Retrospective: Your best Wii U moment(s)

[Debug Mode]

It's 2017, the Nintendo Switch blow out is next god damn week and, let's face it, the Wii U is basically dead right now. There's not really much more coming.

 

Honestly, no matter what your personal overall opinion of the Wii U is, whether it be positive or negative, there's no doubt that it has most probably been the most divisive console we've seen in gaming for a while. A lot of us were late picking it up, some of us regretted it and quite a few Nintendo fans disregarded the thing all together and it clearly didn't resonate too well with the public either with its lack of success.

 

But let's cast aside the negative aspects for now and bring together what the console did so right for us. Many of us loved the console and even someone like me, who really didn't have much of a high opinion of it, have had some fantastic moments with the console and I'm curious to hear what you guys think.

 

For me, even though the game did not fare as well with many games, I absolutely loved the experience I got with Xenoblade Chronicles X. That one game was so enjoyable to me that I was glad I had a Wii U to play it. People hated the music, I think it has one of the most solid soundtracks I've heard in a while, that's just a key example of my very different taste heh.

 

But what impressed me most is the fact that, for once, I felt like the game pad screen really made things convenient for me. Xenoblade X had a lot of mechanics going on under the hood, and being able to access that information quickly and have significantly less clutter on the screen made the actual gameplay that more engrossing and beautiful. Although I have hopes for an improved version on the Switch, I'll miss having that gamepad in my hand with all the information I needed without having to switch through a few menus on the main screen. And I think that's the only game for the system which made me re-evaluate the game pad a little, something which I felt was responsible for holding the system back and making it prohibitively expensive.

 

If there's another thread like this, apologies, I couldn't find anything and I admittedly was not very thorough.

[Kav]

MH3U with the usual hunters. Probably my best multiplayer experience on the console.

 

I got to know @Blade playing this and as you know we're now engaged (you git @Fierce_LiNk, haha)

Edited January 3, 2017 by Kav

[Glen-i]

For me, it was Smash Bros. The whole thing was one crazy mental ride from start to finish. The sheer hype when Mega Man was revealed. I'm not even that much of a Mega Man fan and I was going nuts.

 

And then those character reveal trailers started happening, let's face it, I was tuning into Ninty Directs just for those. Everything else was just filler!

 

And then that leak close to the 3DS release sent fans on a massive guessing spree. Is that Bowser Jr? And the... Duck Hunt Dog?

"Nah, it can't be real, look at Shulk, that render is just an edited Little Mac"

@Dcubed actually said this. It's still funny.

 

That Shulk trailer may just be the most excitable trailer in Smash history, probably because of the music.

 

It didn't even end once the game was out. That DLC! Mewtwo's back! And so's Lucas! Even Roy! Bet you never thought you'd see him again. And he's got shiny new moves that actually make him not crap!

But that was only the starter. How about Ryu? Yes, that Ryu. Smash Bros. taught me more about playing Street Fighter than Street Fighter 4 did. I can actually pull off a Shoryuken now!

 

And then Cloud came along. What!? Isn't he more associated with Sony? Sakurai don't care, he's certifiably nuts!

 

And then the Smash Poll. You choose the next DLC character, as long as it wasn't Goku, don't be idiots, guys.

I'm sure there were many suggestions that were pretty run-of-the-mill.

Luckily, us Europeans hijacked the Poll and got Bayonetta in. Giving Shulk a new British friend to play with.

You're welcome, world.

 

Also, Corrin was there.

 

But the biggest moment for me, bigger than all that nonsense above, was beating Classic 9.0 without losing a life! I did it with Yoshi and I was physically shaking during the second Master Fortress fight. Ending with the most almighty triumphant "YES" I've ever shouted in a game. Only Smash could pull that off and I loved every second of it.

 

I'm still terrible with Mega Man though...

Edited January 3, 2017 by Glen-i

[Dcubed]

Rather than talk about specific games, I want to talk more about the system as a whole and the hype cycle surrounding it (because everyone else is just gonna talk about specific games and I wanna be different dammit!). @Glen\-i has already covered Smash Bros, which was exceptional from beginning and beyond, so I wont go into that.

 

Outside of a few highlights, the Wii U era was a pretty miserable time as a Nintendo fan really. A sorrowful epoch that saw Nintendo struggle to keep their heads above water and survive.

 

But the console certainly did have its moments...

 

Launch

 

 

Nintendo Land was a pretty great title that really showed the kinds of games that we could eventually see on Nintendo's new console. All kinds of experiences that we've never seen before! Miiverse was new and exciting and the console was filled with untapped possibilities!

 

The Emergency Direct - Nintendo plays their entire hand

 

 

While we all knew that Nintendo were bricking it and that this was an act of desperation, you have to all admit that it was a hell of a showing!

 

Especially this...

 

Absolutely nobody saw this coming!

 

After a cackhanded launch and a terrible hype-release cycle, many of us were left scratching their heads thinking, why the hell didn't Nintendo announce these before when they had the chance!?

 

E3 2014 - Nintendo finally gets the new format right

 

 

A great show! Nintendo fired on all cylinders! After the miserable failure that was E3 2013, where they first attempted the new format (a show so bad it actually nearly killed SM3DW completely), they got it so very right this year! A great show, well presented, with absolutely tons of fantastic announcements!

 

Just to name a few for Wii U...

