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Discussion Wii Hidden Gems

curl-6

curl-6

Chain Chomp
While it's best known among the fanbase for games like Wii Sports, Mario Galaxy 1 and 2, Mario Kart Wii, etc, one of the things I really liked about the Wii is that if you dug a little deeper into its library, it also had a plethora of relatively little-known titles that were really interesting and excellent in their own right.

What would you consider the best "hidden gems" of the Wii?
 
The wii is weird that it is maybe the only nintendo console that you can make a hidden gem list just with first party games, as the "casual stigma" made lots of non major games like Mario kart and Mario Galaxy go unnoticed.

Like Excitetrucks, Excitebots, Wario Land Shake it, Battalion Wars 2, Punch Out, Rhythm Heaven Fever....

But going for really underrated I would choose:
Rodea the Sky Soldier, Fluidity, Sin & Punishment 2, Kororinpa, Boom Blox, Go Vacation, Endless Ocean 2 and Deadly Creatures
 
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Great idea for a thread! The first game that comes to mind for me is Zack and Wiki, a modern adventure or point and click-style game with endearing characters, clever and inventive puzzles and endlessly creative setpieces. I still think about this game regularly. My spouse and I played it back in 2008 and got stuck on one of the puzzles about 30% into the game. After 7 years we decided to go back to it and see if our brains had solved the puzzle in the interim and we were excited to see that we could in fact complete it and see the rest of what the game had to offer.

And it has a whole heck of a lot to experience. The puzzles are truly mind-bending at times. Out of pretty much every hidden gem on the Wii this is the one I'd most love to see a sequel for. The characters are so animated and charming. I can still immediately remember several of the most engrossing puzzles. I also really appreciated the clever and original ways it integrated the Wiimote into the gameplay. It was very unmistakably a Wii game and as a mega fan of that system I mean that in the best way.
 
Not exactly an unknown series but the Disc golf on Tiger Woods 2010 owns. Probably some of the most fun use of motion controls on the system
 
Arc Rise Fantasia is a JRPG with a combat system that's pretty fun and a story that's surprisingly really good for something that looks as generic as it is, with fun writing and genuine political intrigue.

It didn't review very well but I still maintain that FlingSmash is very fun. It's simple and pinball-esque, but very fun for pickup and play gameplay. I still maintain that it would have done better had it been a WiiWare release.

Speaking of WiiWare, there's a good amount of stuff on there that was criminally underlooked. The Art Style series, the Bit.Trip series, the Konami ReBirth games, FF4 the After Years. Luckily I bought most of the notable titles before it went down but it's obviously inaccessible now through official means.

The We Ski games are surprisingly really good. Playing them with the balance board is one of the coolest uses of motion controls I can think of.

Most people know of it now, but at release Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn deserved way more attention. Both it and Path of Radiance are an incredible duology together.
 
I'm not entirely sure it quite qualifies as a "hidden gem", but it's certainly overlooked, and often scoffed at:

DeadRisingWii.jpg


Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop. It's not a port of Dead Rising 360, it's a remake developed specifically for the Wii. It was designed to play like Resident Evil 4, complete with a greater emphasis on shooting, as opposed to the melee combat of the 360 game. Being that RE4 is my favorite game of all time, with the Wii port being especially solid, Chop Till You Drop was a highly enjoyable experience, for me. Lots of nostalgia for this one!
 
Excite Truck, Punch Out, Kororinpa (not Kororinpa 2), Red Steel, Nancy Drew and the White Wolf of Icicle Creek, Super Smash Bros Brawl, THE DOG Island, the Conduit (not Conduit 2), My Pokémon Ranch, Castlevania the Adventure Rebirth, Excitebike World Rally, Rhythm Heaven Fever, Tatsunoko vs Capcom, Sonic and the Secret Rings

A lot of the well known Wii games are mediocre, but if you look deeper you realize it's PS2 2. Lots of great smaller games.
 
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One of the lame parts of Chop Till You Drop is the seemingly less enemy density if I remember it right.

The increased emphasis on shooting is alright though.

Oh yeah, TOSE developed this game.
 
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic games London 2012.

The London party mode actually holds up really well (I played it last week again coincidentally). It's like fast paced, less restricted Mario Party with everyone playing at the same time.

