Topic: Best games on WiiWare?

[Mop it up]

What are the best games on WiiWare? I haven't really been following up on the releases because I'm not big on download games, so I don't know much about what's good and what isn't. I'm going to read the reviews on this site of course but I want the opinions of more than one person. Here are some games I'm considering:

World of Goo
I've heard nothing but good things about this game and I enjoy a good puzzler, but is it really worth the 1,500 points? There are cheaper puzzle games on WiiWare.

Dr. Mario Online RX
I've always liked Dr. Mario but I have it for other systems, including Dr. Mario 64 which I believe is the best. Does this one offer up anything special besides the obvious online mode (which is enticing)?

Mega Man IX
The NES Mega Man games were the best in the franchise, though I don't know if I possess the necessary skill and determination these days. Besides, frankly I think the idea of a retro throwback is really lame and makes it seem like they missed the point of what made the originals so good.

I'm also considering Kirby's Dream Land 3 for SNES because the original is so expensive, and I love all of the other Kirby games I've played.

[BwrJim!]

Wow, you must feel ignored..  let me help!

  Megaman 9 is by far the best title for myself on wiiware.  It was made in the N.E.S. tradition that offers the same gamplay you would expect from Megaman 2 frames and all.  Then you take the diffaculty of megaman you are used to and add a little Downloadable Content and achievments and you get a great game that is definatly worth the money.

  World of Goo, I liked the game for its physics gameplay but lost interest after running through as many levels as I could too quickly.  If you get this game I would reccomend that you play it in stages as to not wear yourself out too quickly.

  Tetris Online is a good adition to the library as it offers many modes and a solid effort of Tetris Online throughout the whole package.  Its a good game to get as you can come back from it again and again.

  Bomberman Blast.. its bomberman from the years before and nothing has changed.  It would be a great addition to the library if anyone from NWR would actually play it.

  Onslaught.  Its wiiwares first fps its okay, but it shouldnt be considered a FPS as the only thing you do is take on swarms of insects that come at you from around.  There are plenty of enemies on screen but then again, the online mode is just a point run and if you figureed out the system, all you have to do is charge forward and race to the end.  the number of enemies you face will be more and get you the points need to win a victory.

  Final Fnatasy My life as king.  This is a managment game.  take diner dash and take away the frantic ness and just keep sending poeple (warriors) out again and again.  So while it is interesting at first, this game wares on you after about the 100th day.  IT becomes a monotonous form of entertainment that is okay to chek up ononce in a while.


Sorry for the mispellings, but for some reason the NWR poster freaks out for me after solong of a post and I cant tell what I am typing.

Thanks
J!m

[Pandareus]

Whenever topics like this pop up, I'm not sure if I want to answer because honestly, there are a lot of good ones, typing impressions about all the ones I liked would take a lot of time.

Of the ones you mentioned, I've only played World of Goo, and it is indeed really good. Very charming, very polished, an incredible soundtrack... it's worth the points.

Also look up the ArtStyle series (especially Orbient and Cubello), the Bit.Trip series, LostWinds, Nyxquest (my impressions are in the Icarian thread, still on the first page) and Toki Tori.

[TJ Spyke]

World of Goo is over-rated. I like it, but I don't think it's worth 1500 Points. 1000 Points maybe.

I really like Defend Your Castle. It's a little simplistic, but it's really fun and is only 500 Points. Those are the only 2 WiiWare games I own, I would love it if somebody wanted to gift me any others.

[BranDonk Kong]

I haven't played too much WiiWare, but World of Goo is pretty innovative and fun. Onslaught is surprisingly good, and Lit is pretty fun too.

[DAaaMan64]

take if from me, I own almost 20 wiiware games.

I love:

Swords and Soldiers
Mega Man 9
Bust a move Plus

lots a ****. The WiiWare library rules, it really does. Getting a lot of attention from me right now. More so than normal games.

[KDR_11k]

I think Megaman 9 is inferior to the NES Megamans, the level design is much weaker and the music is a mess.

Defend your Castle got pretty damn boring for me, it starts out boring, ramps up a bit and then gets boring again due to repetition.

Well then, my recommendations:

NyxQuest: Just. Buy. It. Don't bother looking at LostWinds because NyxQuest is just way better.
Toki Tori: A great puzzle game (as in "use your brain to succeed", not "match the colored things as fast as you can").
Onslaught: A swarm FPS. Controls very well and is just plain fun.
Water Warfare: An arena FPS. Don't be scared away by the childish theme, it's a proper FPS with online and all. The items unbalance it somewhat but only in some modes.
Swords & Soldiers: Awesome 2D RTS. It seems shallow in the campaign but once you go into skirmish or multiplayer the depth comes through.
Space Invaders Get Even: It's 2000 points, the DLC is pretty much mandatory (they originally wanted to sell the game at retail) but it's a good game with plenty of fun. Make sure you try to go for a high score, that's when the real game comes into play.
Wild West Guns: A more elaborate version of the Wii Play shooting gallery with a western theme, my sister loves it.

