The best Nintendo Wii games of all time
A baker's dozen of Wii classics.
The best Nintendo Wii games of all time will have you waving the Wiimote and Nunchuck around with a massive stupid grin plastered over your face.
Despite becoming known as the casual gamer’s console of choice and being bought almost primarily for many as a party machine/get fit quick console (thanks, Wii Fit and Wii Sports), the Wii’s library is chock full of classic after classic after classic.
There are so many quality games to choose from that we had a really hard time making this list. We’ve tried to stick to Wii-exclusive games and those known for being on the platform.
This is why you won’t see any of the fantastic LEGO, Rock Band (or Guitar Hero), Call of Duty, Rayman Origins, Okami or Resident Evil titles on this list.
Other more-than-honourable mentions include the likes of Zack and Wiki, No More Heroes (1 and 2), Sonic Colours, WiiWare exclusives such as Cave Story and World of Goo, and sports titles such as the brilliant Pro Evolution Soccer and PGA Tour games.
Also, shout-out to Punch-Out, Boom Blox and many more games we’d be here all year talking about otherwise.
Without further ado, this is our list of the best Nintendo Wii games of all time – 13 Nintendo classics to play right now (yes, all other lists are incorrect, ours is definitive).
The best Nintendo Wii games of all time
Super Mario Galaxy
Super Mario Galaxy could be the best game ever made. It is that good. The 3D Mario games are among the best you can play on any platform, and Super Mario Galaxy might be the best one of the lot.
It’s inventive, gorgeous and has one of the best soundtracks out there to boot. It’s so good that Nintendo even released a direct sequel – Super Mario Galaxy 2 – which is just as good, if not better.
Arguments persist to this day over what is best of the two, but we’re going with the first game for its originality and how it made us feel when we first turned it on way back in 2007.
- Buy Super Mario Galaxy from cex
- Buy Super Mario Galaxy 2 from cex
- Buy Super Mario 3D All Stars from Amazon
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Available on both the GameCube and the Nintendo Wii, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess is perhaps best known as being a Wii launch game (in the US, a month after launch here in the UK).
This dark and atmospheric Zelda adventure is an outright classic, as any other Legend of Zelda game is. It’s more linear than what we know and love now, with Tears of the Kingdom and Breath of the Wild, but it is still considered one of the very best Wii games - with good cause. Fingers crossed for a Switch re-release.
- Buy The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess from cex
- Buy The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild from Amazon
- Buy The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom from Amazon
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword was released at the tail-end of the Wii’s lifespan in 2011, and was a truly beautiful adventure that made the most of the Wii MotionPlus controller (which added improved motion control capabilities). Its only downside is that you need a MotionPlus-enabled Wiimote or accessory to play the game on Wii.
Skyward Sword’s painterly visuals, strong story and impressive use of motion controls inspire and still captivate today thanks to its HD remaster on the Switch.
- Buy The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword from cex
- Buy The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword with Limited Edition Golden Wii MotionPlus and a soundtrack from cex
- Buy The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD (on Switch) from Amazon
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Super Smash Bros Brawl
While Super Smash Bros Ultimate and Wii U/3DS have come along since and improved the Smash Bros formula, Super Smash Bros Brawl is undoubtedly one of the best games on Nintendo Wii.
It slowed things down a little from Melee on the GameCube, but its vastly improved visuals, incredible soundtrack, 39 playable characters, 41 playable stages, online mode and the much-missed single-player Subspace Emissary, which still is yet to be topped, ensure that Brawl is one of the finest games on Wii. The best fighting game on the console by far.
Xenoblade Chronicles
The game that started it all had a tricky launch on Wii, with Nintendo America initially refusing to release the game. Those around at the time might remember Operation Rainfall, which eventually led to the game launching in North America in 2012 – two years after its initial launch in Japan and a year after its release in Europe and the UK.
This massive JRPG showed what the Wii was capable of and spawned one of Nintendo’s most popular RPG series ever, which is ongoing today - with Xenoblade Chronicles 3 wowing fans on the Switch. Nintendo released a remake of the original on Switch. It’s even on the 3DS as a New Nintendo 3DS exclusive. No matter how you choose to play it, you can’t go wrong.
- Buy Xenoblade Chronicles from cex
- Buy Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition (on Switch) from Amazon
Mario Kart Wii
While perhaps not quite as beloved as Mario Kart Double Dash, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe or Mario Kart DS, Mario Kart Wii is a must-have game on Wii (what Mario Kart game isn’t a must-have?) that’s perfect for local party sessions to this day.
Being able to steer with the Wiimote’s motion controls and the introduction of bikes make this a classic. Its selection of 32 tracks – Coconut Mall, Maple Treeway and DK Mountain all remaining fan favourites – and 24 playable characters made it the biggest Mario Kart game to date when it launched back in 2008.
