Wii need more games!

October 4, 2007 10:16 PM

I finally got a Wii! Any recommendations for killer "older" Wii games that end up selling for $20 now that they are off the top of the charts?

I've read previous threads, but I'm specifically interested in the "older" games that I see from time to time at Target and other stores, discounted to $20 - $30. Which ones should I snap up, or look for used copies of? (To anyone thinking of a Wii: Get one!)

posted by The Deej to sports, hobbies, & recreation (49 comments total)

Elebits is FUN. So is Rampage!
posted by clango at 10:21 PM on October 4, 2007

Games I've played on Wii:

Worth full price: Zelda Twilight Princess and Super Paper Mario, with Zelda being the best.

Worth about 20$: Elebits -- rough and low-budget, but there is a good bit fun to be had, Warioware smooth moves -- really fun and high-production value but really short, Sonic and the secret rings -- reasonable production values and pretty fun, but slightly hard to control and monotonous after a while.
posted by blenderfish at 10:22 PM on October 4, 2007

Oh, and Rayman Raving Rabbids is definitely worth 20$, too.
posted by blenderfish at 10:24 PM on October 4, 2007

I doubt you will find many Wii games that are discounted that heavily at this stage of the Wii's lifecycle. The only games I have seen for the Wii that cheap are the crappy ones, like World Series Poker and WiiPlay (minus the remote). Although you will certainly find many cheap Gamecube titles that are worth picking up and playing on your Wii.

Still, I can thoroughly recommend ExciteTruck, which was a launch title that is absolute fun to play. And of course Zelda Twilight Princess is a must own for the console. Maybe Rayman, too.

Enjoy your Wii!
posted by Effigy2000 at 10:25 PM on October 4, 2007

Thanks for the answers so far. True, you don't see many discounted games yet, but I have seen a few. Effigy2000 touches on my exact dilemma: I don't want to pay $20 for a crappy game, just because it's $20. I did see Excite Truck for $20 so maybe I'll pick that up. :)
posted by The Deej at 10:46 PM on October 4, 2007

Another vote for ExciteTruck - it's great. I would also recommend Resident Evil 4 (if you like shooting things), it is relatively recent but cheaper than most full price games.
I have recently borrowed Super Monkey Ball:Banana Blitz. I wouldn't pay full price, but it is fun in a budget game kind of way.
posted by AndrewStephens at 10:47 PM on October 4, 2007

Wii has a pretty small library so far, smaller than you'd expect from its popularity. 3rd party developers were originally terrified of Nintendo's gamble and avoided it for the first year.

The only "must haves" so far are Zelda, Metroid, and Super Paper Mario. Mario Galaxy and Smash Bros are coming soon, and will both be guaranteed awesome.. Dragon Quest will also be great. My sisters love Mario Party 8, and Rayman Raving Rabbids is another great minigame pack. Another I highly recommend is Trauma Center: Second Opinion, which is similar to the old board game "Operation" but you use the Wiimote.
posted by mek at 10:55 PM on October 4, 2007

Warioware Smooth Mooves is the ultimate short attention span game. Incredibly fun as a party game with a room full of drunk people.
posted by MythMaker at 11:10 PM on October 4, 2007

Party people seem to like Rampage. No reading... just a lot of smashing (though the controls may take some tutoring)
posted by VulcanMike at 11:27 PM on October 4, 2007

Wario Ware is more fun than a barrel full of crack monkeys. Zelda was good, but by the third time I had to go back to all the places I had already been and collect 20 pieces of crap I wanted to tear my hair out. I would suggest you rent Super Paper Mario first, I love RPGs but having to read all that pointless text got in the way of stomping on turtles. Raymond is great if you have a twisted sense of humor.
posted by TungstenChef at 12:12 AM on October 5, 2007

I'll second WiiPlay. If you're going to buy another remote, it comes with one and only costs $10 more. You won't get a lot of time out of it, but it has quite a few minigames for when you have people over. Kids seem to love the cow racing game, too.
posted by Gary at 12:17 AM on October 5, 2007

It's a port from the Gamecube and PS2 but if you haven't played Resident Evil 4 yet, the Wii version is awesome. The game itself is one of the best I've ever played and the Wii controls actually make it a better game IMO.

The best part, though, is that since this is the 3rd release of the game it's only $30 brand new.
posted by Sandor Clegane at 12:18 AM on October 5, 2007

ExciteTruck is great.
posted by robcorr at 12:36 AM on October 5, 2007

Good to see ExciteTruck getting some love. I've probably played it and Rayman more than any of the other games I've got.
posted by markr at 1:02 AM on October 5, 2007

Gary: "I'll second WiiPlay."

Who 'firsted' it?

