My life without a Wii (Recommendations)

Ultimanecat

Hey good folks at PA. Think you could lend me a hand?

I've had a Wii since launch and enjoyed it thoroughly for it's first couple years. However, about two years ago I gave it to my mom so she could watch Netflix stuff on her TV and have been without it since.

Now, due to these tough economic times, I get to be a grown-ass man living at home with his mother for a bit, and I'm looking towards that Wii and realizing there is some gaming to be had there. However, I haven't been following releases for it that closely.

I can afford to purchase some of the games that have come down in price (I'm certainly aware of Galaxy 2, DKCR, and the Resort games, but I'd rather get more for less, if you know what I mean). What are the games that have been released these last couple years that may have flown under my radar or been forgotten about?

For reference, here are the games I already own (all from the earlier years). My tastes are all over the map so chances are if somebody liked it, I'd like it too. Also, I don't have a MotionPlus, but I'm not against getting one, especially if it comes cheap with something.

SSBB
Super Paper Mario
Sonic and the Secret Rings
Zack and Wiki
Dokapon Kingdom
Zelda: TP
Wii Play
Battalion Wars 2
SMG
Baroque
NMH
MP3
RE4

Skull2185

Kirby's Epic Yarn is adorable

And Muramasa: The Demon Blade is pretty awesome.

Ultimanecat

Skull2185 wrote: »

Kirby's Epic Yarn is adorable

And Muramasa: The Demon Blade is pretty awesome.

Kirby's a little too fresh (expensive), but damn right I should be getting Muramasa. I loved Odin Sphere.

Thanks and bought'd.

Rakai

Muramasa/A Boy and His Blob/MadWorld/NMH2/Sin&Punishment 2 are all good games that can be found for $15 or less.

Muramasa 2D - Action RPG made by the Odin Sphre guys. Very pretty.

A Boy and His Blob - 2D platformer that has a hug button. A HUG BUTTON.

MadWorld - Short beat-em-up game that was the funniest game I've played this generation (not something you'd play around your mother)

NMH2 - Sequel to NMH

S&P2 - I haven't played this one and it's supposed to be hard, but many have enjoyed it.

Xagarath

Little King's Story is the most original and one of the most substantial singleplayer games on the system and utterly, wonderfully charming.

Silent Hill: Shattered Memories is perfectly fitted to the Wii controls, and one of the very few videogames to do anything interesting with interactive storytelling.

Sin and Punishment: Star Successor/Successor of the Skies is the best rail shooter ever made.

All three should be pretty cheap by now.

forty

Super Mario Galaxy 2

It's worth the full price.

Ultimanecat

This stuff all seems right in my wheelhouse so far...

...damn, this could end up expensive. Thanks guys.

Jason00

Klonoa is good, and you can probably find it used for about $10 by now.

Magic Pink

Rune Factory Frontier, Little Kings Story and Monster Hunter 3 are all I can really reccomend on the Wii.

forty

Boom Blox Bash Party

pslong9

In addition to wholeheartedly agreeing with many of the above recommendations (especially Little King's Story), I'd also add in Trauma Team. Good mix of the Trauma Center gameplay with some modifications (surgery still exists, but you also have first responder, which is focused on dealing with multiple patients and keeping vitals up, and endoscopy, which... kind of sucks, tbh) and additional modes, including medical forensics and being a diagnostician who is quite similar to House, though not quite as bitter. Highly recommended by me.

Ultimanecat

This is sad...I have a lot to catch up on. I'm going to have to make some choices now.

And holy shit, I've never heard of that Rune Factory game but it costs over $80 on amazon.

hatedinamerica

Monster Hunter Tri has spent more time in my Wii than all my other Wii games combined...so....maybe give that a look, if you like...hunting monsters. :P

Brainiac 8

I second Boom Blox: Bash Party.

It's awesome fun, and I got mine on clearance at Best Buy for ten bucks.

cloudeagle

Brainiac 8 wrote: »

I second Boom Blox: Bash Party.

It's awesome fun, and I got mine on clearance at Best Buy for ten bucks.

Thirded.

And don't make the mistake of thinking that Mario Galaxy 2 is just more of the same. Sure, it's one of the few direct sequels Nintendo's ever done, but somehow they managed to make it ridiculously better than the already-stellar original.

I'll put it to you this way. Most sequels can come up with maybe one or two fun twists on the previous game's formula, then rely on them for the rest of the game. In Galaxy 2, Nintendo comes up with an absurdly fun twist, uses it once or twice, then moves on to another fun twist. Then they do it again. And again and again and again and again and again and again and again, continually until the game ends. It's insane. And quite possibly the best Wii game out there.

