With Nintendo recently announcing that fan favorite Xenoblade Chronicles will arrive on Switch in March next year, other underappreciated Wii U titles have a chance to find a bigger audience and wider acclaim. Exactly this has happened multiple times throughout the Switch’s lifecycle – Nintendo will re-release one of its Wii U-era games with minimal to no changes, and the games will end up having greater critical and commercial success than their original ever found. console.
With how regularly Nintendo has ported games from the Wii U, it can often be tempting to assume that virtually every major title from the Switch’s beleaguered predecessor has already arrived. There remain, however, a surprising number of titles still stuck on the Wii U that Nintendo and its third-party partners could bring to the Switch. The games below do not include any games that, although not ported to the Switch, have direct continuations, such as Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and Super Mario creator.
10
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD
Action-Adventure
The Wind AwakenerThe company’s reputation was already on the rise in the years following its launch, but The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD on Wii U was the release that allowed the game to blossom into the masterpiece it always suggested it was. In addition to the very comprehensive visual update, which makes the already beautiful game even more graphically timeless, the Wii U release also addressed many long-standing complaints about the original game, while also adding some major quality of life improvements.
A relaunch of The Wind Waker HD on Switch has been widely requested for practically the entire life of Nintendo’s hybrid console, but has yet to manifest itself. With the Switch entering its twilight years now, I hope its appearance is a matter of when, not if.
9
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD
Action-Adventure
The Wind Waker HD wasn’t the only GameCube era Zelda title that had a redesign on Wii U. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD was a revamp of the best-selling game in the series at the time, and while it’s not as comprehensive an update as The Wind Awakener he picked up, still remains the definitive way to play.
While the two are typically requested as a pair, knowing Nintendo’s pricing policies and the value the company places on its individual games, it seems highly unlikely that they won’t be released individually. In that case, it would be even more important to Twilight Princess HD to get a Switch release – otherwise it would be the only console title in the series that is unplayable on the console.
8
Zero Fox Star
Rail Sniper
Unlike the other games mentioned so far, Zero Fox Star is an original Wii U title. Unlike the other two, however, it’s also not that good. Tasked with justifying the existence of the Wii U’s exclusive hardware by using it in a game legendary designer Shigeru Miyamoto created a game that, while it can certainly be called groundbreaking, wasn’t a total home run in terms of delivering satisfaction Star Fox experience of the kind that made the franchise so beloved to begin with.
The fact that it is – once again – a retelling of the same story that had already been covered in the original Star Fox and Star Fox 64 it meant that even the narrative hook was missing. If Nintendo were to port this game, it would have to do a lot of reworking on it, given how much of it is tied to the Wii U hardware – but if it tries hard, an unusual chapter in Star Fox the story can be made available to a much wider audience than he had the chance to achieve before.
7
Yoshi’s Woolly World
Platform
While the solo outings of Mario’s trusty dinosaur steed, Yoshi, haven’t necessarily been of the highest quality following the incredible Super Nintendo original, Yoshi’s Woolly World has the particularity of not only being the best Yoshi game since the firstbut also being a great platformer in general. It’s a lovely, charming and light-hearted platformer that’s also an absolute visual treat, with a striking aesthetic brought to life by some incredible graphics.
Woolly World received a 3DS version, but given how much the presentation contributes to the game’s charm, this isn’t the ideal way to play it. It also released on the eve of the Switch’s launch, so it didn’t really get the attention it should have. Perhaps a Switch release could resolve this.
6
Kirby and the Rainbow Curse
Platform
Kirby and the Rainbow Curse followed the beloved DS exclusive Kirby spin off Kirby: Curse of the Screen. Deciding to go with the same touchscreen-focused indirect gameplay style (via the Wii U Gamepad), infused with a claymation aesthetic that’s lovely to look at, may not have been for the best. Kirby game around.
However, on a system where it is not the only representative of the franchise – like a certain hybrid console that has already received three retail titles Kirby releases, including pink puffball’s long-awaited first 3D adventure, the captivating Kirby and the Forgotten Land – his more experimental style has a chance of finding much wider acceptance. With how many Kirby games are released and the franchise’s penchant for revisiting previous games through ports and re-releases, This one is more likely than most of the games on this list to actually get a Switch port.
5
NES Remix
Compilation
The Switch may have received speedrunning heaven Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition in 2024, but while it scratches its own itch, it is a poor substitute for the NES Remix games on the Wii U. While the core concept is obviously the same, NES Remix went far beyond the simple speedrun and competitive playstyle of World Championships.
THE NES Remix games have revitalized decades-old games, making them new and fun to play again. And while the concept has survived to some extent on the Switch in the library of emulated classics that Nintendo releases on the Nintendo Switch Online service, a full game NES Remix Switch port would also be welcome.
4
Nintendo Land
Party game
If there was one game that truly hinted at the new and fresh possibilities that the Wii U could achieve through its Gamepad, it was Nintendo Land. The Nintendo party game collection that accompanies the more expensive Wii U models at launch is an underrated gem, with its diverse attractions each representing one of Nintendo’s many IPs, exploring different styles of play that input supported by the console could activate.
With the way the game is intrinsically linked to the console’s unique control inputs, It would probably take a lot of effort to turn it into something viable for the Switch – but with how much the game is a celebration of Nintendo, I hope the company is exploring ways to bring the game back.
3
Paper Mario: Color Splash
RPG
The new style of Mario Paper games remains divisive for abandoning the RPG trappings for which the franchise originally became popular. In the Switch era The origami kingit seemed like the developers at Intelligent Systems had figured out how to properly deliver a well-received non-RPG game Mario Paperbut the Wii U Splash of color represents a slightly awkward transition point between the 3DS’s tattered Star Sticker and the first.
However, there are some merits the game can claim, from sharper writing than its predecessor to gorgeous visuals that could be in the running for the best the Wii U has managed to put out. Splash of color It’s a game that few are clamoring for a port of, but it’s still a reasonably solid entry in the series that doesn’t deserve to be lost to time – I hope Nintendo agrees and brings the game to the Switch at some point.
2
Monster Hunter 3 Finale
action RPG
by Capcom Monster Hunter the series is bigger now than ever, but before Monster Hunter World finally let the franchise reach the mainstream, allowing its release on home consoles, Monster Hunter 3 Finale was already available on the Wii U with full online multiplayer support.
Now, it was an HD version of an enhanced portable edition of a Wii game – so it’s not actually the console Monster Hunter game people had in mind, but that wasn’t really an issue when it delivered the most complete approach to features and content Monster Hunter yet. Although older Monster Hunter it can be difficult to return to gaming afterwards World, 3 final It especially has some unique aspects – like the first and so far last appearance of underwater combat and hunting – that make it worth revisiting.
1
Zombie U
Survival Horror
Zombie U was another Wii U launch title that seemed to utilize the unique hardware far better than any subsequent game was able to manage. The surprising thing is that, in this case, it was not a Nintendo game, but a Ubisoft game. And while modern Ubisoft games often receive (deserved) criticism for following formulaic templates, Zombie U it was anything but that.
In fact, it was very different from most other games out there, with an extremely tense permadeath system combined with real-time inventory and survival management, all while having to fight and escape the undead, making the extraordinarily tense game. Bringing Zombie U for other systems it loses something, as the game’s ports for PS4 and Xbox One ended up proving, but even a little compromised Zombie U on Switch is preferable to not Zombie U node Nintendo Change completely.
Source: Nintendo of America/YouTube