A Fond Farewell to the Wii U

Now that the Nintendo Switch has made its way to store shelves I feel a proper send off for the Wii U is in order.

Sadly the system didn’t live up to the hype and many didn’t even know it was a brand new system upon its announcement. I remember working at Gamestop at the time and informing customers that it was a brand new system not an add-on to the Wii. While the system may not have lived up to the company’s selling standards or blown away gamers it still had some of the greatest games of its time. These games were amazing and honestly some of the best of their respected genres and I enjoyed playing each one of these.

Let’s get the race started with Mario Kart 8. Easily one of my favorite racing games. It’s such a blast playing with friends and we could spend hours playing this game and never grow tired of it. By far the best kart racing game on any system in my opinion due to its “pick up and play” ability, excellent controls, great track designs and multiple options to play.

Bayonetta 2, hands down one of my favorite games of all time. And my all time favorite action game. It’s hard to improve on an already spectacular game but somehow Platinum Games did it. With new weapons, enemies, level design, and the addition of Climax mode, Bayonetta came back with an amazing new story and action moments. And so many Easter eggs for Nintendo fans. If you haven’t played it or the original game, I HIGHLY recommend you do. They are some of the best action games you will probably play … that is until the next Platinum game which sadly won’t be Scalebound.

Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze. Now I may not be the biggest platform style gamer but I gotta admit the Donkey Kong games have been getting better and better. And Tropical Freeze took the new DK gameplay seen in the previous title Donkey Kong Country Returns and improved on it with new levels, updated visuals and gameplay elements. I am looking forward to hopefully seeing a new title for DK and his crew on the Nintendo Switch.

Super Smash Bros, do I really need to explain why? At this point with the newest characters added to the roster Smash Bros for Wii U feels more like a celebration of video games. What other game would allow you to pit Mario, Sonic, Pac Man, Megaman, Ryu, Cloud, Bayonetta, and all these other great character in a fight? There is none. It’s hard to not get addicted to it. I can play this game all night with my friends and I have, multiple times. Its addicting gameplay, great variety of items, great levels, and replayability make it possibly the greatest game on the system.

Xenoblade Chronicles X. Now don’t get me wrong this game isn’t perfect. It’s a very long game not made for the gamers who lack patience. However after getting past the first half of the game and getting yourself a Skell the game becomes so much better. Taking the original gameplay mechanics and adding mechs to it definitely make this game much more enjoyable. I’m hoping that Xenoblade 2 for the Switch will take a lot of those aspects into consideration for their game.

Those are just some of my favorite games of the system. I personally hope that we don’t see these games go by the wayside and fade off with the Wii U. I hope to see updated ports or follow ups to these games on the Nintendo Switch at some point in the future. If you have a Wii U I highly recommend playing these games before the Switch comes out. You’ll be doing a great disservice to yourself and video games by not doing so.