In our opinion 2009 was quite a poor year for Nintendo’s first party offerings. While there were titles such as ‘Super Punch Out‘, ‘Excitebots‘ and ‘Wii Ft Plus‘, with the exception of ‘New Super Mario Bros. Wii‘ there was not much to shout about, especially for the core crowd calling out for in-depth first party titles. The 2009 releases hardly stood up to older Nintendo classics like ‘Zelda: The Ocarina Of Time‘, ‘Super Mario 64‘ or even ‘Mario Kart‘. Ok, so the ‘Metroid Prime Trilogy’ is excellent but considering they are old games, they do not count!
Nintendo boss Satoru Iwata even claimed himself that the decline in Wii hardware in 2009 was mainly due to a lack of quality software and even though Reggie Fils-Aime would probably shoot down these comments, if he took away his corporate façade, even he would probably agree that 2009 was a weak year for Nintendo software.
All is not lost! We are now in a new year, new decade even and 2009 is history. With that in mind, let’s hope Nintendo have a stronger showing of software this year and with our most wanted list below, we’re sure you’ll agree things are looking rosier already.
1) Metroid: Other M
As much as we love the ‘Metroid Prime‘ series (and hope that there’s more one day), ‘Metroid: Other M‘ looks totally frickin’ brilliant.
It was a genius idea whoever at Nintendo decided to team up with Tecmo’s Team Ninja and with two world-class development teams working on a very much loved franchise, surely this can’t be anything other than brilliant. Early screenshots and footage from E3 last year certainly seem to back this up and the new art direction and sped up action looks like this is a classic in the making. Samus has never looked so good.
2) Sin & Punishment 2
Not only was ‘Sin & Punishment‘ one of the best looking games on the N64, it was also one of the most challenging shooters of the era. The game built up a large fan base around the world and considering it was not even released in some territories, gives testament to the quality of the game.
Treasure are best known for their shooters and it looks like they are not about to disappoint with ‘Sin & Punishment 2‘. The crazy gameplay returns this time using a Wiimote and the best news is the release is rumoured to be early 2010. Fingers crossed.
3) Super Mario Galaxy 2
Well what can we say? The original Galaxy was probably the best ever 3D platformer ever created (we still can’t decide if it tops Mario 64!) and it was original and fun with awesome puzzles and recreated music that was a joy to play. It still is one of the best looking Wii titles available and the sequel should look even better.
Shigeru Miyamoto promises new planets and galaxies not to mention a playable Yoshi. Apparantly Super Mario Galaxy 2 will be even more challanging than the original and we wonder if it will include a guide similar to that in ‘New Super Mario Bros. Wii‘. Maybe.
There are rumours that the game is in a completed state but Nintendo didn’t want to release it so close to NSMBW, if that’s the case we hopefully won’t have to wait long for what will probably be this years biggest first party release.
4) Okamiden (Capcom)
‘Okamiden‘ is a full 3D adventure on DS just like it’s bigger brother on PS2 and Wii. Though not being developed by Clover Studio’s like the original (they closed down), the game is said to be equally as good on DS as it was on the more powerful home consoles, yet it utilises the DS hardware’s strength to great effect. The graphics look excellent and only slightly dumbed down for this handheld version.
One of gamings biggest tragedy’s is that so many people missed out on one of last decades best games in ‘Okami‘. If you were one of them, put this straight on your ‘to buy’ list, you won’t be disappointed.
5) The Legend Of Zelda Wii
The next installment in the Zelda franchise on Wii may not even be released this year but we’re adding it to this list in hope that it will be.
Very little is known about the game and the only real information we have was from the artwork leaked from E3 that set the Internet alight showing link looking over his shoulder to a mysterious figure that resembled the master sword.
No matter whether the latest game will follow the footsteps of The Wind Waker’s cel-shaded style or The Twilight Princess’s semi-realistic graphics, there is no doubt that this game will be a classic. The only question is if Nintendo can think of some new gameplay mechanics that will keep the formula of Zelda fresh and new. Let’s hope we find out this year.
6) The Grinder
While people thought High Voltage’s first proper Wii release ‘The Conduit‘ was ok, word is that that their follow-up ‘The Grinder‘ blows it out of the water. Playtests from E3 confirmed that the game not only looks great but also plays great and has a nice mix of action and horror.
Unfortunately not much has been seen of the game since then but with all that extra development time, it’s sure to impress when we next see it. Expect as much control customisation as ‘The Conduit‘ and online play that will include 4 player co-op. Yay, bring it on!
7) No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle (Grasshopper)
The original ‘No More Heroes‘ is almost a bit of a cult title on Wii. It has a dedicated fan base and the itself released to favourably warm reviews. In fact the original was successful enouh to give creator Suda51 a bigger budget for this sequel and also encouraging enough to port it to PS3 and Xbox 360.
The developers claim that they have listened to the masses and removed or improved everything that people didn’t like about the first game, while leaving all that was great about the original. This bodes for an excellent game later this year and we can’t wait.
Red Steel 2 (Ubisoft)
With a new setting and a new stylish graphics, ‘Red Steel 2‘ is looking to be everything that it’s predecessor promised.
With the Wii MotionPlus peripheral required to play, the gameplay is said to be much tighter and precise, while the new western setting gives the game a completely fresh feel. If Ubisoft sort the small few complaints of the first Red Steel, this one should be one of the best shooters on Wii so far.
That concludes our most wanted games for 2010 so far but there are many other games in the pipeline that are looking great such as Pikmin 3, Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars, Super Meat Boy, Bit.Trip RUNNER, Endless Ocean 2, Moster Hunter 3 and Dragon Quest to name a few.
What are you looking forward to the most? Tell us in the comments below, we wanna know!
