm tired and I just want to play a game for an hour or two with a controller in my lap. But with Skyward Sword, I had to constantly hold my arms up and swing my hands around. Sometimes I was too tired for that, and it eventually got annoying enough that I stopped playing the game.
Lost in Shadow - So this one is still part of my backlog. Although I played the first 15-30 minutes back when it came out. Yet another example of the Wii getting a ton of retro styled exclusive games. I think this one stood out because of it's unique shadow aspect.
MadWorld - Another game that still part of my backlog. I put maybe an hour into it, and would like to play more of it one day. I loved the art direction of it. It was like Sin City or something lol. And it was just awesome that it existed as a Nintendo exclusive. Coming off the N64/GCN era where the hardcore gamers called Nintendo a kid's console, you could point to MadWorld as evidence of the contrary.
Mario Kart Wii - Wow, this game was awesome when it came out. I had a blast getting gold trophies for every cup, and I sunk plenty of hours playing it online. Unfortunately, finding cheaters online became more and more common. Eventually, I got sick of the cheaters and stopped playing it online. And now that I think about it, I haven't played this one since then. I feel like Mario Kart 8 gives you little reason to return to MK Wii.
Muramasa - The Demon Blade -
And yet another example (you will get tired of hearing me say this) of a retro styled Wii exclusive. The art style of this game is what drew me in. The gameplay is definitely fun and engaging. Although I never finished it for some reason. I'll have to give this one another go at some point.
New Super Mario Bros. Wii
This was like "Are you fucking kidding me!?!?!?!" for me lol. The DS got New Super Mario Bros., and I was super salty about it because I didn't own a DS at the time. I was still a huge fan of 2D sidescrolling platformers, and I was disappointed that I wouldn't be able to play a New 2D SMB game. It made sense that the DS got a game like this, being not as powerful as a home console it often got games that were in a more throw back style. But then New SMB Wii came out, and I was shocked to see such a big profile 2D platformer on a mainstream home console. Now I feel like New SMB Wii U is the best in the series for a bunch of reasons, but New SMB Wii will always be my favorite. I think I might actually like the level design, as a whole, better.
Resident Evil 4 - The Wii version is actually the first time I played through this game. Using the Wiimote for aiming made this such a fun play on a home console. At the time, I couldn't imagine playing this game on the PS2 or GCN. But this is a great game regardless of what system it's on. There's a reason it's been ported to basically every system LOL.
Super Mario All-Stars - Remember this controversy? A lot of people were complaining about the lack of effort or content of this release. I mean, it did have that artbook and CD IRRC. But a lot of people complained it was JUST the SNES ROM on a DVD, which it basically was. At the time, people felt like it could have been a $10 Virtual Console game, but Nintendo instead tried to cash in. And then in typical Nintendo fashion, you couldn't buy a copy anywhere for a while.
Super Mario Galaxy 1 & 2 -
Both of these games came out in the midst of me enjoying game after game on the Wii. I just haven't had that much fun with a console in a long while. And since I could for the first time buy many games for a current gen system, I perhaps enjoyed the Wii more during its lifetime than I did any other console. Anyway, there really isn't a whole lot I can say about these games. They're awesome. Period.
Wario Land Shake It - Yet another retro styled Wii exclusive. I tend to forget about this one, as I didn't play it during its prime. But I keep coming back to it, as it's pretty fun.
Xenoblade Chronicles (and also The Last Story and Pandora's Tower) - Remember Operation Rainfall? These games were NOT going to be released in North America, but fans got it to happen. It was sort of surreal to see happen. I don't recall ever see anything like this happen before, or even since. Anyway, Xenoblade Chronicles really blew me away. Just looking at the environments, they were sort of breathtaking. The Wii wasn't HD, or even a very powerful SD console, but that didn't stop it from having some very nice looking games, and this was definitely one of the better looking games I saw on the Wii. I put something like 30-50 hours into Xenoblade, which unfortunately was not nearly enough to finish it LOL. Last Story and Pandora's Tower I have owned, but have not yet played.
