It's the Wii U, underrated? - Wii U turns 10 years old.

General and Gaming > Classic Video Games

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weirdfeline:
It's better than the Switch.

aliensstudios:

--- Quote from: vivigamer on November 20, 2022, 03:31:00 pm ---The one feature I regret this system didn't have was a way to upscale original Wii games - It can play them but still in 480p quality... That alone would have made his console very valuable but sadly as it offered no enhancements to play the previous gen and has now had most of its big titlse put forward to the Switch it does come across as very redundant to me.

--- End quote ---
It does technically scale Wii games to 720p / 1080p from their original 480p resolution, much like the way a PS3 does with PS1 / PS2 discs, but the end result isn't much different than plugging a 480p Wii into a 1080p monitor so the scaling isn't great. The Wii U doesn't render Wii games at higher resolutions like the PS5 can do with certain PS4 titles or what the Dolphin emulator can do for GameCube / Wii. Personally, I use the Wii in 480p mode into my OSSC which perfectly doubles each pixel to a resolution of 960 pixels which is shy of full HD (1080p) but north of HD (720p). The end result is slightly blockier but much less blurry than the Wii U's Wii software scaling which I prefer.

kamikazekeeg:
I have a soft spot for the Wii U (My favorite console is the N64, I don't know why I do this to myself), but I wouldn't say it's underrated. It had a bad name, they struggled to justify it's gimmicks, the poor sales led to a pretty lackluster library, it wasn't a well powered system, but I still generally liked it. The Gamepad was a decent enough idea, though I think other than a second screen, the only game I played that I liked the gimmick of using it for was Zombi U, where you open your backpack and have to look away from the TV to do so, but it doesn't pause the game so you have to make sure you are in a safe area or you can get attacked. That's a good idea along with I think it had something to do with scanning things. Embracing the gimmick in a very reasonable way.

I did think the console not having a Pokemon Snap game on it was maybe their greatest missed opportunity. We finally got one with Switch, but the Gamepad was tailored for them to utilize it as a camera within the world. I wonder if they even attempted to try and make one or if they just didn't care at all.

burningdoom:

--- Quote from: kamikazekeeg on November 21, 2022, 05:20:12 am ---I have a soft spot for the Wii U (My favorite console is the N64, I don't know why I do this to myself), but I wouldn't say it's underrated. It had a bad name, they struggled to justify it's gimmicks, the poor sales led to a pretty lackluster library, it wasn't a well powered system, but I still generally liked it. The Gamepad was a decent enough idea, though I think other than a second screen, the only game I played that I liked the gimmick of using it for was Zombi U, where you open your backpack and have to look away from the TV to do so, but it doesn't pause the game so you have to make sure you are in a safe area or you can get attacked. That's a good idea along with I think it had something to do with scanning things. Embracing the gimmick in a very reasonable way.

I did think the console not having a Pokemon Snap game on it was maybe their greatest missed opportunity. We finally got one with Switch, but the Gamepad was tailored for them to utilize it as a camera within the world. I wonder if they even attempted to try and make one or if they just didn't care at all.

--- End quote ---

While I agree about it's 3rd-party library being lackluster, it's first-party library of games were stellar. And the fact that Nintendo pulled from it to add to the Switch shows they felt the same.

New Super Mario Bros U, Super Mario 3D World, Super Mario Maker, Mario Kart 8, Super Smash Bros, Splatoon, Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild, Twilight Princess HD, Wind Waker HD, Captain Toad, NES Remix, Star Fox Zero, Pikmin 3, and I have no idea what Pokemon games because that's just not my thing, and plenty I'm sure I missed.

That's a helluva first-party line-up, especially since it's a "failed console".

telly:
I have a love-hate relationship with my Wii-U. I originally bought it before the Switch came out as I thought it was going to be a difficult system to collect for later. Not to mention that the ability to play Wii games was a nice bonus.

I think the Gamepad was just never implemented well for most games. From my experience the only games that really used the Gamepad and TV together in a non-tacked on way that actually benefited gameplay were Super Mario Maker, Zombi U, and Pikmin 3. Other games I would have the Gamepad on but serving as an additional menu screen that could have been just as easily accomplished with a button press. Everything else I would either play only on the Gamepad or only on the TV. So in a sense it's nice that it mimics the Switch in that respect.

What really hurt the Wii U's longevity was that most of it's library was ported to the Switch. You can still play the Wii U originals and have a good time, but some (like Mario Kart 8 ) are far and away the definitive versions. At the same time, I feel like Nintendo really phoned it in once it was discovered that it wasn't worth putting a lot of development money into games for the system, which I feel like was following the release of Smash 4 in late 2014. In my opinion, Super Mario Bros. U was a pitifully anemic attempt at a launch title (even though it is fun). NES Remix was very lackluster. Paper Mario Color Splash had a lot of issues. Star Fox Zero was quite bad. Same with Mario Tennis Ultra Smash and Mario Party 10. Amiibo Festival was awful.

However, there are some fantastic games on the system as many have mentioned. Pikmin 3 is my favorite game on the Wii U hands down, and is my favorite in the series. I love Captain Toad Treasure Tracker as well. Xenoblade Chronicles X was also phenomenal, and I liked it a lot more than the first game. Kirby and the Rainbow Curse is an adorably cute romp with some beautiful visuals. The Zelda remasters are both great. Can't forget Smash and Mario Kart as well! There is a lot to enjoy here.

Something that most people don't mention is that the Wii U has a really bad shovelware/good game ratio. Somehow the system attracted all of the terrible party games, sports games, and movie tie-ins that the Wii was infamous for without the accompanying depth of other 3rd party offerings. So once you get past the maybe 20 worthwhile games that Nintendo put out for the system and a handful of indie titles, the quality of offerings drops off like a cliff.

There are two exceptions though. That small period of time between the Wii U and the Xbox One/PS4's release found the Wii U actually being able to compete with multiplatform releases on the PS3 and Xbox 360. Some examples include Batman Arkham Origins and Mass Effect 3. The other example is Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate. It's a phenomenal game and I'm surprised it's not talked about more whenever the Wii U is mentioned. That game is the shining gem of a 3rd party exclusive for the Wii U in my opinion.

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