Nintendo Okie

Retro Redux is going to be a little bit different today.  I’ve been deep in review games and haven’t had a chance to get back to my older systems to mess around with anything in the last couple of weeks.  But hey, you did get a Super Mario Galaxy 2 review out of the deal.  [=^)  And next week will see Art Style: light trax, and Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands for Wii and DS all getting reviewed on the site.  So I’m going to talk about older games on the Wii.  Yesterday, at my “day job” I was asked by a co-worker about some games that might not break his wallet.  He and his family just bought a Wii and they’re playing through the first Super Mario Galaxy and New Super Mario Bros. Wii.  They don’t have a lot of spare cash right now, but they’re going to need a new game soon.  I went and made a list of games that I thought they might enjoy and all, but one, cost less than $20.  So today, you’re going to get a slight Nouveau Retro Redux.  This list is restricted to retail games only because one of the victims of many families’ budget pinches is the internet, so WiiWare and Virtual Console games are not an option.  I’ve done downloadable games on a budget in the past anyway, so let’s stick to the boxed product this time.    

de Blob

I just bought this game so I don’t know a ton about it, but what I’ve played so far is a lot of fun.  Chroma City has been overrun by an evil corporation called INKT who has stolen all the color.  A small group of “resistance fighters” has taken it upon themselves to restore the color to the city and save the people.  You’ll use the Wii/Remote and Nunchuk to smash paint pot robots and mix them together to create a rainbow of color all over the town.  Areas that will remove your paint and crazy enemies will make this a bit of a challenging task.  They bright, colorful graphics mixed with a very clever soundtrack that changes based on how much you paint make for a great time.  The cut scenes for this game made back in 2008 are amazing good to look at and would make kids want to see a cartoon show based off of this property. 

Trauma Center: Second Opinion and Trauma Center: New Blood

These two surgery simulators hit my Wii and didn’t leave for a very long time.  The gameplay in these games is hugely addicting.  You’re job is to investigate the cause of mysterious diseases and cure people from all sorts of ailments ranging from “simple” broken bones to diseases that spread very rapidly.  Second Opinion pulled me in more than New Blood, but New Blood added a second player to help out during the operations themselves giving you another pair of hands that might make the procedures more manageable. 

The Munchables

One of those games that looks ridiculous, but after you’ve played it is a lot of fun.  The Munchables is sort of a modern day Pac-man mixed with Katamari.  You wander around after your world has been invaded by a group of alien fruits and vegetables.  Your job is to remove them in the only way that Chomper knows how, by eating them.  You’ll start out small, but as you eat more you’ll begin to grow bigger and be able to take on larger enemies until eventually you’re fighting an epic battle against the biggest bunch of grapes the world has ever seen.  It sounds ridiculous and it is, but it’s about as much fun as you could possibly have.  This insane story is mixed with craft drawer art styles to create a game that kids will love to play, or watch you play. 

WarioLand: Shake It!

One of the few instances where a first party Nintendo Character’s game drops in price, WarioLand: Shake It! is a great alternative for people looking for a solid platformer on a budget price.  The game was developed by Good Feel Co. and had cut scenes produced by  Production I.G.  All of the graphics in the game are hand drawn and it’s one of the most beautiful games you’ll see on the Wii.  Everything has tons of character and, while the story is insane you’ll laugh at Wario the whole time through.  Younger gamers don’t have to worry about regular enemies hurting you and the game is a bit easier than a traditional Mario platformer.  If nothing else it makes you really wish that Production I.G. would work on a proper Wario anime.

The Lego Series

This includes Star Wars, Indiana Jones and Batman.  All of these games can be found for under $20 on any platform.  The co-op play will do one of two things.  Make people really enjoy playing games together or make them wish their siblings were never born.  The combination of Lego with just about any property has made children everywhere laugh and I think of these three series, the Lego Star Wars games are the best fit.  They manage to tell the stories that parents grew up with while making kids laugh at the goofy things those characters do, all without saying a single word.  It just goes to show that you don’t need elaborate stories and cleverly written dialogue if you know how to animate emotions well.  There are hours and hours of replay value in each of these games with hidden things EVERYWHERE and some secrets along the way.  One of these games would probably be my first choice if I had to choose one game to play for less than $20.

Boom Blox

This is one of the best party games you could ever own on the system.  I pick this one only because I haven’t seen the sequel, Boom Blox: Bash Party for less than $20.  This is a party puzzle game that has a huge story, for people that want to play it by themselves.  The real fun comes though when you get four people together in a room all throwing baseballs, bowling balls at towers of blocks and try to knock them down to score the most points.  There’s a great strategy element to many of them where you’re trying to position yourself to score huge amounts of points while making it almost impossible for the other people to get any.  The characters that inhabit the world are all blocky animals and crazy to look at.  They’ll even interact with each other in realistic ways that add another level of complexity to some of the levels.  Just make sure you wear your wrist strap or your fancy TV might become victim to an assault by Wii Remote.

A boy and his blob

Fans of cute will love this one.  It’s a puzzle platform game where you’re trying to save the world of Blobolonia with the help of the cutest ball of goo the world has ever seen.  You, as the boy, can’t attack enemies directly and you must rely on an arsenal of jellybeans that turn the blob into different objects.  These will be used to create holes in the world, make trampolines to jump high and ladders to climb to tall platforms.  The game can get a bit challenging and you may have some issue with the controls for a while, but if you stick with it you’ll have a lot of fun and you’ll own one of the most beautiful games to ever grace the Wii’s library.  And who can argue with a dedicated hug button anyway? 

So there are 10 games right there for any budget conscious family to take a look at.  Any one of those games on this list will give you hours of fun whether you’re playing by yourself or with your family.  $20 can get you a lot if you’re a new Wii owner or you’re just someone who might have missed these games when they first came out.  Give them a look; you might be surprised at how much fun you have with them as well.  Are there any games I’ve missed that you can think of?  If you have any suggestions let us know and we’ll pass those on to this family as well.  I’m sure they’d appreciate the suggestions.