Nintendo has had a wildly successful year with the launch of the Switch and a slew of desirable first-party releases every few months, and it looks to maintain that momentum through the holiday season and beyond. For many people the Switch has brought them back to Nintendo consoles after years apart, and the main reason for that was the commercial failure of its predecessor: the Wii U.
Anyone who was following the Wii U's pre- and post-launch marketing knows exactly why it failed. Nintendo did not do nearly enough to communicate to the general public just what the hell it was, and it seemed as though they were resting on their laurels from the lightning-in-a-bottle success that they had with the Wii appealing to a fledgling casual gamer crowd that had all but moved on completely to mobile gaming by the time the Wii U hit stores. The writing was on the wall for the Wii U's commercial failure less than a year after its release, but that didn't stop Nintendo from supporting it with killer first-party software as always.
And that's what this thread is about. I personally think that the Wii U's strong (but small) software library will give it a sort of Dreamcast-esque prestige in years to come. Its low production numbers and unique controller make it desirable for collectors down the road, and the fact that it played host to a number of top-notch local multiplayer offerings (again like the Dreamcast) makes it worth having in any gamer's home. Combine those factors with its native backwards compatibility with all Wii software and controllers and you've got the perfect recipe for an underappreciated console that will garner a strong cult following years later.
Honestly, I spent more time with my Wii U and its games than I did with my PS4 or PC during those few years of support from Nintendo. It was a mainstay at game nights with friends because everyone could bring over their old Wiimotes and partake in some 4, 5, or even 8-player action. (e.g. Smash 4). It might actually be the best local multiplayer console I've ever owned, and that's a true rarity in the current market.
But enough history lessons and personal anedcotes. Let's get to the games. In this thread I'd like for you to select what you feel to be the best game on the Wii U. Which game do you think will best carry the torch for the Wii U's retrospectively underappreciated legacy?
It's a tough call for me, but all things considered I think I'll have to go with Smash 4.
While Mario Kart 8 and Splatoon are right up there with it in terms of play time for me and Mario Marker has arguably the best utilization of the Wii U's unique gamepad, I think I'll have to give the nod to Smash 4. I was never into Smash Bros. at all despite being an avid fighting game player who has competed in tournaments and followed the scene for decades. I used to dismiss Smash games as party games being shoehorned into 1v1 fighting game paradigms for the sake of competition, but Smash 4 changed my perception of the series completely and made me a huge fan.
The first thing that stuck out to me when I started playing Smash 4 was how absolutely dense it was with content. The roster is huge, the stage selection is fantastic and diverse, there are an assortment of offline and online modes, and the unlockables area of the game acted as the most robust and polished virtual Nintendo museum I've ever seen. The whole game was clearly a labor of love by the developers. They really went all out making sure Smash 4 was a big, complete, and fun game. It's also important, I think, because it was the sole reason for a long time that Wii U's were being purchased for tournament use. Smash 4 would go on to succeed where Brawl failed at generating a sizeable competitive community that can stand toe-to-toe with the everlasting diehard Melee community. It may have even surpassed Melee in terms of sheer numbers for tournament registrations, but I could be wrong in that assumption.
The Wii U had many more excellent games that very easily could've been my pick for this thread, but I think that the first HD Smash game that managed to be competitively viable whilst still maintaining its casual appeal edges out the rest. The Wii U is also still the only place to play Smash 4, which gives it a small advantage over MK8 for the purposes of this thread. That might change next year, of course, and I personally hope it does. I'd love to have Smash 4 Deluxe on my Switch.
