Topic: Best of the Wii: Our Top 10 First-Party Wii Games

[NWR_Neal]

Nintendo made a lot of great games for the Wii. Watch us fight over them.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/feature/31527

Nintendo made this list a lot harder than the casual observer might think. In short, there a ton of Nintendo-developed games that were worthy of this list. It was so overwhelming, that we had to split it away from the third-party list so we could actually highlight third-party games!

Get ready to check out the best 10 first-party Wii games according to the staff of Nintendo World Report. Starting today and running twice a week until early October, we'll be highlighting games that we think our among the top 10 on the system.

[Evan_B]

Ouch. Wii Sports is number ten? I could think of ten games over that more worthy...

[ejamer]

Ouch. Wii Sports is number ten? I could think of ten games over that more worthy...

Do tell. What would your 10 better picks be. List them now and we can compare as the NWR list shakes out.


I've only heard good things about Wii Sports Resort, but never had quite enough interest in finding out how the game plays myself (despite buying the game earlier this year). Someday I'll give it a shot... but probably not until Xenoblade is finally completed. Don't hold your breath.

[NWR_Neal]

Yea, I'm with ejamer. Go list out your 10 Nintendo-published games on Wii. And keep in mind this was a staff-wide vote.

[TJ Spyke]

Evan, this is just first party. I think Wii Sports Resort more than deserves to be in the top 10, and I would put it higher than #10.

Nintendo has released 68 games on Wii that they own (I don't count something like Harvest Moon: Tree of Tranquility, which they published). Take out the New Play Control! games and Metroid Prime: Trilogy (since it's not really a new game) and Super Mario All-Stars re-release and Kirby's Dream Collection: Special Edition, and that drops to 59. I would love to see Evan's top 10.

[ejamer]

Yea, I'm with ejamer. Go list out your 10 Nintendo-published games on Wii. And keep in mind this was a staff-wide vote.

Actually, I'd like to see a lot of people throw their lists out here before the full NWR results are made public. It would be fun to see what people do/don't agree on, and who comes closest to the site results. My off-the-cuff first party list would be something like this:


10. Mario Strikers Charged -- huh, surprisingly silly fun and online that actually works!
09. Wii Sports -- still great fun; changed the playing field when it came to games
08. Fire Emblem Radiant Dawn -- quality over quantity for strategy games
07. Donkey Kong Country Returns -- possibly the best first-party 2D platformer?
06. Mario Kart Wii -- even though I don't like Mario Kart, it's been played for many dozens of hours; hard to argue against
05. Wario Land Shake It! -- actually the best first-party 2D platformer
04. Endless Ocean Blue World -- highly underrated gem for people who like to explore
03. Super Mario Galaxy -- stupendous
02. Metroid Prime Trilogy -- Metroid Prime 3 would've been here, but the Trilogy makes it obsolete


#1. Xenoblade -- this is first-party, right? possibly the best game of the generation on any console




I'd like to reserve judgement for Project Zero 2 as that game is right up my alley but hasn't been played yet. Might bump Strikers Charged off the list.


Notable misses? Smash Bros is loved by many, but not by me. Sin & Punishment 2 is great but not really my niche. Skyward Sword is buried behind a glut of unplayed Zelda games and probably won't get played for another year (or more). Fortune Street is my niche, but far and away too niche to really put on a "best of" list. Pandora's Tower really enjoyed what I've played so far... import only hurts though. Fluidity.

[Ceric]

I've only played 3 and a 1/3 of those games on that list.  Which is probably why I'm the only non-platinum person on NFR.

[NWR_Neal]

I look forward to seeing lists, but I will dole out some of our "Nintendo-published" guidelines, which were established before voting took place.

Metroid Prime Trilogy counts, as it contains Metroid Prime 3, and is the superior version of that game for all intents and purposes.
The Last Story counted as first-party (same with Xenoblade, though there's even less to dispute there)
No New Play Control games.
Since we're largely North American, Project Zero 2 and Pandora's Tower never stood a chance.

I think that's about it. I personally don't think our list is that surprising. I'd be curious to see if anyone is able to come close to it with their picks. The third-party list, to me, was more exciting to see break down.

[TJ Spyke]

How is the Trilogy version of MP3 any better than the stand-alone version? It looks the same and I can't find any info on differences.

ejamer, I wouldn't count Fortune Street. Nintendo did publish it, but it's part of a Square Enix franchise and this particular entry features Nintendo characters, but the IP still belongs to Square Enix.

[NWR_Neal]

It includes two other full games.

[TJ Spyke]

Which are also already out on Wii. How is it any different than something like Mario All-Star? Trilogy contains no new games and is just a compilation disc. Under your logic, why not count the New Play Control games? Those are just as valid.

[Shaymin]

The New Play Control Metroid Primes only came out separate from Corruption in Japan. In North America, where the list is based, they only exist in the Trilogy form.

Also, taking bets on Trauma Team making the 3rd party list (probably in the 6-9 range).

[TJ Spyke]

Even under that logic, the New Play Control games would qualify too because those are just as new. I just don't see how Trilogy should count when it is just a compilation of 1 Wii game and 2 New Play Control games, but other New Play Control games don't count. Don't get me wrong, I love Trilogy; there just seems to be no reason the other NPC games don't count when this does.

[ejamer]

Even under that logic, the New Play Control games would qualify too because those are just as new. I just don't see how Trilogy should count when it is just a compilation of 1 Wii game and 2 New Play Control games, but other New Play Control games don't count. Don't get me wrong, I love Trilogy; there just seems to be no reason the other NPC games don't count when this does.

True, only 1/3 of Metroid Prime Trilogy was exclusive to Wii while the other two games are GameCube remakes.  Yet that is still better than other NPC games, which contain 0% content that was exclusively released on Wii. On that logic, I can entertain the argument that they should be treated differently.

