The Wii U is on the horizon, and it's arrival will be the final death knell for it's older, more primitive brother. I have had an uneven experience with Nintendo's motion controlled, family friendly monolith., an experience replete with wondrous discoveries and moments of crushing disappointment.
The highs, like using context specific motion controls to unlock a door for the first time in Metroid Prime 3 or traversing a gravity defying planetoid in Mario Galaxy, were often sullied by the lows, like the crushing disappointment of Red Steel or the poorly implemented online functionality. Then there's the endless stream of family oriented titles that blight the console's software catalogue, a thick smog of carnival mini games and IQ tests that mask the quality titles, of which there are too few. The aforementioned clutch of classics, along with gems like No More Heroes, Mad World, Sin & Punishment, as well as old institutions like Mario Kart and Smash Brothers, just aren't enough to sustain the lifespan of a major console, which made it all the more frustrating that creative black holes like Wii Sports Resort Island Paradise Carnival shifted enough units to perpetuate their mediocre existence. The Wii was a family friendly console, while Microsoft and Sony were pushing the boundaries of their hardware capabilities and building ever more convincing virtual playgrounds, Miyamoto et al took a completely different tack and decided to focus on the fundamentals of gaming, specifically control and interaction, and in doing so attracted that most elusive of demographics- the non-gamer.
It's evident that the development of the Wii's family friendly elements stymied the journey towards fulfilling it's own potential, with the relativeley late release of the motion plus introducing us to complete and fully realised motion controls far too late in the game...
...Then came the arrival of two truly beautiful titles, two of the greatest games of this or any other generation.The Last Story, Mistwalker's (kinda) farewell to a genre it's members helped create, is ancillary to the point I'm trying to make with this post- that you wait 6 years for a console defining masterpiece and two come along at the same time- because it's a paean to a bygone era that doesn't feel progressive and rarely implements the Wii's characteristic controls. It is, however, a brilliant game that feels at home on Nintendo's white box, it's a great game in it's own right, but it's very much a 'Wii game'. In much the same way that Final Fantasy VII-IX defined the first Playstation. The Last Story (and Xenoblade Chronicles, a critically acclaimed JRPG that I have yet to experience), provides a reason for the hardcore gamer to own and cultivate fond memories of playing on their Wii. Everything in The Last Story is uniformly excellent, from the stunning Nobuo Uematsu score to the rich art design, well drawn characters and satisfying combat, it's a journey worth buying the console in order to undertake, few games in the Wii's back catalogue offer the same enticement.
Noticed who I haven't mentioned yet? Which IP has been neglected in my brief dissection of Nintendo's most schizophrenic of hardware releases?
The boy in the green tunic rocks the foundations of the gaming world every time he visits, he resides within the greatest story ever repeatedly told in videogames and his Wii adventure is by far and away his finest hour.
First of all, Twilight Princess doesn't count, as it was released on Gamecube and serves as a magisterial conclusion to that humble console's distinguished run.
Skyward Sword signifies everything that the Wii should have been about from the very beginning. It's magical in a way only videogames can be, whisking you off to a beautifully realised fantasy world from which it's hard to return. It's characters and story are as familiar as an old Friend but still manage to be fresh thanks to a painterly aesthetic and a bold attempt at franchise establishment (it's a prequel, the creation of the very first hero of time). Skyloft and the world of dungeons and demons beneath the clouds is one of the most enchanting worlds in the history of games (or any medium for that matter) and yet another case for the cultural validity of gaming as a whole. Playing as Link, as he sets off to save the woman he loves from the clutches of an elemental big bad, just feels right and is a stark contrast with the power suit wearing meat heads clogging up the ranks of modern action protagonists.
Then there's the motion controls. Combat takes place in 3 dimensional space, the behaviour of the player's hand corresponding perfectly to the movement of Link's sword and the enemies are designed specifically to keep you on your toes...literally in most cases.
An early boss battle has a punishing difficulty that at first seems frustrating and broken until you come to terms with how to fight; horizontal, vertical, diagonal, stab, riposte, defend, these are things that require stolid button mashes in even the most intuitive combat system, in Skyward Sword you are the combat system and the game throws you in at the deep end so that when you emerge at the other side you feel an almost overwhelming sense of accomplishment, similar to that of beating the Hi Scores of yesteryear.
We may never know why it took the Japanese giant so long to make the perfect Wii game, or why it saved many of it's most characteristic titles for the console's later life, but it's heartening to know that amidst all the party games and handheld experiments, Miyamoto San and all the luminaries at Nintendo can still conjure that old magic. The Wii U can't come soon enough.
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