Buying a Wii - community help?

Hello everyone! I've finally gotten around to keep money for a Wii, which I'll buy in a couple of weeks, maximum. Thing is, I'm almost clueless about Wii games - I know the major hits, of course, and I've already bought the limited controller edition of Skyward Sword, since it was - duh - limited, and I didn't want to risk getting it more expensive.

This is the Wii console I'll be getting, which, I think, is blue due to the fact that Sonic is 20 years old anymore (1991-2011). A question, though: do consoles have different hardware specifications? Think X360 Arcade console, and regular console. Also, does this console allow GameCube backwards compatibility?

Now, I'm asking for help on games from you, Wii owners. Which games should my library not miss? I'm currently interested in:

- Twilight Princess
- Monster Hunter Tri
- Red Steel 2
- No More Heroes
- Maybe some Resident Evil Wii-exclusive titles
- Xenoblade Chronicles
- Disney Epic Mickey
- Metal Gear Solid: Twin Snakes
- I'd get Okami, but I have it on my PS2. If it's had critical changes in the Wii version, though, I'll pick it up.

These, I know for sure that I'll get around to buy, soon. Generally, I'm interested in 3rd person games, be it shooters, adventure, action, platformer - anything that has something that can attract me. I'm only interested in Wii exclusives, since I own a good PC, a PS3 and an X360. My game collection is huge, so don't hesistate to bring examples and compare them to other games. The first examples of favorite/unique games are: Demon's/Dark Souls, Uncharted series, Assassin's Creed series, God of War series, Castlevania series, Sly series, The Witcher series, Mass Effect series... I can go on, but you get the idea. I don't really love FPS games, but I've heard good things about the Conduit series.

I hope it wasn't too tiring to read, and excuse my noobishness. Thank you very, very much, since it was a long read, with some questions that will decide my purchases.

I think havoc means gamecube games :P No, the newer flat-down models don't have gamecube BC, sorry!

As for the games:

- Twilight Princess
- Monster Hunter Tri
- Red Steel 2
- No More Heroes
- Maybe some Resident Evil Wii-exclusive titles
- Xenoblade Chronicles
- Disney Epic Mickey

Of those, Monster Hunter, Red Steel 2, No More Heroes, and Xenoblade are the must haves.

Now that Skyward Sword is out, no real reason to get TP over it, and Epic Mickey I love, but its a love it or hate it kind of game.

Xenoblade Chronicles is the single best game I've played all generation, so HUGE recommendation on that one :P

In most cases an easy way to tell the difference between Backwards Compatible and Non-Backwards Compatible Wii's is the logo on the system.

Backwards Compatible Wii Models have the Wii logo at the bottom and are meant to stand vertically:

While Non-Backwards Compatible Wii Models have the Wii logo between the SD card slot and the eject button, they're also meant to lay horizontally:

Alright moving on, you have a nice list of games there and I'll comment on each from what I know of them:

- Twilight Princess (If you get this it's probably best to play it before playing SS, since SS has such improved controls)

- Monster Hunter Tri (If you're new to MH it may be a litte slow going at 1st, but as you get farther in it's more fun)

- Red Steel 2 (I personally think that it's possibly the best action adventure/brawler on Wii)

- No More Heroes (I think the second game is considered the better one by many, but this one is still loved for it's crazy charm)

- Maybe some Resident Evil Wii-exclusive titles (All of them are on-rails, but they're well made and have some of the best graphics on Wii)

- Xenoblade Chronicles (Unfortunatly it's not out here in NA, from what I've seen of it though it's probably the largest JRPG this generation)

- Disney Epic Mickey (I love this game. It's like a love letter to cIassic disney and all it's darker elements, and you don't even need to be a total disney geek to enjoy it. It would be wise to watch some of the first Mickey and Oswald cartoons on youtube so you'll instantly get some of the references. The thing most people seem to dislike about the game is the manual camera, but I haven't run into any problems while playing. I've probably said enough about this one... I'll move on. lol)

- Metal Gear Solid: Twin Snakes (I've never played a modern Metal Gear, and I don't much about them so I'll skip this one)

- I'd get Okami, but I have it on my PS2. If it's had critical changes in the Wii version, though, I'll pick it up. (I think the only critical changes in the Wii version are the controls and some graphical effects)

Some other Wii games I think you should look into are:

Super Mario Galaxy 1&2 - (They're the best 3D platformers this generation, with top-notch controls, gameplay, level design, music and visuals. And similar to No More Heroes, the 2nd is considered better but the 1st still has it's own styIe and charm.)

Little King's Story - (Think Real-time strategy with more RPG, town-building and life simulation elements. But don't let the name or colorful graphics fool you, it has some jokes/topics only an adult would understand. you'll constantly be upgrading your village, growing the population, unlocking the available cIasses, and hitting up side and main missions, but it's really the art styIe, world and the people in it that makes the game such a enjoyable experience. The game is funny, constantly poking fun at games or giving nods to cIassic series (Princess Apricot, for example, is an obvious name play off of Princess Peach), and the silly humor of a child king taking over the entire world with an army of villagers (slaves?) under his control is enough to make almost anyone smile.

