Topic: these really are the best WiiWare games released...

...or at least, that is what MetaCritic tells us.

Seriously though, I was curious about how WiiWare titles do in general reviews. There have been a lot of memorable games released, but some stinkers too... and many review sites seem to pick and choose which games to look at (or ignore the service altogether). The results surprised me a little bit.

Limiting my search to WiiWare titles with a ranking of 75 or higher from Metacritic, there were 42 games brought back! That's a pretty solid library by any standard. So you can see how the games ranked, I've provided a list below showing the results (actual ratings have been left off - it only shows rankings relative to other WiiWare titles).

Here are some of my observations:
(1) Good ratings doesn't always create good buzz. Art of Balance is a great game, but seeing it rank so highly against other acclaimed titles like LostWinds, Mega Man, and the Bit.Trip series was real surprise for me. C'mon people - give this gem a shot!
(2) Speaking of the Bit.Trip series, it's funny how consistent the scores seemed to be. Beat, Core, and Runner occupy spots 20-22, with only Void scoring slightly lower on the Metacritic scale. I wonder if this has to do with the love it of hate it nature of those games?
(3) Small studios have a big impact. Across the board, it's good to see small or independent studios competing successfully (at least when it comes to providing a quality product) against the big guys. I think this is because of the love and creativity they bring to their projects.
(4) Although I own 7 of the top 10 games on this list, my purchasing habits slowed down after that. When looking at the top 20, I have only purchased 10 of the "best" WiiWare titles available. (There are also some game I own that didn't score well enough to make the list though!)

What do you guys think of this list? Are any of your favorite games missing, or underrated? How many of the top 10 games do you own? Top 20?

The list -- Metacritic.com ratings for WiiWare games (only showing titles that scored 75 or higher, as of July 2nd, 2010)

01. World of Goo
02. Cave Story
03. Art of Balance
04. LostWinds: Winter of the Melodias
05. Bomberman Blast
06. Tetris Party
07. MaBoShi: The Three Shape Arcade
08. Tales of Monkey Island (ch.4)
09. Swords & Soldiers
10. Mega Man 9
11. Tales of Monkey Island (ch.5)
12. Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People (ep.5)
13. NyxQuest: Kindred Spirits
14. Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People (ep.2)
15. Art Style: Orbient
16. Mega Man 10
17. Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People (ep.4)
18. Lost Winds
19. Rage of the Gladiator
20. Bit.Trip Beat
21. Bit.Trip Runner
22. Bit.Trip Core
23. Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King
24. Tales of Monkey Island (ch.3)
25. Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People (ep.3)
26. Rubik's Puzzle Galaxy: RUSH
27. You, Me, and the Cubes
28. Bit.Trip Void

29. Toki Tori

30. Tales of Monkey Island (ch.1)
31. Tales of Monkey Island (ch.2)
32. Castlevania The Adventure ReBirth
33. Art Style: Light Trax
34. The Magic Obelisk
35. Tomena Sanner
36. Jungle Speed
37. Contra ReBirth
38. Bubble Bobble Plus!
39. Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People (ep.1)
40. Max & the Magic Marker
41. Bonsai Barber
42. Groovin' Blocks

Bah, I think the Bit Trip series should be higher, but that's personal opinion. Like you said, you either love it or you hate it.

Never really liked World of Goo, but oh well...

I think Square Enix's controversial DLC/Episodic policy is the only reason Darklord and The After Years are not there.

I think Jett Rocket should shoot to the top soon as well.

Hadn't heard of Art of Balance until this. Doesn't look like my kind of game though. Stacking blocks does not seem well suited to video games. I like Jenga-like games but remove the tactile experience of moving a physical object, and I worry half the fun will be tossed out the window.

Hmm, I only have #8, 11, 16, 19, 24, 30, 31, and soon (for free) #42. Especially considering 5 of those are the 5 parts of basically the same game (Monkey Island), I guess my tastes don't match the critics' tastes very much.

My buying habits also dropped after the top 10.... or more specifically, the top 7. I have 6 of the top 7 games listed, but after that I only have 6 games from the entire rest of the list.

Yep, some of mine are missing. FFCC Darklord for one.

I have Lost Winds, Lost Winds 2, Mega Man 10, Cave Story, and... that's it that's on the list. I think Onslaught and Jett Rocket should also be on there.

I'm glad to hear the Magic Obelisk turned out on the top 42. I may buy that the next time I have 500 points left on my account and nothing else to spend it on.

Top 2 are spot on.
I'd put Swords and Soldiers at 3, Lost Winds 2 at 4, and put the Strong Bad series over the Monkey Island series.

@knucklessonic- FFCC: Darklord just missed the cut with a score of 72.

Spot on except for the fact that they should be swapped.

I never understood the big deal with World of Goo, it's nothing more special than a good flash game on ebaumsworld.

You aren't alone. I found my true enjoyment of the game in the political, environmental, and moral undertones subtly and subliminally sprinkled throughout the course of the epic adventure.
http://www.gameobserver.com/features/inside/all-platforms/we-...

Maybe. World of Goo scored a lot of points with the creativity and attention to detail brought out by such a small team - something that good Flash games are certainly capable of doing - but I think that the physics model is more complex than most Flash games attempt. With no objective faults that I can recall and a nice amount of polish, it's easy to understand why World of Goo got consistently high ratings even if it's not my favorite game.

Still disappointed with the ratings-to-recognition ratio that Art of Balance received though. For such a well-made game it hasn't received nearly enough attention. (Of course, I also think that Driift Mania was terribly underrated... so maybe you'd best take my opinion with a grain of salt.)

Of the 12 games I have on that list, I see no real correlation between how I would rate them and where they are rated on Metacritic.