So with the news that Just Dance is not doing a 2021 version for the Wii, it is official that after nearly fifteen years of releases, the console is finally done for. I have wanted to do this thread for a very long time as I wanted to reminisce about one of my favorite consoles to come out of Nintendo.
The Wii has always held a special place in my heart as it was the console that brought me back to Nintendo. When the 32/64 bit era started, I decided to buy a Playstation instead of the N64. Then I did the same thing the next generation when I moved on to the PS2. So I never owned a N64 or Gamecube. I was fully in the Sony ecosystem. Then came the Nintendo Wii. The console intrigued me. I loved the idea of motion controls, Wii Sports looked amazing. I saw this console as a neat way to game with my daughter and I loved the idea of a social system where we could have get togethers with friends and enjoy games of Tennis and Bowling. So I pre-ordered the system.
When we got it, I fell in love. And even though it wasn't as powerful as the other systems and motion controls ended up being shoehorned into some games in annoying ways, to this day it continues to be one of my favorite consoles ever and has a fantastic and unique game libraries. The Wii is full of lower budget hidden gems that you might or might not have ever heard of. The Virtual Console and WiiWare produced some amazing games that unfortunately are lost to time now that the Wii Shop is closed. Miis were cute little avatars that allowed everyone to personalize their Wii experience. The creativity people had in making Miis with the limited Mii Maker still amazes me.
So let us remember fondly the amazing little system that was able to hold its own against the HD Twins. Every couple days I'll be posting up a new game that I love and explain why.
First up: Wii Sports
How could I not start with the game that sold the system to everyone? From little kids to nursing homes and everyone in between, this game was huge. It was such a smart decision to pack this game in with the system. The motion controls were easy to learn and intuitive. Tennis and Bowling in particular were the stars of many Wii parties I threw over the years. My family still pulls it out to play to this day. Everyone had this game and it was the perfect introduction into what Nintendo was trying to accomplish with the Wii.
Iwata knew that it was a losing battle to try and compete directly with Microsoft and Sony going into the HD era. So he took a gamble to not try to match them in power, but instead change the way people played. Wii Sports was the crowning jewel of this philosophy. Truly a timeless masterpiece.
Second: One of my personal favorite games on the system. Punch Out!
When this came out, there hadn't been a new Punch Out on console since the SNES. The return of this franchise was amazing! Next Level games put so much personality in the boxers and brought Little Mac back in a big way. The game had a mix of old fighters from the original and Super, plus added a new boxer with Disco Kid. The game was fast and just as exciting as the old games. You work your way through career mode and then once completed, you unlock Title Defense mode. In this mode you work your way through the fighters again, but they have added new moves and defenses (for example, in Title Defense mode, King Hippo has taped a manhole cover on his stomach as a protection lol). Then when you complete Title Defense, you unlock endurance, where you fight an endless series of random boxers. One of the boxers you can fight in this mode only is Donkey Kong.
The game is fantastic in every way! If you have a Wii or Wii U, it would be worth finding a copy.
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And I have a WaveBird for Gamecube games running from the external hard drive.
The Wii was the only thing I ever camped out for, getting it a week before Christmas 2006. It wasn't that I really wanted one, but that I knew my closest Best Buy was getting some and I had never camped out for anything and just wanted to experience it. Thankfully it was a Texas Christmas, so the low was like 60 that night.
Then some licensed games just added 'shake like mad' to do any of the attacks.
Then you have some cases like the Pikmin games and Metroid Prime that the IR pointing capabilities and motion controls were straight up better and made the games more fun.
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I get pretty tired of people hating on motion controls just because some of the early games didn't handle it very well. There have been plenty of games with bad controls but no one ever blamed 'Button Controls'.
Other excellent Wii games to remember: ExciteTruck, Sin and Punishment: Star Successor. Motion controls!!
Reminds me back in the day on some board where someone tried to dismissively reduce motion controls to something like, "waving a stick around for half an hour doesn't sound like a lot of fun", to which I retorted:
"Pushing buttons for half an hour doesn't sound like a lot of fun.
Moving a ball around for half an hour doesn't sound like a lot of fun.
Looking at a moving picture for half an hour doesn't sound like a lot of fun.
Rubbing a body part for half an hour doesn't sound like a lot of fun."
We play it on our older HDTV using component cables; I got an HDMI adapter but our TV (Hisense H9G) couldn't really do Rock Band even in game mode (it either lagged too much or looked like garbage). I honestly considered getting a used WiiU just for the HDMI.
LCD panel manufacturers were loving those early Wii days.
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Looking at my slim collection of Wii games I held on to, outside of the obvious Marios and Zeldas I have No More Heroes 1&2 and then these two lesser known gems:
Wario was a gorgeous 2D platformer that looked like a cartoon you could control. I seem to remember it being on the short side if you blast through but having slightly sonic-esque speed run challenges where you try and keep your shoulder charge going as long as possible to tear through the levels.
And Zack and Wicki was a pretty unique combo of 3D adventure and 2D point and click puzzler. Slightly trial and error at times which could frustrate but it really spoke to me and I loved it.
Tempted to bust both out while I have the console connected.
Warioland was so good that I'm really sad we haven't had one since.
Speaking of: This is my current Wii collection. Nothing crazy. I've downsized a few that I got for other systems like Xenoblade and Mario Galaxy.
A few that I'm hoping to grab at some point soon are ExciteTruck and The Munchables.
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Today's game spotlight is Mario Strikers Charged!
Fantastic, if not one of the best Mario sports games. It was super fun with a ton of playable characters. Each had their own special. The game was strangely gritty and X-Treme for a Mario sports game. I mean, look at this intro!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBinxNwAN5s&ab_channel=NintendoMovies
Plus the online worked nearly flawlessly, which on the Wii was an accomplishment.
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Still, I have some fond memories of the thing. Not least was release day where I went out to the shops that wet and dreary morning and discovered they were all sold out. I also remember running into this one other guy over and over again who was clearly on the same doomed errand I was.
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Which leads me to ask: Anyone have experience with 3rd party Wii remotes? I've seen a few on Amazon but i'm a bit wary.
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