Is the Wii U still awesome? Look, we all know that the Wii U wasn’t the success that Nintendo had hoped. In fact, it was their biggest home console flop ever. After the mighty Wii sold 101 million units, the Wii U only sold 13 million.
But just because it didn’t sell well, does that mean it’s bad? Heck no. The Wii U was awesome, and there’s a ton of reasons it didn’t sell well. Confusion whether it was a Wii tablet accessory, the silly name, third parties jumping ship, and a slow release schedule…yeah these weren’t great, but this isn’t a video that is asking was the Wii U awesome at the time…it was by the way…no this is asking if it’s still awesome in 2024. The slow-release schedule that happened between 2012 and 2017 doesn’t matter in 2024, and lack of third party support? Well, who honestly buys a Nintendo console for the third-party games?
It’s a long-established idea that people buy Nintendo consoles for Nintendo games, and people still play those Nintendo games years and years later. Can you still say the same for Beyond Two Souls? Or Assassin’s Creed Black flag or FIFA 14? Nope. But people are still buying enough copies of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe that it’s still topping the charts throughout the year. And yes, this is the Switch Mario Kart, but it debuted first on Wii U.
Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild is arguably the greatest video game ever made, and although most people play it on Nintendo Switch…it’s a Wii U game.
In 2023, the Wii U and 3DS had their online stores shut down and so I spent as much money as I could afford in those final days strategically getting games that I didn’t think I’d be able to get elsewhere, just so I could still experience as much of the Wii U library as possible for the future.
Compared to when the Wii U was Nintendo’s main console, we have now lost the online shops and online play, so in this regard, the Wii U is lesser than it was at the time. But truthfully, whilst I did like to get the odd download title or wait for the Wii U Virtual Console to emerge, or have an occasional game of Mario Kart 8 online, mostly, I just played single player games rather.
In this sense, the Wii U is now just as playable as it ever was. Unless of course, you really got into Miiverse.
Nintendo have now embraced the fact that they’re better off served just letting people do their social media on the likes of YouTube, Facebook and X rather than trying to protect us all with their own dedicated social interaction methods like Miiverse and streetpass on the 3DS. These were neat ideas that are sadly lost with the Wii U and 3DS, but they were too much in their own bubble and disconnected from the rest of social media. By always trying to think of safety, Nintendo perhaps didn’t lean enough into the social side of gaming to their own detriment, so whilst it’s a shame they’re gone, the likes of capture cards and streaming and other social media more than allows current Wii U you where to continue the social connection with other members of the Wii U community.
For those that enjoyed the online play though, this is sadly now lost, unless of course, people find community-built solutions to continue to play Wii U games online. But heck, that isn’t me, and that’s not what I’d want a retro console for anyway. It’s weird to say the Wii U is a retro console, but with the Switch having been out for over seven years at the time of writing, the Wii U is now far enough in the past as it was to talk about the NES when you were playing Nintendo 64.
So, what is the Wii U still good for in 2024? You can still play all your boxed Wii U games…although of course any features that do require online are now not accessible, but heck I remember some online PS4 games not being playable on PS4 when PS4 was still the main PlayStation. You can also play any of your boxed Wii games as the Wii U is pretty much completely back compatible with all Wii games and accessories. If you have any of the virtual console or download games on your console these will still be playable, and I think I’m correct in saying that you can still redownload any that you have previously purchased.
In terms of exclusive games that you can’t play elsewhere, the Wii U is perhaps a bit more redundant than other past Nintendo consoles as a lot of the biggest games have since made their way onto Nintendo Switch. And yes, it’s true that you don’t need a NES to play the original Legend of Zelda as the game was released again on Game Boy Advance, Wii, 3DS, and Wii U, but in that instance, Zelda was a retro rerelease. For many of the Wii U’s biggest titles like Super Mario 3D World and Mario Kart 8, the games were brought straight over to Switch as full priced releases and treated as just as important a new game as any brand-new title developed exclusively for Switch.
The biggest games that have remained exclusive on Nintendo Wii U, and I kinda use this term with a caveat, are The Legend of Zelda Wind Waker HD and The Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess HD. The caveat being that these games had previously been on GameCube and the latter was also a launch title on Nintendo Wii, meaning it released on three consecutive Nintendo home consoles. Hardly exclusive then. But obviously, these were exclusive in terms of the HD versions and despite both being huge releases on Wii U, neither have since launched on Nintendo Switch.
