The Wii has been justifiably criticized as a dumping ground for shovelware and casual games that fail to serve hardcore gamers. Yet, those players who want epic games with original ideas, challenging gameplay and engaging stories can find all of that on the Wii if they know where to look. While some core Wii titles have fallen short of greatness, there are still Wii games any serious gamer would love.
9. Tenchu:Shadow Assassin
Ubisoft
***1/2
Sure, I spent half my review of this game enumerating its many flaws, but when it works, this stealth game is tremendously fun, offering strategic puzzles and myriad stealth items that include an invisibility cloak and a scouting cat. The game is just good enough to get away with its imperfections.
Sure, I spent half my review of this game enumerating its many flaws, but when it works, this stealth game is tremendously fun, offering strategic puzzles and myriad stealth items that include an invisibility cloak and a scouting cat. The game is just good enough to get away with its imperfections.
8. No More Heroes
***1/2Part pop-art, part crazy, blood-soaked action and part tedium, No More Heroes falls frustratingly short of the game it could have been but is still remarkable and wildly imaginative. There is no other game quite like it, and if the sequel can fix the flaws of the original, it could well become one of the best Wii games of all time.
7. Sam & Max: Season 1
Telltale Games
****
The Wii is the only game console that can rival the personal computer as a platform for adventure games, and no game shows that off better than Sam & Max, a hilarious game full of smart puzzles and sharp dialogue. One of the few adventure games to be just as enjoyable on a game console as it is on a PC.
The Wii is the only game console that can rival the personal computer as a platform for adventure games, and no game shows that off better than Sam & Max, a hilarious game full of smart puzzles and sharp dialogue. One of the few adventure games to be just as enjoyable on a game console as it is on a PC.
6. Call of Duty: World at War
****The best first person shooter so far for the Wii, Call of Duty: World at War has an almost perfect control scheme (it would have been perfect if they'd thought of The Conduit's approach to grenades, and offers first rate level design and a genuine sense of the brutality of war. While many game designers create inferior, dumbed-down versions of their franchises for the Wii, World at War proves that the Wii is fully capable of creating an experience every bit as powerful as that on the other platforms when called upon to do so.
5. Dead Space: Extraction
With its jittery camera and involving story, Dead Space: Extraction is a rail shooter that feels freer and edgier than its peers. Easily the best rail shooter on the Wii.4. House of the Dead: Overkill
SEGA
****
A high-concept take on exploitation movies, this rail shooter turns soulful songs, stylish graphics, purposely moronic dialogue and slack-jawed zombies into a stylish and irresistible piece of entertainment.
A high-concept take on exploitation movies, this rail shooter turns soulful songs, stylish graphics, purposely moronic dialogue and slack-jawed zombies into a stylish and irresistible piece of entertainment.
3. Deadly Creatures
THQ
****
A remarkable action game in which the player alternately takes the role of a spider and a scorpion as they make their way through the desert. The slight story is fascinating, the graphics show what can be done by Wii game designers who know what they’re doing, and the action is fast and furious. You will never look at a spider in quite the same way again.
A remarkable action game in which the player alternately takes the role of a spider and a scorpion as they make their way through the desert. The slight story is fascinating, the graphics show what can be done by Wii game designers who know what they’re doing, and the action is fast and furious. You will never look at a spider in quite the same way again.
2. De Blob
****1/2
The platformer De Blob is everything a Wii game should be. It uses the unique capabilities of the Wii in a natural, intuitive way. It offers unique, creative gameplay, has colorful, engaging graphics and tells a simple but entertaining story. It is kid-friendly yet equally entertaining for adults. In an ideal world, this would be one of the Wii’s best selling titles, and I will never understand why it is not.
The platformer De Blob is everything a Wii game should be. It uses the unique capabilities of the Wii in a natural, intuitive way. It offers unique, creative gameplay, has colorful, engaging graphics and tells a simple but entertaining story. It is kid-friendly yet equally entertaining for adults. In an ideal world, this would be one of the Wii’s best selling titles, and I will never understand why it is not.
1. Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess
****1/2The Legend of Zelda series is one of the most reliable in all of gaming, offering a well-worked formula while always makes it seem fresh. In this case, much of that freshness comes from use of the Wii remote. This was one of Nintendo’s first Wii games, and it showed exactly what could be done with the game. If only other designers - including Nintendo’s own - had used it as a guideline for how to proceed.
