Klonoa
Klonoa is a version that came out in 2009 in North America for the Wii. It improved the graphics and added some features from the follow-up games. This game had a cool feature that let the main character grab enemies with a magic ring and then use them to either jump higher or hit other enemies.
In general, it’s a pretty accurate remake of a PS1 favorite that doesn’t get enough attention. This game and its follow-up were updated and put together in a collection called Klonoa Phantasy Reverie Series. This is great because no one wants to get out their Wii in 2023. It can be played on Switch and a few other systems.
Sonic Colors
Reviewers and Sonic fans both said that Sonic Colors was the best Sonic game in a while. After Sonic and the Secret Rings and Sonic and the Black Knight, the series didn’t have any new games until the middle of the 2000s. In the 2006 game Sonic the Hedgehog, there was also the widely weird kissing scene.
That being said, it was great to see Sonic return for a classic Wii adventure that could be played in both 2D and 3D. The updated version of this game, Doodle Cricket, came out in 2021 for a number of systems, including the Switch. It lets you play it again, just like Clonoa.
Mega Man 9
The Wii had the eShop, the PS3 had PSN, and the Xbox 360 had Xbox Live. All three systems tried putting games online, and the Wii got some unique remakes of old NES games. In 2008, Mega Man 9 was a big deal because it had been over ten years since the last numbered video game.
Fans’ dreams came true when Mega Man came back in his basic pixel form. This was followed by Mega Man 10, which also had art that looked old. Mega Man Legacy Collection 1 + 2 lets you play both games on almost every platform out there right now.
Donkey Kong Country Returns
Nintendo brought back old games with Donkey Kong Country Returns, just like Mega Man 9. The king or queen of Donkey Kong was given to Rare, and they chose to make a game series about the big ape.
If you don’t count Donkey Kong 64, the SNES only had three Donkey Kong Country games. The last game for the SNES came out fourteen years before Donkey Kong Country Returns. As hard as ever, it had catchy music, different levels, and a good co-op mode.
Kirby’s Epic Yarn
The cute game Kirby’s Epic Yarn turned the normally good-looking Kirby into a craft project. All of the parts of the game were made from yarn and craft supplies like buttons and zippers.
It tried to be easier than most platform games so that average gamers could enjoy it, but not everyone liked it. Kirby games have always been a little easier than Mario and other Nintendo platform games. If a game looks this magical, there’s nothing wrong with making it easy.
Rayman Origins
In Rayman Origins, the character came back strong after being away for many years. For many years, Rabbids took over the show, which wasn’t always a bad thing. It was fun to go back to the basics of platform games, but Rayman and his friends had never been able to control the game this well before, so it felt like a fresh start.
Also, they had never looked this good; everything and everyone looked like it was drawn by hand. It was made as part of Ubisoft’s new UbiArt Framework project, which also has Rayman Legends, Child of Light, and Valiant Hearts: The Great War.
Wario Land: Shake It
Shake it up in Wario Land It looked like cartoons, which is a lot like Rayman Origins’ art style. This is the only game in the series that looks this way on the Wii, both inside and outside. Treasure, the game’s creator, deserves credit for giving Wario his unique look and adding the fun shaking mechanism.
The only difference was that enemies and riches were broken up when you shook them. It was even made fun of in an SNL sketch with Alec Baldwin, which is a real compliment. It’s too bad it’s stuck on Wii; since this came out in 2008, there hasn’t been a Wario adventure.
New Super Mario Bros. Wii
The clear winner is New Super Mario Bros. Wii, which was a nice change of pace. The DS game New Super Mario Bros. came before it. It was the first major 2D game in a long time. This version was more like that, and it also had a co-op mode for four people.
They could pick between Mario, Luigi, or two different colored Toads. This was the first time this had happened in the game. Because of how well this game did, Nintendo switches between 2D and 3D for their main games. The next game in the 2D world will be Super Mario Bros. Wonder.