In Defense of the 7: Wii Exclusives |

Many people use video game reviews to determine how to spend their hard-earned dollars. While as an adult I don’t take this as seriously and I now make my own money I am more forgiving of games that aren’t perfect. As kids or teens, we have limited money and are usually picked through gaming magazines to determine if that one game was worth the money because we only got a few a year. For me, it was only during Christmas time that my parents bought games. I mostly rented mine throughout my childhood and teen years. Even for rentals, I was picky as I didn’t want to be stuck on my weekend with a dud of a game. Even a 7/10 or 3.5/5 would be considered a waste of time. This was the last generation in which AAA title after AAA title would be considered fantastic and with so many exclusives it was hard to keep up with. The HD era of gaming would see budgets balloon to insane heights and game releases slowed down as a result.

In my eyes, 7/10 or 3.5/5 games are mostly ignored. These aren’t always considered hidden gems either. Some are, but some are just considered forgettable. Not awful or good, but just passes under everyone’s radar. These aren’t the “so bad it’s good” games either. A few of these games have cult followings; a few I had only heard of while compiling this list and some I played myself growing up. I compiled this list from Metacritic with games between 74-70. I feel that’s the true blue 7 range. 79 and 78-rated games usually only have about 25% of the critics giving it a 7 to bring an otherwise 8 score down some. These games are at least rated by half the critics as 7/10. While I know many people don’t listen to critics and some might feel this game should be rated higher or lower is subjective. Like it or not, critic reviews drive sales and it may be the reason why you might find a few games on this list you’ve never heard of, thought was talked about worse than you remember, or something along those lines

Marble Saga: Kororinpa – 2009

The second and final game in the Kororinpa series, Marble Saga adds enough that is new to make it feel worthwhile. It’s really addictive and fun despite the bland visuals. It has plenty of modes and a level editor as well.

Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz – 2006

The game doesn’t evolve much here. The mini-games grow tiresome and most of the overall content can get on your nerves, but the multiple control options really help.

Most Recent Entry: Super Monkey Ball: Banana Mania – 2021 (NS, PS4, PS5, XONE, XSX, PC)

The Sky Crawlers: Innocent Aces – 2010

Motion controls were well done here, but in the end, the missions aren’t very exciting. It’s a good-looking arcade-like dogfighter on Wii, but don’t expect anything exciting.

Naruto: Clash of the Ninja Revolution 2 – 2008
Naruto Shippuden: Clash of the Ninja Revolution III – 2009

Simplistic gameplay really hampered the experience here, and the story is lame, but the online play really bolstered the longevity of the game and added challenge.

Most Recent Entry: Naruto X Boruto Ninja Tribes – 2020 (AND, iOS)

Lit – 2009

A unique horror game that used the Wii remote like a flashlight. The shadow puzzles were fun, but the game is forgettable due to a lack of a compelling story or world.

Dive: The Medes Islands Secret – 2009

A good-looking platformer that was mostly generic feeling and average. While it was fun and wasn’t bad in any way it just didn’t provide anything to stand out.

Just Dance 2 – 2010

The series was birthed on the Wii. The second major outing didn’t approve of the first very much. It’s exactly the same as before with a new song selection and slightly better visuals. The series has lived on to this day.

Most Recent Entry: Just Dance 2022 – 2021 (NS, PS4, XONE, PS5, XSX)

SSX Blur – 2007

The series made it to the Wii with motion controls and all but was hampered by cutesy visuals that clashed with the signature look and dumbed-down gameplay. The control scheme also had a steep learning curve. The series would eventually die out with a final reboot in 2012.

Most Recent Entry: SSX – 2012 (PS3, X360)

WarioWare D.I.Y. Showcase – 2010

To be accompanied by the DS game, Showcase was the classic WarioWare gameplay, but didn’t have enough content to keep people coming back for more. The connectivity to the DS was great and added some small replay value at least.

Most Recent Entry: WarioWare: Get It Together! – 2021 (NS)

Mary Party 9 – 2012

The second and final offering on the Wii it went out with a fizzle and splat. The series was growing stale at this point only changing one thing for the good and screwing up something else. The boards felt like you were too often at the mercy of chance and the content was lacking.

