17 years late, but I'm enjoying Wii

[Cynicaster]

A few of my friends had Wiis back when they were current and I dabbled with them a tiny bit back then, but for the most part I kind of wrote off the Wii as gimmicky and stupid.  My now-wife already had a Wii when we met 11 years ago, and we've carried it with us ever since, but never hooked it up.  A few months ago I decided to hook it up and get some games.

    

Well, color me surprised.  I'm having a lot of fun with this thing.  What initially prompted me to hook it up was that I wanted to add some easy, arcade-y type games to my basement game room for when a certain buddy of mine comes over.  We often get together for beers and games and he genuinely enjoys playing but if he doesn't "get" a certain game immediately, he shuts down and gives up on it, which makes it difficult for me to find new games to suggest.  Our list of go-to games hasn't grown much at all in the last 10+ years (full of casual-friendly stuff like Golden Tee and Shuuz, overdone classics like Galaga and Pac-Man, head-to-head stuff like NBA Jam and Windjammers).

 

I realized that there were probably a ton of simple, sort of mindless walk-up-and-play games on the Wii, and I haven't been disappointed.    

 

Part of what I found dumb about the Wii all those years ago was that the motion controls in some games seemed pointless at best, and exasperating at worst.  I've always been open to motion controls as a concept, so long as the technique with which you move the controller actually impacts your result, as opposed to pointlessly replacing button presses with wrist flicks and arm waggles just to say you have done so.  There are indeed a lot of games that seem to fall into the latter category, which is a shame, but not surprising.

 

But the games that make good use of the Wii remote and/or nunchuk are genuinely a lot of fun.  The concept seems a bit quaint now, after having tried my nephew's VR headset with its motion-based controls, but whenever I try VR I feel like I'm going to vomit so I'm more than happy to use the Wii on a CRT instead.

 

Light gun games are kind of a no-brainer due to the Wii controls and my desire for arcade-y experiences, so I've picked up a second Wii remote and 2 zappers.  Some cool light-gun type games I've been playing: House of the Dead, Resident Evil, Ghost Squad, Chicken Riot, Medal of Honor Heroes 2

 

I've only got about 45min in on each but Sin and Punishment 2 and Red Steel 2 so far seem pretty bad ass.  As I write this, I've actually got a bit of a stiff shoulder from RS2... getting old sucks.    

 

I didn't really care for the original Wii Sports back when it came out, and I still don't care much for it, but I'm really digging Wii Sports Resort because I think the WM+ brings some much needed fidelity to the controls.  Wario Ware Smooth Moves seems cool in a very "WTF" kind of way, only have a few minutes on that one so far.  

 

If anyone has any simple party-type games that they'd recommend, I'm all ears.  I'm mostly interested in games that require the Wii specifically as part of the experience, as opposed to games that use only conventional controls, because elsewhere I already have more of that than I can handle.    

 

 

Edited April 12 by Cynicaster

[Asaki]

There's also Wii Play, it's got a lot of arcade-style minigames.
Punch-Out!! is awesome, but I don't know what the multiplayer is like.

I thought Ghostbusters was fun in small doses, I bet it's more fun in mutliplayer.

Rayman Raving Rabbids seems like it might be fun, but I didn't put a lot of time into it.
I've heard good things about Wii Music, but never played it myself.
I know some people love the racing games that let you use the Wiimote as a steering wheel, but I've not really been able to get into it.

 

I use the Wii a lot for homebrew emulators, it has really good support for 240p mode on CRTs (if you're into that sort of thing).

[Cynicaster]

34 minutes ago, Asaki said:

There's also Wii Play, it's got a lot of arcade-style minigames.
Punch-Out!! is awesome, but I don't know what the multiplayer is like.

I thought Ghostbusters was fun in small doses, I bet it's more fun in mutliplayer.

