It’s been years.  I have put off buying a Wii for years.  However it appears that I strung the family on long enough with the Gamecube and Xbox 360.  It finally happened, we bought a Wii over spring break.  Best Buy had a good deal that weekend, and I was able to get the Wii system with a free copy of Wii Sports Resort that game with the Motion Plus adapter in it (two months later, this is now the standard bundle, but at least I didn’t over-pay). Then of course I picked up Wii Play as the second controller.  We quickly realized that this console is a hardware buying nightmare, in comparison to others I had bought in the past.  With a family of 5, having the maximum amount of controllers is key.  After limping along for several weeks I was able to snag two more wiimotes and three nunchucks off the local Craigslist, and some non-branded Motion Plus adapters off DealExtreme.

But really, the focus is the games.  Now we all know the Wii isn’t any kind of modern technical marvel.  In fact, the core system is hardly more powerful than the Gamecube that came before it.  Where the Wii shines is gameplay.  Getting a crowd of people together all waggling towards a common goal or duking it out against each other is what makes this console interactive and fun.  Let’s get to the games, and more specifically, the ones I feel are worth a play.

Many of the games that come out for the Wii are trash.  A hasty flash game port or another random collection of mini games, they feel tired, unoriginal, lame and a waste of money.  Overall, the first party games from Nintendo are usually a safe bet, but even these are often just upgrades from a Gamecube version, which is often an upgrade from an N64 version.  It takes time to find the jewels in the pile of waste.  Below is my quick list and a summary of each game that I have found reasonably entertaining.

Wii Play – I don’t recommend this for the games it includes at the full retail price.  Even my kids lost interest in them after a while, but it’s a great way to get a second controller and add a few extra mini games to your collection.  You are going to buy that controller anyway.  Cow racing only goes so far.

Animal Crossing City Folk – My kids have always gone crazy for this series.  Granted, the core game has hardly changed since it came out on the N64, however it is a very engaging game for children.  The kids have spent countless hours doing little tasks around their town, decorating their home, sending messages between each other.  I’d recommend it for 12 and under.

Harvest Moon: Tree of Tranquility – This game has some elements that are similar to Animal Crossing, but with much more depth.  You can choose to farm, go mining, enter contests at the local fair, do tasks around your town and even foster a relationship and get married.  This is the game that took over for my kids after Animal Crossing waned for their attention.

Boom Blox/Boom Blox Bash Party – Personally, I love this game.  It is very accessible to all ages.  For the most part, you are throwing things at Jenga like blocks or trying to pull pieces out of stacks without toppling the whole bunch.  It is a very creative game and secretly teaches you physics while you play it.  Great for hours of fun, I even play it with my wife.

Mario Party 8 – The next iteration of a long line of Mario Party games.  It’s basically going to be the same collection of mini games with new faces on them and lots more motion control than previous generations.  If you don’t have a Gamecube copy laying around to play, this is always a good game to pick up for group festivities.  Playing this game by yourself wouldn’t be nearly as much fun.

Mario Kart – Though it really isn’t that much different from the prior version on the Gamecube, it does have motion control.  You remember back in the day when you would turn the controller while playing a driving game, though it didn’t help you?  Now it will.  Fun party action with 4 players, and a grand opportunity for smack talk.

eXcite Truck – Like eXcite Bike and other eXciting games previously, this game pits you in a truck for all kinds of wild racing, truck jumping and other such trials.  A nice break from the endless mini game collections.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii – For those of us who grew up in the NES era, this might feel like old hat.  However, this is a fairly good remake of the original SMB side scroller from the 80′s.  Extending the game that was remade for the DS, this variation now adds 4 player co-op for better or worse.  Sometimes your partners can be a help, but often they can be in your way and push you into that pit of lava or steal your mushrooms.  Hard feelings or not, it is still a blast now that it is no longer just a single player experience.

Wii Fit – Yes, sometimes we need to stay a bit more active.  I was actually surprised to work up a light sweat the first night I played this with my wife.  Though a lot of the activities are centered around keeping your balance, they do try and keep the fun in making you stay active.  Wii Fit Plus adds the one thing that the original lacks, the ability to create a playlist of activities that you can string in a row.  One of the pet peeves of the first one is you spend a lot of time in menus before doing an activity that only lasts 1-3 minutes.

Wii Sports Resort – Usually a great way to pick up a motion plus adapter (much better accuracy, why didn’t they build them this way from the beginning?), this set of games can easily stand on its own.  As an upgrade to the Wii Sports that comes with the console, the mini games within this package are varied and multi leveled.  From disc golf to bicycling to kayaking, it has kept us entertained for many many many hours.  The downside for multiplayer is that every player MUST have a motion plus adapter to play, otherwise it won’t let you join.

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 – Also usually bundled with a motion plus adapter, this game with the improved accuracy of motion plus, makes you feel like you are really playing the game.  As much as a wiimote in your hand can feel like the real thing at least.  Character customization is great, and the gameplay has a lot of longevity in it.  The bonus feature on the Wii version of this game is that it includes multiple disc golf courses on it.  Bring a disc golf player myself, this is added draw, though there have been complaints that the disc golf in Wii Sports Resort runs with a better feeling of weight in the physics of the game.

Lego (anything) – Very popular on almost all platforms, the Lego series provides hours of adventure and exploration in the various licensed worlds (Indiana Jones, Batman, Star Wars).  If you have someone interested in any of the licensed worlds that Lego brings to their games, the fun is sure to follow.

So there you have it, my pick of games that we have enjoyed or will soon enjoy once I trade for them on Goozex or some such.  Feel free to leave your personal favorite in the comments section.

- Ben Mazhary-Clark

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