Nintendo Wii: A Retro Gaming Guide

According to our venerable but flawed gnomish calendar it's been almost a year since one of Nintendo's latest consoles found refuge under my TV and, despite the sadly obvious lack of an abundance of great games, I'm as happy with me Wii as a punter can be. Why? Well, besides enjoying the occasional Wii mini/party game and being blown away by the Twilight Princess, there's a strong and rather unique retro gaming appeal to the console, that I've learned to love and cherish. Hopefully so will you. After all, that's what this very guide/article thingy is all about.


First of all, we have the Wii Virtual Console, which despite its many shortcomings and definitely overpriced games, is the only online service currently providing access to Nintendo's impressive back catalog (NES, SNES, N64 anyone?) and some quirky hard to find TurboGrafx 16/PC-Engine games. Classic SEGA Genesis/MegaDrive games and the already announced Neo Geo offerings are a nice touch too, as is the addition of video previews to the games, though downloadable demos -a standard feature of Xbox Live for example- seem to have somehow been forgotten.

Admittedly though, and please consider this as an extra cost, to fully enjoy the Virtual Console retro gaming experience and to be actually able to play those SNES and N64 games you will need the modestly priced Classic Controller, that plugs into the Wii-mote the Nunchuck way and provides a more traditional option for game control. But is the Classic Controller really worth it? Of course it is, even Kotaku says so. It's extremely well built, sleek and even though it won't allow you to play GameCube games, quite a few Wii games support it as an alternative to the Wii-mote/nunchuck method.

Anyway, here are five VC games you must absolutely download. Mind you, they are not the best, neither a top 5, just some essential/excellent games currently available for your retro gaming pleasure:

Air Zonk (video link, MobyGames) It's a sci-fi Bonk spin-off and a wacky shoot-'em-up with amazing parallax scrolling, brilliant cartoon graphics and some of the weirdest power-ups you've ever seen. Nice splashes of humor, tactically demanding gameplay (well, for a shmup at least) and a smart buddy/power-up system are also a plus.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (video link, MobyGames) According to most this is the best Zelda game ever crafted and who am I but to humbly agree. Delving into Hyrule's past, time traveling and investigating the origin of the Triforce and all in breathtaking 3D? Yes, please! It was amazing back in 1998 and still is, as apparently is the sound and really everything else about this game. Probably will last you for more than 30 hours too.

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (video link, MobyGames), the surprisingly named sequel to Sonic the Hedgehog, also happens to be the best Sonic game ever (with the possible exception of Sonic CD) and the first platformer to offer split-screen action and truly satisfying bonus stages. If you haven't played it yet, well, here's your chance.

Super Mario 64 (video link, MobyGames), the absolute N64 killer-app, was the first game to provide Mario with a 3D corpus complete with a suitably 3D landscape to play in and consequently the game to show mankind just how 3D platformers are supposed to work. Mario 64 is huge, diverse, smart, beautiful and probably one of the best games you'll ever play. Mind you, first time I read about its glory about it was in PC Zone...

Super Metroid (video link, MobyGames): The Space Pirates, truly nasty agents of the abominably evil Mother Brain, have stolen the last Metroid from a research station, and Samus Aran must don her awesome array of high-tech weaponry and lingerie and save the world. Again. Only this time, the open-ended Metroid experience comes with excellent 16-bit graphics, new weapons, dozens of different enemies and one of the best stories ever told in video gaming history.


On the no-so-old yet-quite-interesting games gaming front, the Wii is fully (and truly) compatible with the not particularly successful Nintendo GameCube. Of course, to enjoy them top GC games you will definitely need a GC compatible controller and most probably a memory card to save your games & settings too. Happily you're spoiled for choice. From the excellent Wavebird wireless controller, to the cheaper standard GameCube controller to the dirt cheap Logic 3 alternatives (which are more than decent, really) frankly anything will do. As for memory cards, well, it might just be me but I'd suggest choosing the first party ones.

Now, for the five Gamecube games you absolutely have to try, and no, there's no point in grabbing Resident Evil 4. The Wii version is way better. Also thought you could do without more Zelda, Mario or Metroid suggestions.

Eternal Darkness - Sanity's Requiem (Mobygames, official web, Amazon) Lovecraftian (with a touch of Poe), scary, atmospheric and featuring one of the most innovative insanity system ever, this game is an ignored survival horror gem. Already played 10 hours of it and am more than enthralled. Thankfully, the nightmares haven't started just yet.

Pikmin (Mobygames, official web, Amazon) despite its cutesy graphics and cheery atmosphere is one hell of a brainteaser. Huge time-sink, great game, a Miyamoto spawn, but whatever happened to Pikmin 3 Wii?

Animal Crossing (Mobygames, official web, Amazon) is to console gamers what The Sims has been to PC gamers: a glorified digital doll-house. AC though is definitely the better of the two games, going for the less realistic feel and providing hours of fun, tons of little games and incredible depth.

Beyond Good & Evil (Mobygames, official web, Amazon). One of the best games ever conceived, this beautiful arcade adventure sported an elaborate storyline, a brilliant setting, a greatly written female lead, good humor and a sublime mix of exploration, mini (and not so mini) games, combat and puzzle solving. Sadly it flopped. Tsk, tsk.

Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader (Mobygames, official web, Amazon). Not as good as -say- TIE Fighter, but one of the better Star Wars games of the last decade. Very enjoyable, oddly addictive and sporting some of the most impressive GC visuals.

Related @ Gnome's Lair: Thrii Wii game reviews, Just how fast is the Wii?, 10 unsung Indiana Jones games, Mario's Game-o-graphy