Future WiiWare Games: Top Ten

2. Lit

• Developer: Wayforward Technologies
• Screenshot gallery

The immediate vibe of Lit's title screen is survival horror. Darkness, and that typewriter font that's synonymous with low ammo. The emphasis is on the atmosphere rather than shock or horror, though. Lit keeps the terror imagined, implying the horrors that lurk in the shadows from the bug-like nasties that crawl from it, and the swirls that reach out for you if you get too close. Mothers of children who've just entered the inevitable "mimicking phase" will be pleased to know that Pyramid Head doesn't run in and whip your skin off.

You take the role of Jake, who has to negotiate his way across a school plunged into darkness, with nothing more than a slingshot, a torch, and an ability to flick switches and press buttons.

Entering the darkness is instant death: you have to create a path of light to the exit. Smashing the blacked-out windows lets a beam of light across the map. Lamps create a small pool of safety. Computer terminals can be remotely accessed and turned on, effectively creating bridges. The ways in which you can lift the darkness are many, but put too much stress on the school's weakened circuitry, and you'll trip the fuse.

With just thirty levels, Lit is short but incredibly tense and sweet. The idea is simple (I've run out of synonyms), but elegantly executed. And if you play it in a dark room, where you're not sat next to loads of journalists saying, "Look, it's Martin Hollis", it might even be atmospheric.

1. Cave Story

• Developer: Nicalis
• Screenshot gallery

Tyrone Rodriguez has worked on big-name games in the past. Not brilliant games, but who hasn't heard of The Fast And The Furious? It's a big name. It's also a game where perfection was never a consideration. The best you could hope for is Vin Diesel popping in to say something meaningless and nihilistic into a dictaphone, before collapsing into a terminal bout of mirthlessness.

Since getting in touch with Cave Story auteur Pixel - aka Daisuke Amaya - and negotiating the move of the revered freeware platformer into the paid WiiWare arena, perfection has suddenly become paramount. When you ask for money for something that's freely available on the internet, people like you and I suddenly feel entitled and obliged to scream and fly around the room like deflating balloons.

There's no time to discuss how incredible Cave Story is here, now - find out for yourself why it feels like a lost NES classic - but there is time to briefly discuss the added value. First - rest assured that the original game is all there, pixel and midi file perfect. However, there're graphical and musical upgrade options - independently toggled - that let you play through with more pixels, extra graphical detail, punchier notation and renovated midi fonts.

Amaya had absolute power of veto at every stage of the design, and according to Rodriguez, the extra resolution has let him get closer to his original intent. Believe it or not, Amaya didn't think Cave Story was perfect.

Other new features (oddly described by Rodriguez as "downloadable content") included a health-capped hard mode, a boss rush mode, and extra levels to play through. No extra story though, Rodriguez insists. The intent isn't to add to the canon, just to add Metal Slug-style slog-through levels. Paying for the extra levels seems like semi-reasonable DLC, but describing if health > 3 { health = 3; } as DLC is a new level of microtransaction. 1 Wii Point for that, right?

However, if this brings Cave Story to a new slew of folk who aren't inclined or able to find it for free, then that can only make the world better. Hell, just buy it to give something back - for "up to 1000" points, it's the longest, most beautiful and craftsmanlike game you'll get for the money.

0. Icarian: Kindred Spirits

• Developer: Over The Top Games
• Screenshot gallery

Due to short time, and mismanagement of that time, I didn't manage to play or talk to the people behind Icarian: Kindred Spirits. So here's the press release. "In ICARIAN: KINDRED SPIRITS, N, an enigmatic winged girl, descends from heaven in search of her missing friend Icarus. Use your hand movements and the Wii Remote to raise N, flap her wings and fly over awesome ancient Greek scenery." If you can find a blander say-nothing press release than that, I'd love to see it.

From my peripheral vision, it had a crisp visual style that you don't expect from the Wii, and as graphics are important, I'm happy to give Kindred Spirits position zero by way of apology.

The end.