- Buy Mario Kart Wii from cex
- Buy Mario Kart Wii (with steering wheel) from cex
- Buy Mario Kart 8 Deluxe from Amazon
Metroid Prime: Trilogy
Although Metroid Prime 3: Corruption was the only game developed specifically for the Wii, the Metroid Prime: Trilogy contains all three fantastic Metroid Prime games, with updated control schemes that make the most of the Wiimote and Nunchuck added to the ports of Prime and Prime 2: Echoes – along with updated visuals, widescreen support and improved load times. An excellent collection of some of the best Nintendo games ever released.
Metroid fans also had the (we think unfairly) divisive Metroid: Other M to play on the Wii - fingers crossed Metroid Prime 2 and 3 make their way onto the Switch alongside the original. Other M deserves another shot now, too.
- Buy Metroid Prime: Trilogy from cex
- Buy Metroid: Other M from cex
- Buy Metroid Prime Remastered from Amazon
New Super Mario Bros Wii
New Super Mario Bros Wii brought four-player co-op to the Mario series for the first time, and you could play as Mario, Luigi and Blue or Yellow Toad. It was quite the thing back in the day, and it’s still great to play today.
The second release in the New Super Mario Bros series is an excellent entry in the overall 2D Mario genre of games. Thanks to simple controls, too, it can be enjoyed by anyone – even if some of its latter stages prove tricky for new players! Plus, it released in a striking red box. Very cool.
- Buy New Super Mario Bros Wii from cex
- Buy New Super Mario Bros U Deluxe from Amazon
- Buy Super Mario Bros Wonder from Amazon
Wii Sports
Wii Sports was the selling point of the Wii. Its simple but endlessly replayable gameplay and sharp graphics instantly sold the Wii and its motion controls to everyone who saw it in action. You didn’t have to play it to appreciate how smart it was in its simplicity.
Wii Sports struck a chord with whoever played it (and broke many TVs), and sold the console by itself considering every Wii came with a free copy of the game.
Wii Sports was so successful that Nintendo released plenty of games in the Wii series: Wii Fit, Wii Fit Plus, Wii Fit U, Wii Sports Resort, Wii Sports Club, Wii Music, Wii Play, Wii Play: Motion, Wii Party, Wii Party U and even Wii Chess. Nintendo Switch Sports on the Switch is the latest in this now long-running sports and party series.
Donkey Kong Country Returns
Donkey Kong Country Returns brought back the famous Donkey Kong Country series in staggering style. This fantastic 2D platformer is stunning, difficult and so much fun to play.
Developed by Metroid Prime folk Retro Studios, Donkey Kong Country Returns is one of the best entries in the long-running (and now sadly dormant) Donkey Kong series - and one of the best games on Nintendo Wii. A sequel, Tropical Freeze, was released on Wii U (since ported to Switch) and is just as good. Essential stuff.
- Buy Donkey Kong Country Returns from cex
- Buy Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze (Switch) from Amazon
Kirby’s Epic Yarn
There were two new Kirby games on the Wii, but Kirby’s Epic Yarn was the best of them - and joined the console’s list of incredible 2D platformers. Developed by Good-Feel instead of the series’s traditional development studio HAL Laboratory, Epic Yarn was inventive, bright, breezy and gorgeous.
Based in Patch Land, Epic Yarn’s visuals were all textiles and fabrics. Kirby couldn’t inhale enemies or flutter like in previous games, but his transformations were as cute as they were fun to use.
Kirby’s Adventure Wii (known as Return to Dreamland elsewhere, and now on the Switch remake) was the other title from the Pink Blob on Wii. It was good, but Epic Yarn is S-tier stuff.
- Buy Kirby’s Epic Yarn from cex
- Buy Kirby’s Adventure Wii from cex
- Buy Kirby’s Return to Dreamland Deluxe from Amazon
Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn
A direct sequel to the incredibly rare GameCube Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance, Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn is another essential Wii RPG. Back when Radiant Dawn released, Fire Emblem was more of a niche concern than it is these days, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t as good as what we have on the Switch nowadays.
Radiant Dawn tells an excellent story across different warring factions, and has deep strategy RPG gameplay and viciously tough battles. If you’ve played a Fire Emblem, you know what you’re getting with Radiant Dawn - and that’s no bad thing at all.
The Last Story
While the Wii was light on Square Enix RPGs, The Last Story filled that void and then some. Developed by Mistwalker and directed by legendary JRPG and Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi, The Last Story is as epic as they come.
Ditching turn-based battles for open tactical and stealth combat, The Last Story is fun throughout and features a spectacular soundtrack and great graphics (for the Wii). We can’t recommend it enough and we – along with everyone else – live in hope for a remake or HD port so people can experience the Wii classic on a modern platform.
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Authors
Toby Saunders is a freelance writer specialising in Video Game journalism. He has a wealth of experience in the field and is published on many different websites including PCGamesN, Nintendo Life and Pocket Tactics. He has a degree in Film Studies (he gets to write about Film and TV occasionally, too).
