More Hidden Wii Gems
In my last post I wrote about the some of the best Nintendo Wii games that never got their due. These games are all either very well-made, creative or important. This is part two and features Tier A games, with a few honorable mentions. While the criteria isn’t as strict as for Tier S, these games were not only underappreciated at the time they came out, but are still underappreciated and overlooked today.
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A Tier – Deeply Underappreciated
New Game: Epic Mickey (2010, Junction Point Studios)
Epic Mickey is a dark, underappreciated Wii adventure that sends Mickey into Wasteland, a realm of forgotten Disney creations ruled by Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. After accidentally unleashing the Blot, Mickey must repair the damage with a magic brush—paint restores, thinner erases—letting players reshape spaces and resolve quests in different ways. Disneyland‑inspired hubs and deep archival lore give it a striking identity rare for mascot platformers.
Its reputation suffered from camera and control issues that overshadowed its bold ideas, causing many to overlook it at launch despite its moral-choice flavor. Revisiting it now reveals creativity, consequence, and redemption—ambitious qualities that still feel ahead of their time. It’s a hidden gem that deserves to be played.
MadWorld (2009, PlatinumGames)
MadWorld turns the Wii into a splatter-comic brawler: stark visuals splashed with red and a score-attack mindset. After terrorists quarantine Varrigan City and offer a vaccine for kills, ex-agent Jack Cayman enters the bloodsport DeathWatch to fight ranked killers and uncover the outbreak’s truth.
Players earn points for combo kills and creative environmental takedowns, like impaling enemies, stuffing them in tires, or throwing them into spike walls. Each area features ‘Bloodbath’ challenges and boss fights. The game’s chainsaw attacks, wild commentary, and dramatic motorcycle scenes create an experience similar to Sin City mixed with a game show. Critics praised the style, but the extreme violence didn’t fit the Wii’s family-friendly image. As a result, sales suffered and the game became a cult classic, unlikely to make a comeback.
Endless Ocean: Blue World (2010, Arika)
Endless Ocean: Blue World stands out as one of the most unique and peaceful games of its time. Instead of focusing on combat, this underwater adventure let you swim with whales, photograph rare fish, and explore sunken ruins in real-world ocean settings. Its calm, meditative style made it an early example of a cozy game.
But that’s why it was overlooked in 2010. Players didn’t know what to do with a game that had no enemies, objectives, or urgency. The press didn’t really know how to review something offering quiet contemplation instead of action or progression. While gamers appreciated similar titles like Flower, they missed that Blue World was doing something equally special.
Dead Space Extraction (2009, Visceral Games/Eurocom)
Dead Space Extraction stands out for an impressive feat: transforming a blockbuster horror franchise into a motion-controlled Wii game that succeeds where most others fail. It faithfully preserved Dead Space’s thrills while seamlessly adapting to the Wii Remote—shooting necromorph limbs felt genuinely satisfying, never gimmicky.
This wasn’t just a throwaway spin-off. It featured a solid story, good voice acting, and co-op action. The graphics also impressed, but hardly anyone gave it a chance. Dead Space fans dismissed it as an on-rails shooter, while Wii players avoided violent horror on a family-friendly console. Despite critical acclaim and even addressing the “Wii has no real games” complaint, it flopped. Extraction is a standout game that landed on the wrong platform.
Silent Hill: Shattered Memories (2009, Climax Studios)
Silent Hill: Shattered Memories stands as the probably smartest horror reboot. It inverted the original, replacing combat with psychological storytelling that actively responds to how you play. Rorschach tests, personal questions, and behavior tracking directly shaped the story and monsters to mirror your personality. This “adaptive horror” redefined the genre and set a new standard.
It also made brilliant use of Wii controls: the Remote became a flashlight, a phone when held to your ear, or a tool for escaping enemies. Unfortunately, few played it: horror fans avoided it for being on Wii, while Wii owners skipped its M rating. The Silent Hill series’ fading reputation didn’t help. Even after reaching other platforms, the damage was done. Shattered Memories is a prime example of innovative horror, overlooked but deserving recognition.
