Eliwood’s Top 5 WiiWare Games of 2009

Since its inception last year, WiiWare has featured some fantastic games, conveniently downloadable straight to your Wii. 2009 has had some great titles, so here are my top five games from the past year.

Good luck figuring out what's going on in this screenshot.

5) Bit.Trip series

It’s a bit of a cop out to put three games in one spot, but these games deserve to be acknowledged together. Bit.Trip is all about bringing games back to their simple roots with some awesome music thrown in for good measure. Each Bit.Trip game has the same basic idea of gameplay–hitting beats to coincide with the music–but each one uses that idea differently, with different interfaces and controls. Some are admittedly better than others, but each one is wonderfully addicting as a budget download. They all pack a serious challenge, too; none of these games are easy, and finishing one can be a satisfying accomplishment. With three games released this year alone, Gaijin Games is on the way to establishing a massive franchise on WiiWare.

FFIV: The After Years further explores the conflicted characters of the original.

4) Final Fantasy IV: The After Years

Making an episodic sequel to one of the best Final Fantasy games is a bit of a longshot, but The After Years is a great return to the memorable characters of FFIV, along with a few new faces as well. Each character is given focus in a single chapter before the climactic finale, combining the efforts of nearly twenty-four playable characters. Much of the game is a stroll down memory lane for fans of the original game, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t anything new in the gameplay and presentation. New combo attacks called Bands add devastating attacks, and the character sprites are more detailed than the original game’s. The music, though, is pure nostalgia. The episodic format is a little odd for an RPG–starting fresh with new characters in each chapter is somewhat awkward, and overall the story feels a little disjointed. The core of the game, however, is an epic (if pricey) RPG on WiiWare.

Beautiful environments of sand and shadow set a desolate backdrop.

3) NyxQuest: Kindred Spirits

NyxQuest is another side-scrolling platformer that has you moving a character and manipulating the world with the Wii remote pointer at the same time, and like LostWinds, it is a fantastic example of the simple yet elegant grace of a downloadable game. Steeped in Greek mythology, you take control of Nyx, a winged girl in search of Icarus, whose wax wings have melted, sending him falling to the earth. Along the way you’ll encounter other Greek gods and mythical figures–some that help you, and some that will need to be defeated before they will let you pass. The platforming is spot on, with simple but clever use of the Wii remote, which allows you to move blocks, shoot lightning, or redirect wind and fire. The game is short, but the action is a lot of fun, and even has a few hidden treasures for you to collect. The graphics and music are both hauntingly desolate and eerily alluring–though fairly simple, the presentation is so polished that you aren’t likely to mind.

Explore through ice and snow to find Toku's lost mother.

2) LostWinds: Winter of Melodias

Winter of Melodias builds off of the fantastic formula from the award-winning original game released last year. Once again, you take control of both Toku and the wind spirit Enril in a side-scrolling platformer. Now, though, Toku is on a quest to find his mother, who has gone missing on Summerfalls Mountain, which has been locked into a perpetual winter. Controlling Toku and the powers of the wind is as smooth and fun as it was in last year’s game, and changing the season from Summer to Winter adds another layer of exploration to the game. You’ll also discover more wind powers, helping Toku reach new heights or blast through dirt. Like the first game, the graphics and music carry a soft beauty that complements the nature-focused aspects of the game. Though it is barely longer than the original, Winter of Melodias is another great example of the quality that can be achieved on WiiWare.

Note: game is not necessarily historically accurate.

1) Swords & Soldiers

I’m just going to come out and say it, this game is fantastic. Everything melds together beautifully: the absurd and light-hearted story, the equally quirky graphics and music, the easy-to-learn but challenging-to-master gameplay, and the impressive game length and replay value available. Take command of the Viking, Aztec, or Chinese army and mow down your opponents as you seek barbeque sauce, giant chili peppers, or just new toys to play with, respectively. Each story is delightfully silly, and a lot of fun to play through. Gameplay is 2D real time strategy (RTS) fare, meaning you’ll build units, defensive towers, and unleash spells on friends and allies as you try to crush the opposing leader. It’s amazingly addicting, and because each army has their own unique units and spells, well varied. Not only does the campaign mode see you through 30 different levels (3 campaigns with 10 missions each), but side challenges can keep you playing, or just waging war with a friend in split-screen multiplayer. One of the best inclusions, though, is the set of 25 achievements you can complete, inviting you to keep playing even after finishing the game. While some achievements are quite simple, others will challenge you to use every strategic bone in your body to complete them. This is hands down the best WiiWare game of the year, offering a fantastic downloadable game for only 1000 Nintendo Points.

Check back tomorrow for my top five DS games of 2009!