Onslaught.  Its wiiwares first fps its okay, but it shouldnt be considered a FPS as the only thing you do is take on swarms of insects that come at you from around.

How's that not an FPS?

[DAaaMan64]

MM9 is better than 2 & 3. Because of the level design. Onslaught is borrinngggg and "Thats why your still a kid" just drives me crazy.

I do need to get Space Invaders: Get Even as well as Nyx Quest.  WiiWare rules.

[KDR_11k]

MM9's level design can be summed up as "spikes spikes cheap death spikes token enemy spikes extremely hard midboss spikes spikes boss"

[DAaaMan64]

I simply disagree, I find MM9's design to be much more exciting and entertaining that MM2 & 3.

[vudu]

World of Goo is quite possibly the best game on Wii with the exception of Mario Galaxy.  Yes--it's better than Brawl, Kart, Zelda and everything else.  It is that good.  It oozes charm.  The music is fantastic.  When you fail it's almost always your fault and you know if you just try again you'll be able to clear the stage.  Don't listen to TJ--he obviously has no taste (as is readily apparent by his recommendation for Defend your Castle).

Mega Man 9 is great.  If you like the NES Mega Man games and you don't mind a challenging game you can't go wrong with it.

Tetris Party is really fun.  There are a few additional modes that are unique and fun for a few hours, but the real meat of the game is the basic Tetris game.  If you like Tetris this is a pretty good choice.

Bit.Trip Beat is a clever cross between Pong and Guitar Hero.  It's hard as Hell though, so that might be a turn off.

Even though I bought Swords & Soldiers a couple months ago, I still haven't gotten around to playing it.  But it's supposed to be very good.

Games I would not recommend that others probably will:

Groovin' Blocks.  I just didn't get this game.  There are better falling block puzzle games out there and this one didn't really click with me.

Art Style Orbient.  It's fun for a couple hours, but the later levels are exercises in frustration.  If you don't mind paying 600 points for a few hours of entertainment, I'd recommend picking this up but stop playing after about level 30.

Bomberman Blast.  I somehow completely missed Bomberman when growing up.  I picked this up when it was released to see what all the fuss is about.  Turns out I really don't like Bomberman. 

[Flames_of_chaos]

Did you play Bomberman Blast single player or multiplayer?  Single player bomberman is just boring but offline or online 8 player is awesome (yes, you can achieve 8 players offline you just need 4 Wii Remotes and 4 GameCube controllers).

[D_Average]

I would recommend Toki Tori over World of Goo.  Tons of value, and its get tough!!

[NWR_pap64]

I am surprised no one has recommended Bonsai Barber!

I think you might get a kick out of this, Mop! The game is about giving cartoon vegetables wacky hairdos and earning their respect. Its a very easy game to get into and its designed for quick play, meaning that you only work with 5 clients per day. That might sound disappointing, but it gives the game a sense of duty and authenticity. The characters themselves are very charming and you will quickly grow to love them. The gameplay is very easy to get into and is quite addicting. A must!

[Stratos]

GP recommended Jungle Speed to me and I recommended it to a friend of mine and his wife who got it and love it to death. I finally got to go over and try it and it is a blast. Like a mix of the card games Speed and Uno.

World of Goo is freaking amazing.

I also recommend:
Toki Tori, Lostwinds, Monkey Island, Bomberman Blast, Bit.Trip BEAT and LIT.

[that Baby guy]

Kirby's Dream Land 3 is a great Kirby game.  If I were to rank every Kirby title I've played, it would sit at 2nd (or third if you count Kirby's SuperStar Dx to be a separate entity).  It feels like a cross between KSS and Kirby's Dream Land 2:  Movement and enemies are a bit slower, so it's more laid back, but the number of abilities and unique attacks are higher than most other Kirby titles.  The game has two-player co-op, and it actually is self-balancing for the mode:  Kirby must sacrifice one or two units of his max (and current?) health to summon Gooey, so the game's co-op isn't nearly as broken as KSS.  Kirby's buddies are back, and they've brought friends, with the highest total number of pals able to alter how the game plays.

