10 Greatest Nintendo Wii Games, Ranked
Writing from the Chicagoland area in Illinois, Robert is an avid movie watcher and will take just about any excuse to find time to go to his local movie theaters. Robert graduated from Bradley University with degrees in Journalism and Game Design with a minor in Film Studies. Robert tries his best to keep up with all the latest movie releases, from those released in theaters to those released on streaming. While he doesn't always keep up with the latest TV shows, he makes it a goal to watch nearly every major new release possible. He has been honing his craft and following any and all movie news all his life, leading up to now, where he has a vast knowledge of film and film history. He also logs every movie that he watches on his Letterboxd page, and has hosted a weekly online movie night with his closest friends for over 6 years.
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Nintendo's continued strength and reputation within the 21st century as a whole can most distinctly be defined by the overwhelming success of its motion-control-based console, the Wii. The console became one of the most lucrative successes that the gaming industry has ever seen, with its revolutionary motion-control controller ushering in a massive trend in motion controls across the entire industry. However, the console had much more to offer than being simply a casual gaming motion control machine, as there were many genuinely great games released on the console.
From some of the best entries in beloved Nintendo franchises to engaging new franchises that made the most of the system's motion-control possibilities, the best games on the Nintendo Wii have become icons of Nintendo's 21st-century legacy. Even more shocking, several of these amazing games have still never been ported to modern Nintendo consoles, with the Wii as the only place to experience some of the best games they have ever released.
10 'Wii Sports Resort' (2009)
It's impossible to discuss the impact and legacy of the Wii without mentioning its iconic sell-in title, Wii Sports, a massively beloved sports simulator that is still among the best-selling video games of all time. However, it often isn't included in lists of the best games on the console, largely because the sequel, Wii Sports Resort, was made not just as an expansion of the concept, but to show off the Wii MotionPlus accessory with more intricate motion controls.
The game features a new array of sports to utilize the new technology, as well as including fan-favorite sports from the previous game: bowling and golf. Not every new sport is a massive hit, but sports like Swordplay, Table Tennis, Basketball, and Archery are on the same level, if not even more fun than the sports from the original game. Resort also has a lot of personality in its execution, feeling like a true complete game instead of a demo of what the Wii is capable of.
9 'Super Smash Bros. Brawl' (2008)
The Super Smash Bros. series has continuously been one of the most celebrated franchises in Nintendo's arsenal, with the crossover excitement and exceptional platform fighter gameplay making it both a great party game and a half-decent competitive experience. Even if Super Smash Bros. Brawl is considered by many die-hard Smash Bros. fans to be a middling entry into the series competitively, the game has so much to offer in terms of single-player content and casual fun that it still manages to be one of the best games on the console.
The major strengths that helped elevate this entry in the series were the vast and intricate campaign mode, The Subspace Emissary, as well as the inclusion of the first third-party characters in franchise history, Solid Snake and Sonic the Hedgehog. Combined with the exceptional graphical quality and classic charm and enjoyment of the Smash Bros. formula, this makes it one of the best multiplayer experiences that the console has to offer.
8 'Super Paper Mario' (2007)
When it was first released, Super Paper Mario was largely seen as a disappointment for Paper Mario fans, as it abandoned the RPG gameplay of previous entries to instead be a traditional 2D platformer with a quirky 3D perspective mechanic. However, time has been incredibly kind to the strengths of Super Paper Mario, as it still has a lot of the charm of previous entries, as well as featuring what many consider to be the best story in any Mario game, spinoff or otherwise.
The masterpiece Mario game has become a cult classic of the series thanks to its exceptional writing and overwhelming creativity in its worlds and gameplay. It accomplishes this seemingly impossible task of entirely reinventing the formula and concept of what a Paper Mario game can be while still staying true to some of its greatest strengths. There is a deep passion and love for the characters and world of Super Paper Mario that isn't nearly as felt in any Paper Mario game released since this game.
7 'Mario Kart Wii' (2008)
It's a guarantee that with every major Nintendo console release, there is going to be an exciting new entry in the Mario Kart series to help bolster the console and be one of the best-selling games on the console. Mario Kart Wii easily fits into this category, with the massively beloved racing game making use of Wii Remote steering wheel controls and becoming the second best-selling game on the console as well as the second best-selling game in the Mario Kart franchise.
Mario Kart Wii simply delivers on everything that one wants from a classic Mario Kart experience, with a vast cast of characters to play as, a bunch of fun courses to race on, and an engaging multiplayer battle mode. Mario Kart Wii also featured a lot of signature strengths that would become staples of the franchise, including remixing courses from previous entries in the franchise and a deeply intricate global internet server system to race against players across the world.
