Summary
There are few consoles in recent memory with the same reputation as the Wii U. Nintendo, even amidst pitfalls in the past, rarely had a console perform as poorly as the Wii U. It’s unfortunate too, because not only did the console have some genuinely unique ideas, it had some stellar games, too.
Quite a few of these games have made their way to the Switch in the years since the Wii was shutdown, though a scant few remain there still. A few of these games lose some of the gamepad features that made them so unique in the transition as well. As such, we’re highlighting not just those still locked to the Wii, but those exclusive games that really shined.
The adorable, all-consuming blob that he is, Kirby has rarely had a bad adventure, though the Rainbow Curse is one of his most visually interesting. Designed to look like (but isn’t actually) claymation, the game has Kirby navigating through the world exclusively through the use of the gamepad.
While the game can be played on your TV, it’s best to keep it on the gamepad for the most precision. It’s a cute game, and one that would be a bit difficult to adapt to the Switch without dramatically reworking the necessity of the touchscreen controls. So the Wii U still has some value in Kirby’s clay adventures.
Bayonetta 2 has since made its way to the Switch, though for years the Wii U was the only way to play it. The long-awaited sequel to the original Bayonetta, Bayonetta 2 went exclusive to Nintendo, meaning plenty of people missed out on this stellar character-action game.
As a fun addition, though entirely unnecessary and far from ideal, Bayonetta 2 could actually be played exclusively with the gamepad’s touchscreen. Buttons were a much more logical layout to use, but there’s a humour in being able to literally drag Bayonetta around to perform her combos.
These touchscreen controls were actually brought over for the Switch port as well.
While few Paper Mario games can hope to achieve the gameplay and writing excellence of the Thousand-Year Door, Color Splash is still a stellar entry in the series, and still locked to the Wii U. It too took advantage of the gamepad, with the game played on your TV and gamepad simultaneously.
Combat shifted away from RPG mechanics ofthe earlier games, with cards added to put a degree of tactics to the combat. These cards were managed entirely from the gamepad, while the rest of the game was played on the TV. It’s a great little game, and one of the few gems remaining on the Wii U.
Akin to 1-2 Switch and Wii Sports in intent, Nintendo Land was a showcase for what the Wii U could do disguised as a party game that you could enjoy by yourself, or with friends and family. With the Wii U supporting the majority of the original Wii’s controllers, Nintendo Land even let you play with various different controllers to give everyone a unique experience.
Nintendo Land is likely the best game of this style purely in terms of diversity. There are competitive games, where some players can only see the game through the gamepad, or some where the gamepad must be tilted to balance things on the TV. It’s a game that really can’t work on any platform excpet for the Wii U, and was one of the console’s selling points.
Finally freed from its Wii U prison after a decade, Xenoblade Chronicles X is still one of the most impressive games made for the console, and a gorgeous open-world game in general. Building offthe base combat system of the original Xenoblade Chronicles, X made one massive seamless world, and then gave you a mech to fly around in.
There’s so much to praise XBX for, from almost every song being a vocal track, to it taking the ‘xeno’ part of its name very literally, to the great world design. It is a game that is very much the sum of its parts, and while it was far from the best-selling game on the Wii U, it was easily one of the best games on the console.
Nintendo will find a million different ways to interpret a pre-existing IP, but will very rarely make a brand-new one. That’s what makes Splatoon so special. Not only was it a whole new series, but it was Nintendo’s first online competitive game in a very long time. Plus, the idea of literally painting the map as a form of turf war is just great.
It’s generally accepted that each game is an improvement over the last one, though the original Splatoon still holds a special place in the hearts of many. It’s sadly not playable on the Wii U anymore due to its servers being taken offline, and it’s unlikely Nintendo will ever re-release a game they deem has been succeeded.
With almost every loved game from the Wii U having been ported to the Switch, very few games remain that people desperately clamber for. Outside, of course,the only two major Zelda releasesthat are not available outside of the Wii U in any form. For reasons known only to Nintendo, the HD versions of both Wind Waker and Twilight Princess remain locked to the Wii U.
The games were dramatic remasters over their original counterparts, with Wind Waker getting an especially comprehensive makeover. Both games feature plenty of quality of life improvements, with the Wii U’s gamepad taking plenty of the menu-shuffling to it so it can be performed without evert pausing the game. Eventually, maybe, it will have a wider audience.
The concept of best is subjective. A bad game can be your favourite, and even the worst game can be the best on the Wii U. And that is why Devil’s Third is here. After leaving Team Ninja and before pivoting to NFTs, Tomonobu Itagaki created Valhalla Game Studios and after a very prolonged development, released Devil’s Third.
Devil’s Third was meant to be a new kind of action game, though the messy development meant it only came out as a buggy mess with very clunky gameplay. Not exactly conducive to a strong action game. That said, there is a bizarre spark in the game that really isn’t like anything else. Chances are it will never be freed from the Wii U, leaving it as a fascinating relic that really is unlike much else.
