More than a dozen titles from the previous Nintendo home console have seen the light in the hybrid, but will there be more? We review candidates.
Wii U's trajectory in the market was brief. The long shadow of Wii and a series of fruitless decisions resulted in a system with very little market penetration, but a catalog of exclusive games that are not forgotten. In this article, we review all exclusive Wii U games with and without port on Nintendo Switch
A second chance for the Wii U exclusive catalog
The situation with Nintendo Switch is diametrically opposite. The hybrid system, complemented by Nintendo Switch Lite, a uniquely portable version that naturally replaces the position of Nintendo 3DS, is a global success with more than 41.67 million units until last September. He is expected to finish his third full year with a figure of around 50 million units, a projection of more than 100, which directly affects the software.
Wii U
And is that part of the library of exclusive games of Nintendo Switch corresponds to works of Wii U (which just accumulated 13 million units sold), which due to the circumstances of the hardware did not have very high sales. The ports or direct adaptations with brief additions have become a norm on the part of Nintendo, which has commented on more than one occasion its willingness to continue taking advantage of its games of the past to cover calendar gaps without large native productions of the Switch itself.
To date and with a 2020 exercise yet to be discovered, there are many titles that have had that second chance on Nintendo Switch; but there are also other candidates nominated by the community with arguments of all kinds. There are others, very few, that would not make sense to see the light on Nintendo Switch as direct sequels have been those who have assumed that role: Splatoon (for Splatoon 2), Super Mario Maker (for Super Mario Maker 2), Mario Kart 8 (by Mario Kart 8 Deluxe), Super Smash Bros. for Wii U (by Super Smash Bros. Ultimate) and Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash (by Mario Tennis Aces).
Mario Kart 8 on Wii U (above) and on Nintendo Switch (below). Most titles adapted to Switch have sold better in the latter.
Wii U games with port on Nintendo Switch (January 2020)
- Bayonetta + Bayonetta 2
- Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker
- Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze
- Hyrule Warriors
- LEGO City: Undercover (was Wii U exclusive temporarily)
- New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (intergenerational and simultaneous release)
- Pokkén Tournament
- Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE
Wii U games without port on Nintendo Switch (January 2020)
- The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD
- The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker HD
- Super Mario 3D World
- Paper Mario: Color Splash
- The Wonderful 101
- Xenoblade Chronicles X
- Yoshi’s Woolly World
- Pikmin 3
- Project Zero: Maiden of Black Water
- Star Fox: Zero
- Game & Wario
- NES Remix
- Devil’s Third
- Kirby and the Rainbow Brush
- Animal Crossing: Amiibo Festival
- Nintendo Land
