So, you will have that shiny new Wii U sitting under your TV soon (if you pre ordered, otherwise good luck) and while you will be enjoying a brand new game or two (or four) you shouldn't forget that you can play the entire collection of original Wii titles on your new system as well.
Plus you really should be getting some Wii-Motes for the upcoming Wii U games, thus you will already have everything you need to play!
So I dug through my collection to bring you a few of my favorites that I think you should give a go especially if you skipped the Wii entirely and just stuck to the Xbox360, PS3, or PC. I will stick to mostly exclusive titles unless noted that it is a "unique" experience from the Wii version. So hopefully this will show you that while the Wii did have a huge pile of crap games, there were definitely some diamonds that made it worth digging through in the end.
Now onto my list (in no particular order) Click to continue.
1: Super Mario Galaxy 2
While the Wii U is getting a brand new 2D style Mario game at launch, this title really showed off the great and wild imagination from the house of Nintendo.
2: Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure
This is an older Wii title but it will give a good range of puzzles ranging from the beginners up to the advanced players. It also gave a good creative way to use the Wii remote for control while allowing other players to use up to three more Wii-Motes to help draw ideas which turned it into a good co-op experience.
3: Deadly Creatures
Deadly Creatures is a game that allowed you to play as either a spider or a scorpion while you went around a world that had its story told via full sized humans that you are literally underfoot. You would fight everything from other insects, rodents, even snakes. You were given the abilities of the bugs you played as so you could climb up the walls, shoots webs, and poison the other vermin that were around you. So why settle for a two legged 3rd person game when you can jump all the way to eight?
4: A Boy and His Blob
Rayman may be coming with the beautiful new HD graphics that the Wii U can support, but A Boy and His Blob shows that even the "SD" games can be beautiful as well as give a fun and heart warming single player experience. Use your jellybeans to make your blob transform into what you need to defeat other creatures and explore the world. It has a freaking hug button...nuff said. Play it and love the way your inner child smiles.
5: Conduit 1 & 2
The Conduit series was touted as the first original FPS series that would really show what the Wii could do, as well as how well the controls could benefit a game of its nature. And while this didn't end up taking the world by storm, I would recommend them for their hilarious original story of American historical figures and some good old Aliens.
6: Excite Bots: Trick Racing
Racing games come and go, but how many let you start off driving a robotic tree frog that can change the landscape while you race, throw darts while you drive, play some poker while driving, all while proving to have some great motion based steering that combines for a hilariously original racer. If that all seems too crazy, you can also grab ExciteTruck which this game was originally made from.
7: Super Smash Bros. Brawl
If you play on a Nintendo system, then you know that you should be playing some Smash Bros...plain and simple. Brawl may not be the most popular (that honor seems to go to Melee) the game still is a blast to play with friends. BONUS - With the Virtual Console making the jump you can go really old school and download the original N64 edition as well.
8: Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars
One on one Street Fighter style fighting games more your flavor? Then by all means pick up this great fighter from Capcom that pits their expanded universe of characters against one of the biggest Anime/Manga houses from the land of the rising sun. This was the first game to implement the new simpler controls that became standard for Marvel Vs Capcom 3 so it shouldn't be a hard jump. BONUS - Since this is a Wii title, Capcom was forced to pretty much include all of their characters so when you buy it...you get everything. Nothing locked away on the disc that you can't unlock by simply playing the game.
9: Red Steel 2
Red Steel was supposed to be a HUGE game for the launch of the Wii...boy were they wrong. They wanted to show that the Wii-Mote could be used as your gun along with your sword for different sections. This was such a fun idea that helped to fuel the original run for the system at launch but didn't really come to fruition until Red Steel 2 showed up along with the new Wii Motion Plus attachment. Together these gave us a fun western game that would allow you to change from your gun to your sword in real time while taking out whatever comes your way.
10: Wario Land Shake It!
Wario was originally just a villain for Mario to contend with but he eventually came into his own light with stellar portable 2D style outings even getting one of the few titles to keep an eye on for the Nintendo Virtual Boy. This new 2D platformer benefits from the Wii's NES style controls for easy to play accessibility along with some funny uses of the motion to "shake" the crap out of enemies along with some fun puzzles. It's a deep and hilarious game that highlights how even Nintendo's smaller characters can be used in creative ways.
11: Disney Epic Mickey
Looking forward to the new game on the 360/PS3/Wii U? Then you should really play the first one the way it was originally intended. Use the Wii-Mote and Nunchuk to control Mickey's world through paint and thinner while exploring the deep history that Disney has built up for so many decades before.