The Mii customization is also superb
 
Tailzo said:
I had a lot of fun with Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King.
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I really enjoyed this too. That and World of Goo were amongst my most-played WiiWare games. Also Castlevania Adventure Rebirth, and Contra Rebirth.

For full price releases, my most played weren’t even Mario, Zelda, Mario Kart etc, it was Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn and Monster Hunter Tri. I suspect the former is a hidden gem these days as it’s hard to find without paying silly money and hadn’t been re-released. I’m glad I played it though that and Path of Radiance several times back then, still the series high point for me.

Otherwise-
Dead Space: Extraction I felt was overlooked, it’s a really fun take on a light gun game. I enjoyed House of the Dead: Overkill but DE:E was a solid spin-off, in that it captured the spirit and tone of the original while heading into a different genre.
 
Brock Reiher said:
Excite Truck, Punch Out, Kororinpa (not Kororinpa 2), Red Steel, Nancy Drew and the White Wolf of Icicle Creek, Super Smash Bros Brawl, THE DOG Island, the Conduit (not Conduit 2), My Pokémon Ranch, Castlevania the Adventure Rebirth, Excitebike World Rally, Rhythm Heaven Fever, Tatsunoko vs Capcom, Sonic and the Secret Rings

A lot of the well known Wii games are mediocre, but if you look deeper you realize it's PS2 2. Lots of great smaller games.
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Yeah, I agree, there were tons of great games on the Wii that never get mentioned in forums as people only talk about the big hitters, but then I guess most consoles eventually have discussion consolidate around a few dozen games. With the Wii though, sometimes online discussion feels like nobody played anything that wasn’t a major first party release. I put it partly down to the way retail largely didn’t promote any decent games that weren’t first party, it was either Mario and Co or Party Horse Baby Petz or whatever :D

Zack and Wiki was good, I feel like the Resident Evil 4 port was a good example for motion controls/gyro too, it works well seeing as RE4 combat is relatively slow and deliberate. I enjoyed those.
 
Calling on Wii I bought a while back (horror game from Hudson Soft/Konami), not played it yet but plan to this Halloween:



Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love - This is a fantastic visual novel/SRPG from the developers of Valkyria Chronicles & Skies of Arcadia, they need to re-release it on modern systems since it's so rare and hard to get (think it might be NA only on PS2, EU regions only on Wii) :



Monolith Soft's true masterpiece - Disaster: Day of Crisis. It's like Time Crisis mixed with Disaster Report mixed with Die Hard. Really fun game.

 
Little King's Story
Zack and Wiki

Those two are just wonderful games. It's a shame they didn't sell enough to warrant sequels.
 
I still haven't played it, but I have heard good things about Fortune Street. From what I have heard if you're a fan of games like monoply, but with a Nintendo and Dragon Quest twist you will enjoy it.


FS_boxcover.png
 
The truly hidden gems are the ones that aren’t even available anymore due to the Wii Shop Channel closing, and among those, one of the best, most charming WiiWare games I’ve played is Bonsai Barber.




It’s been ages since I’ve played it, but I have such fond memories of the game. It’s so sad that pretty much no one else is ever going to play the game again since it’s not available anymore and will likely never be ported to a newer console… =(
 
A lot of great stuff in this thread! (I had forgotten about how much I adored Bonsai Barber)

I remember thoroughly enjoying both Endless Ocean games, but perhaps they’re not obscure enough?
 
I wouldn't call it a gem but I had fun with the conduit back in the day.

Battalion Wars 2 was a good game and I think the series deserves another shot.
 
Tye said:
The truly hidden gems are the ones that aren’t even available anymore due to the Wii Shop Channel closing, and among those, one of the best, most charming WiiWare games I’ve played is Bonsai Barber.




It’s been ages since I’ve played it, but I have such fond memories of the game. It’s so sad that pretty much no one else is ever going to play the game again since it’s not available anymore and will likely never be ported to a newer console… =(
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This one always stands out to me, I gotta play it. Remember it releasing back in the day
 
Gosh there are just so many for me.
Fatal Frame 4 and the reimagining of 2 are two of my favourite horror games ever and it's a crime they didn't get porper global releases as they really deserve a wider audience.