Rayman Raving Rabbids seems like it might be fun, but I didn't put a lot of time into it.
I've heard good things about Wii Music, but never played it myself.
I know some people love the racing games that let you use the Wiimote as a steering wheel, but I've not really been able to get into it.

 

I use the Wii a lot for homebrew emulators, it has really good support for 240p mode on CRTs (if you're into that sort of thing).

Punch Out is already on my radar because Mike Tyson's Punch Out is probably an all-time-top-10 game for me, and I really enjoyed the SNES game as well.  

 

Thanks for the other suggestions.  Regarding emulators and CRTs, those are both definitely in my wheelhouse.  My Wii is hooked up to a CRT, in fact.  I was wondering if it would be better on a more modern TV but after seeing how it plays/looks on my CRT, that's where it's going to stay.  What are the good emulators on Wii?  I was thinking about that and came to the conclusion that it's probably pretty limited for my use case because the "1" and "2" buttons on the Wii remote seem to be the only ones that would be usable when using the controller as a conventional d-pad.  Which means, anything beyond 3rd gen would be tough unless I went and bought the classic controllers, which I don't want to do because I'm really trying to limit the amount of new junk I buy.  

 

 

[Austin]

I had a similar stance on the Wii when it was relatively new. I got into it near the end of its life (by purchasing my own system), ended up really getting into it and had wished I had done so sooner. I think it's a great console that's easy to dismiss because of the shovelware and budget releases that were overly abundant. Cool to see you getting into it!

 

All-time favorites on it for me are Mario Galaxy, Donkey Kong Country Returns, Xenoblade Chronicles and Punch-Out. That last one in particular is a great "pick up and play" kind of game. More recently I've been dabbling with Excite Truck which has been super fun, along with the Ultimate Shooting Collection, which includes three Milestone shmups (Karous, Radirgy and Chaos Field). Chaos Field in particular is one of those STGs I completely dismissed when it released on Dreamcast and Game Cube, but I got into it recently via that collection and think it's pretty sweet. The Wii version is probably one of the better ways to play it, same with Radirgy/Radio Allergy.

 

With the console I still have, I had downloaded lots of stuff from the Virtual Console over the years, but transferred it all to my Wii U when that system launched. So, with no digital downloads remaining on it for the most part, I decided to go ahead and softmod it a couple months back. The process for that was pretty easy and now I can use Nintendon't to load up Game Cube stuff off the SD card, another great use for the Wii. There's also some goofy homebrew releases that may or not be worth trying, but having the option to do so allows for even more options with this platform.

 

Regarding its emulators (after modding the system), the ones for 8 and 16-bit platforms are generally pretty decent, but a CRT is a must. If you run them through a HD display (even via an upscaler), they look terrible. Also, a Classic Controller is a must. Just buy one and keep it with your Wiimote wherever you store it (it has to attach to it anyway). Also, do the Classic Controller Pro, not the standard one (the shoulder trigger locations are awkward on the original). You'll use it for emulators, arcade compilations and other more traditional console-style games.

Edited April 12 by Austin

[Cynicaster]

Yeah, I picked up Mario Galaxy and Paper Mario because my daughter is currently going through a Mario obsession phase.  I have heard the names through the years but as of right now I know absolutely zero about what the deal is with either of these games, how they work, or how they hold up in the Marioverse.  

 

The Ultimate Shooting Collection looks kind of cool, even if I have other ways to play all of those games.  

 

I was thinking about Gamecube stuff - another console that I know almost nothing about.  My Wii does have the GC ports, but after spending a little bit of time trying to research the game library, I'm not seeing much that looks like it would be a good match for the types of games I want to play.  It looks like there are a few shoot em ups but nothing that I can't play elsewhere. 

 

  

 

 

Edited April 12 by Cynicaster

[+Cafeman]

I've been itching to hook up my Wii, also to play some GameCube games on it.  My disc spin started to make a noise, like the edge is barely touching the lid or something, which is distracting and I never had it fixed. I think it's been 4 or 5 years since I played the console. 