On top of all this?  The game looks absolutely gorgeous.  It's a game that decided to go against KSS's cartoonish look for a beautiful pastel textured look.  If you were to take a screenshot of the game, you'd see that the background looks like something painted on a canvas.  It's definitely what I believe to be the best-looking Kirby game of all time, and led me to find Kirby 64's art to be appalling by comparison.

Yes, you should buy this game.  Thinking now, once I find my Wii FC, this will likely be the game I would like to be gifted for the prize I won during the Metroid trivia contest.

[Mop it up]

Thanks for your suggestions everyone!

I forgot to mention that I already have Bomberman Blast. Who can resist online Bomberman? I sure couldn't! (You should know this Stratos, we've played it together!  )

As much good things I've heard about World of Goo, the few who say it is no good worry me. I seem to have a tendency to dislike certain popular games so it is difficult to know who to trust. I just gotta read some contrasting reviews I guess and figure it out.

Mega Man IX I kind of figured is that they're trying too hard to replicate the greatness of Mega Man 2 and end up falling flat. You can't set out to create greatness, you just have to let it happen. I'll probably still check it out though to see for myself, even though I doubt I'll be able to beat it.

Tetris Party I'm skeptical of. I hated The New Tetris for Nintendo 64 and Tetris Words for Game Boy Advance. Is it reminiscent of those two or something different entirely?

Groovin' Blocks I'm waiting for the retail release.

Jungle Speed? Video card games don't do anything for me.

Defend Your Castle is I think a free Flash game. I don't want to get anything which is similar to something available at WiiCade.com.

I was looking at that Bonsai Barber game, it seemed interesting. The thing about appointments worries me though; do you have to play the game every day? Because I have enough trouble keeping up with Animal Crossing as it is.

I don't think I need to be convinced to get Kirby's Dream Land 3. The original cartridge is just too expensive, I've given up on it. Plus I already downloaded it today!

I'm not into shooters or RPGs so I don't think I'll bother with those.

I've not heard of the rest of those so I'll check out some reviews and see if they're anything I'd like.

[KDR_11k]

Appointments in Bonsai Barber are optional.

[Stratos]

But Jungle Speed is multiplayer. That is where the fun is, great for parties.

They have a demo for World of Goo on the PC, I'm sure the system requirements are pretty low. Try that and if you like it then go for the WiiWare one.

[Mop it up]

I don't have much use for multiplayer games, especially a download one.

Does anyone have an opinion on Dr. Mario Online RX?

[Flames_of_chaos]

I am surprised no one has recommended Bonsai Barber!

I think you might get a kick out of this, Mop! The game is about giving cartoon vegetables wacky hairdos and earning their respect. Its a very easy game to get into and its designed for quick play, meaning that you only work with 5 clients per day. That might sound disappointing, but it gives the game a sense of duty and authenticity. The characters themselves are very charming and you will quickly grow to love them. The gameplay is very easy to get into and is quite addicting. A must!

I did like Bonsai Barber however my interest in the game dropped like a rock after two weeks. There simply isn't that much to come back to in the long run. The game is very polished however the game sets a limit to how much you can play in a day (all 5 customers be completed 10 - 30 minutes in a day).

[Killer_Man_Jaro]

Please, more people need to buy Swords & Soldiers. You're unlikely to have more content and hours of playtime for your 1000 Wii Points. The campaign alone is longer than most full WiiWare offerings and provides a good challenge. The additional single player modes are interesting twists on the strategy that keep reeling you back in for more plays, plus the splitscreen multiplayer is crazy & addictive fun.

Oh, and of course, we can't talk about this without mentioning these guys.

Ninja Monkeys, dude. Ninja. MONKEYS.

[Mop it up]

Something's wrong. Mega Man 9 has a resolution of 640x480. IT ISN'T A REAL NES GAME!

[that Baby guy]

I'm pretty sure I shoved my SD card in my NES and Mega Man 9 came on the screen.  Weird.

Hmm, I'll second Swords and Soldiers as a fun game, but it's tough to manage if you're not good at strategy games, like many RTSes.  You'll have to replay long levels a few time to make it through, and the game might've been more fun if the main campaign had cheats in it, akin to StarCraft, despite being so linear.

[Mop it up]

I'm just saying, if Mega Man 9 is going to go so far as to have sprite flicking then it might as well preserve the original resolution of 256x224 to make it 100% authentic. An all-or-nothing sort of deal. And it should actually use 240x224 like most games did and have that black bar on the left of the screen. Then it'd be perfect.

I don't really like strategy games. Some of the ones I played on the PC include StaCraft, Seven Kingdoms, and Age of Empires. I actually beat the first campaign of StarCraft before tiring of it, but I flat-out didn't like the other games. If Swords and Soldiers is like those games then I won't like it.

