Summary
While the Wii certainly made a splash withits innovative motion control gameplay, it wasn’t until the Wii MotionPlus released that many felt like the system’s true potential was reached. With more accurate one-to-one motion controls that allowed for a greater depth of gameplay interactivity, the Wii MotionPlus opened the door for developers to experiment further with their titles.
It’s somewhat surprising, then, that so few games on the Wii actually utilised this advanced technology. This is especially true when you look at the small grouping of titles that were developed with the Wii MotionPlus in mind given how effectively they implemented the periphery to create some truly special and dynamic experiences.
7FlingSmash
A Simple Concept With Smashing Execution
FlingSmash is hardly going to be remembered by historians as one of the Wii’s must-play titles, but this quirky little puzzle-platformer still has enough charm and fun ideas to serve as a worthy distraction on a lazy afternoon. Crucially, the game makes good use of the Wii MotionPlus as you fling and smash your little yellow blob around the screen.
Like many of the games that were developed with Wii MotionPlus in mind, FlingSmash was actually bundled with the technology. If you did actually play the game instead of just shoving it straight at the bottom of your video games shelf, you would’ve been pleasantly surprised by FlingSmash’s colourful visuals and intuitive controls.
6My Personal Golf Trainer
Get Better With Leadbetter
For those of you who don’t know who David Leadbetter is, he is one of the world’s leading golf instructors having taught several professionals across the decades how to improve their game enough to win a major title. Want to know just how much this guy cares about golf instruction? He has published eight different books talking about the ideal golf swing. Yep. Eight.
My Personal Golf Trainer aims to use the Wii Motion Plus (and the Wii Balance Board!) to create an immersive golf instructional sim in the mould of Leadbetter’s teachings. So whether you hit the green every Saturday or you have never picked up a golf club before, My Personal Gold Trainer isn’t a terrible way to work on your game from the comfort of your living room.
5Rage Of The Gladiator
Are You Not Entertained?
Rage of the Gladiator is one of those precious WiiWare gems that is at a great risk of being lost to time given its relative inaccessibility post server shutdown. The game takes the gameplay formula of Punch-Out and paints it over with an ancient Roman coat, switching out the boxing gloves for a sword and shield.
The Wii MotionPlus is used to great affect as you slice and dice your way through the defences of your opponents. Few Wii games are better at emulating the thrill and danger of swordplay than Rage of the Gladiator, and for that reason alone, the WiiWare version of this game is well worth your time… if you can track it down.
4Wii Play: Motion
Now You’re Playing With Motion
The original Wii Play was a fun minigame package that proved to be a huge success for Nintendo, in large part due to the game coming bundled with a Wii remote. Five years later, the Big N would attempt to replicate this success with Wii Play: Motion – a new minigame collection entirely based around the Wii MotionPlus that also came packaged with the advanced controller.
Did Wii Play: Motion set the world on fire in quite the same way as the other Wii branded games? No, but that doesn’t mean that some of the minigames weren’t excellent examples of the Wii MotionPlus’ capabilities.
3Red Steel 2
One Of The Wii’s Most Underrated Games
Red Steel 2 is a remarkable sequel to an entirely unremarkable original game that married together style, substance, and sublime motion controls in a way that few Wii games can compare to. Whether you’re brandishing your revolver or cutting through the air with your katana, every action feels precise and immersive in Red Steel 2.
Given the dearth of quality games on the Wii that were targeted exclusively towards an adult market, the execution of Red Steel 2 is all the more stunning. More than anything, Red Steel 2 showcased that first-person action and the Wii MotionPlus fit together as seamlessly as the cowboy-samurai aesthetic of the game.
2The Legend Of Zelda: Skyward Sword
A Legendary Motion Controlled Adventure
More than a decade since its launch, the jury still feels out on the implementation of Wii MotionPlus in The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. While some people adored the one-to-one swordplay and other motion-based controls, others found them to be gimmicky at best and semi-broken at worst.
Still, wherever you fall on Skyward Sword’s infatuation with the Wii MotionPlus, there is something appropriate about having a mainline3D Zelda gameon the Wii that fuses its design so heavily with motion controls. Because when it does all click together and work, Skyward Sword absolutely soars.
1Wii Sports Resort
Still The Very Best
If the original Wii Sports was the ideal proof of concept video game for the Wii’s basic motion controls, then Wii Sports Resort absolutely delivered the same results for the Wii MotionPlus. Amazingly, but perhaps unsurprisingly, given how few games were developed exclusively for the accessory, Wii Sports Resort was never eclipsed in terms of Wii MotionPlus implementation.
You know theminigames. Swordplay, table tennis, wakeboarding… each expertly crafted vignettes that made a strong case for the one-to-one precision of the Wii MotionPlus and helped usher in a new era for the Wii as a whole.