 

My son used Wii  far more than I did (Animal Crossing / Mario Kart / Smash Bros / Paper Mario).  I never loved most of the library at the time. Personally, I had a good time with Excite Truck,  Donkey Kong Country,  and Punch Out (I didn't use motion controls however).   

 

I hated the forced inclusion of motion controls in many games that we rented,  but Wii Sports was much fun when people came over. We had a Rayman Rabbids screen shooter that was fun and different.  Super Mario Galaxy 1 and 2 are high quality. I got great satisfaction at slinging/ whipping the controller to shoot Mario from a star. Endless Ocean was peaceful yet sometimes eerie ocean exploration - bumping into Goblin Sharks or other unexpected sea critters often startled me in that game. 

 

Didn't Metroid Prime Trilogy get released on Wii, with wide-screen added? Those would be awesome if you didn't already play the GameCube originals. 

[roots.genoa]

1 hour ago, Cafeman said:

Endless Ocean was peaceful yet sometimes eerie ocean exploration - bumping into Goblin Sharks or other unexpected sea critters often startled me in that game.

THIS! I love that series.

 

I would also recommend Boom Blox, great party game.

[Asaki]

On 4/12/2024 at 12:21 PM, Cynicaster said:

What are the good emulators on Wii?  I was thinking about that and came to the conclusion that it's probably pretty limited for my use case because the "1" and "2" buttons on the Wii remote seem to be the only ones that would be usable when using the controller as a conventional d-pad.  Which means, anything beyond 3rd gen would be tough unless I went and bought the classic controllers, which I don't want to do because I'm really trying to limit the amount of new junk I buy.

Oh, I don't know, there are tons of great emulators on the Wii. Most of the classics all support 240p mode...there are only a few that don't, like MSX or ZX-Spectrum.
Yeah, emulators like NES allow you to hold the Wiimote sideways and use 1 and 2 as B and A. Not the most comfortable way to play, but it works decent enough for a lot of emulators. 3-button Genesis games, you might have to bind a lesser-used button to B or A.
We got by with a few SNES games that way, but it's not ideal.
Stuff like N64, you can use Wiimote + nunchuck.
I'd really recommend getting at least one Classic Controller though, they're pretty nice.

I ended up getting a Raphnet wired adapter so I can plug real S/NES controllers into the Gamecube ports, it's really nice, especially for things like Game Boy Player.
One of these days I need to grab a Genesis/Atari one.
 

21 hours ago, Cafeman said:

Didn't Metroid Prime Trilogy get released on Wii, with wide-screen added? Those would be awesome if you didn't already play the GameCube originals. 

I haven't played the Wiimake, but we tried the multiplayer in the original Prime 2 once, and it was pretty awful.
Forced auto-aim + projectile weapons = you'll always miss unless your opponent is holding still.

Pretty sure the GameCube versions already had widescreen support, BTW. Says they're both progressive scan compatible.

[Cynicaster]

Last night I tried Punchout! with motion controls, which I thought was going to suck.  But somehow, I was having a blast.  I'm only about 30 min into the game but wow, it looks really nice and seems super fun.  Nintendo sure are masters of polish, at least when it comes to their legacy IP.  

 

It's not lost on me that the "motion controls" are pretty shallow in the sense that your punching technique really makes no difference.  If the accelerometers in the remote/nunchuck register a blip, they map it to a button press.  You even have to press "up" on the control stick while punching to do head shots, as opposed to physically punching high or low.  Still, it manages to be fun.  I'll be playing a lot more of that one.  

 

 

[Asaki]

2 hours ago, Cynicaster said:

If the accelerometers in the remote/nunchuck register a blip, they map it to a button press.

Yeah, but it's good enough for jabs, and it's quite a workout after a bit. If it was more accurate, I'd probably get my butt kicked for having bad form >_<
You can also hook up the balance board to use for dodging...that takes quite a bit to get used to.