Edit: I'll also stick up for Madworld, especially since the constant play-by-play by Greg Proops and John DiMaggio (the guy who does Bender on Futurama) is hilarious, and you can find it for absolute dirt cheap with very little effort.

pslong9

Is your Wii connected online? There's also a bunch of great Virtual Console and WiiWare games that are also inexpensive, though they are shorter.

Some WiiWare recs:
World of Goo
Bit.Trip series
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life As A King
Lostwinds / Lostwinds 2
Toki Tori
Swords and Soldiers
Cave Story
NyxQuest

Ultimanecat

These are all great suggestions, and please keep them coming as I'm pretty much writing all of these down, but I decided to pull the trigger and order four games to start with: MadWorld, NMH2, Muramasa, and the Wii version of REmake since I've been hankering for it and seem to have lost my GC copy.

I desperately want SMG2 and the other Nintendo releases, but they're going to have to wait until I start pulling down a steady paycheck. In the meantime, I'll stick to grabbing one or two of the cheaper games every couple weeks while I catch up. It'll also give me time to, you know, actually play the games I'm buying :P

Edit: Oh yeah, the Wii is online if there is something I absolutely must have from that end of things.

Magic Pink

Ultimanecat wrote: »

This is sad...I have a lot to catch up on. I'm going to have to make some choices now.

And holy shit, I've never heard of that Rune Factory game but it costs over $80 on amazon.

Holy testicles, for real? Why? I see it at Gamestop all the time for 17$ or so.

Xenogears of Bore

Good, cheap Wii games?

No More Heroes 1 and 2.

Dokapon Kingdom

Ultimanecat

Magic Pink wrote: »

Ultimanecat wrote: »

This is sad...I have a lot to catch up on. I'm going to have to make some choices now.

And holy shit, I've never heard of that Rune Factory game but it costs over $80 on amazon.

Holy testicles, for real? Why? I see it at Gamestop all the time for 17$ or so.

That's the new price. It looks like it's currently $28 used at GS.

Also, thanks XoB but I already own two of those games and just bought the other :P

THEPAIN73

Dokapon Kingdom on PS2 for sure.

If not, then Wii is cool too.

Bullio

It warms my heart to see other people recommending MadWorld. Usually I'm the only one vouching for it in these threads. Crazy people you lot are.

Chalk up another rec for Sin and Punishment 2. Holy shit is it good. Newegg has it new for $16 with free shipping. Make it your next purchase.

I'll continue to vouch for NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams. It was an iffy recommendation at full price, but you can get it dirt cheap these days. The levels where you play as the kids are still crap and the voice acting is fairly aggravating, but it has some of the most beautiful, imaginative looking levels since the original.

Metroid Prime Trilogy is worth a look if you can find it, but you most likely won't find it cheap.

Red Steel 2 is in my top 5 for the console. Absolutely awesome game thanks to the WiiMotion Plus controls. It's a western/Japanese first-person sword-brawler/shooter with great cel shaded graphics and a Spaghetti western soundtrack. Don't let the namesake fool you; the game is infinitely better than its predecessor and has very little in common with it. WM+ is required. You can buy the game bundled with it, but I honestly don't know how expensive it is these days.

cloudeagle

Bullio wrote: »

Metroid Prime Trilogy is worth a look if you can find it, but you most likely won't find it cheap.

Right, as a "special edition" it was taken off the market quickly.

Then again it made Metroid Prime 3 cheaper, if you just want that. The controls are damn fine on that one.

Skull2185

MadWorld suffers from The Bulletstorm effect (Actually, I should say Bulletstorm suffers from The MadWorld Effect) meaning, its premise and gameplay get real old real quick.

Xenogears of Bore

THEPAIN73 wrote: »

Dokapon Kingdom on PS2 for sure.

If not, then Wii is cool too.

only reason I prefer the Wii version is that it works with all the controllers.

I only have two corded ps2 controllers but like 9 or 10 cordless wii ones. It also loads a slight bit faster, but that's just trivial.

Rakai

Skull2185 wrote: »

MadWorld suffers from The Bulletstorm effect (Actually, I should say Bulletstorm suffers from The MadWorld Effect) meaning, its premise and gameplay get real old real quick.

Except Madworld is actually funny.

Arteen

WiiSports Resort was rather fun. And I'll second the Boom Blox love. I assume "MP3" is Metroid Prime 3, so let me warn you away from Metroid: Other M. There are many other games more worthy of your time than MOM.

apotheos

I really enjoyed Metroid Other M.

I mean the plot was total shit, but the gameplay was really fresh and fun.

apotheos

...wait the plot wasn't total shit. The localization was.

