Wii Hidden Gems

[slacey1070]

I'd not turned on the Wii for about two year and decided to fire it up... and I've had a blast! Picked up a few cheap games and wondered what other "hidden gems" are out there, that you'd recommend.

I'm enjoying Boom Blox at the moment and picked up a handful of under £5 games, including House of the dead...

Anything else to look for??

[Megamixer]

I'd seriously recommend Klonoa. It's a remake of the (expensive) PS1 original but it's a good remake and a bloody nice platformer that isn't too taxing.

I read on Retro Collect recently that a Wii version of GTI Club exists which interests me as I never knew it existed. I'd say that qualifies as 'hidden'.

A lot of the games on the Wii that would be hidden gems on other systems do tend to get a lot of exposure though because they stand out from the rest of the catalogue a hell of a lot more. That's not taking anything away from those games but I do think people will list some pretty well-known games.

[IronMaidenRule]

There is a Ghost Recon game on the Wii that is a brilliant 'on the rails' shooter, played it from start to finish was really fun!

[RodimusPrime]

I'd seriously recommend Klonoa. It's a remake of the (expensive) PS1 original but it's a good remake and a bloody nice platformer that isn't too taxing.

I read on Retro Collect recently that a Wii version of GTI Club exists which interests me as I never knew it existed. I'd say that qualifies as 'hidden'.

A lot of the games on the Wii that would be hidden gems on other systems do tend to get a lot of exposure though because they stand out from the rest of the catalogue a hell of a lot more. That's not taking anything away from those games but I do think people will list some pretty well-known games.

GTI club is a nice little game for the Wii. Its starting to creep up in price now. I got mine for £14 inc Postage from australia.

[pratty]

Little Kings Story is a really fun Pikmin style real-time rpg. Very charming, and potentially lengthy if you're looking for bang for buck.

Mercury Meltdown Revolution is a quality tilt puzzle game. The motion controls work a treat and I actually prefer it to Monkey Ball.

[flatapex]

I am tempted to import gticlub too

[Shinobi]

Fragile Dreams
Muramasha the Demon blade
Beat the Beat: Rhythm Paradise
Project Zero 4
Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love cross between a RPG and a dating sim you level up by chatting women up

Lit which is a download game puzzle/survival horror in a school very good

[Treguard]

Excite Truck is one of my favourite racing games of all time. Deadly Creatures is really interesting, and has a suprisingly stellar cast (Billy Bob Thornton and Dennis Hopper).

[ShadowMan]

I second Fragile Dreams. A hauntingly beautiful game with a really interesting premise/story (certainly better than 90% of the "serious" games I've played for sure).

Mad World is an interesting game by Platinum that is very love/hate. I love it and really like the variety of ways you can use the environment to kill people and chain combo's together. Feels like an ultra violent 3D Final Fight with more environment interaction.

A Shadow's Tale is an interesting platformer where you control a shadow and manipulate light sources and platforms to create shadows to traverse the levels. It was a fairly unique idea at the time, Contrast does a similar thing but nowhere near as well.

A Boy and his Blob. A really cool, calm platformer that is a remake of the NES classic. Wonderfully drawn sprites and puzzle/platformer gameplay. Bosses are censored though which is a bit of a downer...

[Fightersmegamix]

Not sure there are any real hidden gems, everything decent was well advertised and known to most gamers at the time. I'll second the others though, Fragile Dreams is an awesome game.

[RodimusPrime]

If anyone can play US and japan games then i would fully reccommend Mileston shooting collection 1 and 2. known in the us as ultimate shooting collection.

has the likes of chaose field, radirgy, and karous on it.

[TheDude18]

I've rediscovered the Wii of late and also with my youngest slowly getting into gaming, it's been great time to pick up some fantastic games. As for some hidden gems, they aren't hidden as such, it was just a case of elitist gamers turning their noses up at the Wii or games disappearing from the shelves under the wait of shovelware. here's a few off the top of my head.

Madworld

I adore this game. For a game that had such a build up, it vanished as soon as it was released. A beat em up with inventive motion controls......in black and white.........with lots of swearing.............and blood. Not one for the younger audience then. Yes, its rather simple and can be repetitive in places a lot like an arcade game. But to me that's the point. When I dont have much game time and dont need to think much, Madworld it is. The commentary is f**kin hilarious too.

Eledees (Elebits in the USA?)

An early game in the Wii's life yet and interesting take on the use of that controller. A great little puzzler, simple, logical and mostly unknown. If you like Bloom Box then get this.

Battalion Wars 2

A sequel to a fairly unknown game on the Gamecube. As a massive fan of Advance Wars I took to these two games like a duck to water. However a sequel to Advance Wars they are not. More of a real time...............hybrid? Between this and the original there isn't much difference. Just a lot of polish and online multiplayer (which itself is rare for a Wii game)

[joefish]

L.A. Machineguns is (I think) the only conversion of the arcade big-gun shooter; it looks a bit primitive but is great fun for 2 players.

There's some really good stuff to download as well; a whole history of games from a load of consoles and a few arcade machines; Space Harrier for instance. I'm currently having a crack at Majora's Mask. Again a Zelda nut, but Gamecube disks run on it (you'll need a Gamecube controller and memory card) but that also means Windwaker and the bonus disk with Ocarina of Time and the Master Quest remix of it.

Gradius Rebirth and Contra Rebirth are fantastic updates if you enjoy either series. And Star Soldier-R has only a few short levels, but it's for high-score chasing and can be seriously addictive as you try and learn all the patterns and multipliers.

There's a free demo of Lit you can download; I highly recommend it, even if you don't go on to buy the game.

GTi Club Supermini Fiesta is strictly for fans of the arcade game though; by all reviews its other racing and challenge modes are pretty weak. You might want to look at Trackmania as an alternative; you design your own tracks like Scalextric.

de Blob is fun - leaping around a cityscape trying to reach higher targets and slap them with particular colours.

I wouldn't bother trying to get Boom Blox 2 - it varies too much from the original formula and isn't nearly as much fun.

Obvious (but hardly hidden) on-disk recommendations are Mario Galaxy (1), Twilight Princess and Resident Evil 4 (which is so much better with point-and-shoot).

[Megamixer]

A Boy and his Blob. A really cool, calm platformer that is a remake of the NES classic. Wonderfully drawn sprites and puzzle/platformer gameplay. Bosses are censored though which is a bit of a downer...

I have to admit that this game seriously started to p1ss me off towards the end with some unfair deaths and awful bosses but overall the animation, music and puzzles are all really enchanting so I would also recommend giving it a go on the cheap (though it is starting to go up in value apparently).

Disaster Day of Crisis is another good game. The Time Crisis-style shooting sections are really good and the game in general has some of the best use of the Wii remote/controls in that they all seem to make sense, enhance the game and don't feel tacked on. With unlockable weapons and collectables, there's a fair bit of replay value too.

[antsbull]

If you're into shooters, there are some really nice ones on there. Medal of Honour Heroes 2, The Conduit and Red Steel 2 all run at 60 frames with really nice controls and gameplay.