We’re over a week into July, meaning we’ve passed the half way point for the year already. With E3 and a few solid Wii releases already behind us, we take a look at what’s in store for Wii owners as we approach the holiday season. Most of these titles you may have already heard of, while others have been flying under the radar and we feel it's our duty to educate the masses. After all, no one likes to see great games like MadWorld and House of the Dead: Overkill bomb at retail.
Little King’s Story - (July 21)
At first glance Little King’s Story may come across as one of those kiddy shovelware titles you’ve grown so accustomed to hating, but look passed its art style and you may find a charming mix of Pikmin, Animal Crossing, and maybe even a little FFCC: My Life as a King. Despite its looks Little King’s Story is a deep game that will have you conquering other lands and managing your villagers. Players can build up their kingdom and explore the surrounding areas to expand and fortify your kingdom, search for treasure, and topple rival rulers. If the rave reviews the game received after its European release in April are any indication, this could hopefully be a sleeper hit on Wii.
Wii Sports Resort - (July 26)
As a pack-in title with the Wii the original Wii Sports set out to show just what the Wii remote was capable of. Fast forward almost three years later and the sequel, Wii Sports Resort is here to take that one step further. Bundled with Wii MotionPlus, Resort’s aim is to sell consumers on the added precision of the MotionPlus accessory. Resort improves upon the original's 5 mini-games with 10 new games along with the return of bowling and golf. There are some games such as sword fighting and frisbee that appear like they will be making better overall use of the added sensitivity and those will surely be the ones that we'll keep coming back to again and again. The one thing that's missing from Wii Sports Resort is any kind of online interactivity at all. There's no online multiplayer and not even online leaderboards for games like the basketball 3-point shooting or archery and it's a disappointing omission.
Metroid Prime Trilogy - (August 24)
What can be said about the Metroid Prime trilogy? The first two games stand out as being some of, if not the best looking games to grace the GameCube despite the fact that the original came out only one year into the console's life cycle. Both the original and Echoes are even better looking than some Wii efforts we've been getting. Metroid Prime was arguably the best game on GameCube with Echoes not too far behind, and were it not for Super Mario Galaxy, Corruption would be our definitive Wii title thus far. Now when you consider that Nintendo is not just re-releasing the first two games for Wii under the New Play Control! label, but is instead putting all three games together on one disc (in a sexy Collector's Edition to boot) it's truly mind boggling. With the GameCube releases being re-tooled with Corruption's control scheme and achievements system the value in this collection is amazing. This is a definite must buy for any Wii owner who has yet to experience the Prime series, no questions asked.
- (September 8)
Muramasa: The Demon Blade is one of the prettiest games on this list, and it’s not because developer Vanillaware is trying to use any amazing technical effects or push the Wii’s processing power, but rather they’re doing it through a beautiful hand drawn art style. Set in late 1600/early 1700 Japan, Muramasa is a side-scroller that has you wielding a sword with two playable characters through 30 different levels. Unlike many games that try and get by on art and style alone, Muramasa seems to have the whole package with solid gameplay that allows players to choose how they want to play the game. You can either play the game based around character leveling or just ignore all that and play it as a straight action game. When you put all these elements together you’ve got a wonderful looking and diverse game that should make any Wii owner take notice.
Dead Space: Extraction - (September 29)
EA made quite a splash with the original Dead Space when it released last year, providing players with dark, moody environments, and a genuinely scary game. While the revelation of Dead Space: Extraction going from a free roaming third person shooter to an on-rails first person view point may have diminished the excitement of a Wii Dead Space game just a bit, Extraction is looking to be every bit as scary as the original. The game aims to clear up exactly what happened aboard the USG Ishimura leading up to the events of the first game. While details of the plot have been scarce up to this point it holds a lot of potential. Provided you can take the game for what it is, and not get hung up on the fact that it is a rail shooter Extraction is looking like a solid offering with impressive visuals and fun gameplay.
DJ Hero - (October 27)
You can say what you will about the Guitar Hero franchise, but just stop for a second to take a look at what DJ Hero has to offer before you try and lump it in with Activision’s other music game series. While the Guitar Hero formula has been slowly stagnating over the years Activision has brought something new to the table with DJ Hero. With a turntable controller players will be pressing buttons and rotating their turntable in a similar way to the gameplay of Guitar Hero, DJ Hero feels like a breath of fresh air that may be just what the rhythm game genre needs. If you thought Guitar Hero 5’s 85 different artists was impressive then you’re going to love that Activision has already licensed over 100 different tracks for DJ Hero. While some may find the $120 price tag a little hard to swallow DJ Hero is looking to be a welcome change for fans of rhythm gaming.
