Top 6 games that should already be on the Wii (but haven’t even been announced yet)

You would have to be in denial to not say that the Wii’s current line up of games is relatively uninteresting. This is by no means a shot at Nintendo, if you look at the release list for the rest of ’09 and early next year you’ll be hard pressed to find something to get really excited about. Save for New Super Mario Bros Wii, Nintendo hasn’t even been exploiting their greatest strength: a database of unique IPs. Instead of utilizing their wide list of franchises the up coming months brings us things like a sequel to Mario Galaxy, Wii Fit Plus, and New Super Mario Bros. Wii. When you look at the Wii-mote and the countless unique characters Nintendo has at it’s disposal you’d be hard pressed to not think of all the possibilities this system has, plain and simple Nintendo has yet to unlock the true potential of the Wii, they may have had a few run away hits but those are coming far and few in between and if Nintendo is smart they’ll realize that time is running out for them to keep their competitive edge.
Before Nintendo had the advantage of price, now the Xbox 360 is the same price and the once expensive PS3 is only a $100 more expensive. Nintendo once had the uniqueness of their motion control, now the Xbox 360 and PS3 both have their own motion controls coming up and from what we have seen they will both blow the Wii-mote away. The big question here now is how is Nintendo going to stay afloat let alone keep their top position in the console wars. The answer is in their games, that is the one thing Sony and Microsoft can never have, and never compete against: Nintendo has an arsenal of classic and new IPs that have risen above all others through out the years to almost legendary statuses. These games can only be done with the unique genius that is Nintendo and it is only through this does the big N have a chance in staying ahead of the other guys. Here is a list of games that Nintendo should have already been out on the Wii to spark back interest in the little console, unfortunately for Nintendo these titles haven’t even been announced yet.

F-zero – The futuristic racer has always been a solid title for any Nintendo system it was on. From the SNES onward, F-Zero has always delivered on what it would promise: ridiculously fast paced racing. Besides the actual gameplay the F-Zero franchise has always had a certain level of character to it. The game is set in the future where beings from far off planets participate in this race. In short the roster of interesting characters and racing crafts is what gives F-Zero its variety, that and the kick-ass race tracks which is the franchises other attraction, racers rocket through giant loops, 90 degree drops, and upside down roads, in environments ranging from dark caverns to futuristic metropolises. These games are a pure rush and can get very competitive, F-Zero would be an incredible addition to Wii’s library, with online play and the Wii’s motion control. A word of caution however, an F-Zero game for the Wii would need to be toned down in difficulty, the franchise is also notoriously known for it’s ruthlessness.


Star Fox – It blows my mind how not a word has been spoken about Star Fox for the Wii. Star Fox 64 was one of the best games for the N64 and yet no direct sequel has been made of it. The Gamecube did get two games though, Star Fox Adventures and Star Fox Assault, the former being a solid title while the latter being a mediocre one. But the Wii desperately calls for a classic Star Fox game, the Wii’s motion controls could be tuned to work so well with this shooter and with so much time between this and the N64 title, fans will literally be clamoring to get this game, throw in online dog fights and you have yourself an instant classic, heck even bring back Slippy if you have to Nintendo just please announce this game already!


Paper Mario – Now before you say wait a minute the Wii has Super Paper Mario, let me explain. The Wii needs to have Paper Mario return to the RPG format, yes Super Paper Mario was a good game but the RPG style of the previous ones was so much more fulfilling. Both the original and it’s sequel: Thousand Year door were considered to be the best RPGs on their respective systems. Sound hard to believe? Go back and play them and you’ll be surprised how well these games were made, let alone the unique artistic style and charm. Admittedly this game probably wouldn’t use the Wii’s motion controls to their full extent but does that mean it shouldn’t be made? The Wii’s lineup of RPGs is so thin that a Paper Mario sequel would be eaten up by core and casual gamers alike.


Kid Icarus – For those younger gamers who didn’t didn’t even know Kid Icarus existed got their first glimpses of the main character, Pit in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. For those of you who don’t know much about this long lost series, the games are simple. Set in the world of Greek Mythology you play as Pit an angel whose task it is to defeat the Dark Goddess Medusa, unique yet standard stuff for a game on the NES. The game actually was a mix of Metroid and Zelda, the game giving players a world to explore in a 2D space and the chance to get more abilities. It seems that a sequel is well over due now but the general debate has been how Nintendo would want to go about reviving this franchise. Kid Icarus was very similar to Metroid on the NES so logically a Kid Icarus like Metroid Prime could work, with the Wii’s controls players will be able to shoot arrows just like Pit. However some say a safer 2D approach would be better, either way like Metroid before it Kid Icarus needs be brought back into the light after years of hibernation.


Luigi’s Mansion 2 – As soon as I heard the Wii would have motion controls this was one the first games I thought would be announced for it. The original Luigi’s Mansion made it’s debut with the GameCube and although the game was incredibly short it was a unique and fun experience, and Luigi was the main character to boot. A sequel to Luigi’s Mansion for the Wii would work so well it makes me question whether or not Nintendo forgot they had developed the game all those years ago. With an over the shoulder camera perspective players would be able to control the flashlight and vacuum much more intuitively than the original, and capturing ghosts will be a lot more involving having the players pull back on the Wii-mote as they they struggle to capture the variety of specters in the game. Just make sure the game is of a decent length and you got yourself another classic Wii title.


Kirby – Admittedly the pink ball hasn’t had much luck on home consoles, there have been a mixed bag of games on the N64 and the Gamecube but with some extra time and care I’m sure a 3D Kirby game can be delivered. For those of you who are Kirby fans you will know that this game actually has been announced…sort of, which is why I’m including it in this list. Those who don’t know or just don’t remember, a new Kirby game was organically announced back in E3 ’05 for the Gamecube, after realizing the console’s demise was soon, the game was canceled for the Gamecube and that’s where things get a little hazy. It was assumed that the new Kirby game would be transferred over to the Wii, in fact the game has randomly shown up on Nintendo release calenders for the Wii since then, however back in 2007 Nintendo officially stated that the game was not in development, but since then has yet again shown up on certain release lists. So since the existence of this game is in question, and with Nintendo’s official statement and no word from them since I’m treating it like the other games on this list, it could be in development but it hasn’t been announced, so Nintendo if this new Kirby game is in development please hurry it up and announce it, everyone has missed the little pink guy.
There you have it 6 games that can easily be made for the Wii and that can give the little console a much needed edge in this console war. Nintendo needs to do what it does best: explore and expand their unique characters, these are characters gamers have grown up with and each one of these games greatly deserves to be made, not only will they be a much deserved treat for the core gamers but they will undoubtedly sell many units, these aren’t mature games or games that have a niche market, they’re titles that anyone can enjoy and isn’t that what the Wii is all about?