Then there's Silent Hill Shattered Memories, Red Steel 2, Sin & Punishment Star Successor, de Blob 1 & 2, Deadly Creatures, Art of Balance, House of the Dead Overkill, Dead Space Extraction, Muramasa The Demon Blade, Excite Truck, Excite Bots, Pandora's Tower...

So many excellent games got overlooked on Wii due to the "it's all just Mario games and shovelware" stigma, and I'm so glad I took the time to explore its library beyond just what got advertised.
 
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Gabev said:
I still haven't played it, but I have heard good things about Fortune Street. From what I have heard if you're a fan of games like monoply, but with a Nintendo and Dragon Quest twist you will enjoy it.


FS_boxcover.png
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I’ve really just been waiting for them to make one for the Switch, especially since the PS4 got one with Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest characters in Japan. With how well Mario Party and Clubhouse have done on Switch, you’d think this would be a no-brainer.

Might just snag this off eBay since I’ve been waiting so long at this point lol.
 
The lack of Opoona and Fishing Resort mention here is disappointing.T_T

Cursed Mountain for Horror fans
Trauma Center is also great Atlus games.

For those who have japanese Wii, Earth Seeker is a must buy
 
Gabev said:
I still haven't played it, but I have heard good things about Fortune Street. From what I have heard if you're a fan of games like monoply, but with a Nintendo and Dragon Quest twist you will enjoy it.


FS_boxcover.png
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I've tried playing this with some friends but it never really works out. Turns take too long to hold people's attention, and it takes so long to play that it's hard to maintain interest past like the first hour.
 
skullwaker said:
I’ve really just been waiting for them to make one for the Switch, especially since the PS4 got one with Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest characters in Japan. With how well Mario Party and Clubhouse have done on Switch, you’d think this would be a no-brainer.

Might just snag this off eBay since I’ve been waiting so long at this point lol.
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I am surprised that they haven't made one for switch yet as well, hopefully we can get a new game if not a port.
 
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Thought of some more I've not seen mentioned yet:

Ghost Squad is a really fun lightgun shooter from SEGA AM2:



Gunblade NY/LA Machineguns Collection is another really fun game from SEGA, this time it's a chaingun and you just hold down the trigger, no need to reload, just pure arcade fun:



Zack and Wiki. A colourful Capcom point and click adventure game. Definitely one I want to play one day (sat on my shelf waiting) :



curl-6 said:
Gosh there are just so many for me.
Fatal Frame 4 and the reimagining of 2 are two of my favourite horror games ever and it's a crime they didn't get porper global releases as they really deserve a wider audience.

Then there's Silent Hill Shattered Memories, Red Steel 2, Sin & Punishment Star Successor, de Blob 1 & 2, Deadly Creatures, Art of Balance, House of the Dead Overkill, Dead Space Extraction, Muramasa The Demon Blade, Excite Truck, Excite Bots, Pandora's Tower...

So many excellent games got overlooked on Wii due to the "it's all just Mario games and shovelware" stigma, and I'm so glad I took the time to explore its library beyond just what got advertised.
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Fingers crossed we get Fatal Frame 2 Remake & Fatal Frame 4 re-released since they're two of the best games in the series.

Tbh, like the PS2 and DS, there's so many that I've yet to play, it's a treasure trove of cool obscure games. A lot of them still hold up too.
 
Good evening everyone, and thanks @curl-6 for creating this really nice topic.

I'm Brand Newman, amateur translator of Japanese Wii games.
I hope this won't come as pretentious, but I've already read about two games I've translated on this thread. So I thought I might leave a little message about them, considering some can be easily seen as "gems".

So, here's the trailer for "Zangeki No Reginleiv", a hack-n-slash, nordic mythology version of EDF:



I also read someone talked about Earth Seeker, a "Monster Hunter"-like game of some sort with a really strong appeal:



I also did "Ikenie No Yoru", a very effective horror game that can be played with the Wii Balance Board:



Takt of Magic, a game that makes real good use of the Wiimote, allowing you to cast spell by drawing "runes" with it (and the music is marvelous):



And finally, there's a Wiiware called Line Attack Heroes, that was supposed to be released worldwide by Greezo (the company behind the "Ocarina" remakes for the 3ds), and ended up stuck in Japan:



All these translations can be downloaded following the links in the descriptions.

I'm currently working on Chibi-Robo (the "New Control" version, only released in Japan), and hope I can released it by the end of the year.