[Cynicaster]

22 minutes ago, Asaki said:

Yeah, but it's good enough for jabs, and it's quite a workout after a bit. If it was more accurate, I'd probably get my butt kicked for having bad form >_<
You can also hook up the balance board to use for dodging...that takes quite a bit to get used to.

For sure, I was having a blast despite the simplicity of it.  I'm sure the Wii remote has all the motion sensing capability that would be needed to make a more advanced system but maybe they play tested that idea and found that the simplified controls had much fewer missed or misread inputs, so it was a good trade off. 

 

I do have a balance board so I'll try that out too.  If it's used for dodging I'll be surprised if I'm able to use it with enough precision to get anywhere, but then again I didn't think the game would be playable with the punching gestures either and that turned out to be incorrect, so I gotta at least give it a whirl. 

 

It is a decent workout as far as a video game goes.  It's enough to actually burn calories but still tame enough that I feel like I can do it for a long stretch of time without agony.  

 

 

 

[Cynicaster]

I was trying out more Wii games last night.  I've talked about some of the stuff I've enjoyed, so I'd be remiss if I didn't touch upon some of the duds I've played as well.    

 

Last night's session was devoted to "Game Party 3."  Video below is not mine.  

 

 

I've checked out a few of these third-party "mini-games compilations" and some of them are helping me understand how the Wii ended up with a reputation for being a bit of a haven for low-priced shovel-ware. 

 

With the huge popularity and critical acclaim surrounding Wii Sports, I guess it's easy to see why a bunch of copycats came out of the woodwork to try to cash in on the craze.  Not only that, but there's no denying that these types of games lend themselves to the motion controls of the Wii, because the real-life actions can be easily mimicked with simple swipes and gestures.

 

If the controls of Game Party 3 weren't so half-assed and shallow then I could see my buddy and I getting a lot of play out of this one.  For example - horse shoes and lawn darts.  If there were actually some nuance to the technique and some production value to the presentation, I think those would be a lot of fun.  But as it is, you do the simple "toss" gesture and the results seem almost random.  I mentioned earlier that my friend and I have spent a lot of time playing Shuuz (horse shoes) on MAME, and the trackball controls on that offer much more precision than what I'm picking up from this Wii title.  Too bad.  

 

 

 

  

 

 

[edweird13]

My son just gave me a Gen 1 Wii. I got the homebrew channel loaded. I am having a blast with it Wii games plus the Gamecube games and the Virtual Console stuff. I will be busy with it for a long time.

[Cynicaster]

Games played last night:

 

Jeopardy – I was pleasantly surprised at this one, I played a quick solo game against computer opponents and it was pretty fun.  Having Alex Trebek as host is great.  I think it’s very important to have the host read out the questions just like the TV show, and Alex does that here.  This makes the game a million times better than the crappy Jeopardy I bought for my daughter’s Switch over Christmas. 

 

Mario vs. Sonic at the 2012 Olympics (or whatever it’s called) – for most events it took me several tries to even figure out how and when I’m supposed to move the wiimote.  There are onscreen instructions, but I found them pretty useless for most of the events I tried (which was only a fraction of them).  Once I figured out what to do with the controller on a given event, I was entertained.  I can see people criticizing this game and its controls for being shallow (especially since Wii MotionPlus is disappointingly absent) but I don’t fault this game too much for that because shallow controls for Track & Field games is a tradition that goes back to the early 80s arcade game.  These games have always been about some simple combo of button mashing and timing, which maps just fine to motion controls without necessarily being much better or worse.  What matters in a game like this is the presentation and how the results of your inputs play out on the screen.  On that front, this game gets high marks.