Everyone from the cow-riding Howzer to the religious extremists or lazy villagers around town add to the spirit of the game, and it all comes together fantastically. The voiceovers even have their own styIe with each voice being a random mash-up of languages from all over the world. Occasionally you might even hear a few English words or different accents you know, or perhaps even a word or two in another language you recognize... I heard a good bit of French and Japanese myself. The visual styIe is great on-screen, and the cutscenes are done with a sort of pastel/crayon-look which fits the design well... Hmm, I should stop now. lol)

Rune Factory:Frontier - (It's a Fantasy Harvest Moon with Action RPG elements. Farming is only half of the game. The other half is dungeon crawling. In these dungeons, you'll fight monsters that can become friends that help you on your farm (If you tame them with a brush! lol). Monsters get much stronger as you reach deeper levels inside a dugeon (with a boss at the bottom), so it's unwise to go into one without the right tools and items. That is when mining, cooking and weapon crafting become more important. You'll need energy and money to do all this, which leads back to farming in the end. Another goal is to eventually marry one of the girls that live in the town.)

Rune factory:Oceans - (Almost everything I said about "RF:Frontier" applies here but it fixes a little flaw Frontier had which was the "Runey system", by throwing the whole system out the door. Another bonus in this game is you have the option of choosing a gender. You travel the seas on a giant creature that can raise sunken islands, dungeons and ships from the sea. You'll be able to farm (or get monster to do that for you, after...you guessed it, taming them with a brush.), fight using a real-time battle system (and at times you'll take control of the creature to have Godzilla-esque battles with other giant creatures, like for example, a giant squid.) and form relationships with other characters.)

I hope I didn't go too overboard with my recommendations, but I hope it's been helpful to you in some way.

Is there a Wii game similar to Pokemon Colliseum (I think it was on N64)? Crash_WL

Do you mean Pokemon Stadium or do you actually mean Pokemon Colliseum (for the gamecube)

If you mean Stadium... then there is this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pok%C3%A9mon_Battle_Revolution

I haven't actually played it or ever seen it being played, so I can't really say if its a good quality game.

The closest thing to Pokemon Stadium on Wii is Pokemon Battle Revolution.

Unlike past games where there were more activities than just battles, PBR focuses mostly on battling, and if you don't own a DS pokemon game you probably won't get a full experience out of the game. Without a DS Pokemon game you'll have to use a pre-made team of 6 pokemon called a "Pass". There's the option of getting one of the DS games and creating a "Custom Pass" by importing pokemon you catch on there. But without DS you'll be using the presets already available in PBR or beating someone online to use their Pass. (But If you don't mind using pre-made teams you can ignore most of what I typed)

On the actual battling side of things, the main Colosseum mode shows a map of Poketopia and the open areas of battle. After you take out a group of trainers in one area, a new place will be unlocked, and you'll earn points for winning. Those points can be used to buy items that can be sent to the DS games, or they can be used to buy things to customize your PBR trainer. Other than that you can get online and battle against other players, the last time I played I mostly ran into japanese players that kicked my butt. lol

I think it's also one of the better looking Wii games, here's a trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onakOIKfxKw

Great insight, thank you Jolly. I don't own a DS, sadly, and I suppose Advance games (Ruby and Sapphire, my last Pokemon purchases) won't cut it. Too bad, I was almost 100% on those :P It looks tempting, and with the 3DS out, the DS' price has dropped considerably, at least here. If anything, I will consider buying this once I get a (3)DS and a cassette for it. Also, I'm 99% positive on buying this:

It's black, will fit on a shelf below the other two consoles, which are black as well. Can anyone confirm it's GameCube compatible?

Great insight, thank you Jolly. I don't own a DS, sadly, and I suppose Advance games (Ruby and Sapphire, my last Pokemon purchases) won't cut it. Too bad, I was almost 100% on those :P It looks tempting, and with the 3DS out, the DS' price has dropped considerably, at least here. If anything, I will consider buying this once I get a (3)DS and a cassette for it. Also, I'm 99% positive on buying this:

It's black, will fit on a shelf below the other two consoles, which are black as well. Can anyone confirm it's GameCube compatible?

Crash_WL

Thank you very very much, I think my purchase has been decided. I'll go find it now, it's a bit rare now. I was originally going for the Mario Red Wii, but it's not available at my retailer, and the next one has it for 50 euros more, so no thank you. I'd get Sonic's, but no GameCube compatibility? Meh, Eternal Darkness played a major role in the decision of buying a Wii. Thank you everyone, don't close the topic, I'll use this for anything else, to not litter the board.Crash_WL

The Red Wii is really hard to come by, I got it when it first came out, haven't seen one since :P IT LOOKS SO NICE ON MY SHELF :P Next to my Red 3DS haha.

Best of luck to you, enjoy your wii!