TATSUNOKO VS CAPCOM (Capcom, Jan 26)
Nearly 30 classic characters from two Japanese mega-publishers (one print, one games) pounding the crap out of each other with excessively flashy special moves. Cameos ranging from Street Fighter to Dead Rising to Viewtiful Joe. The first game in the Vs series since the beloved Marvel vs Capcom 2. And it’s ONLY on Wii. Shit, this is reason enough to stick around.
This long-lived franchise started with X-Men Vs Street Fighter and led to 2000’s insanely popular MvC2, and continues in January with this Wii-only entry based around relatively obscure anime characters. Don’t know who these people are? We’ve got a complete primer for you right here. The fighting is so exaggerated and bouncy that you should check this out even if you’ve despised Street Fighter for years.
NO MORE HEROES: DESPERATE STRUGGLE (Ubisoft, Jan 26)
An underdog from the very beginning, No More Heroes has gone on to become one of Wii’s biggest success stories. It’s a hyper-violent, crudely absurd action title exclusive to a system most known for party games, so no one really expected sales to shoot through the roof. Turns out they kind of did, and developer Suda 51 opted to continue the story of beam katana enthusiast Travis Touchdown in Desperate Struggle, which looks to include even more bizarre humor and exaggerated bloodshed.
So far the list of new features reads like a typical sequel: more weapons, more vehicles, more bosses, probably more gore, but if Suda’s past is any indication (we’re looking at Killer 7 right about now), we can expect a barrage of surprise moments. Literally, things that can’t be predicted. And that’s precisely why we can’t wait to tear ass through Santa Destroy all over again.
AND YET IT MOVES (Broken Rules, TBA)
Intriguing level design and wrinkly paper graphics make And Yet It Moves a visually distinct, conceptually strong title, right at home with everything else on this list. The premise is a bit gimmicky (you can rotate the levels 90 degrees at any time, changing the layout completely) but as with any lauded platformer, what initially seems simple becomes brain-shreddingingly difficult. In the good way, of course.
We’re slightly cheating, as this has been on PC for some time. However, developer Broken Rules has committed to a Wii release, and considering we gave that version a hearty 9, a WiiWare follow-up is totally welcome.
LOST IN SHADOW (Hudson, Summer 2010)
Little is known about this ICO-like platformer in which you navigate a hazy, dreamlike world as a shadow cast onto the environment. From what we’ve gathered, you often don’t see much of the game area or its many puzzle-like obstacles, and instead have to go by the ethereal shadows flung across the walls. Whether it works in practice or not, it’s damn clever.
Lost in Shadow represents the very best of Wii development at the moment. It plays to the system’s strengths by creating its own style and design, rather than attempting to look like a watered-down 360/PS3 title. It also appears to fit the “everyone can play” mantra in that it’s a simple premise that’ll undoubtedly blossom into something even a hardened gamer will enjoy. Granted we’re basing these statements on very little, but we have faith that developer Hudson (behind Bomberman and the surprisingly enjoyable Kororinpa series) can connect the dots well enough.
At the very least it’s trying to do something special and unique on a system frequently shouted down as an Also Ran, despite being the highest-selling console on the market. And if these eight games aren’t enough to get you excited about Wii’s next 6-12 months, consider this teaser from E3:
Oct 14, 2009
Don’t know Saki Omokane from Yatterman? The answers are here
We chronicle the fluctuating stature of Nintendo’s biggest icons
Celebrate our many differences with a cel-shaded smile