I, on the other hand, will fourth (?) add another vote to WarioWare. It's stylish and great fun, and cheaper than most games.
posted by Effigy2000 at 1:18 AM on October 5, 2007

Oops, I'll first WiiPlay then, which I guess cancels out with Effigy's un-recommend :)

The Wii does suffer from the same problem of the last two Nintendo consoles. There are a few really amazing first-party games with long droughts in the middle. If you're just looking for cheap fun, the Virtual Console Downloads are your best bet. Especially if you missed anything from the N64 era (Mario 64, Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Mario Kart 64, Paper Mario).
posted by Gary at 2:06 AM on October 5, 2007

Deej, Do not, seriously, do not get Paper Mario, ignore the good reviews, this game was a total let down.
posted by nintendo at 2:46 AM on October 5, 2007

You should be able to pick up Heatseeker reasonably cheaply, although perhaps not as low as $20 (I got mine for £18, instead of closer to £30). It's great fun, and very involving especially when you use the "in cockpit" view...
posted by Chunder at 2:52 AM on October 5, 2007

I hated Rayman Raving Rabbids and WarioWare. Microgames just really don't do it for me. Oddly, however, my wife and I really dug Mario Party 8 (probably because it had an underlying purpose to the minigames).

DO NOT BUY CARNIVAL GAMES. I REPEAT, DO NOT BUY CARNIVAL GAMES. It sounds like a game that's a perfect fit for the Wii (carnival midway games), but the execution is piss-poor. I'd scored a perfect score in Skee-Ball within five minutes of picking it up, and 60% of the games (throw the wiffle ball in a cup, etc.) come down to the luck of the bounce.

I didn't care for Zelda, either -- I wanted to pick the game up and start hacking-and-slashing, but I played for several hours, and I was still wandering around town doing stupid tasks for people. I'd kill for a good two-player Gauntlet- or Diablo-style dungeon crawler for the Wii or DS.

Also didn't care for My Sims, which was disappointing. Mario Strikers Charged was positively painful to play, and is really a "soccer" game in name only. The GameCube version was a lot more fun.

I've gotten a lot of mileage out of Tiger Woods '07, and I'll second (sixth? whatever?) the recommendations for Elebits and ExciteTruck.

Ultimately though, I think what I've gotten the most gameplay out of is Wii Sports. Another good one to pick up would be Mario Kart Double Dash for the GameCube -- my five-year-old son still plays that one every chance he gets.
posted by Doofus Magoo at 3:27 AM on October 5, 2007

As Doofus Magoo notes, don't neglect the GameCube library. Pikmin 2 is one of the GC games I have really enjoyed. I'll also recommend Resident Evil 4 (if you didn't play it on other systems) -- it really shows you how good an FPS can be on the Wii.
posted by Rock Steady at 4:47 AM on October 5, 2007

By all means, pick up some Gamecube games. I bought a couple of used Wavebird Gamecube controllers (they are wireless and work beautifully) and a couple of used Gamecube games for $10 and I am having lots and lots of fun with them.

The Gamecube controllers work for nearly all virtual console games as well, so you do not need to buy a classic controller (which does not work for Gamecube games).
posted by AgentRocket at 5:11 AM on October 5, 2007

OMG. A definite second to Resident Evil 4. It just rocks. Even if you've played it on other systems, the wiimote gives a while different feel.
posted by jmd82 at 5:44 AM on October 5, 2007

I loved Super Paper Mario. Not the best game EVAR but solid (if nonsensical) story, cute jokes, a few nice "a-ha!" moments and cool gameplay mechanics. Plus, these days you can get it used for the price range you are talking about.

The RPG stuff can get a little long but there really isn't THAT much of it.

Anyway, who are you going to believe, me or, uh, Nintendo?
posted by dirtdirt at 6:05 AM on October 5, 2007

Excite Truck is worth full price.

And if you haven't already played it on another platform, Resident Evil 4 is only $30 new on the Wii. It is one the best games last gen.

Trauma Center is sorely overlooked, and better than the DS version. Although, if you already have the DS version, it's low on the list.

Metroid Prime 3 is good, but not as good as the first game.
posted by mealy-mouthed at 6:49 AM on October 5, 2007

Excite Truck is worth $20-$30. You should be able to find a used copy for around that price.

I bought Elebits for full price and loved it. It also has a surprisingly good multiplayer mode. You should also be able to find a used copy for a good price.

I didn't like Super Paper Mario. It wasn't a bad game but it isn't that hard and it's kind of boring. Rent it first.

I put about 50 hours into Zelda but you probably won't be able to find that one for cheap just yet. If you liked Ocarina of Time, this is a no brainer.

They aren't out yet but I'm going to pick up Mercury Meltdown Revolution and de Blob when they come out. Both are probably going to be $20 and they both look like a lot of fun.
posted by Diskeater at 7:21 AM on October 5, 2007

Is your question "What games should I play," or is your question really "How can I be frugal with my new Wii?" If it's the latter, consider gamefly. Do you really play games forever and ever? You can get one game at a time for $16, and if you hate it, you send it back. If you love it, you can usually buy it for a reduced price.

