Wii ... Yeah still playing it

Video Games – Ok I'm far from cutting edge with video games, I can't seem to force myself to drop $60 on a new game or let alone several hundred on a new system. (yet I don't seem to have the same issue when it comes to little plastic/metal/resin men; what does that say about me I wonder?).

Anyway we've had a Wii for a long time now along with the original DS hand-held and at one point they were the go to for family entertainment at our house. Well as my daughter got older and phones got slicker it seems that both systems were going to just collect dust until the urge to play some pokemon strikes me. (But honestly Black is pretty lame and I'm not buying a 3D DS just to play Pokemon, for now.) So things were looking grim.

However, there have been a few games sitting patiently on my amazon wish list that might just bring new life to this "dead" system. Super Mario Bros. and Rampage are two games that I've wanted for a while but couldn't justify spending money on them as I don't have a ton of time for video games. Well my birthday and Christmas just so happened to deliver these games for the family to give a try.

The cool thing is both my boys like to watch these games be played, and with the wonky controls for Rampage my three-year old can figure it our pretty easily. I'm not a huge fan of the update but the game also included the original version I used to play on Atari as well as the Playstation version I also wasted a ton of time smashing my way through. Nostalgia is a wonderful thing. 

Speaking of nostalgia the Super Mario Bros. game is just amazing. You can play up to four players at once, which gets a little weird. The game plays very similar to the DS version from several years ago with some cool new power-ups Ice Flower and Spinney Helmet are both tons of fun. The Wii controls also get you waving your arms to spin cranks and tilt levers which is fun in moderation. Thankfully the gimmick in this game is used just enough to make it fun. 

My wife and I spent a good chunk of New Year's Day grinding through the levels trying to get all our coins. It was lots on fun to spend time playing games together and it was super cute to hear our boys asking to watch The Mario Show.