If Nintendo's got a weak point, it's the online capabilities of Wii games. Compared to other services, online gaming for Nintendo fans is definitely lacking, but at least these days, we actually have a few games that are online. It's an improvement! Which Wii game do you think has the best online mode, though, and why? Is that good enough?
If Nintendo's got a weak point, it's the online capabilities of Wii games. Compared to other services, online gaming for Nintendo fans is definitely lacking, but at least these days, we actually have a few games that are online. It's an improvement! Which Wii game do you think has the best online mode, though, and why? Is that good enough?
Reader Comments (43)
Posted: Sep 5th 2008 8:10AM (Unverified) said
mariokart, MOHH2, SSBB
Posted: Sep 5th 2008 8:12AM lobotomies4free said
Mario Kart. Invitations are a nice way around friend codes in a friend code game. the rest is flawless. Now some basic chat ability (maybe a friends only chat option) and I'm set
Posted: Sep 6th 2008 4:14PM iofthestorm said
Agreed, Mario Kart's invites are really useful for getting around Friend Codes, although I wish they could just use the Wii friends list and be done with it. The online functionality is the best I've seen in any Wii game, with the caveat that I've only played Brawl and MK online. But Mario Kart's online makes Brawl look like a joke.
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Posted: Sep 5th 2008 8:28AM ixb9142 said
Guitar Hero III is the only online I've used, and I was happy with it.
Posted: Sep 5th 2008 8:33AM Mr Khan said
I agree with Mario Kart. Between the ranking system, the matchmaking system, invites, and a nice track selection system that doesn't strictly leave it up to democracy (which would mean it would be all Rainbow Road, all the time), but does weight the popular opinion
Posted: Sep 5th 2008 11:02AM ScottyF0311 said
Luigi Circuit is terrible.
Seriously, no matter how skilled you are, it's so short and easy ANYONE can win.
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Seriously, no matter how skilled you are, it's so short and easy ANYONE can win.
Posted: Sep 5th 2008 11:37AM (Unverified) said
Since we're off on a track tangent, here are my Top 3 least-favorite tracks:
1. Shy Guy Beach
2. Peach Beach
3. Luigi Circuit
Favorites would be much more difficult but Grumble Volcano, Moonview Highway and DS Peach Garden would be up there.
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1. Shy Guy Beach
2. Peach Beach
3. Luigi Circuit
Favorites would be much more difficult but Grumble Volcano, Moonview Highway and DS Peach Garden would be up there.
Posted: Sep 5th 2008 8:45AM 8bitartist said
ssbb online is terrible. there should be no reason why i have lag with 3 other people but then hop on mario kart and play 11 other people from around the world with hardly any lag.
Posted: Sep 5th 2008 9:29AM (Unverified) said
Totally agree with 8-bit.artist. Mario Kart is nearly flawless (apart from the occasional dropped connection). With SSBB, on the other hand, you wait in the lobby for 5 minutes kicking the punch bag, only to enter a game with just three other people that has lag so bad it's almost unplayable. Haven't tried anything else online.
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Posted: Sep 5th 2008 11:04AM ScottyF0311 said
I hate SSBB online, I frickin ALWAYS have lag. I've checked my own connection and it's always running perfectly too. It's too bad, I'd play online more often if there wasn't a lot of lag.
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Posted: Sep 5th 2008 9:46PM (Unverified) said
Interesting...(except for the first week or so when there were known problems) I have only encountered lag twice. I also never have to wait that long for matches.
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Posted: Sep 5th 2008 8:46AM (Unverified) said
Yup. MarioKart definitely has the best online play.
Posted: Sep 5th 2008 8:58AM (Unverified) said
Dr. Mario Online RX FTW!!!
Posted: Sep 5th 2008 9:50AM (Unverified) said
MOH:H2,Mario Kart, Madden 09 :D
Posted: Sep 5th 2008 9:21AM smiburho said
mario kart is fine, sure, but i absolutely love the way EA crafted the online functionality for madden 2009 and especially for medal of honor heroes 2.
Posted: Sep 5th 2008 9:34AM (Unverified) said
Will SSBB ever get fixed? The Wi-Fi connection was one of the main reasons I bought that game. :o(
Posted: Sep 5th 2008 9:47AM (Unverified) said
Mario Kart is the only online that is really any good. Smash Bros is okay, but it tends to be really laggy and stuff
But overall, Nintendo's online really kinda sucks. Friend codes are like the stupidest thing I've ever had to deal with.
