Lets name the Top 100 Wii games [OP POST UPDATED]

[ejamer]

So we're doing Wiiware games now, like Sam & Max?

Yes and no.

Sam & Max (at least the first two seasons) were released on Wii as retail discs, not via WiiWare, and can often be found for between $10 and $20. Great games despite TellTale having significant issues with their engine running on consoles*.

However, there are two other notable TellTale games that were released as episodic content through WiiWare: Tales of Monkey Island and Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People. Both are worth playing, although both play better (and are considerably cheaper) if you play on PC.


*Note that performance issues are (perhaps surprisingly) not limited to Wii. TellTale engines on PS3 and 360 also have issues.

[ejamer]

1. Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth
2. Arkanoid Plus!
3. Pokemon Rumble
4. Bit.Trip Series
5. Art Style Series
6. Cave Story
7. Jett Rocket
8. FAST - Racing League
9. Mega Man 10
10. MDK2
11. Excitebike: World Rally
12. Final Fantasy IV: The After Years
13. Swords & Soldiers
14. LostWinds: Winter of the Melodias
15. And Yet It Moves
16. Fluidity
17. World of Goo
18. Tomena Sanner
19. Motoheroz
20. Thruspace
21. Rage of the Gladiator
22. Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life As King
23. Art of Balance
24. Alien Crush Returns

Video pinball isn't for everyone and nothing that Alien Crush Returns offers can change that. This game does, however, provide a top-notch pinball experience that any fan of the genre should experience. Be aware that it's not a traditional pinball experience though: special powers, bosses, and plenty of gimmicks are used to keep the game filled with action.

Alien Crush Returns does a great job of reviving the familiar gameplay from the TG-16 classic while adding new content and challenges. Another hidden gem on WiiWare that deserves a wider audience...


Now surely someone else can post a good game to finish off the list. Right? Even if WiiWare is the red-headed stepchild of downloadable games, someone else must have given it some attention. I'll post an "also recommended" follow-up with a half dozen games that deserve to be played afterwards.

[alienjesus]

1. Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth
2. Arkanoid Plus!
3. Pokemon Rumble
4. Bit.Trip Series
5. Art Style Series
6. Cave Story
7. Jett Rocket
8. FAST - Racing League
9. Mega Man 10
10. MDK2
11. Excitebike: World Rally
12. Final Fantasy IV: The After Years
13. Swords & Soldiers
14. LostWinds: Winter of the Melodias
15. And Yet It Moves
16. Fluidity
17. World of Goo
18. Tomena Sanner
19. Motoheroz
20. Thruspace
21. Rage of the Gladiator
22. Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life As King
23. Art of Balance
24. Alien Crush Returns

Video pinball isn't for everyone and nothing that Alien Crush Returns offers can change that. This game does, however, provide a top-notch pinball experience that any fan of the genre should experience. Be aware that it's not a traditional pinball experience though: special powers, bosses, and plenty of gimmicks are used to keep the game filled with action.

Alien Crush Returns does a great job of reviving the familiar gameplay from the TG-16 classic while adding new content and challenges. Another hidden gem on WiiWare that deserves a wider audience...


Now surely someone else can post a good game to finish off the list. Right? Even if WiiWare is the red-headed stepchild of downloadable games, someone else must have given it some attention. I'll post an "also recommended" follow-up with a half dozen games that deserve to be played afterwards.

Sure. I know lots of games that are meant to be good, but I don't own them, so I don't want to add them to the list with no experience of them.

So you can have this one instead:

25.Bomberman Blast
8 player bomberman with online and local play, + full item customisation to allow you to set whichever power ups in whichever quanitity you like (and there sure are a lot of options!).

[ejamer]

Yay! The list is complete!

1. Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth
2. Arkanoid Plus!
3. Pokemon Rumble
4. Bit.Trip Series
5. Art Style Series
6. Cave Story
7. Jett Rocket
8. FAST - Racing League
9. Mega Man 10
10. MDK2
11. Excitebike: World Rally
12. Final Fantasy IV: The After Years
13. Swords & Soldiers
14. LostWinds: Winter of the Melodias
15. And Yet It Moves
16. Fluidity
17. World of Goo
18. Tomena Sanner
19. Motoheroz
20. Thruspace
21. Rage of the Gladiator
22. Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life As King
23. Art of Balance
24. Alien Crush Returns
25. Bomberman Blast

Anyway, some follow-ups of games that really deserve to be played (although some are probably too "niche" to appeal to everyone):

