Fun DS/Wii games for a couple

April 27, 2008 11:20 AM

What are some good cooperative or "soft competition" games for the DS/Wii?

My wife and I are looking for some console games to play together. We currently own a Wii and are looking into also getting a pair of DS systems. We enjoy all sorts of games but are specifically looking for strategy/action oriented games that feature either cooperative play or soft competition (games that have you competing to accomplish an objective, but not necessarily head-to-head FPS-type stuff). Some games that have piqued our interest along these lines are Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates on the cooperative side and 1701 AD: Dawn of Discovery for soft competition.

For the Wii, most of our multi-player games are more along the party game style (Wario Ware and MP8) which are great in a group setting but aren't really engaging for 2. We're definitely getting Mario Kart Wii when it comes out, but are there any games that fall into the categories above for the Wii (we have Marvel: Ultimate Alliance but the control system is a bit clunky and for that kind of game X-Men Legends 2 for PS2 was really superior).

posted by baphomet to sports, hobbies, & recreation (14 answers total)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Cooperative_video_games
posted by ncc1701d at 11:46 AM on April 27, 2008

We have Wii Fit (the Japanese version), which is very cooperative.
posted by KokuRyu at 11:50 AM on April 27, 2008

For the DS, Puzzle Quest.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 11:51 AM on April 27, 2008

Lego Star Wars is very good.
posted by lore at 11:53 AM on April 27, 2008 [1 favorite]

Lego Star Wars is a pretty fine cooperative game for the Wii (and several other systems). It worked out very well for us. Better than any other we've played, in fact, and we're looking forward to the forthcoming Lego Indiana Jones.

Super Mario Galaxy, on the other hand, is just tragic for cooperation... there is no joy in playing the little star that orbits Mario, picking up stray star bits. If you're playing Mario, though, it's an excellent game.
posted by mumkin at 11:58 AM on April 27, 2008

My girlfriend would have to disagree with you, mumkin. She loves picking up starbits, and she's a freakin' machine at it. She's not much of a videogame person, so she enjoyed the low-stress, low-difficulty gameplay of picking up starbits while I tried to get that fucking plumber to jump the right way this time.

But, as I said, she's not much of a videogame person. If she was into more than just Mario Kart, she'd probably be bored by being starbit fetcher extrordinare...
posted by Xoder at 12:15 PM on April 27, 2008 [2 favorites]

Is Rock Band out for the Wii yet? Once it is, that's an awesome game to play together. My husband and I have played hours and hours on the 360 version.
posted by Addlepated at 12:47 PM on April 27, 2008

I found that Big Brain Academy was a surprise hit with a bunch of friends who thought they were "too mature for video games." One team ended up being a bit of an underdog and refused to quit until they had beaten the champs.
posted by ikahime at 1:15 PM on April 27, 2008

Xoder, I'm in agreement; while we started out the same way though, she firmly wields the primary controller these days.

^{for the easy levels, anyway.}
posted by davemee at 1:40 PM on April 27, 2008

I've been playing House of the Dead for the Wii with my partner. Co-operative, and full of zombies.
posted by siskin at 1:42 PM on April 27, 2008

Thanks all, Lego Star Wars was exactly what we were looking for!
posted by baphomet at 10:16 AM on May 6, 2008

Thanks to WiiWare, there's another really cool option for you: Defend Your Castle. My girlfriend and I mercilessly destroy the stick figures that assault our castle. Whoever gets the most points in a given level gets to decide what upgrades are made before progessing to the next one.

And it's only 500 Wii Points (5 USD, if that's your poison)!
posted by Xoder at 7:48 AM on May 19, 2008

Boomblox is another sweet game for future MeFites visiting this topic.
posted by baphomet at 3:04 PM on June 17, 2008

We've really enjoyed Trauma Center: Second Opinion as well.
posted by baphomet at 3:05 PM on October 10, 2008