40. World of Goo (WiiWare)

World of Goo is a masterful game which marries addictive physics-based puzzling with a fun gooey aesthetic and some biting social commentary to produce one of the best ever games on Wii or whatever system it appears on. This special game was a 10 then, it's a 10 now, and it shall always remain a 10; just spectacularly good.

39. The House of the Dead: Overkill (Wii)

A foul-mouthed, gorily stylised 'lightgun' shooter in the B-movie mould, The House of the Dead: Overkill has its tongue impaled through its cheek and is best served with buckets of popcorn. It's yet another slice of mature entertainment on that most family-friendly of consoles, and further proof that the breadth of genres found in Wii's software library was second to none.

38. Little King's Story (Wii)

An excellent little explorative RTS game that holds its own against the Pikmin series. You're put in charge of a village and it's your job to ensure your citizens' happiness while expanding your kingdom upwards and outwards. Little King's Story is one of those games that is loved by all who play it, yet remains one of Wii's many 'hidden' gems. If it sounds at all enticing, we recommend tracking down a copy while they're easy to source — you won't regret it.

37. Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure (Wii)

An adventure game from Capcom that's bursting at the seams with creativity and ideas, anyone who's played Zack & Wiki will wax lyrical about how you're really missing out if you never got around to it. Why? Because it's absolutely wonderful — that's why!

Seriously, take a moment to navigate to your second-hand games retailer or auction site of choice and nab yourself a copy right now. If nothing else, it'll shut the Z&W evangelists up. Ordered it yet? Excellent. Now play it. Don't worry, we'll wait...

Good, isn't it? Welcome to the club. Now go preach the good word.

36. No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle (Wii)

Now available to play on Switch along with its predecessor, No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle continues the stylish (mis)adventures of Travis Touchdown in a sequel infused with the same punk-aesthetic, referential humour and sassy surrealism as the first game, except with the splintered edges sanded down to a still-pleasingly rough finish.

35. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (WiiWare)

A poor port of a great game, we can only assume residual affection for the game itself is elevating the WiiWare releases in your estimations. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney is a corker, but of the myriad ways available to play the game these days, this is probably the last version we'd recommend.

34. New Super Mario Bros. Wii (Wii)

The first 2D entry to come to a home console since Mario World in the early '90s, 2009's New Super Mario Bros. Wii brought chaotic four-player local multiplayer to the series for the first time and gave old-school fans yearning for a side-on Mushroom Kingdom adventure something to chew on, with plenty of clever nods to the past. Anyone put off by the New series' 'wah's and cuteness missed out on a real platforming treat.

33. Mario Strikers Charged (Wii)

Mario and his Mushroom Kingdom pals lay out their jumpers for goalposts and have a crack at the beautiful game. Mario Strikers Charged delivers exactly the brand of arcade pyrotechnical take on football you'd expect, and Next Level Games went up another rung on the ladder in Nintendo's estimations.

32. Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars (Wii)

A crossover fighter bringing together Capcom's finest with the varied faces of Tekkaman, Karas, Jun the Swan, Gold Lightan, and other luminary characters from Japanese Animation studio Tatsunoko's IP portfolio, Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars was an appropriately gorgeous, madcap and joyous console-exclusive fighter on a system which missed out on some of the biggest franchises in the 2D fighting space.

31. Wario Land: Shake It! (Wii)

A cracking 2D platformer from the folks at Good-Feel, Wario Land: Shake It! (or Wario Land: The Shake Dimension if you prefer the European flavour) brought the antihero's antics to Wii in fine fashion. It's hardly the longest 2D platformer you'll ever play, but its gorgeous art style and Wario's adorably greedy antics give us the warm fuzzies when we think back to 2008.