• Mega Man 9 - Personally I liked this one better than 10, but opinions are obviously divided on that matter. Great game for any retro fan!
• Magnetica Twist - Coop, competitive, high scores, some basic player stats and "relationships", challenge modes... there is a ton of gaming to be had here. Some people didn't like the controls, but my wife and I spent literally hours playing this game and were very happy with it.
• Toki Tori - Sweet action/puzzle game that has seen release on many platforms. Looks great, plays well, and has some fiendishly tough levels to solve.
• Driift Mania - Yes, there are two i's. Anyone who grew up playing (and loving) Iron Man Ivan Stewart's Super Off Road will instantly feel at home. One important caveat though: much like the old arcade game, this is infinitely more fun with a couple buddies by your side.
• NyxQuest - Not my personal favorite but a game that makes good use of the pointer controls, offers some clever design, and has attractive art. This game reminds me of LostWinds in some ways, which is a good thing.
• LostWinds - Speaking of which... The sequel was listed since it's "better", but the first LostWinds game was one of the earliest examples of quality software released on WiiWare. Here's hoping it gets re-released on other platforms.
• Bubble Bobble Plus - This is a retro site, so surely I'm not the only fan of Bubble Bobble. Well, the name doesn't lie. Want to play the classic game? No problem. Want to play with up to 3 friends on all new levels? No problem. Sometimes relatively safe remakes are the best remakes.
• Jungle Speed - I'm a board game fan, so I'm predisposed to like this game perhaps... but it's still a solid implementation that allows up to 8 people to game together in a light party session. The only question is whether you would rather play the actual card game instead. (Ubuntu and/or Penguin and Friends aka Hey! That's My Fish almost got mentioned because the actual games are fun, but the presentation and story modes are trash. Better to stick to the board games in both cases.)
• Learning with the Pooyoos (episodes 1 through 3) - Sure, it's intended for very young kids. I just happen to have a young daughter who loves playing (or watching) these games with Daddy. Not sure if that makes it worth recommending or not... but in case there are other families out there it would be a shame not to mention.

Sure. I know lots of games that are meant to be good, but I don't own them, so I don't want to add them to the list with no experience of them.
...

Sadly, you aren't alone. I think that very very few people have much experience with WiiWare. I've probably download more than anyone else I know... and there are still many games that I'd like to try but haven't had the chance. At the top of my list of "want to play" games are:

• Military Madness
• You, Me, and the Cubes
• Dive: The Medes Islands Secret
• Contra Rebirth

All are supposed to be decent... I'll probably never find out though, as I've pretty much moved on from WiiWare at this point.

[GameMasterGuy]

[*]Mega Man 9 - Personally I liked this one better than 10, but opinions are obviously divided on that matter. Great game for any retro fan!

I'm one of the ones who prefers 10 for the most part, however it's hard to argue that it has better music. 9's soundtrack was amazing, with classics such as We're the Robots, Splash Blue, and Wily Machine that easily top most if not *all* of the songs from 1-8. Well, 1-6 and 8. 7's soundtrack is perfect.

[alienjesus]

Sure. I know lots of games that are meant to be good, but I don't own them, so I don't want to add them to the list with no experience of them.
...

Well to be fair, I have 17 games on Wiiware, which isn't too bad an amount. I avoided mentioning Megaman 9 and 10 myself just because I was hoping to get more Wiiware exclusives up there. Some of the other ones you mentioned are on my watch list too, such as You, Me & The Cubes.

Here's the list of games I want on Wiiware I currently don't own. I'm sure several would have been contenders for this list:

and yet it moves
art of balance
blaster master overdrive
bonsai barber
bubble bobble plus
cave story
Flowerworks
fluidity
nyxquest
rubiks puzzle galaxy
sonic 4
warioware DIY showcase
you me and the cubes

[jmbarnes101]

There is a free demo of Dive available at the WiiWare Shop. It seems like a very fun game but I got stuck and didn't know how to proceed at a certain point.

Two more for the recommendation pile.
Eduardo the Samurai Toaster - A short but solid and fun run-n-gun title with multiplayer and lots of difficulty settings including the ability to turn off friendly fire.
Kyotokei - A solid but not great SHMUP. Considering the dearth of SHMUP's on the Wii anyone who enjoys the genre should have this title on their system.

[ejamer]

...

Kyotokei - A solid but not great SHMUP. Considering the dearth of SHMUP's on the Wii anyone who enjoys the genre should have this title on their system.

My first reaction was "[the shmup lineup wasn't] that bad", but then I realized most of the shmups on Wii were actually for other systems.

Having a nice chunk of the TG-16 library available through Virtual Console was especially awesome, and it's also nice that backwards compatibility gave me access to Ikaruga and the small handful of GameCube shmups. The only Wii-specific ones I played were Castle of Shikigami III and BlastWorks. There were a couple of WiiWare releases, but nothing that really looked special enough to download. (Doesn't Kyotokei have a demo available for download though?)

So yeah... kind of disappointing.

[Edited for clarification.]

[retrosportsgamer]

I was searching around for M2-developed titles and (re)stumbled upon the ReBirth games on Wii - and found this great thread.

Non-M2 related: Alien Crush Returns sounds amazing.

[Fragems]

Opoona needs at least an honorable mention that game is hard to find in the wild but is well worth tracking down.

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