The Wii is all about innovation.

It’s about doing something completely different with gaming. It is, as it was originally called, a revolution.

Nintendo has opened many new doors for developers and moved one step closer to the Hollywood driven fantasy of virtual reality. This is what drives the sheer popularity of the system. Consumers just love the idea of actually slashing your sword in Zelda, heaving a pass in Madden or doing surgery in Trauma Center.

Another thing has happened with the release of the Wii. Ever since the controller was shown off, the gaming world has been buzzing with thoughts of what could be. These range from obvious ones like sports (and, for all the hockey and boxing fans out there; EA, please make NHL and Fight Night on Wii, seriously.) to forgotten classic games that just might be ready for a comeback. The Wii’s Virtual Console has been a constant inspiration for these thoughts.

Star Fox
The Virtual Console recently saw the release of one of the more popular games for the Nintendo 64, Star Fox 64. Boasting exciting dogfights in multiplayer and a difficult branching single player adventure, Star Fox 64 is a game that wasn’t easily forgotten. For that reason, an iteration of Star Fox definitely belongs on the Wii.

The Wii controller basically screams for flight games. Using the nunchuk for ship control and the remote for aiming would work perfectly. You could “Do a barrel roll!” by moving your nunchuk to the left or right. Slippy wouldn’t have a chance to think “they had him” with the quick shots that the Wii remote would allow, and entering “all-range mode” would be as exciting as ever. Also, Wii’s budding online support could branch to this game, allowing some crazy multiplayer deathmatches online.

While Star Fox has appeared more recently on the Gamecube and DS, they couldn’t match up with Star Fox 64. A Wii version has the potential to do so for many reasons. As already mentioned, the controls would assist greatly. The DS game proved to be a bother after using the touch screen setup for a while and the Gamecube version’s controls didn’t cut it either. Online play, while first introduced on the DS version, would obviously be expanded with more players and more exciting gameplay.  Most importantly, it has the opportunity to set a standard as it did on the N64, or even the SNES. The Wii has seen the release of three flight games: Heatseeker, Blazing Angels and Wing Island; all of which were less than stellar. Star Fox, if done right, would not only work well on the system, but also set the tone for subsequent flight games.

Castlevania
Castlevania has seen release on just about every platform. NES started the series with the original. Playstation cemented its place in gaming with Symphony of the Night and two releases on the DS have kept the series going strong. Wii is definitely the place to continue the game’s legacy.

The gameplay is perfect for the Wii. The traditional weapon of choice of the Belmont clan is the whip, which would be all sorts of fun to wield with a Wii controller. The obvious hand movement with the remote would crack the whip while the nunchuk could be used to cast magic and for movement.

The thing that makes Castlevania work so well on the Wii is the fact that it’s open-ended. While the whip is the most well known weapon of the series, you can wield just about anything you want. During the fight against Dracula, you meet many different creatures with different attacks and different weaknesses.

A Wii version of Castlevania could compare directly to Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition. Through out that game, some enemies would be best defeated with a quick headshot with the pistol, others call for gratuitous use of the shotgun; or for all you lazy types, an incendiary grenade can solve nearly any situation.

Castlevania would be done in the same vein. Certain enemies might be best defeated with a flick of the wrist with the whip, while others require a two-handed blow with a battle-axe. This creates variety in gameplay and would make exploring the infamous castle more exciting.

The game lends itself to a third person view, similar to that of the upcoming game, Soul Calibur Legends. All these factors, if done properly, could perfect the 3D series of Castlevania, a dimension that the game hasn’t been particularly successful in. Even though this game has seen much iteration on many different systems, it definitely has the capacity to be the best and, most importantly, the most fun on the Wii.

The next game needs no introduction and really needs no focus either. It’s more of a theme than anything else and is probably the first thing everyone thought of when they saw the Wii.

Star Wars
Star Wars. In any form at all.

The controller was made for this. Lightsaber battles would feel like you’re actually fighting with a Sith Lord. The blaster would be easy to aim and fire, allowing the player to take down squads of stormtroopers with ease. X-Wings would fly straight and true (following Star Fox’s example!) and hitting that proton torpedo shot would be easy, even without the Force.

The one thing that would be an issue with this series would be precision with the controls. As we saw in Red Steel, swordplay, a concept that you would think would be easy to code, can cause a serious problem. For this reason, a game such as this would have to come a bit later in the Wii’s life cycle.


The thing we all have to remember about the Wii is that it’s still an evolving system. Developers are still learning its little nuances and still figuring out new ways to accomplish their goals. While swordplay on the Wii isn’t the greatest now, patience is the key.
Just as every system before it, the controls will progress to the point that a nigh-perfect sword-fighting simulator will be possible and along with it, a ridiculous Star Wars game with epic lightsaber battles. At the same time, games like Star Fox might set the tone for flight games, allowing the lessons learned there to translate to a Star Wars piloting game and, from the looks of it, Metroid Prime 3 might have the shooting controls right.

It is for this reason that the possibilities are truly endless for games like these. While your favorite game might not work out on the Wii right now, it will definitely have a place in a few years. This is where the Wii separates itself from the other systems. Its competitors can offer better graphics or online play for an old favorite, but the Wii can create a whole new experience.