Ju-on: The Grudge - (October)
The 2003 original version of Ju-on: The Grudge is one of the more disturbing things to have come out of Japan, right alongside lolicon comics and a strange affinity for tentacles (look those up at your own risk), so it was both wonderful and strange to hear about a video game adaptation 6 years after the release of the film. Even stranger is the fact that the game will actually see the light of day outside of Japan! If anyone knows horror it’s the Japanese and what we’ve seen so far of Ju-on leaves us wanting more and counting the days until we’re able to get our grubby fingers on it. The game may seem like it is short on action but that’s exactly the way we want it to be. Nothing magnifies that sense of fear and horror more than feeling completely helplessness.
Cursed Mountain - (TBA 2009)
It’s been almost a full year since we first laid eyes on Cursed Mountain and in comparison to the other two survival horror entries on our list, Cursed Mountain looks like it will be combat heavy but it still seems to have every thing you’d expect from a survival horror game. You’ve got an average guy scaling the Himalayas to find his lost brother as he encounters a variety of supernatural monsters with everything from dead hikers to the spirits of Tibetian monks that aren’t as friendly as you might expect them to be. In the time between Cursed Mountain’s reveal and the present day the survival horror genre has gotten a little crowded on Wii but it seems that this game just might be able to hold it’s own against big names like The Grudge and Silent Hill.
A Boy and His Blob - (TBA 2009)
If there’s anyone that can give a 20 year old game a current gen sequel it’s WayForward, the same guys responsible for your fits of rage and frustration with the sadistically difficult Contra IV on DS. Much like Muramasa, A Boy and His Blob is a game that thrives on its art. What’s been shown of the game so far is looking very nice with wonderful backgrounds and fluid character animations complimenting platforming and puzzle elements. And we’ve got to admit there’s just something oddly cute about a boy hugging and calling out to a colorless blob. The original NES game hasn’t yet made its way to the Virtual Console so it seems like the perfect opportunity for Nintendo to get the original out there just before the Wii game’s release.
Silent Hill: Shattered Memories - (TBA 2009)
Don’t try telling anyone over at Climax Studios that Silent Hill: Shattered Memories is a remake of the original 1999 PlayStation game. The developer has been presenting it as a reimagining of the original as the team has been making changes to the first game’s story and gameplay while never straying too far away from the game’s roots. While the Silent Hill franchise has arguably been in a steady decline over the years, Shattered Memories promises to change all that with the game said to be watching your every move and constantly changing based on the decisions you make. Perhaps taking a few hints from the Japanese style of horror and focusing less on combat and more on simply making it through every situation with all of your limbs still intact. Shattered Memories will also be the first Silent Hill on a Nintendo console so it would seem to be as good a time as any for the franchise to return to its former glory.
New Super Mario Bros. Wii - (TBA 2009)
While it’s certainly nice to be getting a sequel to New Super Mario Bros. we’d be lying if we said that we thought the sequel would be on Wii as opposed to DS. Nevertheless, New Super Mario Bros. Wii is looking to be every bit as fun as the original on DS while letting your friends get in on the action with drop-in and out co-op multiplayer. Though if you just can't manage to get some friends together the main focus of New Super Mario Bros. Wii is still the single player mode with about 80 levels of classic 2D platforming. Its graphical presentation may be simple with nothing we’ve been shown so far setting the Wii version apart from its DS counterpart but this is classic 2D Mario that you can finally play with friends either cooperatively or competitively. You can’t tell me you aren’t going to love jumping on a friend’s head to send them down a pit to their death.
Red Steel 2 - (TBA 2009)
The original Red Steel was disappointing at launch to say the least. In retrospect, now that we’ve played games such as The Conduit and Metroid Prime 3: Corruption we can easily say that the game was just plain bad. There was always hope that a potential sequel could correct what was wrong with the first game and give us an experience worthy of the pre-launch hype the first one received. So far Red Steel 2 is doing everything right, beginning with the fact that the only links we can find between the two games are that you shoot a gun and wield a sword in both. The stylized cel shaded look, up-close combat involving both gun and swordplay at the same time, stronger controls, and MotionPlus support have us very curious to see just what Ubisoft can do to turn the franchise around.
And don't forget about...
- Guitar Hero 5 - (September 1)
- The Beatles: Rock Band - (September 8)
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars - Republic of Heroes - (September 15)
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Smash Up - (September 22)
- DiRT 2 - (September)
- Nartuo Shippuden: Clash of Ninja Revolution 3 - (Fall)
- Shaun White Snowboarding: World Stage - (Winter)
- The Sky Crawlers: Innocent Ages - (Winter)
- Need for Speed: Nitro - (TBA 2009)
- Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All Stars - (Winter 2009/2010)*
* Before everyone starts throwing fits about Tatsunoko vs. Capcom not being included in the larger listing above, it's because the game has yet to be confirmed for a 2009 release. Had it been confirmed, you can bet it would have been up there.
Think a game is missing from our list, or just disagree with one of our choices? Leave a reply and discuss it on our forums!
- D4rk 