The Virtual Console - Ground breaking, really. Not so much that it was a digital store front on a home console, although this was the first generation we've seen it, but making your back catalog available like that was a really amazing thing. Learning about what the Wii was for the first time. Oh, you turn the controller sideways and it's basically a NES controller? The Wii was not only nearly 100% backward compatible with the Gamecube, it gave you the ability to play NES, SNES and N64 games as well.
And it wasn't enough to have past Nintendo console games available, they gave us other platforms as well. Having stuff like SMS, NeoGeo and TG16 made some games available to people that never heard of them or had the ability to play them before. And it was the first time you could officially play Castlevania Rondo of Blood on a North American home console, which was huge for me.
WiiWare - If you're only getting into the Wii now, you must hack it so that you can experience WiiWare titles. There's definitely some games that aren't available elsewhere and are definitely worth your time. There were some cross platform releases, like Mega Man and Sonic. But then there was exclusives, like the Konami ReBirth games that I think someone already mentioned. I can't speak so much for Gradius and Contra as I haven't spent much time with either, but Castlevania The Adventure ReBirth is simply amazing and definitely worth playing for any Castlevania fan.
I could talk about more games, but these are just some from my collection and I cherry picked to have some thoughts on. And with such a huge library, there's tons of games I haven't yet to try. Not even hidden gems, I'm sure there's plenty of well known games that I haven't tried yet. Zack and Wiki comes to mind, I never tried that one for some reason.
Just some more random thoughts on the Wii hardware...
During it's lifetime, I never cared that it wasn't HD. I had component cables, and although I could tell the graphics weren't as nice as my PS3, I really didn't care. And the art direction for a lot of the games (especially the retro styled ones) sort of hid the fact that it was SD. That said, in 2023, it's kind of a pain in the ass. Right now I have my Wii going through a RetroTINK 5x, but it looks kind of soft. I just learned of a new HDMI mod for the Wii, and I'm thinking about getting it.
The Wiimote took AA batteries, but I never had a problem with it back in the day. 2 AA batteries seemed to last a good while in a remote, Nintendo is good like that. And I eventually got rechargeable battery packs with a charging cradle. The problem in 2023 though is that I'm not using my Wii every day like I did back in 2010. Those rechargeable batteries are always dead when I go to use them, and even when I charge them they don't last as long as they use to. So I'll have to swap in regular old alkaline AA batteries, but I don't always have two fresh ones on hand, so that's annoying. More recently I finally started investing in rechargeable AA batteries, and those seem to work fine in the Wiimote.
No one really put any thought into the internal storage that the Wii had, or the lack thereof. It didn't matter, it was way more than enough for system updates and game saves. I don't think Nintendo realized how popular the VC would become, or how WiiWare would take off. You didn't have to download very many games before running out of space. Nintendo fixed this with a system update, that let you store your downloaded games on an SD card. The annoying thing about this is the Wii couldn't play the game from the SD card, so it would have to flash it to the Wii's internal storage every time you wanted to play something. I found that to be annoying.
Although I still have a Gamecube, the Wii became my console of choice for most Gamecube games. Especially GCN games that supported progressive scan, or even widescreen, because the Wii lets me play those on an HDTV with component cables (something that was a total pain in the ass for the GCN). I know I could use my Wii U in the same way, and get HDMI output for Wii games, but I like to try and keep wear and tear off of console as much as possible.
That said, I have an earlier Wii that I put a lot of hours on. My disc drive started acting up, and it started back when the Wii was current gen. I fixed it, twice I think, but it always goes back to making grinding noises. I'm done opening the Wii up to fix it (it's such a pain in the ass). So I eventually soft modded it so I could play games off a HDD instead. It's kind of a pain in the ass because I'll want to rip a game to the HDD before playing it, and I do that as needed because I don't want to invest the time in ripping all of my games (or downloaded them and transferring them over). But that prevents me from just playing games here and there for short bursts. I do have a backup Wii with a drive that doesn't make horrible noises, but I haven't switched to it as my main Wii. I like using my OG one.