6 'No More Heroes' (2007)
One specific facet of the Wii console that surrounded it for the entirety of its shelf-life was how it was perceived as a children's console that didn't have any experiences for hardcore adult gamers. No More Heroes directly contrasts with this reputation that the console had, both expertly utilizing the motion controls for its gameplay while also being a raunchy M-rated game filled with lots of blood and sexual innuendo. Suda 51's wild hack-and-slash game also acts as a brilliant parody of traditional action games as well as commenting on the obsessive media culture of the 2000s.
While motion controls as a concept seem very antithetical to an adult-oriented gaming experience, yet the motion controls seamlessly work with the action gameplay of No More Heroes, making the heavy hits that much more satisfying when the player is the one swinging the beam katana. Amplified by a lot of other creative choices in terms of immersion building, No More Heroes is one of the most unique games released on the Wii as well as one of its best.
Collider Exclusive · 8 Questions · 2 Minutes Which Iconic Fandom Should You Join? Harry Potter · Lord of the Rings · Star Wars · Star Trek
Eight honest questions about how you actually are: what you put on when you need cheering up, how deep you go into the things you love, what you argue about, what you keep on your shelf. Answer them and we will tell you where you belong. Four of the biggest fandoms on earth are taking new members, and they could not be more different from one another.
⚡Harry Potter(Wizarding World)
💍Lord of the Rings(Middle-earth)
⚔️Star Wars(A Galaxy Far Away)
🖖Star Trek(The Final Frontier)
01
What do you put on when you need cheering up? Nobody is brave about this one.
02
How deep do you go into something you love? There is no shallow end here, only different deep ends.
03
What do you and your friends actually argue about? Every fandom has one argument it has been having for years.
04
How do you feel about a room full of strangers? Every one of these comes with a very big room.
05
Where would you rather spend a week? Pick on instinct rather than on budget.
06
What do you believe about people, mostly? All four of these stories have an answer, and they disagree.
07
What is actually on your shelf? Look over at it before you answer.
08
What do you actually want from a story? Eight questions in, this is the one that picks your fandom.
Membership Confirmed Your Fandom Is…
Four of the largest communities on the planet, and four completely different reasons to belong to one. Here is yours, what it would give you, and the argument you would be having within a week.
Harry Potter
You belong to the fandom that is really about comfort. Hogwarts works on people because it is a place rather than a plot, and the pull is not the wizard war so much as the corridors, the food, the weather and the sense that somebody is expecting you.
- You are drawn to belonging, which is why this fandom sorted itself into houses within about five minutes and has never stopped.
- This is the most social of the four, and the one most likely to know which type every single person in your life would be.
- The books are built to be reread rather than analysed, and rereading is exactly what you do with things you love.
- The new HBO series is bringing the whole thing back one book at a time, which means the arguments are about to start all over again.
Lord of the Rings
You belong to the deepest fandom on this list, the one where somebody has always read further than you and is quietly delighted to say so. Middle-earth rewards patience more than any other world in popular culture.
- You like the sense that the story you are reading is only the visible part of something enormous, which is precisely how Tolkien built it.
- This fandom takes adaptation seriously to a degree that other fandoms find slightly alarming, and it has good reasons for that.
- Your favourite thing about the books is probably the bit that is not action at all, which is the walking, the songs and the long goodbyes.
- Nobody here thinks heroism belongs to the powerful, and the whole story exists to make that argument.
Star Wars
You belong to the loudest and largest tent of the four, the one where three generations are all watching the same thing and none of them agree about any of it. That disagreement is not a flaw in this fandom, it is the main activity.
- You want something you can share with absolutely everybody, from a six year old to a grandparent, and this is the only one on the list that really does that.
- Nobody argues like Star Wars fans argue, and the argument has been running since roughly 1980 with no sign of resolution.
- The pull here is sensory before it is narrative, since it is the sound design, the score and the look of a used and dented galaxy.
- You would be first in the queue, in costume, with strong opinions and a genuinely good time.
Star Trek
You belong to the thinking fandom, the one that turns up for the argument rather than the explosion. Trek has always been a series of ethical problems in space, and the people who love it love being asked what they would have done.
- You are an optimist in a way that is currently unfashionable, and this is the only major franchise still willing to say the future might be better.
- The best episodes are the ones where nobody fires anything, which is a sentence that makes perfect sense to this fandom and to nobody else.
- Starfleet Academy brought the franchise back to a classroom in 2026, which is appropriate, because Trek has always been a bit of a seminar.
- You would want the conversation afterwards more than the episode itself, and here you will always find somebody willing to have it.
