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Nickel now isn't what nickel used to be several decades ago. The old stuff was primarily decorative, although it did offer some corrosion protection until it wore off. Nickel now is electroless nickel, a very hard, peel resistant coating that will offer very good wear resistance and excellent corrosion resistance. It's not as hard as chrome.
Wonder finish is supposed to be a process similar to tenifer/melonite/tufftride/carbonitriding.
Stainless won't wear off but it's not as wear or corrosion resistant as chrome, nickel or carbonitriding.
Darkened stainless is done for cosmetic purposes. Eliminate glare, make the gun less observable, etc.
The new nitride finishes (especially titanium nitride, are VERY hard, essentially corrosion proof and slick. I like the idea, but the appearance can be a bit distracting with some of the finishes.
The ceramic coatings are hard and corrosion proof but ceramics are abrasive.
I tend to like NP3 because it's very slick, hard, very corrosion resistant, adheres well and it can be applied directly to aluminum without the need for an intermediate coating/strike layer. It's very similar to electroless nickel but slicker. It's also a bit less likely to peel than some of the other platings. That's all based on what I've researched. I'm not implying that I have the resources to test various finishes for hardness/corrosion resistance/adhesion/etc.
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