There’s no denying that Nintendo uses old IPs to generate “fresh” content for the Wii. In many cases, it is a successful venture for both the company and the gamers.
Nintendo’s previous systems haven’t seen all of these great games at the same time like the Wii has. We’ve seen an amazing new Mario platformer, a new Metroid Prime, and excellent party games like Brawl, Mario Party 8, and Mario Kart Wii.
And in many cases, retro gamers can love the Wii for bringing that familiar, classic feel to some new titles.
The circus parade of IP piggybacking will never end, and here are some of the games that will make us never want it to.
Kid Icarus
Certainty of appearance: 80%
Reggie has done his part to spark rumors about an exciting new “blockbuster” coming to the Wii this year, to be announced at E3. Well, that was mostly because he actually said so:
“We are going to have great new content maximizing all our key franchises… It’s going to be a good second half.”
The internet lit on fire with rumors of a new Kid Icarus game, and all the townsmen worked to put it out. It isn’t a surprising assumption, since Pit made a stellar appearance in Smash Bros. Brawl.
However, Kid Icarus hasn’t been a key franchise for years. But it would be new content.
Pilotwings
Certainty of appearance: 50%
Pilotwings, not seen since the N64 days, was hinted at way back when the Wii was the “Revolution” prior to its release.
Also rumored to be a scrapped project, nothing was heard of regarding a new game until early this month when Nintendo whispered into everyone’s ears that a new Pilotwings could be on its way.
The idea of a reincarnation of everyone’s favorite flying game is nothing new for Wii gamers who once owned a SNES. The Super Nintendo original made me wet myself with Mode 7 sweetness, and only the Wii could deliver that same feeling. At the very least, let’s hope.
R-Type (and other scrolling shooters)
Certainty of appearance: 75%
Super R-Type, one of my favorite side-scrolling shooters of all time, combined tactical agility with intense graphics to deliver gameplay that still leaves me shivering to this day. Do we really need to see R-Type outside of the Virtual Console? Well, yes. But we could settle for some other scrolling shooters? A vertical scroller, like Ikaruga, maybe? I know thatwould find a great home in the Wii.
However, imagine how the Wii *could* make these scrolling shooters “different.” We all love button-mashing at times, but if a different angle could be taken on these shooters, then we could have a new use for our Wii Wheels or Zappers. Actually turning your ship to avoid crazy-looking space aliens sounds rather appealing and downright fun!
An old IP from the NES days could deliver just that, bringing us to…
Captain Skyhawk
Certainty of appearance: 5%
If anyone loves Captain Skyhawk as much as I do, they should get a dollar. The above/behind third-person angle in this shooter is, arguably, the perfect angle for the Wii Wheel to operate at.
Captain Skyhawk, released by Milton Bradley and developed by the now Microsoft-owned Rare, is difficult, unique, and fun. Sadly, there’s no doubting that this splendid title has gone completely missing, forgotten by time by practically everyone who plays videogames. It deserves to be more than that! Nintendo could really do something neat with it, and what would surprise people more than a new game based on an old one that no one even knows about?
The point in these last two picks of mine is that the Wii is missing good games in this genre. We have a couple of rail shooters, but we need some scrollers, whether they are vertical, side-scrolling, or some crazy combination of the two. Actually, some crazy combination of the two would sound perfect in a new Star Fox game…
F-Zero
Certainty of appearance: 100%
If Pilotwings made me wet myself with Mode 7 excitement, then the original F-Zero (which I still play a few times a week) makes me go into cardiac arrest. There’s no doubting that we’ll see a new F-Zero; it has rightfully appeared on every Nintendo console since the SNES. In fact there are plenty of rumors that “F-Zero Z” will be announced at E3 this June.
However, nothing struck as much gold as the original did. With that wonderful “retro-feel,” a new F-Zero could maintain its stance as the only racer you need aside from Mario Kart.
Double Dragon
Certainty of appearance: 30%
The Wii is missing key players in a few genres. Just like scrolling shooters, we need more beat-em-ups. With the recent virtual console release of the original, the desire for a new Double Dragon game has reached a new high at my apartment (and probably at yours, too).
Whether it would come in the form of Final Fight, Double Dragon, Golden Axe, a Battletoads game (there’s my vote), or Streets of Rage; we need more beat em’ up games, preferably ones of the multiplayer variety.