If you happen to like what you see in these trailers, give these games a chance, I think some of you might enjoy them!

And if you want to stay up-to-date with my progress, you can find me on Twitter, where I (BrandNewman06) : I try to publish info and new pictures on a semi-regular basis! ;)

Everybody has a good day, and keep playing the Wii!
 
Though Operation Rainfall made it well known among hardcore Nintendo fans, I feel that in terms of the general audience, The Last Story was an overlooked gem. With its awesome combat system, endearing characters, and fanastic soundtrack, its one of my favourite JRPGs.

Medal of Honor Heroes 2 is also one I really enjoyed, and remains one of the best examples of how motion controls can enhance gameplay. Not only is its pointer-controlled aiming smooth and precise, but it had so many cool uses of motion that just felt great like pumping the nunchuk to pump a shotgun, rotating the Wiimote to zoom a sniper scope in and out, and putting a rocket launcher on your shoulder and hearing the launch sound come out of the Wiimote speaker next to your ear.

Brand.Newman said:
Good evening everyone, and thanks @curl-6 for creating this really nice topic.

I'm Brand Newman, amateur translator of Japanese Wii games.
I hope this won't come as pretentious, but I've already read about two games I've translated on this thread. So I thought I might leave a little message about them, considering some can be easily seen as "gems".

So, here's the trailer for "Zangeki No Reginleiv", a hack-n-slash, nordic mythology version of EDF:



I also read someone talked about Earth Seeker, a "Monster Hunter"-like game of some sort with a really strong appeal:



I also did "Ikenie No Yoru", a very effective horror game that can be played with the Wii Balance Board:



Takt of Magic, a game that makes real good use of the Wiimote, allowing you to cast spell by drawing "runes" with it (and the music is marvelous):



And finally, there's a Wiiware called Line Attack Heroes, that was supposed to be released worldwide by Greezo (the company behind the "Ocarina" remakes for the 3ds), and ended up stuck in Japan:



All these translations can be downloaded following the links in the descriptions.

I'm currently working on Chibi-Robo (the "New Control" version, only released in Japan), and hope I can released it by the end of the year.

If you happen to like what you see in these trailers, give these games a chance, I think some of you might enjoy them!

And if you want to stay up-to-date with my progress, you can find me on Twitter, where I (BrandNewman06) : I try to publish info and new pictures on a semi-regular basis! ;)

Everybody has a good day, and keep playing the Wii!
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Wow, thanks for posting!
One of my favourite games on Wii, Fatal Frame 4, was one I was only able to fully experience thanks to a fan translation, so huge props to you for your awesome work and thank you so much!

I had no idea Earth Seeker and Zangeki no Reginleiv had been translated! I will give them a go next time I have some downtime in my Switch log,
Out of curiosity, how does Earth Seeker play, in terms of its battle system? It's had to get a read on it from watching gameplay.
 
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I still hold Bonsai Barber as one of my favorite Wii games. I fucking loved it.

Also, shout out to NyxQuest. Another fun little Wiiware game I thoroughly enjoyed.
 
Idk what I could name that people haven’t named already but here’s my run-on list:

Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of the Moon
Muramasa: The Demon Blade
Sin & Punishment 2: Star Successor
Elebits
Red Steel 2 (an actual top 10 Wii game)
The Last Story
Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom
Medal of Honor Heroes 2
The Conduit
MadWorld
House of the Dead: Overkill
Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles
DEADLY CREATURES
Cursed Mountain
New Play Control!! Donkey Kong Jungle Beat (cheating with this one but it’s the definitive version of the GameCube classic that no one played)
Battalion Wars 2
Silent Hill: Shattered Memories
Dead Space Extraction
Batman: The Brave and the Bold

The Wii fucking ruled.
 
curl-6 said:
Wow, thanks for posting!
One of my favourite games on Wii, Fatal Frame 4, was one I was only able to fully experience thanks to a fan translation, so huge props to you for your awesome work and thank you so much!

I had no idea Earth Seeker and Zangeki no Reginleiv had been translated! I will give them a go next time I have some downtime in my Switch log,
Out of curiosity, how does Earth Seeker play, in terms of its battle system? It's had to get a read on it from watching gameplay.
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Nabbit said:
You are amazing @Brand.Newman and I am super impressed with your efforts! Thanks for everything you do for the import fan scene. How did you like Line Attack Heroes?
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Good morning (well, at least in France!), and thank you for your kind messages!