Unlike other consoles, I've been finding that I'm more likely to disagree with reviews on Wii games. We hated elebits, and metroid got sent back in a matter of days. That's $100 that we didn't waste. Even with games I liked, like Zelda, it got boring after a month or two. Send it back after two months, I'm out $32... this is still cheaper than $50.

Plus, with gamefly, it's easier to experiment with games you might not usually play. We've been playing through the back catalog on the older consoles and having a great time. The only penalty is the few days of turnaround time if you hate a game instantly.
posted by arabelladragon at 7:22 AM on October 5, 2007

Oh yeah, get Gamecube and VC games. We've played more GC games on our Wii than Wii games. The Pikmin series, Animal Crossing, Mario Kart, Smash Bros, F-Zero....and so on. You should be able to get killer deals on most of these.
posted by Diskeater at 7:23 AM on October 5, 2007

Why did my address change when I tried to preview?

Try gamefly.com
posted by arabelladragon at 7:23 AM on October 5, 2007

Paper Mario for the Nintendo 64 ($10 from the Virtual Console) or Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door for Gamecube ($20 new) are both real RPG's, and I found them both more engaging than Super Paper Mario, which has most of the RPG elements taken out. And with the upgraded resolution of the Virtual Console version, they actually look better in some ways than the new game.

Lego Star Wars ($14 new) and Lego Star Wars II ($20 new) will be coming out soon as a combined full-price Wii game, but the Gamecube versions work fine, and they're both a lot of fun.

Super Monkey Ball ($18 new) and Super Monkey Ball 2 ($20 new) are really great Gamecube games. The main game is really challenging, and the party games are great. In my opinion, Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz for the Wii ($30 new) doesn't compare at all. The party games, in particular, are absolutely ruined compared to the GameCube version. Most of them are literally unplayable.

Basically, in the price range you're looking for, you're talking about Virtual Console or GameCube games at this point, but there are some good ones out there to choose from.
posted by designbot at 7:57 AM on October 5, 2007

I'd kill for a good two-player Gauntlet- or Diablo-style dungeon crawler for the Wii or DS.

There's always Gauntlet: Dark Legacy (.99 to $15 on eBay).
posted by designbot at 8:08 AM on October 5, 2007

Kororinpa: Marble Mania is a fun Marble Madness type game that uses the Wiimote beautifully, much better than Monkey Ball I think. It has multilplayer (co-operative play) and a lot of cool physics. It's short though. It's $29 though on Amazon. Definitely worth a rent or a purchase.
posted by ALongDecember at 8:28 AM on October 5, 2007

You can play Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (the cd) for Gamecube on the Wii??
posted by sociolibrarian at 8:29 AM on October 5, 2007

Oh, and to answer - I loved Paper Mario & Super Paper Mario. I would definitely second/third/whatever the virtual console. I picked up a few old games from there like Ninja Gaiden and Ice Climber and they're fun.

Now as soon as they put Mega Man on the virtual console (if they ever do), I will be a lost cause.
posted by sociolibrarian at 8:31 AM on October 5, 2007

You can play any GameCube game on the Wii, using the original discs. I don't think they have any GameCube games on the Virtual Console at this point.
posted by designbot at 8:36 AM on October 5, 2007

Yes, all Gamecube games work just fine. I think you need a Gamecube memory card and controller to play Cube games, though. There's a separate area to plug those in. I don't believe the Wii controller or memory cards will work... I think they are Wii-mode only.

I enjoyed the Thousand Year Door a lot more than the new Paper Mario; the new one's not a BAD game, but it's very different. It's more of a jumping puzzle game than an RPG. Thousand Year Door, on the other hand, is a classic RPG.

I have no doubt that next year will have many good Wii games, because it's just selling like crazy, but the publishers were caught flat-footed and don't have much coming for it quite yet.

Twilight Princess is superb, and the last Zelda game, on the Cube, was also excellent. I'd suggest playing "The Wind Waker" before "Twilight Princess", though you'd probably enjoy them in either order.

I'd suggest browsing through the Gamespot section for the Gamecube; they will list many top-rated games you can play. Just add a controller and memory card, and off you go. You can probably get used controllers and cards pretty darn cheap.
posted by Malor at 8:57 AM on October 5, 2007

I've been enjoying The Godfather: Blackhand Edition, and got it on sale about a month ago.

It fully deserves it's 'M' rating, there's lots of swearing and killing (including up-close execution stuff), and a healthy(?) amount of prostitution, but it's fun and ties into the movie pretty well.
posted by lowlife at 9:33 AM on October 5, 2007

nthing Resident Evil 4
posted by spec80 at 9:44 AM on October 5, 2007

Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition is godly, as others have said above. In addition, it has the extra content that the PS2 version had, but the GC version did not.

