So recently I was wrapping up playing Tomodachi Life on my 3DS.  It’s a life sim game that lets you use your Mii characters.  I started thinking about other Mii character specific games, and thought I’d write a blog that features them.  Most of these Mii games are geared toward casual gamers, and while Nintendo has gotten quite a bit of criticism on that, I still think they’re fun.  Now, there are many games that let you use Mii characters in titles like Mario Kart and Sonic & All-Stars Racing, but I’m focusing on just the games that only have Mii characters and nothing else.  So let’s get started.

Wii Sports/Wii Sports Resort/Wii Sports Club

It really all started with Wii Sports, the pack-in game for the Wii that showed off the motion controller capabilities with events like tennis and bowling.  At first I didn’t think I would like Wii Sports, but it ended up being my favorite sports video game of all time, even beating out NES Super Dodge Ball.  So that’s a big accomplishment.  I was able to get even non-gamers to enjoy Wii Sports, and many others did, too.  That’s why the Wii was so successful, I think.

Later, when Nintendo made their improved one-to-one Wii Motion Plus controller, they released a new Wii Sports game called Wii Sports Resort.  Popular events returned like bowling, along with new sports like fencing and table tennis.  Me and my brother Jeff and his friends had a lot of fun playing this one.  The Resort game was set on Wuhu Island.  I think it’s pretty neat that they’ve reused the same island in two other games: Pilotwings Resort and Mario Kart 7!

Finally, Nintendo has Wii Sports Club for Wii U.  I haven’t downloaded it yet, though.  One reason is because with downloadable games, I never feel like I truly ‘own’ them.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m not opposed to downloadable games or anything (if it weren’t for them, I wouldn’t be reviewing so many games now).  But also, soon Nintendo will release a disc version of Wii Sports Club, and I plan to get that.  When I do get it (I already have it reserved so it’ll be soon), I’ll write a blog about just Wii Sports Club, too.

I know I was only going to talk about Mii only specific games, but I have to give a shoutout to a series of Wii sports games from Namco that were incredibly fun.  One bad thing about Wii Sports is that it caused a glut of motion controlled sports mini-game collections to flood the Wii market.  But Namco had a few that stood out: We Ski, We Ski & Snowboard, and Go Vacation.  The first two games simulated what it would be like to visit a ski resort, and Go Vacation let you explore a whole vacation island to do more than just winter sports.  You could use your Mii in the games, but you could also design your own in-game character, which I recommend doing because that allowed you to use special clothes and accessories not available to Mii characters.  And who wouldn’t want to outfit their player with Klonoa skis and a Galaga jacket?  At any rate, these were really fun games and I highly recommend them if you’re looking for something to play when you dust off your Wii or Wii U.

Wii Play/Wii Play Motion Plus

Shortly after Wii Sports, Nintendo released Wii Play, a collection of mini-games designed to get new users acquainted with the new Wii remote.  Of course, this also prompted other companies to release a glut of mini-game collections on the Wii.  Some were good, most were bad.  Later, when Nintendo released the Wii Motion Plus remote, they made another Wii Play game that utilized the features of the new controller.  Even though they weren’t as fun as Wii Sports, I still liked them.  They didn’t use the Mii characters as much, but they were still there.

Wii Music

This game got bashed by many reviewers because it wasn’t really a game.  It felt more like a music toy that you could play with.  Of course, the game had the unfortunate timing to be released at the height of music game popularity with titles like Rock Band and Guitar Hero selling like hotcakes.  Even I jumped on the bandwagon with titles like Taiko Drum Master and LEGO Rock Band.  But Wii Music wasn’t like those games.  You could play songs using many different instruments and you used the Wii remote to simulate playing them. You could even make music videos with your Mii characters and send them to friends.  Me and Jeff and his friends had so many laughs playing this and making silly videos.  Now that the music game craze has kind of died down a bit, I wish Nintendo would revisit this idea on Wii U.

Wii Party/Wii Party U

At first glance, Wii Party looks like Mario Party with Mii characters.  And in many ways, it is.  But I also think it’s a bit more creative and supportive of smaller groups.  Some of the game modes are ingenious, like a hide and seek game where one person hides the Wii remote and others have to find it by listening to sounds from the remote speaker.  And there are modes for single players and smaller groups, too.  And you can choose games depending on how long you have to play.  Jeff and his friends liked Wii Party so much, that when it came time to choose the free game when I bought Mario Kart 8, I chose Wii Party U (also I already have the other games except Pikmin 3, because I don’t like Pikmin).  We haven’t played Wii Party U as much, but I do like the single player games that use the Wii U gamepad like a tabletop game and lets you play classics like Foosball and such.

