Lego Star Wars
I don’t need to tell you that Lego Star Wars is one of the most iconic Wii games of everyone’s childhood, the song that plays in the Cantina is enough for you to get it. This two-player game is perfect for spending hours with your sibling or friend, struggling to figure out how to solve the puzzles which you only realize was simple after a lot of yelling. This game is very replayable and stands the test of time, worth coming back to if you want to fulfill your nostalgia.
New Super Mario Bros Wii
Even though after 16 years nothing about this game is “new”, New Super Mario Bros Wii still stands as my favorite classic Mario platformer. I grew up playing with my mom, sister, and brother, and at least once every two years we start a new save and replay the entire game. Even though we should be experts by now, the struggle of constantly running into each other, my brother stealing everyone’s power ups (thanks Ry), and the screen moving to crush whoever is too slow makes this game both stressful and extremely fun even after replaying it a million times. The way the characters are able to interact with each other increases the difficulty of generally easy levels but also encourages groups to actually work with each other, something which is lacking in the new stylistically fun but boring to play Mario Wonder. The charm and sense of discovery never goes away in this game, and it
continues to hold up after 16 years.
My child brain was too small to understand just how good Super Paper Mario was when we first got it, especially because nobody in my family could get past the third world, but upon returning to this game as a tween, the story, style, music, and characters made me realize that this is way too good to just be a “Mario” game. Every single aspect of this game is so original that for years my friends have been subjected to my pointing at something and proclaiming, “This is just like Paper Mario.” Each character has a different skill that requires the player to transition back and forth, and the use of 3D and 2D allows for cool discoveries and more advanced game play. The writing is clever, the worldbuilding is incredibly high-concept, the story is original and can be emotional, and the game play is difficult and varies in skill from level to level.
Wii Sports
Wii Sports walked so this game could run (and water ski, and fly a plane.) Unlike the original Wii Sports, where each sport exists in its own vacuum, Wii Sports Resort takes the player to Wuhu island, a place that I am still mad about not being real because I would absolutely live there. Resort carries over some games from the original such as bowling, golf, and ping pong which is similar to tennis, but introduces 9 new games with different play styles for each. I can personally say that even now I am still discovering new ways to play this game, the most recent being my long winded attempt to hit all of the secret targets in archery (bet you didn’t even know there were secret targets. This is why I’m the one writing this article and you’re not). If you love Wii Sports and have never heard of this game, please find some people and play it because it is guaranteed fun for hours, even more so than the original.
Just Dance 2
The game that defined my music taste to this day: with songs that currently live on my playlist such as “Take Me Out”, “D.A.N.C.E”, “When I Grow Up”, and “A-punk”; and iconic dances including “Rasputin”, “Hey Ya”, “Jump”, and “Tik Tok”, this is easily the superior Just Dance from back in its heyday. Released in 2010, this game fully ingrained itself into my formative 5 year old brain (and scarred me for life with the intro to “Monster Mash” maybe or maybe not giving me an irrational fear of Frankenstein for half of my childhood.) The Just Dance series is constantly expanding as it continues to release games yearly, but the original and simpler style of the second game encapsulates that nostalgic feeling most teenagers associate with the series. Between the nostalgia of the soundtrack, the fun dances that doubled as a workout, and the iconic style of the characters, this game deserves a highlight on this list.
Mario Kart Wii
If this was a list of the most rage-inducing Wii games, Mario Kart Wii would still earn a highlight easily. As a child who owned one of those steering wheel add-ons and played exclusively as Toad on 50cc with automatic drift, this game still whooped me. If you ever get too used to the luxury controls of Mario Kart 8, return to this game to be instantly humbled the second you hit a wall and get passed by every CPU in a second. While the 4-player mode doesn’t hold up very well because of graphics, unlocking characters and vehicles through single player is still incredibly fun. Absolutely recommend coming back to this game with family or friends for the classic courses and fever dream battle modes that you will have no idea how to play well.
