So today I was looking through my collection of Wii games and I realized something.l Sometimes 3rd party developers are lazy. Yes it's a shock and some may find it hard to believe, but nothing has been truer or more factual than what I'm about to proclaim. The Wi has a ****load of shovelware. If you thought the PS2 or NES were bad...the Wii really managed to bring out the worst in third parties. For every Ubisoft title like Red Steel 2 which was an enjoyable improvement over the original...there is yet another tired sequel to the Rabbids series. But this isn't about that...maybe another blog. This is about point & click puzzle adventures!
The Wii remote has a main function as acting as a pointer. Various games have implemented it whether it be to shoot in CoD, aim you arrows in Zelda, or grabbing a pull star in Mario Galaxy. However one of the most utilized functions for the wii remote is for developers to poirt PC point & click puzzle games over to Wii.
This has hardly worked for the better, but my real problem is the lack of 3rd party willingness to finish their jobs. Let's take a look at The Secret Files series. For those of you not in the know...here is a pic.
The Secret Files: Tunguska...is the first in the series, the wii also received the sequel Puritas Cordis (Not in America though), but oddly enough the 3rd title...was never ported over. Now that is fine and dandy with me...Sometimes series don't sell well and it's obvious that Secret Files didn't. However herein lies my main pet peeve...
Let's take a game like Nancy Drew: The White Wolf of Icicle Creek.
This such title is the 16th installment in a series of Nancy Drew Point and Click puzzle games. It's the only one Wii received...and as to why it was released...I guess it was just an easy port for Sega. There was also a Hardy Boys Wii game...and I'm sure that that game was just as odd to be coming onto the system as well. But to think that we missed 15 previous titles, not to mention more sequels is just the tip of ice berg in terms of odd decisions.
A game that really bothers me is Runaway: Legend of the Turtle
Runaway was a cult series that has spawned 3 games I believe...The Wii got this game...which technically is the 2nd game in the series. So the 1st game was skipped and so was the 3rd...WHY IN THE HECK WOULD YOU DO THAT!?!?!? What purpose dos it serve? Let's say you knew nothing about Zelda right? And let's just say that the Windwaker series which includes Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks only released the second game Phantom Hourglass for the system. How irate and confused would you be?
But there is a silver lining. Wiiware managed to get it right by releasing episodic titles of all 5 Monkey Island episodes, or even something like Strong Bad...which also got a 5 episode run. Not to mention there have been good point and click games released for Wii. Such is the case with the unfortunately poor selling, but critical darling and wii fan favorite Zack & Wiki: Quest For Barbaros Treasure.
If you don't have this game...get it. Find a copy. Play it. It's the old school point and click puzzle game you love. It's hard and difficult, and completely maddening. But it's all good because when you solve the stages puzzle and finally achieve that aha moment you get when playing these type of games...you'll think to yourself...That was worth it...and that's all you need.
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