But overall, Nintendo's online really kinda sucks. Friend codes are like the stupidest thing I've ever had to deal with.
Posted: Sep 5th 2008 9:50AM (Unverified) said
medal of honor: heroes 2 by far!
better than ssbb or mkwii
better than ssbb or mkwii
Posted: Sep 5th 2008 7:34PM fortunzfavor said
Mohh2 no question. Which isn't to say it was great. Just the best. There's plenty of room for improvement, and we all hold our breath that Treyarch and HVS will move forward instead of backpedalling.
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Posted: Sep 5th 2008 9:59AM (Unverified) said
I think that EA does the best job with online on the Wii. Madden 09 and Medal of Honor: Heroes 2 both have great online. Leaderboards, lobbies, no friend codes, and at least some kind of chat system. Mario Kart Wii is a close runner up, but after a few weeks, I found the connection to be not as good, and I got disconnected often. Super Smash Bros. Brawl was simply the worst online game I have ever played. Okay, maybe Tony Hawk's American Sk8land was worse, but I could barely ever get connected in Brawl. One thing I don't understand is that I have a perfect connection in games like Madden and Medal of Honor, but for some reason I get error codes (86420) in Nintendo games like Mario Kart and Brawl.
I would say that Nintendo knows nothing about good online, but I think they do. They just don't give a crap because they know we'll buy it anyway, and their target audience will buy any kind of game so long as moving the Wii remote makes something cute happen.
I would say that Nintendo knows nothing about good online, but I think they do. They just don't give a crap because they know we'll buy it anyway, and their target audience will buy any kind of game so long as moving the Wii remote makes something cute happen.
Posted: Sep 5th 2008 9:56AM Hamster said
Mario Kart Wii is certainly the best online experience I've ever had. It's so quick, smooth, lag-free (and of course great fun), everything about it is perfect. I could quite happily just play Mario Kart Wii online for the rest of my life.
Mario Strikers Charged online is fantastic as well, especially playing co-op with a friend.
Super Smash Bros. Brawl on the other hand has so far been very annoying. I haven't had it for long, but I have yet to have a single online match that didn't a) make me wait about 10 minutes before it found other opponents and b) became so horrifically laggy that we were basically playing in slow-motion, until it actually freezes to a complete stand-still.
Mario Strikers Charged online is fantastic as well, especially playing co-op with a friend.
Super Smash Bros. Brawl on the other hand has so far been very annoying. I haven't had it for long, but I have yet to have a single online match that didn't a) make me wait about 10 minutes before it found other opponents and b) became so horrifically laggy that we were basically playing in slow-motion, until it actually freezes to a complete stand-still.
Posted: Sep 5th 2008 10:01AM ilduce620 said
I prefer Mario Kart simply because I can jump in immediately and everything is done for me, but so far as "better online mode" goes, it's MoH:H2 because of being able to jump into multiple different rooms with their different game modes.
While MKWii is great because it's made simple to find 11 other players to play with quickly, it would be nice to have separate rooms that you can jump into and play with different people. MoH:H2 does this beautifully, but...I suck at it more... :-)
While MKWii is great because it's made simple to find 11 other players to play with quickly, it would be nice to have separate rooms that you can jump into and play with different people. MoH:H2 does this beautifully, but...I suck at it more... :-)
Posted: Sep 5th 2008 10:03AM MarkezJM said
SSBB is utterly horrible online.
Posted: Sep 5th 2008 10:11AM (Unverified) said
For all the complaining of SSBB online (which I mostly agree with), let me offer one small counterpoint. Playing SSBB during NWFB Game Night has been a pretty good experience for me. It seems like friend-based games play about a billion times better than random matches. It's pretty much the only way I'm willing to play it.
Posted: Sep 5th 2008 10:48AM Swizzler said
WHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.....
"Best", "online" and "Wii" in the same sentence? c'mon guys, you know better than that....
"Best", "online" and "Wii" in the same sentence? c'mon guys, you know better than that....
Posted: Sep 5th 2008 10:55AM blahblah55 said
Mario Kart. Smoothest and most friendly one out there.