Arteen

The gameplay was dull and awkward, the art direction was bland and a huge step down from the Prime games, and the story really was awful. Sakamoto had a rather heavy hand in the localization, so its awfulness is exactly as he intended. MOM's mediocre, through-and-through.

If you want to play a quality Metroid game on the Wii, just download Super Metroid off the Virtual Console or grab the Prime Trilogy.

maximumzero

Epic Mickey

Xenogears of Bore

Yeah if I was honestly Wii gaming on a total budget I'd probably just download Ogre Battle 64 and Majora's Mask which would keep any normal person busy for six months.

SteevL

Ultimanecat wrote: »

Edit: Oh yeah, the Wii is online if there is something I absolutely must have from that end of things.

As a matter of fact....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rn8TXEvKFQg

The BIT.TRIP series is well worth your time and money. There are six of them total. I think the first three games are $5, and they go up from there. BIT.TRIP BEAT is the first, followed by CORE, VOID, RUNNER, FATE, AND FLUX.

My favorite is the fifth one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7f7OZpuffM

ystael

Xagarath wrote: »

Sin and Punishment: Star Successor/Successor of the Skies is the best rail shooter ever made.

And if you want more Sin and Punishment, the original N64 game is on the Virtual Console for 1200.

Actually, not sure I get to lime that, because I never played the Panzer Dragoon games. If Panzer Dragoon Orta is better than Star Successor, though, I may be forced to buy an Xbox tomorrow.

Mattnyx

I'll Second Metroid other M (Good story and a great 3D translation of the 2D games with some weird localization and flow issues.)and Epic Mickey (Great game play, occasionally lousy camera. If you are into Disney at all you'll really get a kick out of it.).

Sin and Punishment is also stellar.

Rabbids go Home is a fun Katamari/Platformer thing with a fun subversive streak.

Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles: the Crystal Bearers (:the attack of the colons) is fun if flawed game also. Total worthless map and slightly wonky camera controls. But the characters are great and there's much chaotic fun to be had.

and Silent Hill: Shattered Memories is sooooooooo worth it.

Kuratosu

Xagarath wrote: »

Little King's Story is the most original and one of the most substantial singleplayer games on the system and utterly, wonderfully charming.

Silent Hill: Shattered Memories is perfectly fitted to the Wii controls, and one of the very few videogames to do anything interesting with interactive storytelling.

Sin and Punishment: Star Successor/Successor of the Skies is the best rail shooter ever made.

All three should be pretty cheap by now.

These are all fantastic choices. Shattered Memories and LKS being two of my most favourite titles for the Wii. I know you can get LKS dirt cheap now as well.

I'd like to throw Trauma Team into the ring as well.

Xenogears of Bore

Sin and Punishment isn't too bad price wise either.

Sometimes I find Punchout for ten, other times for fifty. It's a really nice remake.

Also I can recommend basically every lightgun game besides Ghost Squad.

plufim

The Wii version of Resident Evil 4 is incredible, and is currently the best version (the upcoming HD remakes of RE4 and RE:CV will apparently have a bit more content).
Batman: Brave and the Bold is meant to be a funny beat-em-up, and can probably be gotten on the cheap.
Endless Ocean 2 is worth looking into. A diving sim doesn't sound like a good game, but it has a fun story, incredible music and graphics, and is super relaxing to play with a huge amount of content.
Warioland: the shake dimension is a fantastic 2D platformer, with amazing hand -drawn sprites.
Excitebots is pretty cool, but if you can get Excitetruck for super cheap, just grab that.
Oh, and Sonic Colours/Colors is actually really good. Best sonic game in a decade, although admittadely that isn't hard. But it jettisons all the shitty friends, has a lot of 2D sections, an incredibly silly and light-hearted plot, and again - no shitty friends.

Brainiac 8

I'll also throw in a recommend for Metroid: Other M.

Forget the haters, it's a fun game. I personally enjoyed the plot and them making Samus an actual character, but your mileage on the plot enjoyment may vary.

The gameplay though, is absolutely wonderful. It has a neat third person to first person mechanic, and is a good step in taking the Metroid games and making them 2D without seeming 2D.

LBD_Nytetrayn

Red Steel 2, which came out a year ago. I've rather enjoyed it, especially since I picked it up for cheap, with the MotionPlus included.

I just wish I'd been able to get it at release for full price to better support the series/developers moving forward.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7eVxRJoTewc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Be0WPw7FPZ8

I just want to add that I am typically not a big fan of first-person type games, but I really enjoyed this.

Jam Warrior

Seeing you are a man of taste who picked up Zack and Wiki, I heartily recommend Little King's Story as truly charming and unique experience.