Wii games in 2009

100th post! Awesome! Here's to 100 more! Well, that's over, onto the article... I've been planning on doing this article since the beginning of the year, but just haven't gotten around to doing it until now. -Kyle

2008 was an average year for the Nintendo hardcore. The first party efforts weren't all that great, at least in the states. Even with WiiWare and third-parties supplying quality, the great games of 2008 weren't all that many. But coming into 2009, there's quite a few awesome looking retail Wii games on the horizon. Below, I've detailed eight of these such games (retail only for now) that I'm really stoked for. This is a long one, so grab some popcorn, a drink of some sort, and enjoy!

EDIT: Don't believe me about 2009 being a great year for Wii? Check out this NeoGAF thread, specifically the second and third posts. Yeah, that's a lot games. Even if some of them aren't necessarily coming to North America or coming in 2009, that's still a damn lot of games, and that's only the ones we know of. (Thanks to SuperPhillip for the heads up.)

Please note: release dates are for North America only and found on IGN.com. If you're from somewhere other than North America, such as Europe or Australia, check Google, Wikipedia, and/or IGN to be sure.

House of the Dead: Overkill
Publisher: SEGA
Release date: February 10, 2009

Of my eight games on this list, House of the Dead: Overkill is supposed to be released the soonest. It's definitely a game to look forward to for House of the Dead fans and light-gun fans. The overall game looks really awesome and the "Grindhouse"-inspired visuals and presentation look great.

MadWorld
Publisher: SEGA
Release date: March 10, 2009

By far the bloodiest, most intense, and possibly most controversial (among the media) game on this list, MadWorld is sure to be insane. Just looking through screens and videos, you see how strange yet awesome the game is going to be. The story is that of a man named Jack trapped in a lethal game show. The visuals are Sin Cityish, and the huge array of death moves looks both impressive and entertaining.

Little King's Story
Publisher: Xseed Games/Marvelous Interactive
Release date: May 2009

Xseed's Little King's Story is looking very Pikmin-esque. But that's definitely not a bad thing. I'm actually more excited for it than any Pikmin game we'll get this year. Why? Because New Play Control Pikmin 1 and 2 are remakes despite looking awesome, and we don't have an official confirmation of Pikmin 3 and what it'll look like. In Little King's Story, you control a young king, who all the villagers follow without question. With this command comes the ability to build building, raise armies, and take over other kingdoms.

The Conduit
Publisher: SEGA
Release date: Q2 2009

SEGA's putting a lot of support on the Wii in 2009 as is evident with House of the Dead, MadWorld, and finally The Conduit. Possibly the biggest hyped game for the Wii, The Conduit's been praised for it's excellent, intuitive control scheme and its impressive visuals. But as for the main game and its gameplay, I'm not totally convinced, as it looks like run of the mill FPS fare. But I hope the All-Seeing Eye puzzling elements and online multiplayer will make it a bit fresher.

Muramasa: The Demon Blade
Publisher: Xseed Games/Marvelous Entertainment
Release date: TBA 2009

Muramasa: The Demon Blade is one of my most anticipated games lately. From it's awesome gameplay to it's gorgeous art style, this one's sure to be a winner. The levels are made of up 2D sidescrolling, hack and slash gameplay with RPG leveling-up elements. The Japanese, hand drawn graphics are both beautiful with Japanese mythology in mind. There's two characters to play as, each having their own story, which really extends the lasting value.

Punch-Out!!
Publisher: Nintendo
Release date: TBA 2009

Very little news has come about Nintendo's latest Punch-Out!! game for the Wii. Nonetheless, the game looks very awesome from Nintendo's trailer at their Fall Media Summit. This time around it retains a cartoony, almost cel-shaded style of visuals that I really like. And it also seems to keep its offensive humor as is evident from the trailer.

Sin & Punishment 2
Publisher: Nintendo
Release Date: TBA 2009

Much like Punch-Out!!, we have very little news regarding Sin & Punishment 2 other than what was said at the Nintendo Fall Media Summit. Until it was recently released on the North American Virtual Console, the original was a Japan only N64 game with a cult following and very positive critical reception. The sequel's sure to be a hit over here in the states with classic gameplay mixed with updated, Wii remote aiming controls.

Wii Sports Resort
Publisher: Nintendo
Release Date: TBA 2009

I'm actually more excited for what's packaged with Wii Sports Resort than I am for the game itself. The sequel to Wii Sports is bundled with Wii MotionPlus, a peripheral with exciting possibilities. With this, true 1:1 control is possible on the Wii. Plus just as Wii Sports showed off the finer points of Wii remote controls with its five sports, Wii Sports Resort will show off the possibilities of Wii MotionPlus with nine activities including frisbee-throwing, jet skiing, and sword dueling.

Other Wii games

Other than these eight games that I'm super-excited for, there's several games that really interest me, but I'm not totally convinced yet. Two of these such games are Deadly Creatures and Monster Hunter 3. I had also almost completely written of Klonoa for the Wii until Wiifolder.com's Josh did an excellent video tour of it, and now I'm really intrigued for this platforming title. And finally, I'm really looking forward to the New Play Control series, especially the Pikmin and Metroid Prime remakes, but I didn't feel it was fair to include it in the main list, seeing as they're ports and a lot of readers have already played them.

That concludes my "Wii games of 2009" feature. What are your most anticipated games? Look out sometime later this week for my "WiiWare games of 2009" article.

Comments or questions? Drop an email to kylehogg@gmail.com or leave a comment below...