[TJ Spyke]

Trilogy just takes one game that was already released on Wii and adds in 2 NPC games. So Trilogy has nothing new either (well, nothing significant). The other NPC games do add new stuff too. I just want to know the reasoning the staff had for counting Trilogy but not the other NPC games. If Nintendo decided to release a disc containing the two Pikmin games and Kirby's Epic Yarn (random pairing, I know), that would qualify for this list then?

[Kairon]

I don't speak for the whole staff but it wasn't that we specifically upgraded Trilogy to the exclusion of the NPC games. People were voting for Metroid Prime 3, and in order not to split the vote between two significant SKUs of the game I think we settled on saying that in this special case it would be represented by Trilogy.

Even if we hadn't disallowed the other NPC games, I seriously doubt that there would've been enough staff making it a priority to vote for them that it'd matter.

@_@ Is it really that big a deal?

[TJ Spyke]

Not really, I just found it odd the reasoning for Trilogy to be eligible but not other NPC games.

[LudicrousDa3ve]

Super Mario Galaxy
Metroid Prime Trilogy
Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Mario Kart Wii
Punch Out!!
Excitebots
The Legend of Zelda:Skyward Sword
Kirby's Epic Yarn
Fire Emblem:Radiant Dawn
Wario Ware:Smooth Moves


That'll be my unranked top ten for today. Nintendo did such a stellar job this gen, you could swap in almost every other game they released on a random day, depending on mood.
  If they do anywhere near as good a job with their Wii U releases, the next several years will be very bright. So bright, we'll need shades. 

[NWR_Neal]

Metroid Prime 3 is a Wii exclusive game. Metroid Prime 3 is in Metroid Prime Trilogy, which, for most of our staff, is the only version of MP3 they own now. Still, Metroid Prime Trilogy contains a Wii-exclusive first-party game, which more to say of the NPC games (which contain GCN/Wii first-party games). I see your point, but I also see mine.

Also, Shaymin's good. Real good.

[Khushrenada]

I've only played 3 and a 1/3 of those games on that list.  Which is probably why I'm the only non-platinum person on NFR.

Not quite. I haven't even signed up for Club Nintendo. I could make Platinum easy if I ever got around to it but, technically, I'm non-platinum also.

[Anth0ny]

My top 10, not including New Play Controls:

1. Super Mario Galaxy 2
2. Super Mario Galaxy
3. Super Smash Bros Brawl
4. Xenoblade
5. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
6. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
7. Donkey Kong Country Returns
8. New Super Mario Bros Wii
9. Metroid Prime 3
10. Super Paper Mario

Runner Ups: Wii Sports, Mario Kart Wii, Wii Sports Resort, Kirby's Return to Dreamland, Kirby''s Epic Yarn.

Looking forward to the final staff list.

[Fatty The Hutt]

• Skyward Sword
• Mario Kart Wii
• Twilight Princess
• Endless Ocean
• Excitebots
• Mario Galaxy
• Metroid Prime Trilogy
• Punch Out
• Kirby’s Epic Yarn
• Wii Sports Resort

Next ones on the list (in no order): Warioland Shake It, Xenoblade, Donkey Kong Country Returns, Endless Ocean Blue World, New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Mario Galaxy 2, Metroid Other M, Wii Sports, Banzai Barber, Super Paper Mario.

Gotta say, on any given day nearly every “next one on the list” could easily replace one of the ones “on the list.’ Very hard to rank.

 

[Evan_B]

Okay.

10 ) Kirby's Epic Yarn
9 ) Super Mario Galaxy 2
8 ) Donkey Kong Country Returns
7 ) New Super Mario Bros. Wii
6 ) The Last Story
5 ) Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
4 ) Super Smash Bros. Brawl
3 ) Mario Kart Wii
2 ) Xenoblade Chronicles
1 ) The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

Unfortunately, games like Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn, Endless Ocean: Blue World, Disaster: Day of Crisis, Sin and Punishment: Star Successor, Kirby's Return to Dreamland, Metroid: Other M, and Super Paper Mario did not make the list, seeing how some of them couldn't hold a candle to their predecessors and others were a bit too niche, but these seven I listed are far more deserving of an eleventh spot over Wii Sports Resort, in my opinion.

Oh, and I didn't particularly enjoy Super Mario Galaxy, but its sequel offered many more interesting gameplay options and better level design, so it does deserve a spot on the list. I can't deny that it's a well made game, but I don't really like it.

[ejamer]

...  Oh, and I didn't particularly enjoy Super Mario Galaxy, but its sequel offered many more interesting gameplay options and better level design, so it does deserve a spot on the list. I can't deny that it's a well made game, but I don't really like it.

I had a hard time with this decision. Still not sure which I like better, as I feel they kind of served different purposes. The first game was a revelation and hardly got put down until I had collected all of the stars with Mario. (Luigi can go suck it.) But I never felt compelled to buy the sequel and only played casually - despite it having tight level design and some really fun ideas.


In the end I picked the first game simply because it was first, and couldn't justify putting both on my top 10 list. It would be hard to fault someone who picks differently (or who decides they both deserve to be listed).

[Mop it up]

Yet that is still better than other NPC games, which contain 0% content that was exclusively released on Wii.

That isn't exactly true. NPC Donkey Kong Jungle Beat has remixed levels to make up for the easier control, NPC Pikmin has a new feature that allows you to restart a day or revert to a previous day, and Mario Power Tennis has new picture-in-picture close-up camera shots and other added displays. I still don't think any of the NPC games (including MPTrilogy) should be on a best-of-Wii list, but most of the NPC games do have more than a new control scheme that can make them more worthwhile for some people.