Wii Rally

In early 2007 a list made its way on to the Internet, a list that actually drew my first bit of animosity from the gaming community. I’m talking of course about Wii Rally’s 1st Virtual Console Most Wanted list. Some people criticized the list due to a lack of a certain hipster cult followed SNES RPG, I won’t say it’s name but it sounds like BirthMound. Other than that the reception of the Most Wanted list was pretty positive. So now that 100 Virtual Console games have been released I think it’s time we revisited the Most Wanted list. So I present to you the readers of Wii Rally the VC Top 5 Most Wanted 2nd edition.

NUMBER 5
Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask

Every single Zelda game from the NES to the N64 has been released in the first 100 games, well except for one, Majora’s Mask. I recently replayed the GameCube port of my favorite Zelda and found it as fun as ever. I didn’t really have the same feelings as when I replayed Ocarina of Time but I’ve played through that like 9 times. Still with it’s tricky time system and challenging puzzles I’m still on pins and needles waiting for this one to be released. While I was replaying Majora’s Mask I felt something I hadn’t felt in a long time; the desire to play with an N64 controller. Using the “C-stick” rather than the “C-buttons” felt awkward, plus while playing a GameCube game on your Wii the only way to exit the software is to reset your console. So now more than ever I want to play through this adventure Virtual Console-style.
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The sun beats down on my back as I crawl forward in search of refreshment. “Water? Water!” I yell “Water and games, will this drought never end?” But wait as I look out into the horizon I see it. Relief from this crazy drought we have been stuck in since January. Get ready for a flood here come the games of March.

Getting serious now. Reggie once promised us that we would see no game drought for the Wii in 2007. Well what do you call the last 2 months big man? Sure there’s been some hotness on the virtual console and both Sonic and Wario have made their debut on the Wii but still there hasn’t been that much to be excited about. Hopefully March will change that with 8 new Wii games set to make Wii owners the busiest they’ve been since Christmas.

March will see the release of some original content along with a couple of shoe-horned “Wii-makes”. It would seem that almost every major publisher has a game coming out for the Wii in March. Nintendo kicks off the party right at the beginning with the release of the anticipated release of Mario Marty 8. You know what they say March comes in like a lion and out like a lamb, well the same is true for games. The month of march starts strong but then kind of peters out at the end.

Who will rule the charts Ubisoft’s TMNT? EA’s Tiger Woods PGA Tour ‘07? or Hudson’s Wing Island? We shall see.

Hit the jump for the complete list of Wii games launching in March. (more…)

Here it is as promised inspired by the Top 5 Most Wanted Wii Games of 2007 here is the Top 5 Most Wanted Virtual Console games. Originally Super Mario World was on this list but Nintendo went and ruined that by releasing the game today. Enjoy!

NUMBER 5
Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask
The classic Zelda that everyone wants to get their hands on seems to be Ocarina of Time, didn’t you just play that on the GameCube? I’ve noticed that Majora’s Mask is most often ignored. One of the titles that required the N64 Expansion Pack, Majora’s Mask is one of Link’s more unique adventures. The debut of Tingle, a challenging 3 day time span mechanic and the ability to change in to a Zora, a Goron and even a Deku Shrub are just some of the trails of Link while adventuring through the land of Termainia. We all know that Ocarina of Time looks beautiful but let’s not forget that Majora’s Mask looked even better before Nintendo went with the cell shaded look for Wind Waker.

NUMBER 4
Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
A joint venture between Nintendo and SquareSoft (Now Square Enix) this was a very different undertaking for any Mario fan. Suddenly you had to worry about Hit-points and Magic spells. This was also the first game in which Mario and Bowser formed albeit temporary alliance. With several new characters and some amazing sprite work, this is a must have for any fan of the Mario series.

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In lieu of a Feature Friday today I thought that I would jump on the “Most Wanted” list craze that happens to gaming sites every year around this time. I’ve actually been thinking about this for awhile now and I even got some input from my fellow game design students at IADT Toronto. So I present to you, Wii Rally’s Most Wanted.

NUMBER 5

Pokemon: Battle Revolution

Already available in Japan, hardcore “pokemaniacs” in North America have been patiently waiting for this title to finally hit our shores. Similar to the Pokemon: Stadium games which appeared on the N64 and GameCube. What’s really exciting is that Pokemon: BR will give Wii gamers their first taste of online play and Wii-DS connectivity. Coupled with the upcoming launch of Pokemon: Diamond and Pearl there’s no stopping this powerhouse franchise. But get ready for more ridiculous numbers, sources tell me that Pokemon: BR will have it’s own friend code system so get ready to jot down more obscenely long 16 digit codes.

NUMBER 4

Super Paper Mario

Originally announced as a GameCube title, Nintendo quietly moved this long awaited spin-off to the Wii last fall. Since then Nintendo has been pretty good about showing the progress of the game. Combining RPG elements with traditional platforming gameplay. Super Paper Mario will take place in both the 2D and 3D realms and with the unique controls of the Wii gamers are in for quite a treat at least until SquiNix and Nintendo are on good enough terms to give us a sequel to the amazing Super Mario: RPG.
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Yesterday I posted a quick little update on some new Virtual Console titles courtesy of our friends at Sega. It was then that a couple of readers started asking about specific Genesis/Mega Drive titles, Ecco the Dolphin, Golden Axe etc. So I thought that I would post the entire list of classic Genesis titles that are currently available on the virtual console. Generally Sega’s Virtual Console titles go for around 800 Wii points.

Titles Currently Available:

• Sonic The Hedgehog - Rocket Sonic, the fastest blue hedgehog on earth, through hair-raising loop-de-loops and dizzying dives past bubbling lava, waterfalls and on as you gather up rings and stop Dr. “Ivo” Robotnik’s schemes for world domination! (1991/© SEGA)

• Altered Beast - When Zeus, the legendary Greek God, brings you back to life, you set forth on a mission to rescue his daughter Athena from the underworld. Along the way, collect the Spirit Balls dropped by enemies to increase your strength and transform into a variety of mythical creatures with powerful attacks. (1989/© SEGA)

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I was reading my daily blog rotation yesterday and found many sites had lists of their favourite video of the year. I found a post on gaming blog Joystiq and found a post about Tech E Blog’s list their “Top Five Fan Made Game Commercials”. Two of the entries were Wii themed and are pretty cool uses of the WiiMote.

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When you think of Time Magazine you don’t exactly think of hard hitting games journalism, but they are one publication with an enormous amount of credibility. Well Time magazine has released their series of “Top Ten Lists” for the year and a couple of Nintendo Wii games made the “Top Ten Games of 2006“ list. That’s right Wii Sports took top honours and the number 1 spot, while Zelda: Twilight Princess took the number 4 spot. Not too shabby for a console that only launched in November here in North America and even later to the rest of the world. My guess is that Wii Sports was given the honour due to its intuitive and fun controls and mass appeal. My mom even played it and told me she loved the Wii Bowling.

Zelda: Twilight Princess is also poised to win many “game of the year” awards. In fact voting is going on for the 2006 1UP Awards as we speak on massive gaming site 1up.com. You can head on over to check out all the nominees and vote for your favourite.

On a side note another Nintendo game made Time’s list, New Super Mario Bros. for the Nintendo DS took the number 3 spot ahead of Zelda. Here’s to hoping that big N and all the other Wii developers out there have lots of fun surprises in store for us Wii games all throughout 2007 and well in to the future.

Source: Time.com