 

Super Smash Bros - First playable showing

Hyrule Warriors - First playable showing (this is where most people's minds were changed about the game - that Treehouse live demo made so many people do a complete 180 on the game)

The Legend of Zelda - Unveil (yeah, yeah, yeah, say what you will about the delays and switch over to Switch)

Star Fox Zero & Star Fox Guard - Unveil

Kirby and the Rainbow Curse - Unveil

Super Mario Maker - Unveil

Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker - Unveil

Splatoon - Unveil

Xenoblade Chronicles: X - First playable showing

Bayonetta 2 - First actual footage and playable showing

Devil's Third - Ok, it turned out to be turd, but it was still a surprise announcement

 

It's a real shame it came so late, because this is exactly the kind of show they really needed earlier on in the console's life.

 

Early 2015-Early 2016: The Wii U concept finally bares fruit, however too late

 

 

At last! After literally 3 years of waiting, we FINALLY start seeing the kinds of games released that were promised at launch (some literally promised at launch!). Super Mario Maker, Splatoon, Star Fox Zero & Guard, Kirby & The Rainbow Curse, Captain Toad etc, all finally make their debut. The Wii U finally gets its next wave of titles... and finally we see what the console could've been, had these games come out that much sooner...

 

Yeah, you had other good releases along the way, like SM3DW, DKCTF and Wind Waker HD/Twilight Princess HD, but I can't help but feel that the circumstances surrounding them and their releases were surrounded by negativity. Truth be told, games like SM3DW and DKCTF, however great they were, were exactly the wrong games to release at that time. The Wii U needed that 2015-2016 wave at the start, not the likes of SM3DW and NSMBU. Its fortunes could've been VERY different if they got it right back then (and didn't screw up with the name/marketing etc).

 

I can only hope that the lessons learned from this get applied to Switch.

 

As for other things surrounding the Wii U? The launch of Mario Kart 8 was pretty amazing, as was Smash Bros. Had some great times playing in the MK League (and making the highlight videos too of course!)

 

Crust off all the negativity and you have to admit that the Wii U did get some pretty fantastic games.

 

It also brought Earthbound and Earthbound Beginnings to Europe for the first time and for that, I'm eternally grateful (Ok, I can also kinda count Mother 3 as well, since it's kinda obvious that its western release was quietly moved over from Wii U to Switch).

Edited January 3, 2017 by Dcubed

[Jimbob]

I still have a semi-regret in even buying a WiiU.

 

However, with that said i've had some great gaming moments on the WiiU. DKCTF stands out as a highlight for me, great platformer that kept me hooked for ages. Super Mario Bros U, again a great platformer.

 

However, my highlight was Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker. Such a simple, yet challenging game. Little thing snuck out early, had my copy Christmas Eve. Loved the puzzles and the use of the Gamepad.

[Grazza]

Climbing to the top of the tower at the end of The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker HD and just revelling in the fact that not only had I been able to replay my favourite game in such enhanced graphical detail, it was also an experience that truly stood the test of time.

 

Going through the first dungeon in The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD and enjoying how it now looked how my younger self imagined the GC game was going to look.

 

Playing Virtual Console on that fabulous, blur-free IPS screen. I finally completed Super Ghouls 'n' Ghosts, which was very satisfying, and got really into Final Fight One, which I kept playing over and over again at different difficulty levels.

[FireMeowth]

I have hundreds of fond memories from all the amazing Wii U games I've played - it is my favourite Nintendo console and has many of my favourite games from their respective series and franchises, after all - but the best time I spent with the console was playing the fantastic Tokyo Mirage Sessions ♯FE, which quickly became my favourite game of all time!

 

In particular,

this (and everything else in that side story) was probably my favourite moment from the game, haha...

 

Looking forward to starting my second playthrough in the near future (though I really need to finish Pokémon Sun and a couple of other games first)!

 

EDIT:

Another important "moment" (a three hour long moment, lol) for me was when I drew the drawing in my signature. I'm so happy with how it turned out!

Edited January 4, 2017 by FireMeowth

[Helmsly]

Finding out that Splatoon was awesome was probably one of my best moments on the Wii U for me. In the year or so before the game was released, I had zero interest in the title. I didn't think it looked bad or anything, it just didn't look like a game I would enjoy. As a result, whenever I would catch the Nintendo Directs, I'd skip through any talk of Splatoon or if I was watching live, I'd open another tab on my browser and read something else while that segment past. The game really didn't appeal to me at all.

 

Then about a week or so before Splatoon was due out, Nintendo released that Test fire demo, which they would let everyone play online for around an hour or so at a set times. I don't think I'd had that much fun in a video game for years and found myself wanting to play more of it when the test fire was over. I bought the game when it came out and have clocked in over 500 hours since then. Its only in the past few months I've stopped playing, but I'm sure I'll return again at some point.

 

 

Overall, for all the negativity that surrounded the console, I actually liked the Wii U a lot. I feel it holds some of Nintendo's greatest titles and I've used my Wii U on a daily basis since getting it. Mario Maker is incredible as is Mario 3D World. I just wish the console had had more support,both from Nintendo and third parties and maybe it would of had a longer and richer life span. I'm a little gutted that its all coming to an end, as the Switch looks kinda terrible to me, but I'll keep an open mind until after the presentation. I know that its very unlikely I'll be buying a switch in the first year

[Fierce_LiNk]

My best memory of the WiiU is when @Ashley came down to Bournemouth to visit me and @Eenuh. We played some Nintendo Land and it was just so much fun. The Animal Crossing game was definitely a hit!

 

Aside from that, I had a blast playing through Need for Speed: Most Wanted and Batman: Arkham City. Both were top games and it was fantastic to see games of that high calibre coming to the system. There were promising signs at the start of the WiiU's life.