@curl-6 , I'm with you on Fatal Frame 4 : we had the privilege to have a French translation released for this game as well, and to me this impressive piece of work remains an example of a top notch amateur translation to this day.

Earth Seeker has a special place in my heart, because it's the game with which everything started for me : I didn't even plan to translate the entire game, but couldn't find any complete translation, so one thing leading to another, I ended up achieving what I thought wasn't possible.
And so it grew on me, and here we are. :)

To answer your question, Earth Seeker has a sort of mixed "realtime" and "strategy" gameplay, where you stop time to choose what your next actions will be, then have to avoid your enemy to give your allies (the "guardians") the time to attack or cast their spells.

Below is a little demo I did back in the day that should give you the general idea:



@Nabbit , Line Attack Heroes was a special request I received, and I wanted to try something different after translating several retail discs games.
The game was fun and all (and had much more dialogs and difficulties than I had anticipated, considering it was "just" Wiiware), but it fell a bit short compared to retail games.
Hard to say if this was because it was converted to a Wiiware release, or if it had been like that all along.
Now, that being said, the general gameplay is super fun if you play with friends: the arenas are very different from each others, you can have several allies with different techniques, and I would go as far as to compare the multiplayer mode to Bomberman in terms of fun!

I can't wait to know what you all think about these games, hope you'll like them as much as I did : I was blessed enough that I never ended up disliking a game I worked on.

And if some of you want to leave a nice review on the Romhacking website where the patches can be translated, I'd be delighted to read from you! ;)

Yours truly.
 
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Brand.Newman said:
Good evening everyone, and thanks @curl-6 for creating this really nice topic.

I'm Brand Newman, amateur translator of Japanese Wii games.
I hope this won't come as pretentious, but I've already read about two games I've translated on this thread. So I thought I might leave a little message about them, considering some can be easily seen as "gems".

So, here's the trailer for "Zangeki No Reginleiv", a hack-n-slash, nordic mythology version of EDF:



I also read someone talked about Earth Seeker, a "Monster Hunter"-like game of some sort with a really strong appeal:



I also did "Ikenie No Yoru", a very effective horror game that can be played with the Wii Balance Board:



Takt of Magic, a game that makes real good use of the Wiimote, allowing you to cast spell by drawing "runes" with it (and the music is marvelous):



And finally, there's a Wiiware called Line Attack Heroes, that was supposed to be released worldwide by Greezo (the company behind the "Ocarina" remakes for the 3ds), and ended up stuck in Japan:



All these translations can be downloaded following the links in the descriptions.

I'm currently working on Chibi-Robo (the "New Control" version, only released in Japan), and hope I can released it by the end of the year.

If you happen to like what you see in these trailers, give these games a chance, I think some of you might enjoy them!

And if you want to stay up-to-date with my progress, you can find me on Twitter, where I (BrandNewman06) : I try to publish info and new pictures on a semi-regular basis! ;)

Everybody has a good day, and keep playing the Wii!
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Thanks for posting this, I actually totally forgot about half of those translations being out. I still have my Wii with Fatal Frame IV, so can definitely try those all out when I get time and there's a lapse in new releases I'm playing. Ikenie No Yoru and Zangeki No Reginleiv are the ones I'll probably prioritise over the others. Thanks to you and the others who worked on those for making those happen. Those games always looked cool to me.
 
I'm not quite sure what the exact definition of a hidden gem is but I will mention two games I loved back in the day and never finished but willl come back to one day. A Boy and his Blob was delightful and I fondly remember the art style, the atmosphere and the jelly bean blob transformations. It also got a port on Switch that is (imo) fairly priced at I believe 15€.
The other game is The Dog Island. The game is pretty cute, the world is nice and I have a great deal of nostalgia for the music. I don't remember a lot of the details other than liking it.
I also remember really liking The Munchables and finishing it in one night with a friend.
Oh wow only after writing it did I see that Brock has already mentioned The Dog Island, very cool. Fortune Street and Zack and Wiki have already also been mentioned, so I won't say anything about them. Same thing for Elebits/Eledees and Trauma Center!
 
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