[Wii Send-Off] NintendoEverything Staff Opinions!
Our Most Under-Appreciated Wii Games
Every system has a slew of games on it that are great, yet aren’t purchased or appreciated by the masses for one reason or another. I think this is especially true on the Wii, where there are countless fantastic and unique titles waiting to be played… but so many people skip them because of the numbers on review scores or the first impression they get from a screenshot or name! In honor of these lonely games, NintendoEverything presents to you what we consider to be the most under-appreciated Wii games of all time.
Valay says… Zack & Wiki!
“To be honest, a lot of Wii games could fit into this category. I’d say both No More Heroes games were underappreciated. The same goes for Boom Blox (plus its sequel) and Little King’s Story.
My personal pick for this category is Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros’ Treasure. It’s an interesting puzzle game. It’s a nice-looking game. It’s an overall good game. Unfortunately, there aren’t a whole lot of people who played it.”
Austin says… No More Heroes 2
“A lot of you are probably expecting me to say Fragile, but while that game was drastically underappreciated it really wasn’t a well built, large-audience game. As far as games that should have gone mainstream but didn’t? Absolutely No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle. The first game in that series had problems that would have prevented it from being more than a cult classic, but the sequel fixed all of those problems and made a game with God-of-War style gameplay, one of the best stories of this generation, and some absolutely hilarious dialogue.”
Patrick says… Tatsunoko vs. Capcom!
“Tatsunoko vs Capcom might not have been the most underappreciated game in terms of sales or critical reception, but it was definitely underappreciated in the competitive fighting game scene. After Marvel vs. Capcom 3 was released a year later, Tatsunoko was completely ignored by most tournaments in favour of the flashy new fighter, which is a shame because I think it’s by far the superior Capcom fighting game (even though it was actually developed by 8ing). The “Baroque” mechanic that allows characters to extend combos by using up some of their health adds an interesting dynamic to fights, especially considering that characters can also save their meter for a “Mega Crash” to break free from any combo. There are a lot of options, but because teams were limited to two characters it never felt quite as overwhelming as any of the Marvel vs. Capcom games.
While the Tatsunoko side was filled with the company’s most iconic anime characters that Capcom somehow managed to get the international rights to, Capcom’s roster has a bunch of really interesting characters with unique movesets. Sure, there’s the usual line-up of Ryu, Chun-Li and Morrigan, but I doubt there will ever be another fighting game where you can play as characters from Onimusha, Lost Planet or Quiz Nanairo Dreams. The idea of having larger fighters that use up two character slots is a bit underdeveloped and unbalanced and the online play lacks Capcom’s trademark (literally – that’s why no other games use it) “fight request” feature, but overall Tatsunoko vs. Capcom is a fantastic 2D fighter free of dumb comeback mechanics and DLC that really should’ve seen a lot more competitive play. What a shame that Capcom’s deal with Tatsunoko has now expired, so we’ll probably never get to see a follow-up with the Samurai Pizza Cats and Lava Jesus.”
Laura says… Fragile Dreams!
“I would really have to go with Fragile again. Now mind you I have not beaten it yet, but it was one of the greatest experiences I have had with a game. The art style, the music, the atmosphere; it all comes together in a perfectly packaged adventure. I usually get unnerved when I am alone or isolated in games, but with Fragile I craved it. The story was so heartbreaking at points, for instance, reading the last moments of some peoples lives within the game. It is a haunting yet beautiful game that everyone should play at some point in his or her lives.”
Jack says… Sin & Punishment: Star Successor!
“Considering it only sold a scant (but not horrible, mind you) 370,000 copies worldwide, the Dark Carnival inside is telling me my vote for the Wii game that most people missed out on is Treasure’s Sin & Punishment: Star Successor; I actually at one point considered it to be runner-up for Wii Game of the Year 2010, behind Super Mario Galaxy 2. Treasure followed up really nicely to its cult predecessor on N64 by making exquisite use of IR control, in addition to the excellent shooter level design and killer soundbites it’s known for.”
