PixlBit

As some of you know, I love Plataformers and I consider them my favorite genre, and Nintendo being one of the most famous creators of games of this genre, has very notable ones on the Wii. Though one of the curious things about it is the fact that 2D plataformers managed to find a way to have a small comeback in sale and popularity thanks to the Wii, so you can name five of those games in one hand. Because of that, I decided to do a BaD with my favorite 2D plataformers for the console. If there's any game you think it's weird it isn't here, that's because I haven't played. With that in mind, let's start:

5.) Wario Land: Shake It!:

At first I wasn't planning to get this game, but once I saw it in action I got interested. It's the only game of the Wario Land spin-off I had played and overall, it was pretty nice.

The shaking mechanic might not be very essential (though it is fun doing that to enemies), but the rest of the game works well. The controls are precise, the areas offers a lot of secrets and replay value if you want to get all the treasures, music and secret levels and once the game advances, it gets more challenging, which can frustrating sometimes but give the game a difficulty curve. The bosses are few, but they do their job and the cartoony graphics and animations are pretty nice, and offers a vey catchy and varied soundrack (some of the genres include Funk, Orchestra, what can only be described as New Order type of Synth Pop and some more). I guess the only things I would nitpick would be the submarine sections, which didn't have that much good of a control and the difficulty much later, but overall, I think this is a very solid Plataformer.

4.) Kirby's Epic Yarn:

To tell you the true, I do like the Kirby games, but I haven't had something of an amazing experience, and the only thing I had with that was with one of the GBA Kirby games (can't remember the name).

Despite that, I still like this game. It's very short and there's not much replay value, but from what it is, it's a very charming and creative game. Though I can't remember much from it, I digged the yar mechanic and powers it came with it (though I didn't like the train that much from what I remember), the levels and bosses were good and the yarn graphics and some of the scenery changes you could do were something that is very unique for a videogame. Though I can't say much for the Co-op, since I haven't gotten the chance to play it with someone.

3.) New Super Mario Bros. Wii:

It's Mario, what else can it be said?

Okay, okay, i'll give something to write.

Though at first I wasn't as impressed as the times I had played the original NSMB, the game grew more as I play it. It's well done, it's challenging, has many great levels, the new power-ups (specially the Propeller Mushroon) were a nice adition, there's replay value, it's Mario. I guess I should also say that the multiplayer is one of my favorite off all time. Sure, this gives the incentive to be a dick, but that's what I really loved about it.

Maybe not the best Mario (neither the best 2D Mario), but it sure is fun.

2.) Donkey Kong Country Returns:

It's been said that anything Retro Studio touches is gold. After playing the Metroid Prime Trilogy and this game, that's about right.

Those who really like the original Donkey Kong Country games will be sure to enjoy this. It feels like the plataforming goodness that were the original SNES games, but it also feels new and in general, everything really works. The level design, scenery, controls, challenge, music, almost anything is great. Okay, it can get a bit frustrating in some cases (specially when you want to do every record of the levels) and i'm a bit dissapointed you can't control Diddy as a stand-alone character in single player. That said, it's really great.

It's just that it's a position behind.....

1.) Rayman Origins:

As you had seen, 90% of this list was pure Nintendo, but this is not the case here. Without playing much of the Rayman franchise, I wasn't sure how this game would turn out for me and I didn't know what to expect, except that it was an excellent Plataformer. After meddling the first times with the game, I made a first impression of the game back in 1up saying how much I was loving this game. You know what, i'm still loving it, and not only that, I thought about this game with the other four mentioned and I came with the conslusion that this is my favorite 2D plataformer and it's now among my favorite games.

For some reason, I think everything fits together. The levels were fun and varied, the controls were great (sideways Wiimote atleast), secrets to explore, replay value, challenge that keeps increasing as you progress through the game, BEAUTIFUL graphics that much like Wario Land: Shake It!, feels like controling a cartoon and a very nice soundtrack. Maybe sometimes too challenging, maybe the water levels weren't as good as the others and there's really some trial-and-error when it comes to some levels, but that pales compared to the rest of the game. Simply a masterpiece and I can't wait to play Legends.

Well, that's all for today's BaD.