 

Sniper Elite – kind of neat WW2-themed third person shooter that emphasizes stealth and keeping distance to maintain the advantage of your sniper rifle.  Looking through your scope and popping off enemies using the IR pointer function of the Wiimote works well.  Graphics look very dated but I’m not a stickler for that so don’t care.  Seems like there’s potential for this one but I don’t see myself devoting the time needed to work through a “campaign” type game like this. 

 

Luxor Pharaoh’s Challenge – a fun little puzzler that uses play mechanics that I first saw on an old arcade game called Puzzloop.  The arcade game used a spinner to aim your shots, this one of course uses the pointer on the Wiimote.  Pretty fun take on this formula but I got bored after 10-15min because the challenge was not ramping up.  The arcade game quickly ramps up and kicks your ass, which makes it a fun score blast type thing that can be enjoyed in little 5-10 minute tidbits.  This type of game does not benefit from a “story” IMO, but I understand that home games have different design criteria than coin-op games. 

 

Transformers: Cybertron Adventures – I only played this for about 5 minutes before going to bed but it seems to be a sort of rail shooter with a few extra gameplay elements.  I loved transformers growing up and I’ve never really got into a Transformers video game so I will give this one a bit more attention.  Seems cool at a glance, and it sounds like Peter Cullen is the voice of Optimus Prime so that’s a bonus. 

[Cynicaster]

Back at it again last night.  

 

Spyborgs - a decent beat-em-up type action game.  You deploy in teams of 2 - either with another player or a computer controlled partner - and basically beat the shit out of hordes of enemies like it's 1991.  The game plays primarily with the nunchuk stick and buttons, but you have this weird ability to "discover" items using the Wiimote pointer and a swipe gesture.  You have the ability to "upgrade" your abilities as you go, which I hope eventually brings some new attacks and tricks to the table, otherwise the game will probably run out of steam. 

 

TV Show King Party - who comes up with these names?  Anyway, it's a bog standard trivia/quiz game set up to play like a "game show" with a host, etc.  Trivia doesn't necessarily need to be dressed up to be entertaining, so I can see this one being fun in groups.  The "You Don't Know Jack" games have been a favorite in my family for many years, but that series can be tricky for newcomers because the weird ways that the questions get phrased tends to confuse people who may otherwise have the knowledge to answer the question, but just get thrown off by the phrasing.  A game like this Wii title is just vanilla Trivia, which there is definitely a place for.  

 

Carnival Games - hands down the shittiest "mini games" compilation I've tried so far.  Hot garbage. 

 

Mario Strikers Charged - apparently a sequel to a Gamecube game that I've never heard of.  It's basically soccer with some typical Marioverse touches added (power ups, special shots/attacks, etc.)  You pick a Marioverse "main" character as team captain (i.e., Mario, Luigi, Peach, Bowser, Wario, etc.) and then have 3 other more "generic" players on your team (shy guys, hammer bros, etc.) This setup makes it kind of reminiscent of Ice Hockey on NES where you pick between skinny/medium/fat based on your preference.  I've never played a soccer game that I have much cared for but this one is very charming and approachable, and seems like it could be a blast to play with other people. 

 

Super Swing Golf: Season 2 - I only played for about 10 minutes to do the tutorial and see how the controls work, and then work through an actual hole or 2 to see how it plays.  First impression is that this is pretty cool.  The motion controls work more or less as you'd expect, and the game itself reminds me a bit of the Hot Shots series, which is a good thing.  On the scale of "simple/arcade" on one end and "complex simulation" on the other, this game looks like it might be in the goldilocks zone.  Will definitely bring this out when friends are over and put it to the test.  

 

  

 

 

 

     

Edited April 18 by Cynicaster

[Austin]

Man, you're trying some real bangers there. More power to you. 🤣

[Cynicaster]

I decided to put some time into Resident Evil 4 - Wii Edition, and have probably played about 4-5 hours so far.  

 

Coming into this, the only RE game I've ever played was back in the late 90s when I rented the original for a weekend to play on PS1.  I remember not caring much for it because I found all the weird fixed camera angles confusing and the controls were horrible.    