I used the Classic Controller, and later the Classic Controller Pro, for a few games. I don't mind the motion controls that they put in New SMB and DKC Returns, but it always pissed me off that they didn't give those games Classic Controller support. I have the gold Classic Controller Pro that came bundled with Goldeneye. One thing that always bothered me is that it plugs into the Wii remote. So it's not really wireless, and you have to sit with the remote in your lap. I never understood why someone, a third party even, never made a Classic Controller that also mimicked a remote. Hmm, now that I think about it, I don't recall ever seeing third party Wii remotes. Maybe that was hard tech to copy, so no one bothered with it? Well at any rate, it would be cool if someone one day makes a really nice controller for the Wii that allows you to bypass the need for a remote. At least, for games that natively support such a controller, just being able to navigate the system menu and launch the game. Perhaps it'll never happen because it's already possible with emulation, and that also fixes other issues like going form SD to HD.
Re: Console of the Month (March 2023) - Nintendo Wii
I failed to mention that I've actually been playing Wario Land Shake It for the past few weeks on and off. I have an old save file from many years ago, and I put it on every now and again, beat a few levels, then abandon it again. I very much like the game, but there's nothing that really hooks me. But that's one quality in games that I've come to really like as an adult, with less gaming time on my hands. I like to call them "pick up and play games." Meaning, I don't have to relearn a combat system, or what buttons do what, et cetera. I can put it down for months, or even years, and go right back to it with little to no effort. And that's one of the things that I really like about Wario Land Shake It. Also, it's a 2D sidescroller, which I always like, with a really nice art style.
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PretentiousHipster
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Re: Console of the Month (March 2023) - Nintendo Wii
Ziggy587 wrote:Cursed Mountain - So I haven't actually played this one. At least, not yet. It's been in my backlog since I picked up a copy back when the Wii was still relevant. Again, this wasn't a game that raised the bar or anything like that. But it was a survival horror action game that was exclusive to the Wii (not counting a European only PC release). Like ZRofel said, the Wii showed the world that Nintendo was still a video game juggernaut. Getting exclusive games like this for the Wii was very exciting, after the N64 and GCN.
From what I've played, this was an absolute masterpiece, if you don't mind stuff that is very slow paced and aims more for an atmosphere. I just needed a break for now cause the little combat there is stressful as hell.
Re: Console of the Month (March 2023) - Nintendo Wii
PretentiousHipster wrote:Ziggy587 wrote:Cursed Mountain - So I haven't actually played this one. At least, not yet. It's been in my backlog since I picked up a copy back when the Wii was still relevant. Again, this wasn't a game that raised the bar or anything like that. But it was a survival horror action game that was exclusive to the Wii (not counting a European only PC release). Like ZRofel said, the Wii showed the world that Nintendo was still a video game juggernaut. Getting exclusive games like this for the Wii was very exciting, after the N64 and GCN.
From what I've played, this was an absolute masterpiece, if you don't mind stuff that is very slow paced and aims more for an atmosphere. I just needed a break for now cause the little combat there is stressful as hell.
This is also one I was fascinated by but never got to pick up. I was huge into horror gong at the time, and the Wii had some interesting options. I just didn't have the funds to pick up everything I wanted.
Re: Console of the Month (March 2023) - Nintendo Wii
...a little late here, but I'm still fan of the Wii. I recall buying my first game for it, Metal Slug Anthology, before I even had a system. I also remember not being able to find one at launch and then winning a chance to buy one from Amazon but ironically not having the cash at the time to get it. Eventually my wife and I found a Wii at a local Target, with a solid number of games that weren't Wii-Sports games in the collection I had a pretty good time w/the Wii. Of course, I enjoyed Mario Kart Wii and New Super Mario Bros, but there were gems like Muramasa, the No More Heroes games, Klonoa, SMG/SMG2, Twilight Princess, Tatsunoko vs Capcom, and Sin & Punishment: Star Successor. The operation Rainfall RPGs were also pretty good. One of my favorite parts about the Wii was the Virtual Console, easily the best implementation of the idea on any Nintendo system imo. The selection on the Virtual Console was beyond impressive w/games from the Genesis, Turbo Grafx 16, SNES, Neo Geo, and SMS. Even the Wii-Ware offerings were pretty solid. I still add Wii games to my collection when I come across them, so far the Ultimate Shooting Collection and Ghost Squad are the most notable in addition to a nice stack of games I was gifted by a friend. Hopefully I'll be able to find a copy of the Irem Collection, Lost in Shadow, and the Gunblade NY/L.A. Machine Guns bundle pack eventually.