[DAaaMan64]

Sword and Soldiers is pretty simple and relaxing. Its not StarCraft.

[Flames_of_chaos]

While I do like Swords and Soldier it got old for me because of how simplistic it is and you only have three civilizations. There isn't much strategy in the game except just spam units and the occasional spell.

[DAaaMan64]

Man IDK, there is definitely strategy when your like WTF, why am I losing still!! Then you have to rethink what type of units your spending your money on. Like wasting money on those big aztec guys when the Chinese have their dumb sorcerer's out.

[KDR_11k]

While I do like Swords and Soldier it got old for me because of how simplistic it is and you only have three civilizations. There isn't much strategy in the game except just spam units and the occasional spell.

Try skirmish. The campaign isn't really that strategic because your opponent doesn't have the same constraints you do but skirmish is all about how you start and how you develop.

[Flames_of_chaos]

I pretty much play skirmish.  Also Chinese are very easy to counteract especially as the Aztecs.

[Kairon]

Wild West Guns: A more elaborate version of the Wii Play shooting gallery with a western theme, my sister loves it.

Wow, I think you just sold me on Wild West Guns.

I am surprised no one has recommended Bonsai Barber!

I think you might get a kick out of this, Mop! The game is about giving cartoon vegetables wacky hairdos and earning their respect. Its a very easy game to get into and its designed for quick play, meaning that you only work with 5 clients per day. That might sound disappointing, but it gives the game a sense of duty and authenticity. The characters themselves are very charming and you will quickly grow to love them. The gameplay is very easy to get into and is quite addicting. A must!

And I think YOU just sold me on Bonsai Barber!

But ANYWAYS... I've actually NOT downloaded everything on WiiWare. I've got several glaring ommissions, like Nintendo's Art Style games, but of the ones I have downloaded I'm really fond of:

Toki Tori
God I <3 Toki Tori. <3 <3 <3! This game is pure, old-school, straightforward, calm, puzzle solving goodness. It reminds me of games like Kickle Cubicle or Hal's own Lolo. I loved these games on the NES. I love them on WiiWare. And Toki Tori is pretty much perfect. It's sorta my favorite game on the service. Maybe I should randomly gift it to people.

Swords & Soldiers
When I bought this I played it through in one sitting. It may be a simplified sort of RTS, being all 2D plane and all and simply strategic resource gathering and purchasing of units. But in all honesty, it's also a very fast-paced, pure experience. It's not StarCraft, but it is unique, and it feeds my RTS ithc all the same. Also, I just HAD to play it through in one sitting for the zany story, wacky art, and those accursed Ninja Monkeys: I couldn't let them win.

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My life as a Dark Lord
In just the same way that Swords & Soldiers scratched my RTS itch, MLAADL scratches my need for something Tower Defense. But it's also not a tower defense. It's hands-down unique... a room defense, if that makes any sense. But bottomline; I love starting a level and figuring out the right strategy and order to do things in, when to use my spells and when to add what floors and monsters where. Also, I have no qualms about buying DLC to make my passage a little smoother in this game. As far as I can tell, the DLC isn't necessary at all... but it's appealing just the same.

I also am keen on completing my collections of Strongbad's Cool Game For Attractive Peoples and Tales of Monkey Island, but that's only half because I consider these games good. The other half is... I have an addiction. Yes. To adventure games.

I'm also looking VERY hard at Overturn, I think that's a game I will TOTALLY DIG since it reminds me of Armored Core... and a little bit of an old PS1 title called Robo Pit. (<3 Robo Pit) And Nyxquest has turned out surprisingly intriguing so far too; it hasn't put me to sleep like Lostwinds (I swear, Lostwind's is too relaxing for me), and it seems deeper and more direct as a platformer. Also, Helix is a great Wiimote motion rhythm game if you're up for a little physical activity.

Oh, and what's the general consensus on LIT again?

[Mop it up]

Toki Tori
God I <3 Toki Tori. <3 <3 <3! This game is pure, old-school, straightforward, calm, puzzle solving goodness. It reminds me of games like Kickle Cubicle or Hal's own Lolo

So Toki Tori is a puzzle-type game? I've never played Kickle Cubicle but I liked Adventures of Lolo too, so maybe I'll check it out.

Maybe I should randomly gift it to people.

Now that's something I would give out my number for. 

[KDR_11k]

I have an addiction. Yes. To adventure games.

I recently played Time Gentlemen, Please (and Ben There, Dan That which is the direct predecessor), it's a good adventure along with tons of Lucas Arts adventure inside jokes.