Most Recent Entry: Mario Party Superstars – 2021 (NS)

Pandora’s Tower – 2013

This game has a pretty nice cult following. It’s a beautiful and unique game on the system that pushed it to its limits. It’s often compared to Shadow of the Colossus and Castlevania. A little bit of each. It just has really repetitive combat and there’s lots of it.

Rayman Raving Rabbids: TV Party – 2008

The penultimate release of this weird series that no one asked for. While the Rabbids are always fun to see on screen their games are just smatterings of mini-games and slapstick humor. This game uses the Balance Board on top of the Wii remote to make you do dancing numbers. It gets old quickly and is most fun with other people around.

Most Recent Entry: Rabbids Go Home – 2009 (PC)

Animal Crossing: City Folk – 2008

Wow, wait! An Animal Crossing game?! Well yeah. The series was pretty much not doing much around this time. Not much changed from the GameCube version and many long-time fans complained about this. You can skip this game in the series and not miss anything. It’s a great jumping-on point for newcomers, however.

Most Recent Entry: Animal Crossing: New Horizons – 2020 (NS)

Art Style: Cubello – 2008

The Art Style series was short-lived but pretty popular with puzzle fans. This game was considered unique and easy to pick up and play but became too complex and difficult too quickly.

Most Recent Entry: Art Style: Rotozoa – 2010 (WII)

Disney’s Epic Mickey – 2010

Warren Specter’s (Deus Ex, The Sims) colossal failure stemmed from poor controls and an awful camera. Diehard Disney fans were able to look past this, and if you do too, there’s a genuinely good game under all of this. The sequel was so desperate to turn things around that it moved away from its Wii exclusivity.

Most Recent Entry: Disney’s Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two – 2012 (WII, VITA, PS3, WIIU, PC, X360)

Fast – Racing League – 2011

The surprise Wipeout meets F-Zero game came out of nowhere and surprised many racing fans. It looked good and had a great sense of speed but flew under everyone’s radar. The series then launched on later systems garnering more coverage and love from fans.

Most Recent Entry: Fast RMX – 2017 (NS)

Dance Dance Revolution Hottest Party – 2007

Pick one DDR game and you’ve played them all. Unless you want new songs there’s no reason to buy anything else. The series never changed up the dance mat, and this game had a small amount of content and didn’t change the formula up much. It was business as usual here.

Most Recent Entry: Dance Dance Revolution II – 2011 (WII)

Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles – My Life As A Dark Lord – 2009

The Crystal Chronicles series hasn’t received much praise after its GameCube outing. The Wiiware versions were fun tower defense games but had a lot of paid DLC that could have been included. This game is considered one of the best in its genre for the system.

Most Recent Entry: Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles – Remastered Edition – 2020 (AND, iOS, PS4, NS)

Excite Truck – 2006

Talk about a ho-hum launch title. While Excite Truck had a great sense of speed and looked decent enough, the track design was very generic feeling and there was a serious lack of content including online play.

Most Recent Entry: ExciteBots: Trick Racing – 2009 (WII, WIIU)

Chick Chick Boom – 2010

A really fun party game that was praised for its visuals and fun factor, but didn’t have much overall content. It’s also best played with other people leaving solo players alienated.

Endless Ocean – 2007

Praised for its bravery in trying to create a living breathing encyclopedia, but lambasted for having zero gameplay and frustrating controls. It’s worth playing if you just want to relax and enjoy the sights. The series would get one more entry before calling lights out.

Most Recent Entry: Endless Ocean: Blue World – 2009 (WII)

Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games – 2009

No game in the series is bad, but they are very simple and don’t provide enough to come back to. Many issues were addressed from the first outing, but the game is overall too simple and easy to challenge adults.

Most Recent Entry: Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games: Tokyo 2020 – 2019 (NS)

Deadly Creatures – 2009

A super weird game that surprised everyone with how good it was. It featured AAA actors for some reason too. The creatures themselves were realistically created and felt like their real-life counterparts. This adventure game got really hard though. I personally rented this and loved it. With a bigger budget a sequel could have been awesome, but alas this game didn’t sell well.

