As it stands, the Wii U will go down in history as Nintendo’s biggest home console flop. Confusing hardware, poor messaging and continued lack of third party support sunk this one from the start. That being said, there were still a number of games worth playing on the Wii U. In no particular order, here’s a list of my favourites.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild*
This one is sort of cheating, as I’m playing it on the Nintendo Switch. However, knowing what I know about the game and how it was ported to the Wii U, this one easily earns a spot on this list. Gorgeous graphics, a gargantuan world and open-ended gameplay make Breath of the Wild quite possibly the best Zelda game ever.
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Splatoon
Initially writing this off as a bad idea, Nintendo proved me wrong in a big way with Splatoon. This innovative team-based shooter moves the focus from dead-eye accuracy to area control, making for a unique shooting experience that a much larger audience can enjoy. Can’t wait to see how Nintendo expands on this concept in the sequel!
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Pikmin 3
This was my first foray into the Pikmin series and I was thoroughly impressed. It was such a cool game of real-time strategy, exploration and resource management that kept me engaged throughout. And oh man, that final level was grueling. Should have picked up this series earlier on the Gamecube, but I’m glad I caught it on the Wii U.
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Rayman Legends
Following the success of Rayman Origins, Legends was another stellar platformer from Ubisoft. This time, it made excellent use of the Wii U Gamepad, as one player got could help the team in different ways using the touch screen. Even if you don’t have a Wii U, make sure to play this one on any other platform its available for.
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Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker
Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker is a delightful puzzle platformer that came out towards the end of the Wii U’s life. Unable to jump due to the weight of his backpack, Captain Toad must get through the world by running, dodging and solving clever camera perspective puzzles. Playing through it was one of my favourite Wii U experiences and I hope there’s more to come in the future!
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Super Mario 3D World
While New Super Mario Bros. U was serviceable at best, Super Mario 3D World is the go-to Mario game on the Wii U. Combing the best elements of 2D and 3D Mario games while throwing extra players into the mix, it was a wonderful adventure that could be enjoyed alone, but was even better with friends. Once you get past world 8, those levels are crazy hard and rewarding!
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In Third Person 