With the Wii U available and a list of titles not currently available, this might be a good time to play some games you may have missed on its predecessor, the Wii. Sure, Nintendo’s first party line up of great Zelda and Mario games are a given, but what about some great hits from third party developers? In this Fanatical Five, we’ll be counting down the Third Party Games on The Wii You Might Have Missed.
5. Sonic and The Secret Rings
Sonic gets a bad wrap for most of his 3D outtings, but a couple are pretty good. The Secret Rings stood out to me as it was the most different in that you actually drive Sonic. Not only that, it was very pretty looking. And I know some aren’t fans of the rock style music that has become a bit of a staple for some Sonic games, but I liked it for The Secret Rings. And skip the multiplayer. It’s not worth your time. Definitely not the best Sonic game, but it sure isn’t the worst.
4. Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles
The Wii was great for light gun style games. Combine that with the rich lore of the Resident Evil series and you’ll have a fun time shooting down Umbrella and all of their evil creations. It is great to see how some classic scenes and settings (from Resident Evil 0, 1, and 3) were recreated. One downside would be the difficulty especially in the latter end of the game as all of Umbrella’s creatures come at you. Also play The Darkside Chronicles to complete the saga, although most think that Umbrella Chronicles was the better of the two.
3. Madworld
Rated M titles were rare on any Nintendo system and Madworld splattered blood all over the Wii. With a unique comic and black and white art style, Madworld had you creatively cause chaos in order to survive. Chainsaws, road signs, spikes, deep frying foes, blasting baddies to the moon are just a few samples of making sure your screen was covered in red. Some may talk down on this title as it’s pretty much grinding (figuratively and literally) enemies until you reach your assigned point total to fight the boss. Others may look at it as an opportunity to experiment with ways to kill, kill, kill. And major props to the excellent voice talent and the great soundtrack.
2. Ghost Squad
While Umbrella Chronicles offered you a great story, Ghost Squad just had you blowing stuff up. Ported from the arcades, you and a friend just had to stop the evil terrorists from winning. Branching paths and multiple gun and outfit unlockables made for great replayability. If you’ve ever played the arcade version, you know what you’re in for.
1. No More Heroes
As Travis Touchdown, you work up the ranks to become the Number 1 killer in Santa Destroy. Much like Madworld made it to this list, No More Heroes did it better. The Wii motions are used sparingly and effectively. All of the voice talents fit every character bringing them to life before you cut them down. The soundtrack is great and introduced many to the Genki Rockets. Customization was fun and simple and didn’t eat up a lot of game time. If anything was a negative it might be traveling around an empty Santa Destroy. It would have been nice to mow down a few foes while riding your bike. Overall, it has Suda 51’s style and flair. This game is over-the-top in terms of violence, language, sexual innuendos, and humor and it deserves its M rating and the Number 1 spot on this list.
Honorable Mentions (in alphabetical order):
Castle Shikigami III
Klonoa
Samba de Amigo
Silent Hill: Shattered Memories
Trauma Center: Second Opinion/New Blood
Editor’s Note:
These are all games I have played and own. WiiWare titles were also not included in this list, only retail titles. While I have heard other games such as Xenoblade Chronicles, Okami, and others that are great, I’ve never played them to judge them. But please voice yourselves and let me know why those and other games not listed are great to you.