And Yet It Moves (2010, Broken Rules)
And Yet It Moves was one of the most creative puzzle-platformers ever made. Using handmade paper collage art, its brilliant hook was rotating the entire world to solve puzzles—requiring you to think about gravity, momentum, and direction. On Wii, tilting the controller to spin the world felt natural and enhanced gameplay perfectly.
Unfortunately, hardly anyone played it because it launched on WiiWare when “indie” meant low quality to most players. This artsy game with no dialogue or combat didn’t get attention despite taking creative risks and delivering something special. While it later gained PC recognition, it never achieved mainstream success—wrong place, wrong time.
The Sky Crawlers: Innocent Aces (2010, Project Aces/Access)
The Sky Crawlers: Innocent Aces nailed something almost no one else managed on Wii—delivering aerial combat that felt authentic, emotional, and fun. Based on an anime, it captured that haunting atmosphere with beautiful visuals and music while exploring war’s meaninglessness. Instead of wrestling with complex controls, you simply tilted the controller to bank and dive. This made advanced maneuvers accessible without dumbing down the experience.
Unfortunately, flight sims were considered outdated by 2010, and anime tie-ins had a terrible reputation. Hardcore anime fans didn’t trust licensed games, while flight sim fans dismissed motion controls. Launching near the Wii’s end, when core gamers had already moved on, sealed its fate. It’s a lost gem that was too smart, too niche, and too late.
Deadly Creatures (2009, Rainbow Studios)
Deadly Creatures is one of the most original games the Wii ever saw, putting you in the body of a scorpion and tarantula crawling through the Arizona desert, in food chain battles. Most players didn’t know what to make of survival and violence from a predator’s perspective. Motion controls worked brilliantly—swiping and jabbing to simulate creature movements felt alien and physical in ways normal controllers couldn’t. There was a human subplot featuring Dennis Hopper and Billy Bob Thornton, but creatures remained the focus.
Unfortunately, it was too smart, gross, and weird to succeed. Being faithful to actual biology created a nature doc/horror/action hybrid nobody knew how to market. Deadly Creatures proves that brilliant, unique ideas can fail when audiences aren’t ready.
Grand Slam Tennis (2009, EA Canada)
Grand Slam Tennis pulled off something almost no other sports game did: it actually felt like playing real tennis. Thanks to MotionPlus, it tracked every move in full 1:1 motion—real tennis mechanics like timing, angle, and follow-through. If you could hit a slice or topspin in real life, you could do it here. EA Canada delivered official Grand Slam licensing, career mode, and TV-style presentation. It wasn’t button mashing or arcade antics—it was about technique.
Ironically, that doomed it. The game launched when everyone wanted party games like Wii Sports or had written off motion controls as gimmicky. Plus, MotionPlus wasn’t widely adopted yet. This could have redefined sports gaming, but got lost in the shuffle.
Monster Lab (2008, Backbone Entertainment)
Monster Lab was one of the most creative monster-building RPGs ever made. You didn’t just collect monsters—you built them from body parts, mixing skeletons, organic limbs, mechanical pieces, and magical cores. It featured real RPG depth with stat systems and customization that let you battle in completely different ways.
The steampunk/gothic horror atmosphere included mad scientist labs and a story about alchemists stopping ancient evil. It even offered user-generated content and online battles before that became mainstream. Unfortunately, marketing botched it by positioning Monster Lab as a kids’ game. Despite offering 100+ hours of real content, Monster Lab got totally overlooked.
SSX Blur (2007, EA Montreal)
SSX Blur was ahead of its time, trying to make Wii snowboarding actually feel like snowboarding. Instead of pressing combos, you moved—flicking the Remote, twisting the Nunchuk, timing everything to land tricks. It wasn’t about memorizing inputs but developing muscle memory like real snowboarding.
EA Montreal kept all the over-the-top SSX flair while adding motion controls that made tricks feel physical. Landing wasn’t automatic—you had to work for it. Unfortunately, hardcore SSX fans hated motion controls and wanted buttons back, while Wii players found it too hard compared to Wii Sports. Launching early when motion controls were seen as gimmicks sealed its fate. Blur actually nailed motion gaming’s potential better than most sports titles, but got lost because nobody knew what to do with it.
