I agree, the Wii Wheel was aggravating to use, but I use the Wii 'Mote/Nunchuck combination, so again, to each his own. I'm almost certain you can use the Gamecube, though I'm not sure about the Classic Controller.
Mario Party 9 has a new system added to it to help prevent that desire to kill your friends. Fewer star stealing, and much more star collecting (because you're collecting "mini stars" this time). There's a good number of platforming minigames, which I like, but those platform games tend to be coop games, which means you better hope the other person who you get stuck with knows how to game. Admittedly though, I don't follow Mario Party too closely, and didn't play 7 or 8.
In terms of recommended games, I don't think I have anything that wasn't already stated, except Crossbow Training. It's short as hell, I admit, but it's a lot of fun. Unfortunately, it makes you wish they fleshed it out more.
Red Steel 2 was fun too, and has absolutely nothing to do with part 1, so you don't have to play that, (RS1 was subpar, but not horrible. The shooting was good). It's a good rental at least.
