The Wii U is Dead But Not Forgotten
The Wii U is dead. Done. Finished.
Nintendo announced today that the final game for the Wii U is The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. The game will release simultaneously on the Wii U and Nintendo’s new flagship, the Switch on March 3rd.
The Wii U’s obituary was published back in December 2016 when Nintendo announced they were no longer manufacturing the console, so it’s no surprise that BoTW is going to be the Wii U’s final game.
Zelda fans might recall that the series also marked the end of the Gamecube, when Twilight Princess was released simultaneously on the GC and Wii.
The Wii U was a financial disaster. Nintendo expected to sell 100 million units of the console worldwide, but only managed a mere 13 million. Many consider the console to be an abysmal failure, and something not worth owning.
I whole-heartedly disagree.
I purchased the Wii U sometime in 2013 as an impulse buy. I already owned a powerful gaming PC and Playstation 4, and didn’t have a need for an Xbox One (although I ended up purchasing one a year later).
While the Wii U is far from a powerhouse compared to the PS4 and Xbox One, it makes up for what matters most.
Wii U Games
When I bought the Wii U it came packaged with New Super Mario Bros. U. It was a decent game that greatly improved on the Wii version. It was the perfect freebie.
I also picked up a copy of one of the Wii U’s killer apps: Mario Kart 8.
The replayability of Mario Kart 8 kept me entertained for hours and was the best party game that I owned. The game is easily the strongest entry in the long-running series; that’s saying something considering Mario Kart 64 is one of my favorite games of all time.
Not only is Mario Kart an excellent Wii U game, but is the strongest in the series.
When Super Smash Bros. was released in 2014 the Wii U became my favorite console of the generation. The game seemed to do everything right. The visuals were stunning, controls were tight and the selection of characters was amazing. Smash for the Wii U another best-in-series.
Mark another one up for the Wii U.
Then I purchased Super Mario 3D World, which I completed with Kevin M. of Jump Crouch fame. We both fell in love with the game’s charm and tight controls. It was perfection.
Kevin and I also played through most of Hyrule Warriors. The game was a decent single player experience, but had fantastic multiplayer which made excellent use of the Wii U gamepad.
While the Wii U won’t see a truly original Zelda until BoTW, the remasters of Windwaker and Twilight Princess were easily the best versions of those games.
Windwaker HD reworked the annoying sailing mechanics that plagued the Gamecube version and ran at a glorious 1080p 60fps. Twilight Princess’ HD graphics still hold up today.
Each one of these games is worth buying a Wii U for, but there’s one that is by-and-far the best.
Super Mario Maker
If there’s one reason to buy a Wii U (which can be bought for less than $150 on eBay), it’s Super Mario Maker.
The game is more than a simple level builder. It’s a way of life.
Super Mario Maker is the best game on the Wii U, and one of my favorite games of 2015.
Building levels in Mario Maker is extremely easy and stupidly satisfying. The game has hundreds of sprites from nearly every 2D Mario game, and switching from building a level to playing it is seamless and rewarding.
The game really impresses with its online functionality. Playing levels created by people from around the world is one of the most incredible and rewarding experiences that I’ve ever had in a game.
Mario Maker is, by far, the killer app for the Wii U.
Exclusivity
These titles share more in common than just being great video games. They’re all also Wii U exclusives.
At the time of writing the Wii U has twice as many exclusives titles than Playstation 4 and Xbox One—combined.
Not only does the Wii U boast the most exclusive titles, but Metacritic scores show that it has twice as many high-rated exclusives as the other two platforms.
The Wii U doesn’t have great third party support, but the PS4 and Xbox One libraries are nearly identical. This makes the Wii U the perfect second console… Or only console, if you have a gaming PC.
The Future
I lucked-out and landed a Switch preorder. I’m giddy with excitement and can’t wait to play BoTW on the go.
But while I’m sure the Switch is going to dominate most of my gaming time in the coming months, I’m still far from finished with the Wii U.
I still have to finish Bayonetta 1, Bayonetta 2, Pikmin 3, Twilight Princess HD, Xenoblade Chronicles X, Zombi U, Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze, Yoshi’s Wolly World, Kirby and the Rainbow Curse, Pokken Tournament, Super Mario: Color Splash and Star Fox Zero.
There’s a whole lot of Wii U left.