Skate It (2008, EA Montreal)
Skate It earns Tier A status because it pulled off something rare: making skateboarding with motion controls feel like actual skateboarding. Sensing a pattern here? EA Montreal translated the Skate series’ “flick it” system to Wii Remote, turning ollies, kickflips, and grinds into physical gestures. The ruined-city setting provided crazy terrain while keeping physics realistic—this was a full sim, not arcade.
Unfortunately, it launched on Wii when most saw it as a casual party machine. Skate fans stuck with analog sticks while Wii players found it too demanding. Released between Skate and Skate 2, it got treated like a gimmick instead of a breakthrough. It proved motion controls could work for complex sports—people just didn’t give it a chance.
Baroque (2007, Sting Entertainment)
Baroque was one of the most intense, unsettling dungeon crawlers ever made. In this post-apocalyptic world, dying wasn’t failure—it was progression. The story unfolded through cryptic fragments and disturbing NPCs as you slowly lost your mind alongside it.
Originally for Saturn and PS1, the Wii version stayed true: permadeath, no handholding, and storylines that made Dark Souls feel cheerful. You played a nameless figure climbing a grotesque tower where understanding came through suffering. Wii players wanted casual fun and saw it as broken when confusion, failure, and decay were actually the point. Baroque was ahead of its time—uncompromising experimental storytelling that wouldn’t be appreciated until indie games made such approaches acceptable. Baroque deserved more.
Cursed Mountain (2009, Sproing Interactive/Deep Silver Vienna)
Cursed Mountain was one of the most atmospheric and culturally respectful horror games ever made, rooted in Tibetan Buddhist mythology and high-altitude mountaineering. Instead of relying on gore or cheap scares, it explored fear through spiritual imbalance and karmic suffering. Set on a cursed Himalayan peak, you faced ghosts requiring cleansing through Wii Remote gestures based on actual Tibetan rituals. The cold, treacherous terrain created constant tension while making you participate in its world.
Unfortunately, almost no one played it. Despite doing everything right—deep mythology, cultural respect, unique mechanics—it got lost in the noise. Cursed Mountain should be remembered as a gutsy, respectful take on psychological horror and one of the best examples of motion control storytelling.
Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars (2008, Red Fly Studio)
Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars lands in Tier A as a highly original platformer blending humor with solid mechanics. You play as Pax, a mushroom exploring a post-apocalyptic world where everyday junk becomes deadly weapons after a meteor crash turned fungi into intelligent life. Motion controls worked smartly—swinging with floss, balancing on ledges. Environmental storytelling replaced cutscenes while weapon crafting (thumbtack spears, bottle cap shields) and interactive environments appeared before they became trends.
Unfortunately, the art made people think it was a kids’ game, and Wii fans expecting casual fun bounced off deeper systems. Launching during crowded 2008 holidays with no marketing sealed its fate.
Disaster: Day of Crisis (2008, Monolith Soft)
Disaster: Day of Crisis is special because it was never released in North America, despite being an outrageous, creative action game. Made by the Xenoblade team, it’s a full-blown disaster movie you could play—earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanoes, and terrorists all in one day.
You play Ray, a one-man disaster response unit, using the Wii Remote as a survival toolkit for CPR, driving through lava, shooting terrorists, and rescuing civilians. It was B-movie chaos played completely straight with constantly shifting gameplay. Nintendo of America cancelled its release despite wanting exactly this type of creative title. It had real heart and solid design beyond the average Wii game. If you’re in North America, play it on Dolphin emulator.
Tier B – Honorable Mentions
There were over a dozen more games that made Tier B, but I will just cover the games that are the top 4 most playable and enjoyable in 2025.
de Blob: makes the cut because it’s just fun. Painting the world with motion controls feels great, the music and visuals are satisfying, and it’s the kind of game that’s easy to pick up but still keeps you hooked.
A Boy and His Blob: is here because it’s a heartfelt puzzle-platformer with clever mechanics, beautiful hand-drawn art, and gameplay that’s relaxing and rewarding.
Ivy the Kiwi? Its unique draw-to-guide mechanic, fast-paced platforming, and storybook visuals deliver a nice twist on puzzle gameplay that is addictive.
Elebits makes the last of the top 5 because it turns your living room into a physics playground where zapping hidden creatures with the Wii Remote feels like a chaotic, surprisingly satisfying mix of hide-and-seek and puzzle solving.