Sorry in advance for writing a small novel here... probably safe for most to key on the bolded game titles and only look at opinions related to games they care about?
Should
Super Mario Galaxy and
DKCR be included when there are excellent sequels? Personally, I think designs for the Galaxy games are different enough that both have a place on my shelf and will get replayed; but if forced to choose would find it easy to keep the sequel over the original. DKCR doesn't have quite the same feeling - I keep it on my list because it's a great Wii title, but everything it offers has done better in the Wii U sequel... so less of a "must own" game if you own both consoles.
Wii Sports on the list? This is still the defining Wii game for many people, and having revisited over the past few years I think it deserves recognition as a game that will always be easy and enjoyable to play. The reason I would leave it off: what does the Wii game do better than the Wii U re-release? I couldn't think of anything, so even though it's hugely important to the Wii console if you are only going to own one version then the Wii U release is clearly the winner. (
Wii Sports Resort is a fine game that just didn't catch my interest the same way because the games aren't as approachable or immediately familiar as Tennis/Baseball/Bowling/Golf. It is, however, more unique so might deserve a place for that reason? Having
Skyward Sword already on the list somehow lessens my interest in Resort.)
Dead Space Extraction has been mentioned several times; my impression was that the PS3 version offered Move support and HD graphics that made that version a better pick... otherwise it would have been included in my list.
RE4 is probably in the same boat: if using Move controls on PS3, what does the Wii version do better? (I don't have an answer because I haven't tried the PS3 version.)
Muramasa The Demon Blade was re-released on Vita. Same with
Little King's Story, although that game had tweaks and some aesthetic changes made. In my opinion, being on a portable console doesn't invalidate either from being a "must play" on a home console, so both remain in my Wii list.
No More Heroes is an odd game. There are some (intentionally) odd design decisions, like including lots of suggestive waggle and having a nearly empty open world to "experience". Other little things like having bike controls be completely undocumented, but actually kind of cool if you can figure them out, make the game hard to approach. And yet I'd still say that it's a must play game from last generation for most gamers in the same way that I'd call
Killer7 a must try GameCube title. I'd definitely put it ahead of
A Boy and his Blob (which was utterly charming but not actually a great puzzle game) on my personal list, despite being much less approachable.
I liked
Red Steel 2 and
Sonic Colors a lot - maybe more than most - but would drop either for
Trauma Team. Seriously: has nobody else on these forums tried that series? Not a single comment (for or against) other than from me?
Calling: not a terrible game, but desirable more because of availability than quality. The
Fatal Frame games weren't released in North America, but both are fully playable in English with a bit effort and MUCH better.
Castle of Shikigami III: Didn't really move the needle for me; if looking for a shooter, I preferred the odd-but-interesting
BlastWorks more because of the varied experiences (main game, full level editor and designer, Kenta Cho games included as unlockables).
Deadly Creatures: I'd consider this one of those second-tier games, not a "must play" but probably a "hidden gem". It's got a lot of neat ideas and cool content, but also has polish issues and won't appeal to everyone. Deserves discussion, but wouldn't be in my top 25.
Fragile Dreams: I love the atmostphere in this game, but gameplay simply doesn't live up to the atmosphere. It's worth trying. It's probably in my list of keepers. But top 25? Meh. (I also loved
Cursed Mountain, but wouldn't dream of putting that in a top 25 list.)
Ghost Squad is an old Sega arcade shooter. It's only got three levels, but each level has multiple paths/sub-missions that you can take and the number of branches available (I believe) increases as you gain more experience to help keep it fresh. It's got a ton of unlockables, absolutely absurd stories, and a solid progression system for buying new weapons/costumes/etc. Does it belong? One of those borderline cases for sure, but it's very accessible and anyone who loves old on-rails shooters will probably get great mileage out of it. (
Dead Space Extraction is a better story, but not as accessible. The two
Resident Evil ... Chronicles on-rail shooters have more content, but also are tougher to get into.
House of the Dead Overkill is similarly fast and fun and accessible... but has obscene amounts of language and gore, limiting the audience.
Gunblade NY & LA Machine Guns isn't as wacky or memorable, while
House of the Dead 2 & 3 Return are available on other platforms where
Ghost Squad is arcade/Wii exclusive. For me,
Ghost Squad wins because it's a perfect arcade experience that can be shared with anyone and will always be fun to play.)
Looking at the Top 25 list as of the moment:
* I think
Fortune Street being in the top 25 is giving it too much credit. Not saying it's a bad game - but there are just other choices that will appeal to a much wider group of people. I'd even have a tough time choosing between this and
Dokapon Kingdom for a party/board game on the console.
*
Pandora's Tower had a couple of glitches in the North American release. You can complete the game, but if the glitch happens to you then the game will freeze when you try to enter towers in a certain order. There are work-arounds, but apparently they don't work for everyone. It's also possible that you'll beat the game without encountering the glitch. My understanding is that the PAL version doesn't have this problem at all. Even ignoring the glitch issue, this probably wouldn't be on my top 25 list (but might be in my honorable mentions).
Finally, I want to reiterate that
Boom Blox (or the Bash Party sequel) deserves some discussion, even though it didn't yet crack your honorable mention list. It offered:
* motion-based gameplay that worked well and was really fun
* great level-creation tools for custom content
* a lengthy single-player mode with good variety of level design
* diverse multiplayer modes that offer a fantastic shared experience and enough modes that nearly anyone should be able to get enjoyment from it (
http://www.penny-arcade.com/news/post/2 ... -diplomacy)
* do you really expect anything similar to come up in the next 25 years? somehow I don't... and that originality gives it bonus points in my book
I want to thank Exhuminator for seconding
Trauma Team, even if he balances that out by recommending the kind of awful, yet hilarious in the right mindset
Day of Disaster. Not a great game... but comparing it to a fun-but-terrible summer blockbuster movie is fairly apt.
Also want to thank Opa Opa for bringing
Bit.Trip Complete back into discussion - forgot about that game, but I also think it deserves to be discussed. Awesome compilation that puts some of the best WiiWare games onto a disc and adds extra content too. If you get the bonus CD included, even better!
