20. Kirby's Dream Collection: Special Edition (Wii)

A 20th anniversary collection of some of the most popular Kirby games ever, 2012's Kirby's Dream Collection: Special Edition spans the puffball's debut on Game Boy through his NES and SNES adventures and also includes his N64 outing; so, that's Kirby's Dream Land, Kirby's Dream Land 2, Kirby's Adventure, Kirby's Dream Land 3, Kirby Super Star and Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards in one very convenient package. Convenient for Japanese and North American players, that is — it never saw the light of day in PAL regions.

You see that? That's our sad face.

19. Rhythm Heaven Fever (Wii)

Bringing the handheld series to home console, Rhythm Heaven Fever (or Beat the Beat: Rhythm Paradise as it was known in Europe) showcased the series' infectious beat-based surrealism on the TV for the first time. It's almost as fun to watch as it is to play, and the Wii Remote was a great fit for what remains the series' only home console entry to date.

18. Wii Sports (Wii)

You played it, your mum played it, your granddad played it; more to the point, you all enjoyed it. Drawing people in with a gimmick is relatively easy, but Wii Sports managed to genuinely entertain entire families and get them playing video games together for an extended period of time — perhaps for the first time ever. This pack-in brought huge numbers of people together in silly Mii form and showcased the potential of motion controls to gamers from all generations. It's quite simply one of the most important video games ever made, and the most killer of apps.

17. Punch-Out!! (Wii)

Next Level Games managed to recapture all the character and energy of the original Punch-Out!! on Wii while adding a beautiful cell-chaded graphical style. With all the fighters from the NES game returning, the motion controls were cute, if a little hit-and-miss, but the option to play using the old-school control style made this a truly excellent update of a classic boxer where it's all about watching your opponent.

16. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (Wii)

Showcasing the sort of swordplay we'd hoped Twilight Princess would contain, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword was a beautiful entry in the series which dared to try some new ideas, something the franchise desperately needed at the time. It arguably didn't get everything right — and we're still confused as to why Nintendo ditched the beautifully accurate IR pointer in favour of a gyro alternative which required constant re-centering (especially when everyone already had the IR sensor hooked up anyway!) — but we found the MotionPlus swordplay itself excellent.

As the very first game in the Zelda timeline, it's pretty much required reading for series fans, and while it has its naysayers, we look back on our time with Skyward Sword very fondly.

15. Kirby's Return to Dream Land (Wii)

Taking Kirby back to his classic style of game following a couple of genre departures, Kirby's Return to Dream Land was a worthy return and yet another glittering gem in the Wii's platforming line up. With all the colour and creativity you'd expect from HAL, and a ton of content to delve into, this was a wonderful trip to Kirby's land of dreams.

14. Mario Kart Wii (Wii)

Following the online exploits of Mario Kart DS, it was almost a given that Mario Kart Wii would follow suit and include the ability to play against the world — thankfully, despite the console's rather anaemic online capabilities, the experience was nothing short of stunning.

From the outside, the Wii entry might have sacrificed some of the kart racing series' personality, but the online multiplayer with support for up to twelve players, optional motion controls (who could forget that plastic wheel accessory?), and additional vehicles and characters helped make it one of the most accessible entries in the series. Successful, too. It sold a staggering 37.14 million copies.

13. Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn (Wii)

A co-development between Intelligent Systems and Nintendo SPD, Radiant Dawn is a direct sequel to Path of Radiance and could even accept save data brought over from its predecessor which boosted character stats. It was well worth doing, too, as Radiant Dawn was noted for its high difficulty and any advantage was welcome. This Wii entry brought back dark magic into the fold and increased the scope and number of characters in comparison to Path of Radiance, but wasn't the sales success Nintendo had hoped.

Despite being proclaimed as absolute pinnacles of the series, with many fans citing one of these two as their franchise favourites, the GameCube and Wii entries represented a low point sales-wise, which unfortunately signalled a retreat back to portable hardware only. Indeed, it would be 12 years until the series would grace a television screen once again.

12. Metroid Prime 3: Corruption (Wii)

Introducing Wii Remote control into Retro's Prime template, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption was a excellent conclusion to the trilogy (well, until the next entry eventually makes it a quadrilogy), a series of games that proved Samus could not only survive the jump into 3D first-person shooting, but absolutely flourish in that genre. MP3:C as a separate disc was subsequently rendered a tad redundant with the release of the entire trilogy on one disc, but this is still a cracking shooter on its own.

11. Okami (Wii)

This was arguably the game which proved that third parties had mastered the grammar of the 3D language Nintendo invented with Ocarina of Time. Okami is a gorgeous Japanese adventure with an oddball cast of characters, fabulous music, and an unforgettable art style. The HD version on Switch is probably the best way to play these days, but the Wii port of Clover's PS2 original was a delight back in 2008.