5 'Kirby's Return to Dream Land' (2011)
Kirby as a franchise has always been one of the fan favorites among Nintendo franchises, yet the series had largely focused on handheld entries in the 21st century, with Kirby's Return to Dream Land being a glorious return to home consoles, the first traditional home console Kirby game since Kirby 64. The game is as classic as a Kirby experience can get, being able to play through the entire game with 4 players and having all sorts of fun copy abilities and puzzles to solve.
The game largely set the standard for modern Kirby games, with every major main series Kirby game largely following in its footsteps in terms of its structure and approach to gameplay. The game is still considered by many to be one of the very best Kirby games ever made, to the point where it was one of the few Kirby games to get a full-on remake, with it getting a revamped version on Nintendo Switch 12 years after its initial release.
4 'Rhythm Heaven Fever' (2011)
While the series as a whole is not nearly as popular or recognizable as other Nintendo franchises, the Rhythm Heaven franchise has earned a dedicated cult following over the years thanks to its incredibly original and charming approach to the rhythm game formula. Rhythm Heaven Fever is still considered by many to be the height of the series, with so many memorable rhythm games, multiplayer modes, and endless charm from beginning to end.
Ironically, the game doesn't utilize any of the motion controls that the Wii was made famous for, instead finding great strength thanks to the inherent simplicity yet brilliance of its rhythm-based gameplay. It may just be one of the most approachable and fun rhythm games ever made, with a whole catalog of original songs designed for the fun gameplay of the series, each one having different timings and elements to make them stand out from one another. This banger video game constantly delivers and finds new ways to delight the player as they go from song to song.
3 'Xenoblade Chronicles' (2010)
The path to Xenoblade Chronicles getting a full release in North America in itself is worthy of praise, as it was one of the main games at the center of Operation Rainfall, a fan campaign dedicated to the release of this game alongside two other action RPGs in North America. This clearly paid out in dividends, as Xenoblade Chronicles is now rightly celebrated worldwide as one of the defining JRPG masterpieces of the era, one of the best games on the Nintendo Wii, and the first entry in what is now one of Nintendo's defining RPG franchises.
The game stands as what is easily one of the most expansive and intricate experiences that the Wii has to offer, being an incredibly dense science fantasy role-playing game that will take over a hundred hours to fully complete. It features an intricately layered story unlike anything else the console has to offer and a signature sense of passion and fluidity in every aspect of its gameplay. The game was originally considered a cult classic on the platform, but especially after its lead character, Shulk, was put in Smash Bros., the game has been reexamined as a true masterpiece of the era.
2 'Metroid Prime: Trilogy' (2009)
Each entry in the Metroid Prime trilogy manages to be a masterpiece in its own right, so it only made sense to create a bundled experience of the entire trilogy on the Wii in Metroid Prime: Trilogy. Primarily, this bundle was created so that Metroid Prime and Metroid Prime 2: Echoes could use the improved Wii remote control scheme used in Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. In terms of a bang-for-your-buck deal, it's hard to deny the 3-in-one combination of these amazing sci-fi video game masterpieces in one singular experience.
It's still considered by many to be the definitive way to experience some of the greatest games of the 2000s, as the Wii control scheme really does wonders in terms of making the first-person gameplay more fluid and engaging. Gamers who have experienced the Metroid Prime trilogy in this way simply aren't able to go back to the original GameCube releases, as this improvement in controls plays a major part in making these some of the greatest video games of all time.
1 'Super Mario Galaxy' (2007) and 'Super Mario Galaxy 2' (2010)
It feels easy to simply say that the massively popular 3D Mario games released on the Wii were the best games on the console, but the duology of Super Mario Galaxy games goes beyond simply being great Wii games; they are easily in contention for the best Mario games released on any console. They hone in on 3D platforming perfection better than any other game of the era, with seamless controls and perfect level design creating some of the most engaging and fun experiences that Nintendo has ever made.
Both Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario Galaxy 2 have their own distinct strengths and elements that make it nearly impossible to choose just a single one as the best Wii game, so they share the top spot as the games that defined high-quality video game experiences on the console. The games were even bundled together for a rerelease on Nintendo Switch in 2025, further cementing their status as not just some of the best Mario games ever made, but some of the greatest 3D platformers ever made.
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie
7 10
- Release Date
- April 1, 2026
- Runtime
- 98 Minutes
- Director
- Aaron Horvath, Michael Jelenic, Pierre Leduc, Fabien Polack
- Writers
- Matthew Fogel
KioskNews shows a cleaned-up reading view extracted from the publisher’s page — the original always lives on their site, not ours.