Nintendo Land

I’m not sure if it still is now, but when I got my Wii U at launch, this was the game that was packed in with it.  Similar to Wii Play, Nintendo Land was a bunch of mini-games that demonstrated the uses of the new touch screen gamepad.  While it didn’t have the impact of Wii Sports, me, my brother Jeff, and his friends all had fun playing this for a very long time.  I think we even unlocked everything there was in the game!  The unique thing about Nintendo Land is that it was like visiting an interactive Nintendo-themed amusement park, and the mini-games were based on Nintendo properties like Mario, Metroid, Animal Crossing, etc.  A good portion of the mini-games were based on the Pac-Man Vs. formula, but were still fun.  Even though you used your Miis in the game, they didn’t feel as prominent here because in most games you dressed as the characters from the various Nintendo games featured.  I wish there was a REAL Nintendo Land theme park!  I’d go to it, wouldn’t you?

Mii Plaza

The last three games on here are on 3DS.  Mii Plaza actually comes included with every 3DS, and lets you StreetPass other nearby 3DS owners to interact with and play games with their Mii characters.  By playing the games, you can earn hats to outfit your Mii.  You can collect puzzle pieces and recruit Miis to play a light RPG game called Find Mii (and Find Mii II).  For just a few bucks each, you can also buy some extra Mii Plaza mini-games.  Mii Force is a 2-D space shooter where your StreetPass Miis act as power-ups.  Flower Town lets you invite StreetPass guests to water and breed plants.  Warrior’s Way lets you fight armies by recruiting other Miis forces.  And you can explore a Haunted House with Mii characters, too.  While the four priced games lose their luster after a while, I still felt like I got my money’s worth out of them and still play them from time to time.  Surprisingly, the flower game has the most meat to it!

Pilotwings Resort

One of the most fun things to do in Wii Sports Resort is fly the airplane around Wuhu Island, exploring every nook and cranny to find secrets.  I guess Nintendo realized that and made a whole game out of flying around Wuhu Island with your Miis.  But for some reason, I didn’t really get into Pilotwings Resort as much.  I have very good memories playing the original Pilotwings on SNES.  When I first got my SNES, I took it to Alabama with me that Christmas to visit family.  My dad and his two brothers would stay up till five in the morning playing that game every night we were there!  I never got Pilotwings 64, though; as I was just a poor college student at the time and could barely afford a N64 and Mario 64 at launch anyway.  Maybe I should go back and give Pilotwings Resort another chance?

Tomodachi Life

And finally, this weird game came out of nowhere a couple of months ago.  It’s a really quirky game that’s kind of like The Sims with Mii characters.  A lot of folks, even Nintendo, are comparing it to Animal Crossing but it’s really not like that game at all.  While you can decorate your Miis rooms and dress them up, you don’t really have much control over who they make friends with and what they do.  You just kind of watch them.  Plus this game won’t hold my interest as long as Animal Crossing games usually do, but I’ve still enjoyed it over the past month and a half, so that’s pretty good.

I actually got to play a demo version of the game via Club Nintendo a few weeks before the game was actually released because I had Platinum status and registered Animal Crossing already.  So I moved in Miis of me and my brother to the apartments on Pac Island (I named it that), and we quickly became fast friends.  Then I used a QR code and scanned a Mii of Reiko Nagase from Ridge Racer.  When I got the full game, I moved in more Miis of friends and family, like my mom and other brothers.  Then I started scanning QR codes of Miis based on other video game characters.  So we had an apartment full of crazies like Chun-Li and Princess Zelda, too!

The full game came with codes to give out to others that had the demo version on it, so I gave them to my friend and one of my other brothers.  Both of them instantly bought the game after that!  I should be getting commission checks from Nintendo for that!  Ha ha!  Anyway, the funny thing about Tomodachi Life is that your Mii characters can date each other and get married and have kids.  Princess Zelda herself proposed to my Mii and we got married and had a baby boy.  I named him Zelda Jr.  I know that’s a silly name, but it’s just as silly as Zelda marrying me in the first place!  Pretty soon I’ll probably stop playing Tomodachi Life, because what else is there to do after you marry Princess Zelda?  Tomodachi Life isn’t a game for everyone, and you’ll either really like it or hate it.  But if it sounds interesting to you, check it out; you’ll probably enjoy it for a while anyway.

Conclusions

And that’s all for now!  I don’t think I forgot any Mii games. But if I did, let me know in the comments section and tell me your favorite Mii games, too!  Later!  –Cary

Tags: Misc