A Tribute To The Wii

[GaryPotter]

If you start talking about bad Wii games, you'll basically have to list about 80% of the system's library.

Anyway, I spent several years being kind of a Wii snob. I scoffed at it's underpowered hardware and mocked all the folks who rushed off to buy one so quickly. I just got a Wii last month and regret not having gotten one sooner. SMBWii is without a doubt the best game I have ever played, bar none. Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom is also good, though absurdly easy. And I'm loving Virtual Console way more than I though I would.

What don't I like about the Wii? Well, it has the exact same problem that plagued the GameCube and N64. That is, total lack of strong third-party support. Just like it's predecessors, it got most of it's love from it's parent and was promptly forgotten about after it's successor was announced. Looking at a store shelf of Wii games is basically seeing treasure surrounded by shit. Which brings me to my next point: shovelware. I swear, the Wii has very nearly equaled the original NES in the amount of god-awful garbage released to it. It's terrible what Nintendo allowed to happen, and you can bet your butt that it will happen again on the WiiU, because they don't care and never will.

As far as the WiiU goes, I honestly don't know what to think about it.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

What you say about the Wii honestly applies to almost all consoles in general. I know everyone likes to look at stuff like the PS1/2, Dreamcast, SNES, and other great consoles with rose-tinted glasses, and I don't deny that those were some of the best consoles ever, but it was because of all of the great games that they had. That still doesn't change the fact that there were also a ton of shit games for each console. But, honestly, why hold that against them? It doesn't matter how many shit games there are on a console as long as there are a lot of good games in general. People only remember the good games that they have played over time, which is why the bad ones fade into obscurity and when people look back at a console it feels like almost every game that it had was amazing, but really the gems in gaming that we like so much really only make up a small percentage of what is released in full.

The Wii may have a bunch of shit games surrounding its good ones, but that doesn't change the fact that there are still those good ones there, and the bad ones can be completely ignored. And besides, can you honestly say that the 360 or PS3 are any better in that regard? I could just as easily name a plethora of shit games for each, but what I can't do is name more than 10 exclusive games for either that are genuinely great games to me or games which I have not played but really catch my interest. As for the Wii, I can do that with much more ease, especially when compared to the Gamecube. So, really, I don't see too much to complain about for the Wii. Then again, I never personally care to look for faults in everything since I'm the type of guy who always looks for what I like, rather than things to complain about. For instance, even though I own a 360 and have come to think of it as a mediocre console at best, that doesn't mean that I regret having one since I can't deny the fact that I have still in fact played great games for it which I would not have gotten to experience without it. So, really, I'm just happy with what's good about gaming, and mostly tend to ignore what sucks about it unless its literally forced upon me for some stupid reason.

[Foggle]

Indeed, E-K. The Wii probably has more obvious shovelware than most other consoles, but the ratio of shit to greatness is basically the same as with the PS2 and NES.

Oh, and here's my favorite Wii game.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Yeah, I tend to not think of it as "how many good games to bad games does this console have," but instead just "how many good games does this console have." That's really all that ever matters to me.

[Spark Of Spirit]

So I checked out a few demos I've had of WiiWare games, and I have to admit I'm interested in Jett Rocket, LIT, Max & The Magic Marker, and Zombie Panic In Wonderland. The demos were really fun and I'm curious to see how the full games stack up.

Especially Jett Rocket. If you guys like 3D platformers you should really check it out.

[GaryPotter]

I'm going to get lynched for saying this, but I don't like Donkey Kong Country Returns at all. Without the rendered graphics it just doesn't feel like DKC to me.

[Rosalinas Spare Wand]

I would ask what's the cheapest bus to take to your hometown, but that opinion seems to be a lot more common than you'd think.

Honestly, I love Returns and its a contender for my favorite platformer, but it does seem to lack something from the original trilogy. I can't quite put my finger on it, but the aesthetics and different enemies are definitely a part of it. I looked past them just because the game hit on the 2 things I loved about platformers, but I do always wonder how different it would be if Kremlings and prerendered models were still used.

[Rynnec]

The absence of Kremlings still bugs me. It's like a Mario platformer without Goomba's or Koopa's. It's not like Nintendo didn't have the rights to use them since they were in Super Mario Strikers and all.

[Foggle]

I love DKCR. It might be my favorite in the series. But I'd be lying if I said it feels like the original trilogy.

[Spark Of Spirit]

It's missing the atmosphere of the original 3.

It's not really the graphics, it's more like the art direction makes it more "jungle" than "Donkey Kong Country". What made DKC its own thing was how quiet and menacing the levels felt, DKCR is not like that at all. Things are frequently exploding, the music is too loud or lacking subtlety most of the time, and the game is rarely quiet. But if you notice, levels like the mountain tops, forest, or even the factory levels feel a LOT closer to that style because the levels are usually really quiet except when enemies attack.

DKC is well known for its atmosphere, but Returns didn't really have that. The rocket barrel levels alone make sure of that, but all the cannons going off all over the stages, all the exploding stuff in the mine cart levels, and even all the crumbling statues in the jungle levels take away from it.

It's a great game, but it's not quite DKC2- especially in atmosphere.

[talonmalon333]

DKCR? No atmosphere? Hogwash!



I think it was excellent, and possibly the best in the series. I mean, no matter what way you look at it, they did fine-tune the gameplay of the classics well.

[Spark Of Spirit]

There are some good moments, but lets not pretend the "shadow silhouette" thing is exclusive to DKCR. Also, it didn't really polish anything from the classics, it merely took what worked and put its own spin on it. If it was called DKC4 that might have annoyed me, but since its not called that I don't really mind.

Anyway, I think the one thing we can all agree on is that the soundtrack is garbage when its not remixing David Wise tunes. A severe lack of this kind of atmosphere is missing. The lack of quality music really does take away from the atmosphere.

[Rosalinas Spare Wand]

I don't agree with that. I loved DKCR's soundtrack. Maybe it was 90% recycled covers of the original games songs, but they were still great, and they definitely matched the louder atmosphere of the game. But then again, we've always disagreed on the Rocketbarrel portions of the game which I believe also has some incredible music to accompany it.

[talonmalon333]

I don't agree with that. I loved DKCR's soundtrack. 

Agreed, even outside the remixes... Really, what's with the DKCR hate on this site?

[Spark Of Spirit]

What hate? Several people have said there are things about it that don't feel right to them and we're trying to figure out what that is. I feel its the lack of atmosphere which comes through the music and the rocket barrel levels which I don't like, others think its the lack of Kremlings, or the pre-rendered look.

I don't think anyone has called it a bad game.