It really does feel like a new game with the Wiimote.
posted by Prospero at 9:46 AM on October 5, 2007

I'm sorta on the fence about Super Paper Mario. The whole 2D-3D thing is neat, but I guess I have too short of an attention span for an RPG. Also, if I don't play it for a while, I forget what's going on and it's hard to just pick it up again like a regular Mario game.
posted by radioamy at 10:47 AM on October 5, 2007

Oh, okay, and in terms of games coming down in price...the Wii supply is significantly below demand right now (apparently they won't be able to meet the Christmas demand either!) - prices aren't coming down for a while.
posted by radioamy at 10:48 AM on October 5, 2007

A final suggestion--you can go to Amazon.com and, with a few clicks, you can call up a list of all the games available for the Wii, sorted by price from lowest to highest. (I just did that, and I had to get to the $30 mark before I saw anything that was even remotely appealing.)
posted by Prospero at 11:29 AM on October 5, 2007

I can't believe nobody has said yet:

RESIDENT EVIL 4 WII EDITION

Is scary and fun as hell. Controls are great. Only $30.

Please, get it!
posted by Cycloptichorn at 2:50 PM on October 5, 2007

Whoops, people did say it already.

They are smart and good-looking, I am stupid and ugly.
posted by Cycloptichorn at 2:51 PM on October 5, 2007 [1 favorite]

If you enjoy Wii golf but wish it looked better, had better control mechanisms and more play options - Tiger Woods is the way to go. (Last year's Woods, that is. I hear the new one is frustrating).

Also gonna 2nd Godfather. I rented that and found myself entranced for days. I'm not much of a GTA person, but GF was amazing. I'm gonna pick it up next time I'm at a Target (cause it's like $20 now). Worth every penny, I guarantee it.

If you often have guests over (or, like me, you have roommates) - It's hard to go wrong w/Rayman Raving Rabbids. The insane "rabbids" are funny as hell.

Also, though it's not $20, Mario Party 8 is a constant source of party amusement.

I wouldn't bother with Wario Party. It feels built for 10 year old kids with ADD. Too fast and insane to keep up with. And the playability after you've gone through it a few times dwindles down to practically nothing.
posted by revmitcz at 3:57 PM on October 5, 2007

Wow people!!! Thanks for all this! I haven't even read them all yet, but I've been away from internet for the day, so I just wanted to say... Thanks for all this! Which I have now done twice.

Uh, and I didn't even know the Wii played GameCube games! Awesome.
posted by The Deej at 5:58 PM on October 5, 2007

Is your question "What games should I play," or is your question really "How can I be frugal with my new Wii?" If it's the latter, consider gamefly.

My question is: What games can I buy for the Wii for $20. Thanks for the Gamefly recommendation, but it wouldn't make sense for me. I'm a mid-40s guy with a job, a business, a daughter, and a lot more on my plate, and even when I buy a game it might sit for a month before I can dedicate a lot of time to it. So, I'm trying to narrow down the first 5 or 10 games I'd like to buy. I bought Zelda for my daughter, but I'll probably play it too. I don't mind paying full price for a game, but since they are all new to me, I'd rather pay less.

Just for background info: I still have Super Nintendo, N64, and Dreamcast, as well as XBox and the XBox 360. I love the Xbox games, especially (duh) the 360 games. But the Wii is just so much fun, and I like the physical and social aspects so much, that I think it will be my first choice whenever I have time to play.

Again, thanks arabelladragon for taking the time to answer. It's good info for anyone reading the thread.
posted by The Deej at 6:17 PM on October 5, 2007

SSX Blur is great. Excellent snowboarding game and the controls rock.
posted by mikw at 12:37 AM on October 6, 2007

i also would NOT reccommend WarioWare. unfortunately i paid $50 for it about 3 weeks ago and had pretty much finished it within 2 days. it has fun aspects and it would be worth $20 i suppose, but not really any more than that.

i love MarioParty 8 and Raving Rabbids though, definitely worth $30.

and of course Zelda...
posted by annoyance at 10:54 AM on October 8, 2007

Fascinating hating on Warrioware. I guess it's all about what you look for in a game. It's the best social game I've found. And not even playing the multiplayer. I was given it as a present at my birthday-Wii party, and 20 or so of us all sat around, drunk, trying to unlock the multiplayer. It took us 4 hours, and was incredibly fun. We just played the single player, and passed the control around when someone died. Since we were drunk, and had never played the game before, there was lots of dying. Plus, it became cooperative, instead of competitive, which is a lot more fun.

It's my favorite game for the Wii.
posted by MythMaker at 12:30 PM on October 10, 2007