Single-screen chaos can be easily delivered by many developers, and here’s to hoping that Ubisoft tries to make up for TMNT with a real Turtles arcade game.
Super Spike V’Ball
Certainty of appearance: 45%, in a different form
Volleyball video games are generally bad. They tend to spit on their excessively fun ancestors, like Super Spike V’Ball.
In Super Spike, you get to pick from various cool dudes (including Billy and Jimmy from the Double Dragon series!) and duke it out on the sandy court in pairs in a simple game of volleyball. There are only a few “moves” in the game, consisting of saves, normal hits, blocks, and spikes.
When going up for a block or spike, however, you can charge up your character by mashing the B button repeatedly. Therefore, your spike becomes a super spike, and is quite likely to send the opponent flying when you hit him in the face with it. *Sigh*. Why isn’t this coming to at least Wii Ware? If there’s any truly untapped sport in the history of video games… well it’s probably shuffleboard. But volleyball’s up there.
If we were to see this game, it would likely include Miis and be part of a second, rumored Wii Sports package, and probably resemble tennis from the original Wii Sports. Here’s to hoping they do it right!
Can we go retro with Wii Ware?
This is an important question to pose, as the Wii Ware service will provide cheap Wii exclusives from small-time developers. It could be a cost-effective way to get those fun little games that aren’t worth $50 (let alone $30) out in the sun. Even if the graphics of some of these games aren’t going to be spectacular, this new marketplace of retro titles could bring out the classic scrolling shooters and beat em’ ups that are overflowing with wonderful gameplay that the Wii is sorely missing.
If major developers back the service as well, here are some IPs that we could only hope would make an appearance on WiiWare:
Metroid
Metroid Prime 3 was excellent. But aren’t we done with the Prime series yet? Can’t Samus return to her 2d platforming roots? This is a perfect opportunity for Retro Studios to explore the 2D/3D door that Super Paper Mario left open without much risk, as a small title to check the average gamers’ interest in a fully 2D adventure would be a great way for Retro Studios to see if people really want a new game.
Mega Man
Like Metroid, Mega Man hasn’t seen his 2D Nintendo days in years (unless you count Network Transmission on Gamecube from 2003, which I don’t). A good, new Mega Man X game is overdue, and if Capcom utilizes the Wii Ware service like they should, Mega Man can rightfully return to his roots.
Final Fantasy, Chrono Trigger, etc.
The glory years of RPGs were (debatably) had on the Super Nintendo. Sure, Square-Enix (then Squaresoft,) had much success with its post-Nintendo, PlayStation iterations, but when any gamer is asked what their favorite RPG is, often it is Chrono Trigger or another RPG from the SNES era. As some of you may know, Square-Enix is already planning on bringing the Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles series to the Wii this year. However, the lack of RPGs for the Wii is crippling, and a new Chrono game would be perfect right about now. Aside from Square-Enix, other RPG devoperss need to help us out.
Castlevania
Castlevania rules. The 3D versions? Not so much. Someday, Konami will realize this. After all, the DS ports are becoming more and more successful. A simple Wii Ware game that would bring the series back to its 2D platforming ways would easily rejuvenate the series (and hopefully fend off any Castlevania movies). Now, who wants to write a letter to producer Koji Igarashi to convince him that he’s wrong about it not being fit for the Wii? A quick note, Koji, you don’t *have* to use the remote to use the whip in the game like everyone thinks. It just might be a fun option to include. The advantage with the Wii are the abundant options in control schemes, and I’m sure you can find a way to make it work!
Contra
Contra 4 on the DS was awesome. It is so easy to want more of that classic gunning action. The Wii would be a perfect place for that four-players-at-once dream that fell through on the DS game to come alive once again. Konami, are you listening?
There are many titles worthy of being resurrected. Sadly, many publishers opt for the safety and comfort of releasing (Madden) the same (Madden) games (Madden) over and over again. With the Wii Ware service, we should see more fresh content, even if it comes in the form of resurrecting older IPs. Be sure to check back each week with My Wii News’ Wiikly Releases, keeping you up to date on the great new Wii titles every week.
Hopefully some of the above titles will see the light of day, that way we can all never leave our homes, quit our jobs, and play Wii every day. With all my ranting and raving about my favorite retro games, I just have to ask: What games would you like to see brought back?
Lukatoll | July 23, 2008