12: Mad World
If you were told that the Wii was only for kids games, let this be a lesson to how wrong you (kinda) were. While Nintendo does show that really good games don't have to be all about sex, blood, and violence...Mad World says to hell with that and dips you deep into a world that is such a different even it's graphics are black and white. The little touches of color really "pop" on the stark design and everything will be dripping with blood while you destroy the hordes. Just make sure kids basically don't exist while you play this because the (somewhat repetitive) colorful comments from Greg Proops and John DiMaggio will be delivered while you kill non-stop.
13: Donkey Kong Country Returns
Rare brought us a beautiful new take on the Donkey Kong family for the SNES, but Retro was given the job to bring that world onto the Wii anew. They succeeded completely. This game brings such a beautiful mix of art styles while also giving a good challenge for players and a great deal of secrets to discover for the ones that put in the time. Just like the SNES game it came from, it is still a fun co-op game to boot.
14: Sin & Punishment Star Successor
Treasure has a great history for making crazy fast shooters over the years that people clamour to play. The original Sin & Punishment became one of the most imported titles on the Nintendo 64 (BONUS: You can play that via the Virtual Console to boot) so they took that games system, jumped up the gameplay to crazy levels, then put it on the Wii where the pointer controls finally made perfect sense. If you want a great challenge and some fun shooting things, this game is for you.
15: Super Paper Mario
Paper Mario started back on the Nintendo 64 as the spiritual successor to the excellent Super Mario RPG on the Super Nintendo. It introduced the fan favorite "paper" art style that Nintendo used not just as a visual effect, but let it effect the gameplay where characters fold into planes, get blown around by wind or ,in this platformer addition to the series, turn the world sideways so that paper becomes thin and harmless and new areas can be accessed. Everything clicks in place that first time you turn the world to make the giant bolder become the simple cardboard cut out it is so it just rolls right past. The writing can be a bit excessive sometimes, but at least the writing is great so you are guaranteed some spot on laughs while you play.
16: Silent Hill Shattered Memories
Power is what gamers go after when they pick up that controller, but this game does best by taking that power away from you completely. Silent Hill Shattered Memories is technically a remake of the original Silent Hill but they removed all ability to fight back so you are forced to run from any and all threats that show their horribly disfigured faces. Just the simple act of turning the hunter into the prey brings a fear that Resident Evil and other "survival horror" games seem to have forgotten how to implement anymore in exchange for becoming action games. The graphics impress by showing great lighting effects with your flashlight which is controlled directly with the Wii-Mote for a very immersive feel that helps pull you in. If you want a good scare to go along with ZombiU, pick this game up for sure.
17: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
People keep saying they are upset because the Wii U isn't launching with a new Zelda title, but honestly they just released one last year that was rated as one of the best Zelda games made...and it works just fine on your new Wii U as well! You can use the Wii Motion Plus to act as your sword with a level of control that lets you have a new freedom to fight and explore along with your old weapons becoming more accurate. Add on a wonderful origin story for the entire Legend of Zelda series and you will have no problem waiting for the sure to come Wii U Zelda.
18: The Last Story
If your a fan of RPG's, then you may have a bit to wait unless you somehow never played Mass Effect 3 on anything else in existence. The Last Story lives up to its name as one of the last stories to show up on the Wii proper. This game may be a hard one to get ahold of, it is an enjoyable twist to the way that RPG's are played, and it comes from Hironobu Sakaguchi (created Final Fantasy) and Nobuo Uematsu (created the music for most Final Fantasy games) so you know it was made by some competent folks.
19: Marble Saga Kororinpa
Sometimes the most simple of ideas can still lead to a great deal of fun, and the basic premise of using motion control to move a marble from point A to point B becomes a colorful adventure with an ever increasing difficulty to work through. Colorful additions like changing your ball into different animals makes it a funny experience while you get your hands and brain to work together to solve the levels. You can even play some special levels by using the Wii Balance Board.
20: Kirby's Dream Collection
Why pay for one game when you can get six along with an art book, a soundtrack CD, a couple of cartoons, an interactive history, and even a few concert videos. Yep, Kirby is really shown some love for his 20th birthday by Nintendo by giving you Kirby's Dream Land (Gameboy), Kirby's Adventure (NES), Kirby's Dream Land 2 (Game Boy), Kirby Super Star (SNES), Kirby's Dream Land 3 (SNES) and Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards (Nintendo 64) all of which are completely playable with just the Wii-Mote turned sideways or you can use the Classic Controller for a better fit.
Agree with these picks, or maybe you know of some we should have added? Feel free to comment below or message us on Twitter (@Zenspath) to talk about how wrong, right, or whatever we are. We want to hear from you.!