Shaun White Snowboarding: World Stage – 2009

Trying to capture that Tony Hawk magic Shaun White rode on the coattails of the legendary skater for years. With a quick succession of releases using motion controls the games were serviceable, but low effort. World Stage used the Balance Board and had clumsy controls, but was fun nonetheless.

Most Recent Entry: Shaun White Skateboarding – 2010 (PS3, X360, WII, PC)

Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars – 2008

Mushroom Men was a series I hoped would get better. There is a lot of potential here and it’s one of the most visually striking games on the system. Sadly, it feels dated and gets really repetitive. One last try squeaked by on PC to never be seen again.

Most Recent Entry: Mushroom Men: Truffle Trouble – 2015 (PC)

Dr. Mario Online RX – 2008

A remake of the SNES game RX only brought online play to the table. It’s the same gameplay without any interesting modes and won’t hold your attention for long. If you have any other version you don’t need this. Especially since the servers are shut down.

Most Recent Entry: Dr. Mario World – 2019 (AND, iOS)

Super Swing Golf – 2006
Super Swing Golf Season 2 – 2007

I loved PangYa on PSP. It was one of the best golf games on the system. The series is clearly aiming toward the Hot Shots Golf crowd with cutesy visuals. However, the was little content to keep people coming back despite being one of the first golf games on the system.

Most Recent Entry: PangYa: Fantasy Golf – 2008 (PSP)

Shiren The Wanderer – 2010

This roguelike looked great and had potential at every turn, but just felt a bit too repetitive and formulaic to be remarkable. It’s still a visually unique game for the system. A sequel eventually bore fruit to equally mediocre results.

Most Recent Entry: Shiren the Wanderer: The Tower of Fortune and the Dice Fate – 2020 (NS, PC)

Spectrobes: Origins – 2009

The final game in the short-running series. This seemingly lifeless and generic action game is actually rather good. It’s a monster collecting game with decent visuals on the Wii and is great fun despite the lack of any challenge.

Driift Mania – 2009

A fun call back to 16-bit top-down racers, but the lack of solo content really hurt here. The game was designed with multiplayer in mind. Many also didn’t care for its generic-looking visuals either. However, it controlled well and had a good sense of speed.

The Munchables – 2009

A fun game with cute visuals, but this time the game does have some challenges. It gets repetitive fairly quickly, but many felt the game was worth pushing through. The controls also needed some work.

Magnetica Twist – 2008

A fun puzzle game if not ugly. This Zuma clone was hampered by poor controls and no online play despite the price point. If you can get a hold of this game you’ll have a lot of fun at least.

Let’s Tap – 2009

One thing that was common with unique Wii games that were experimented with is the fact that these games always came to packed light on content. Let’s Tap only has four mini-games and a visualizer and must be played with others to fully enjoy. The whacky nature of the whole thing makes this one of the most interesting games on the Wii.

The Kore Gang – 2011

A fun and lighthearted platformer with zany characters. Switching between them allows some form of variety, but the overall experience is let down by a short run time and some fiddly controls.

NASCAR Kart Racing – 2009

A surprisingly good game despite the license. The game has great controls and a fun track design but has no online play and the visuals are really dated. The online part might not matter anymore so it’s probably even better.

Most Recent Entry: NASCAR Rivals – 2022 (NS)

Jett Rocket – 2010

A fun and addictive game but gets repetitive fast and lacks any depth. It’s also very short clocking in at just a few hours, but it’s a fun time at least with quality design choices.

Most Recent Entry: Jett Rocket II: The Wrath of Taikai – 2013 (3DS)

Excitebike: World Rally – 2009

This did a good job of updating the original NES classic but had no local multiplayer which was a real shame. However, it didn’t advance the formula much if at all and that brought it down some.

Most Recent Entry: Excitebots: Trick Racing – 2009 (WII, WIIU)

Pearl Harbor Trilogy – 1941: Red Sun Rising – 2010

Considered one of the better dog fighters on Wii, the game was praised for great controls and mission variety but was insanely challenging. This wasn’t a pick-up-and-play arcade game at all.

Super Mario All-Stars: 25th Anniversary Edition – 2010

Yes, these are good ports and play exactly like you remember them…but that’s it! No fancy extras, no remake of any kind, no HD remaster, just the same NES and SNES games slapped onto a disc. It felt like overpriced Wiiware.