2010 was an exciting year for Wii gamers. Franchise favorites Mario, Donkey Kong and Kirby took center stage in some of this year's hottest games. Remakes still had their moment to shine with NBA Jam from EA Sports and the return of Golden Eye 007 from Activision. Ubisoft and Capcom brought more mature action-adventure games to the Wii with No More Heroes 2 and Monster Hunters Tri respectively. Atlus captured our attention with Trauma Team, filling the game with a diverse array of medical activities. The Wii, ever the home of on-rails shooters, received another winner with Sin and Punishment: Star Successor. And Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars opened up the fighting genre to all gamers.

No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle

The year opened up with No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle, a game that threw the "E" for Everyone label out the door and gave Wii owners a much more Mature title. Desperate Struggle was filled with hilarious adult humor, pop culture references, 8-bit mini-games and a fun dual sword wielding action-adventure game to boot. This game focused on gameplay and user experience (complete bathroom stall save points) first, followed by cartoony buckets of blood.

Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars

Capcom decided 2010 was the year to open up fighters to casual gamers. Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars was released exclusively for the Wii. Previous fighting games for the Wii dumbed down the fighting experience, limiting both individual moves and combos, while leaving gameplay clunky and tedious. Ultimate All-Stars not only gave us great franchise characters to play with, it also felt as good or better than Capcom's fighter games released on the Xbox 360 or PS3. Plus the control scheme gave casual gamers easy access to a myriad of attacks, while keeping complex combos the domain of seasoned players.

Monster Hunter Tri

Capcom delivered another homerun on the Wii with Monster Hunter Tri. This may well be the best pure action-adventure game for the Wii in 2010, or any year for that matter. The game featured expansive environments that were wholly immersive in artistic design. Gamers could battle gigantic monsters both on and offline. Coincidentally, that also made Monster Hunter Tri arguably one of the best online games on the Wii too. Capcom continued to deliver add on content to this title, adding to the game's replay value and making it one of the best buys of 2010.

Trauma Team

From Surgery, Emergency Care and Orthopedics to Endoscopy, Diagnosis and Forensives, Trauma Team delivered a well-rounded and enlightening medical game. Instead of one character who was a master of all forms of medicine, gamers hand to rotate in and out six characters, each with their own medical proficiency. What makes the game really standout is that you not only perform doctor-patient activities, but also doctor-detective activities as well. Using your medical prowess, you will work with FBI investigators to help solve crime scenes.

Sin and Punishment: Star Successor

Consider it the most cheered on-rails shooter of the summer. This sequel exploded to top its N64 predecessor. Although the game is on-rails, you could still use a jet pack or hover board (depending on your character), while dodging enemy attacks. The boss battles were long and satisfying multistage encounters. But what really got gamers excited were the points. This was a throwback game when it came to tallying the points. Competing with other gamers for the high score made this one to play and replay several times over.

Super Mario Galaxy 2

Creating clouds have never been so much fun. Super Mario Galaxy 2 was much like its predecessor in every way, totally awesome and a joy to play. Yet, it was still so much more. This visual delight was somewhat of a re-genesis for platformers. Each new world gave gamers an entirely new gameplay experience, new objects and a variety of different objects. The quirky gravity boards didn't fail to delight as camera angles readjusted to perfection while gamers ran across the ceiling.

Kirby's Epic Yarn

Kirby finally made his much-anticipated Wii debut. Playing with Kirby in Smash Brothers always left you wanting an actual Kirby adventure. Though the game may have been a little too cartoony for some gamers, the creative design definitely worthy of praise. In Epic Yarn, Kirby was turned into just that - yarn. While his fundamental ability to eat almost anything was side lined, Kirby was given a variety of new string-like powers that was just fun to play with. Transforming into a giant string robot, complete with giant string-bazooka arm just made it that much better.

Donkey Kong Country Returns

It's been a while since we've played a traditional Donkey Kong adventure and Donkey Kong Country Returns was as traditional as they come. The game went back to basics in a 2.5D sidescrolling adventure. However, the developers decided to kick the difficulty up several notches in this game. I can't remember how many times I died by tidal wave, but it was still fun every time. Two players could play using Diddy Kong as the second player or you could use Diddy Kong to help you fly about the board in single player mode.

NBA Jam

Who knew playing as the Democratic and Republican parties could be so much fun? EA Sports took us back to the days of "Wham Bam Tomahawk Jams" in NBA Jam. Using the Wii-mote and Nunchuk was just as comfortable to play with as using the classic control pad. Awe-inspiring slamdunks, in-your face rejections and game changing steals make this game an instant win. Not only was this a great arcade sports title, it is also one of the best games to play at Wii parties worldwide.

GoldenEye 007

Consider this one more reason why the Wii needs another fair shake from hardcore gamers. GoldenEye was one of the most cherished games on the N64. This latest release is more of a new experience than a simple remake. The first-person shooter action is intense and equally balanced with stealth play and an engrossing campaign mode. Excellent lag-free online play gives GoldenEye 007 the much needed multiplayer shooter action the Wii was so desperately missing.