Bad Wii Games That Should Have Been Better

Bad Wii Games That Should Have Been Better
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Bad Wii Games That Could Have Been Great

If you own a Wii and have a decent-sized collection of titles for it, look over at it. I’m certain you see a number of awesome games–games like The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Super Mario Galaxy, No More Heroes, Wario Land: Shake It!, Little King’s Story, and more. Of course, next to those stellar titles, you probably see a few duds. Is that a copy of Far Cry Vengeance? Hey, how did Tony Hawk’s Downhill Jam get there? Oh, you had forgotten that you owned some of these, eh?

Yeah, among our collection of solid Wii games, there are bound to be a few pieces of rotten shovelware. It’s understandable, especially considering the fact that a few of these games actually looked good when they were being heavily promoted during their development. Let’s take a look at the most disappointing of these, though. Let’s take a look at five Wii games that should have been awesome, but ultimately failed to deliver the goods.

5. Mario Party 8

Mario Party 8

I love Mario Party. Well, I used to love Mario Party. Remember the first couple of entries in the series where hard work actually helped you get ahead? Remember how tough the original Mario Party for the Nintendo 64 was? If you didn’t try, you wouldn’t win. You had to perform at your best on the board maps and in mini-games just have a shot at winning. Sure, there were a few chance spaces and mini-games that relied on luck, but these were few and far between, adding a bit of excitement to the mix.

Then Mario Party 8 launched on the Wii. By then, the series had fallen victim to a ridiculous reliance on luck, so losing all of your Stars and coins to other players had become a bit common. Still, Mario Party 8 amplified this element to the _n_th degree. Far too many instances resulted in the top player losing everything to the underdog, with no chance of a comeback in sight. It was cheap, it was shallow, and it was stupid. And though the mini-games were pretty fun, the board map play was too dreadful to allow for much enjoyment.

This reliance on luck would eventually find itself plaguing Mario Kart Wii, and to this day, I can’t enjoy that game, either. Nintendo, you should let players fend for themselves rather than forcing luck upon their game. Mario Party 8 could have been a solid new entry in the series, but it fell short, cementing its spot as arguably the worst game in the party franchise.

4. Sonic & the Black Knight

Sonic and the Black Knight

When Sonic & the Secret Rings launched for the Wii, it offered an engaging on-rails experience for fans of the blue blur. Sure, it wasn’t without its flaws, but for the most part, Sonic’s Wii debut was a solid, fast-paced game that made the series fun again. You would think that Sega would address the monotonous level grinding and small number of stages in the sequel, but unfortunately for those gamers who played Sonic & the Black Knight, this was not the case.

Visually, the second entry in the Sonic Storybook Series was a sight to behold. Environments were bold and colorful, and the sense of speed was definitely there. Sadly, the gameplay was far too tedious and frustrating to provide a truly enthralling experience. Weak stage design, boring combat, and annoying boss battles didn’t just keep Sonic & the Black Knight from being good. No, they made it a bad game, period.

3. FlingSmash

FlingSmash

Considering FlingSmash came bundled with what was the brand new Wii Remote Plus at the time, this game should have been good. There were no excuses. Usually, when the Big N packages a new peripheral with a game, that title is at least fun in short bursts. (Just look at Link’s Crossbow Training.)

This was not the case with FlingSmash. Rather than giving gamers a sweet experience to enjoy their brand new Wii Remote Plus with, FlingSmash was a boring mess of imprecise controls and shallow gameplay. And considering the fact that the new controller was supposed to offer much more accurate motion sensing control, lousy waggle was definitely not the way to go. FlingSmash failed to deliver, but hey, at least gamers got a Wii Remote Plus for their troubles.

2. Calling

Calling

When I first saw a trailer for Calling prior to the game’s release, I hoped it would be good. After all, it offered some promising features. Hearing ghost voices through the Wii Remote speaker? Hell yeah, that seemed pretty kick-ass on paper! The end result, however, was a poor excuse of a survival horror game. Drab environments, boring gameplay, and a lack of rewarding features made Calling a game that only seemed like a good idea at first.

The only thing scary about this game is how bad it is. Well, that and the fact that it could have actually been so cool to play a game like this. Another missed opportunity on the Wii is now in the record books.

1. Red Steel

Red Steel

It may have been a launch title, but there’s no looking beyond the fact that Red Steel should have been an absolute blast to play. After all the hype behind it, and all the hype behind the Wii’s launch, this first-person shooter should have been a standout title. I almost bought this game! (Thankfully, I only rented it.)

Red Steel promised intense shooting action with intrinsic motion aiming, but the gunplay in the game was far too shallow and at times even erratic. Swordplay was also pushed as one of the many awesome gameplay mechanics in Red Steel, but this too was an underwhelming mess. Years later, Red Steel 2 would offer a compelling, rewarding gameplay experience, but not before the original Red Steel would raise our hopes up high only to crush them with its poor design and terrible use of motion controls.

The Honest Truth: These Games Sucked Bad

We’ve all played bad Wii games in the hopes that we would stumble upon a solid title. Whether it’s poor motion controls, stupid gameplay, or an overabundance of flaws, it’s hard to come across a more disappointing collection of Wii games than the ones listed here. Mario Party 8, Sonic & the Black Knight, FlingSmash, Calling, and Red Steel could have been so much better.

References

  • Screenshots taken from Mario Party 8, Sonic & the Black Knight, FlingSmash, Calling, and Red Steel.