 

I can see RE4 is highly regarded game in general, and I've had a pretty fun time with it so far.  The controls are leaps-and-bounds better than what I remember on PS1, but still a bit goofy with the Wii implementation.  I really like the idea of using the pointer functionality to aim your shots with the analog stick on the nunchuk for movement, but it really bugs me how you can't move your view around by dragging the cursor to the sides of the screen, as is done in some of the other games I've played.  

 

Also, I feel like with these types of games, you kind of get a good feel for the breadth of the game's experience very quickly then it's just rinse/repeat for several hours while a flimsy "story" attempts to bolt on some context for why you're walking around collecting items and shooting things.  So, while it was OK fun, I'm probably done with it.    

 

 

 

 

[Cynicaster]

My daughter is 6 and since getting a Switch for Christmas she has been pretty obsessed with playing video games.  It was Super Mario 3D World / Bowser's Fury that originally hooked her in.  She has also had a pretty strong interest in dragons for the last few years, which got me thinking of the Spyro the Dragon games (which I have never played, I only remember the name from the PS1 days).  

 

I grabbed "Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon" for Wii and now she's obsessed with it.  Reading up about this game, apparently it's the third game in a trilogy that is basically a "reboot" of the PS1-era Spyro series.  The original games were apparently very cartoony and kiddie, but the "Legend" trilogy tries to make them a bit more "serious" and dark.  This is a game that I would never in a million years be bothered to play for more than 10 minutes on my own but I must say I'm having a lot of fun playing it co-op with my daughter, because she's just so into it.  I have been playing a bit of Switch with her since Christmas which was fun for a while, but the constant "woo hoo!  Wup!  Ow!  Let's a-go!" of the Mario games was really starting to grate on me, so the fantasy setting of the Spyro game is a welcome change.   It has lots of pretty standard hack-n-slash type combat, exploration, basic puzzles, and cutscenes.  For voice actors, the cutscenes feature Elijah Wood and Christina Ricci as Spyro and his friend, and Mark Hamill as the bad guy. 

 

 

 

[Cynicaster]

Last night I was playing some Link's Crossbow Training on Wii.  That name sounds awfully lame, but it belies a very fun and addictive game.  It's a "light gun" style game that uses the goofy-looking-but-functional Wii Zapper peripheral.  The player takes on sets of timed shooting challenges, where each challenge is one of the following types:

 

1) shooting at stationary or moving bullseye targets out in front of you from a fixed position

2) shooting at enemies approaching from 360 degrees around you, but from a fixed position (a "radar" helps you see what is approaching from all sides)

3) shooting at enemies as you walk around using the nunchuk analog stick, in a sort of classic third-person shooter style (also assisted by a radar)

 

Each stage has you go through one of each of the above challenge types.  At the end your score from all 3 is tallied up and compared to different score thresholds for bronze, silver, and gold.  In order to unlock the next stage you need to get at least a bronze.  

 

I started playing the game with the intent to just play for a few minutes to see what it was about, because it was late and I wanted to get to bed.  But I ended up staying up waaaay too late.  It's one of those games.  It does seem pretty short, so the longer term replayability may be questionable, but the content that is there is some pretty excellent arcade-style fun.  Really looking forward to going head-to-head with friends and family on this one. 

 

  

[Austin]

Link's Crossbow Training totally surprised me a few years back. I got hooked on it. Short and simple, but addictive.

[Asaki]

On 4/26/2024 at 10:42 AM, Cynicaster said:

Also, I feel like with these types of games, you kind of get a good feel for the breadth of the game's experience very quickly then it's just rinse/repeat for several hours while a flimsy "story" attempts to bolt on some context for why you're walking around collecting items and shooting things.  So, while it was OK fun, I'm probably done with it.   

That's too bad, it's a really good game.
I still need to tackle the bonus games that unlock.