It's amazingly awesome. :D
I just hate it when 6-8 people all vote for the same 2 tracks over and over again. :(
It's amazingly awesome. :D
I just hate it when 6-8 people all vote for the same 2 tracks over and over again. :(
Posted: Sep 5th 2008 11:08AM (Unverified) said
Tell me about it. I ended up playing Dry Dry Ruins 4 times in a row last night (my least favorite course).
Back on topic, the only two games I play online are Mario Kart and Dr. Mario, and I am very happy with both.
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Back on topic, the only two games I play online are Mario Kart and Dr. Mario, and I am very happy with both.
Posted: Sep 5th 2008 11:05AM ScottyF0311 said
Here's a new one I love online:
Dr. Mario
Dr. Mario
Posted: Sep 5th 2008 11:07AM (Unverified) said
We play every night against friends on Brawl... I haven't gotten around to getting Mario Kart yet... played Strikers, I'm not into sports games really... and I liked the online of Heroes 2, but (and I don't know how) I kept coming across cheaters in H2... this one guy had over 600 kills and 0 deaths, and at first I was like "man, this guy must be really good", but then he walked up to me and just stood there... I unloaded everything I had at him, and he still just stood there... after I ran out of ammo he shot me to death... ugh
Posted: Sep 5th 2008 11:48AM SisypheanLife said
From what I've heard, EA does the best with Wii online (i.e. MoH, Madden, Tiger Woods, etc)
Posted: Sep 5th 2008 12:06PM CJLopez said
Mario Kart as well for me, man, that game just can't be any more funnier, can it????
And I don't know why all you people are complaining of SSBB, I hadn't found that much lag that makes it impossible to play.
The only time I had experienced lag, where 2, once when I forgot I got a couple of downloads on my Pc and the other time my bro was looking videos on youtube
And I don't know why all you people are complaining of SSBB, I hadn't found that much lag that makes it impossible to play.
The only time I had experienced lag, where 2, once when I forgot I got a couple of downloads on my Pc and the other time my bro was looking videos on youtube
Posted: Sep 5th 2008 12:11PM (Unverified) said
Mario Kart is awesome on line
SSBB blows I have a top of the line wireless N router that every other device and mario Kart SCREAMS on yet I have NEVER gotten a good match out of SSBB.
I can't wait for Conduit.
SSBB blows I have a top of the line wireless N router that every other device and mario Kart SCREAMS on yet I have NEVER gotten a good match out of SSBB.
I can't wait for Conduit.
Posted: Sep 5th 2008 12:57PM (Unverified) said
i only have two games for online:
ssbb
gh3
gh3 is really the only one i play online because ssbb is to freaking slow but ever since rb came on wii ive been playing that to much hopefully rb2 will have the online stuff
ssbb
gh3
gh3 is really the only one i play online because ssbb is to freaking slow but ever since rb came on wii ive been playing that to much hopefully rb2 will have the online stuff
Posted: Sep 5th 2008 3:11PM (Unverified) said
mkw is the best. my ssbb doesn't lag but i takes 4 ever 2 find ppl
Posted: Sep 5th 2008 5:42PM (Unverified) said
Mario Kart because it doesn't lag :)
Posted: Sep 6th 2008 3:15AM (Unverified) said
Am I the only one here that still thinks Strikers did it great, and continues to do so well over a year later?
Posted: Sep 7th 2008 9:49PM (Unverified) said
I'm late for this discussion but I have to chime in with MOHH2 being the best. A simple but effective messaging interface, no codes to key in, and the ability to create matches your way makes this game the best. As for Nintendo titles MKWii has it going on. a great lag free fast paced game makes for a good time. I also agree with everyone else the SSBB sux online in random matches but runs perfect for friend matches. That is also the reason I have traded that game out.
Now I know that the big N is coming out with voice chat so that does fix one of my concerns online they still need to get rid of the friend codes and add the ability to add users after you have finished a game.
P.S. Someone mentioned above about the cheating in MOHH2 I have to say that it is not a cheat but rather a glitch that happens after you switch teams many times and any player with a bit of respect for others would log out and back in so they could be killed like the rest of us.
Now I know that the big N is coming out with voice chat so that does fix one of my concerns online they still need to get rid of the friend codes and add the ability to add users after you have finished a game.
P.S. Someone mentioned above about the cheating in MOHH2 I have to say that it is not a cheat but rather a glitch that happens after you switch teams many times and any player with a bit of respect for others would log out and back in so they could be killed like the rest of us.
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