The original Splatoon game has stayed Wii U exclusive, although, and I’m not the biggest Splatoon player, it’s my understanding that maybe stages from the original game have found their way into the Switch releases of Splatoon 2 and Splatoon 3.
One of the big early games on Switch was Xenoblade Chronicles 2, and we’ve since got a remake of the original, which was on Wii, and also on 3DS, but for some reason the new entry on the Wii U has remained on Wii U.
Now I know with all of these games I mention about being Wii U exclusive and not on Switch, they may release later after I have made this video, but I’ll just note that what I’m saying is correct seven years into the Switch’s lifespan.
Star Fox Zero was not as good a game as it should have been, and that’s perhaps why it’s not had a rerelease on Switch, but if there’s one game that should see a releases on Switch, it’s Star Fox Zero, just so they can fix it. Star Fix Zero. See what I did there.
One of the issues with Wii U, was that the idea of two screen gaming doesn’t work as well in practice as it does in theory or on paper, and this is because unlike the dual screen DS where the two screens are so close together they may as well be a single screen, with Wii U, having a screen in your hands and another on TV meant you couldn’t ever see both at the same time.
Star Fox Zero was an attempt to justify the two screens with two different views, but why not just have you flip between them with a button press? I would even say that Nintendo made the game harder to play with the view on TV and the better view was the cockpit view on the game pad, and this just artificially tried to make the gamepad seem justified.
The game that perhaps best used the gamepad is still exclusive to Wii U…in a sense and that is Super Mario Maker. Yes, there is Super Mario Maker 2 on Switch, but this is effectively just an expanded version of the same software/game. Still, the touch screen and stylus on Wii U will forever be the best way to play Super Mario Maker compared to doing it on Switch. Just being able to design in your hand and instantly play on TV was the best way to do it compared to touch screen with your finger and then needing to dock to play on TV on the Switch sequel.
NES Remix, Art Academy on Wii U, Paper Mario Color Splash, Kirby and the Rainbow Curse, Game and Wario, and Nintendo Land are all other games which are on Wii U and not on Nintendo Switch.
Believe it or not, but the most played game I have on Wii U was the download Art Academy Sketchbook game which wasn’t as fully featured as the eventual boxed released Art Academy game. This is something that cannot be replicated on Switch (although there is a art game with a special stylus) and is for me, the best example of what the Wii U could offer that wasn’t available on other consoles.
Yoshi’s Wooly World did come to 3DS but not Switch as yet, and it’s strange to me than Nintendo haven’t capitalised on the well-received NES remix games on Switch and never followed them up with SNES or N64 Remix.
Along with Mario Kart 8, the biggest Wii U game was probably Super Smash Bros for Wii U…terrible name, but done to highlight that it launched alongside Super Smash Bros for 3DS. And this was the game where the Amiibo craze first launched. But of course, these days, the Nintendo Switch got Super Smash Bros Ultimate which I think is fair to say just expanded upon the Wii U game rather than being a completely new title. I know some of you will know a lot more than me, so feel free to let me know how f it’s a completely new game with no reused assets.
The Wii U apparently had 792 games in total, with 202 coming out in physical boxed releases. When you consider that the Wii U was the main Nintendo console across the years of 2012-2017 that means the console was active in six separate years, with four complete years, this means on average the Wii U had just under fifty games released in the shops each year.
Almost one game a week doesn’t sound bad, but a lot of these would have released bunched up around Christmas or as summer releases meaning long gaps with few games. This is where the virtual console and download games were so important, but again, unless you already have them on your Wii U, or can get them on there by another means, the 202 boxed games will be all you can ever play again.
And when I say 202 games released physically, that’s worldwide. I’m in the Uk and apparently there were only 161 Pal released boxed games. That’s so few!
Of the games around 38 of them released between the Wii U’s launch on November 18th and the end of 2012. But once again, I’ll say that I’m asking if the Wii U is still awesome in 2024, and coming to it now, we have access to any and all the games for the platform that you can get your hands on. Amazon even still stock the odd game here or there.
In terms of Nintendo games, there is more than enough to keep most Nintendo fans happy for a lot of playtime. Between the new games and virtual console, you could play Super Mario Bros 1-3, Super Mario World, Mario 64, the Mario Advance games, Super Mario Galaxy 1 and 2, both by downloads or by using the original Wii discs, New Super Mario Bros, New Super Mario Bros Wii and of course Super Mario 3D World and Super Mario Bros U. This means you can play all the main line Mario games excluding the GameCube’s Super Mario Sunshine, and even all these years after the Switch launched, only Super Mario Odyssey and Wonder are not available to Wii U players. Suddenly the Wii U still feels like close to the ultimate Mario system.