[Mop it up]

Here are my impressions of the games I've downloaded so far:

Toki Tori
I got this game recently, and it's shaping up to be a pretty good game.

My approach to the levels is probably pretty reckless since it is more trial-and-error based. First I just run through and collect however many eggs I come across, and then if I can't get them all, I'll examine the level and see if I can spot where I went wrong. I won't usually try to study a level too hard, because it can be difficult for me to visualize what I need to do and keep track of each imaginary step I take. With each part I come to, I assume I have all available items on hand and deduce how many ways of which it is possible to get through that part; hopefully this way I won't get my mind set on absolutely needing to use an item in a place where
something else is required.

I couldn't figure out that one level which tells you to use the Wildcard item if you're having trouble. I have this feeling that I'm missing something very obvious there... but I didn't want to spend all day on that. After I play some more of this game, maybe my problem-solving skills will have improved and I'll be able to see something I missed the first time around.

I'm liking the music in the game too, it doesn't seem to get old and repetitive even when I'm sitting there examining a puzzle. I was surprised to see the travel log appear on the message board, that was a nice touch.

Dr. Mario
Over the weekend I downloaded this. Kind of disappointed that it's just the basic Dr. Mario game, despite that I knew that before downloading it. It's missing a lot of the modes introduced in Dr. Mario 64, such as Marathon and Score Attack, and what it really should've had is the 4-player mode.

The Virus Buster game is pretty fun though, I played it with my sister. I wouldn't have thought a game like this would lend itself to co-op play, but it actually works pretty well. She isn't as quick as I am though, so usually I'd have her place most of the pills, so I would handle things like flipping the next upcoming pills so they're facing the right direction when they enter the playfield. When things start to get fast you don't have time to talk about where to place the pills, so sometimes you have to hope your partner can pick up on what you're trying to do. It's too bad you can't play this mode online because that would have been great.

Does anyone else like Dr. Mario? I'm kind of curious to see how well I'd do with someone more experienced.

Mega Man IX
Mega Man... Yeah, that takes me way back. Although I don't usually like games which pride themselves on being difficult, partly because I have little gaming skill, Mega Man games are something of a different story.

Growing up, we had the Mega Man games 1-3, and I wasn't really into them, but we didn't have all that many games so I would still play them on occasion. I wasn't very good at them though, and so my older brother would always tease me that I couldn't beat any of them. Eventually I got fed up with him, and I became determined to get good enough to beat them just to shut him up. Try and try again I would, learning the levels and practicing against the bosses, just so I could show him I'm not as bad as he claims. Finally I managed to beat both 2 and 3, and though he just shrugged it off with a "whatever" I still felt very accomplished. I never could beat Mega Man 1 though, and I doubt I could go back and do that today. Don't tell my brother that.

Anyways, I just beat this game the other day, and I didn't find it to be anything special. The level designs remind me more of 4-6 than 1-3. They rely more on cheap tricks than anything else, and so a little memorization will go a long way. The music tries too hard to replicate the style of the old games that it ends up falling flat. Most of the weapons aren't very interesting. We've got the classic standbys like the Jewel Shield, which isn't as good as the Star Shield in Mega Man 5 because you can't toss it at an enemy. The Cement Shot is interesting because it can create blocks to jump on, and the Hornet Chaser is unique because it scares me can grab items, but that's about it for interesting weapons. Most of them use up energy too fast to be useful as well.

The whole 8-bit style is just a cheap gimmick, it seems like they didn't comprehend what made the NES games so good. Greatness isn't something which can be deliberately re-created.

As for the achievements, I got mostly the easy ones like defeating a certain number of enemies, defeating the bosses in under ten seconds, etc. Except for Galaxy Man, I haven't figured that one out because he flies around too much. Some of them are pretty stupid, like beating the game five times in one day. Who does that?

[BeautifulShy]

I like Dr. Mario but I haven't gotten around to getting the Wiiware game yet.I played the Gameboy and N64 games. I still have a couple VC games to beat before getting more WW/VC game. Majora's Mask and Phantasy Star.

[vudu]

I'm disappointed that you didn't get World of Goo.  You should be ashamed.

But I'm happy that you finally succumbed to the wonderful world of downloading games!

[Mop it up]

I like Dr. Mario but I haven't gotten around to getting the Wiiware game yet.I played the Gameboy and N64 games.

I forgot to mention that it has a sort of "demo play" which allows me to play the game with someone who doesn't have it. So anyone who wants to play Dr. Mario with me doesn't actually need to have the game already.

I'm disappointed that you didn't get World of Goo.  You should be ashamed.

Don't worry, that's next on my list. I will also probably get Bonsai Barber too.