I won’t list all the games, but it’s much the same with the Zelda franchise, and actually a slightly sweeter deal. With Wind Waker and Twilight Princess HD not yet on Switch, and the Wii U having virtual console access to both Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS, as well as Breath of the Wild, it means currently there are still more Zelda games playable on Wii U than Switch. And despite any improvements that exist in Tears of the Kingdom over Breath of the Wild, it’s a little bit of a bitter pill for Wii U owners to know that essentially Tears of the Kingdom that released in 2023 could have still released on Wii U from a capability perspective.
The Wii U is a console that has a similar legacy to the Dreamcast. They’re both consoles that sold in the ten million units range, and they are both viewed as consoles that have a high number of slew of all time classics despite their failing to sell in large quantities.
The differences between the two are several, but whilst the Dreamcast sold just under ten million from its Japanese launch in 1998 to it being discontinued in 2001, the Wii U took from its launch in 2012 until 2017 to sell just over thirteen million. Nintendo’s effort is arguably more of a flop in this regards, but whilst Sega had to bow out the console race and that was the end of the Dreamcast’s story, Nintendo had the resources to go the distance with the Wii U even though it became ever more clear that it wasn’t a success. Then with the launch of the Switch being such a runaway success, and many of the biggest Wii U games migrating to Switch, the Wii U perhaps hasn’t built up the same mystique as Dreamcast.
The mistakes of the Wii U that led to it failing are many, and that will be an in depth discussion I’ll save for another day. The bullet points are that it launched fairly expensive, didn’t continue the casual focus of the Wii, but didn’t have the power or developer support to capture the hardcore gaming market, and that Nintendo failed to get enough big hitters out quick enough due to their issues transitioning to HD game development.
But we’re now at the stage where what was is what was. The Wii U is now a fixed event, and even if its library of games have found their way elsewhere, the question is whether the Wii U is still awesome.
It’s the only console that comes with a controller like the unique Wii U gamepad. The era of the DS and 3DS are also gone, and whilst touch screen devices are everywhere, ones where you could play with a stylus are in the past. If you want to experience two screen gaming on a home console, the Wii U is the only option. Super Mario Maker and Art Academy allowed players creativity on a console that can’t really be replicated as well in the same way on the current gen of consoles.
There are probably still more games on Wii U that make use of the Amiibos than on Switch, although this is just my assumption based on how much Amiibo was pushed during the Wii U years, and how little push Nintendo have given the total to life figures since the Switch came out…even though they still occasionally push out new Amiibo.
If you had a Wii U today with the full library of games, you’d have The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild, Wind Waker, Twilight Princess and a bunch more from that series, Super Mario Bros U and 3D World, Mario Kart 8, Super Smash Bros for Wii U, Pikmin 3, Fatal Frame, Bayonetta 1 and 2, Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze, Wii Sports Club, Yoshi’s Woolly World, Sonic Lost World, Rayman Legends, Super Mario Maker, Art Academy, Xenoblade Chronicles X, Wii Fit U, Resident Evil Revelations, Hyrule Warriors, Kirby and the Rainbow Paintbrush, New Super Luigi U.
There were then a couple of Call of Duty games, a few Assassin Creed games, a few Skylanders, a bunch of Just Dance games, as well as Epic Mickey 2, Minecraft, and games like Darksiders and Devil’s Third.
Add to this all the download games like Dr Luigi U, Mario and Donkey Kong, and all the virtual console games that released from platforms that included the NES, SNES, N64, Wii, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, and Turbo GrafX…and that you can play almost all the Wii games, and if you migrated your Wii downloads you’ll have anything you got from Wii Ware, and the expanded virtual console library that included the Sega Mega Drive, Commodore 64, Sega Master System, arcade and Neo Geo.
You can still visit the Wii U eshop where you’ll find it as a deserted ghost house, filled with pages and images of the games that once were residents on the system, but when you try to download any of the games you’ll see that the residents have moved on and are no longer available.
If you have a Wii U that has these download only games on there, you potentially have one of the best systems imaginable for the huge amount of generations worth of classic games. Even if you’re new to Wii U, and can only build a collection of physical games, getting everything that is playable from both the Wii and Wii U libraries are more good games that I could certainly play in a lifetime, so yeah, I can safely say the Wii U may not have been the easiest ride to go in whilst it was a thing, but as a classic piece of Nintendo’s history with some innovative games and charm, it’s still more than awesome!
