Video: 13 Great Wii U Games Still Not on Switch

I hope that these games eventually make it to Switch. I love Wii U ports because it allows people who didn't get a Wii U to experience these games.

Xenoblade X ain't coming. Especially if the rumors that Nintendo of America are cockblocking it are true ("Use the censored version or we won't release it").

It'd just be another flop, like the censored switch version of Tokyo Mirage Sessions NoA forced everywhere (Thank you Atlus rep for telling us).

Star Fox Zero with updated controls should have already come across - it played appalling on Wii U and didnt reach it's true sales potential (not that I expect it to sell tons more, but certainly another million or so).

As a fan of the series, the fact Nintendo haven't done it is very worrying. Will we ever see Star Fox again?

I find it utterly baffling that Nintendo fans seem perfectly content to beg for ports when the last Nintendo console or handheld without backwards compatibility was the GameCube. It’s incredible how quickly they adjust to paying £40-£50 for a last-gen game when we all were totally fine playing our Wii games on Wii U and our DS games on 3DS. I understand that Switch uses cartridges but still, the Switch doesn’t even have a Virtual Console. The big exclusives like Breath of the Wild 2, Metroid Prime 4 and Bayonetta 3 are nowhere to be found and we’re stuck begging for games that a lot of us probably have sitting in our cupboards.

I will buy Maiden of Black Water day 1 if they port it over. Always wanted. it. Unfortunately it never went on sale and now many years later we have Switch

@nessisonett I can accept Wii U ports considering like 4 people actually owned a Wii U and to most people they're all basically new games. What I can't easily forgive is the way they're priced. Tropical Freeze to my knowledge was literally discounted as part of the Nintendo Selects line a while before the Switch port and then when that came out it was full price for some dumb reason. I also don't really think a good portion of those ports do anything to justify being re-released at full price, especially if they've been permanently discounted beforehand. It does feel like Switch at times suffers from GBA syndrome, where the ports are becoming the norm rather than the exception and it's getting kind of fatiguing considering the games that are a ways off have barely any info about them like Bayo 3, or Prime 4, or even SMT V and BotW 2

Xenoblade X would be a double dip for sure. i played through it on Wii U, but it would be nice to go at it again with a different class. Not to mentio having the entire series on Switch would be great.

Fatal Frame deserves another shot too. I never played that one despite being a horror game fan.

@nessisonett I didn't own a wii U. Am I now not a Nintendo fan?

Or am I still a Nintendo fan begging for ports of awesome games I did not yet have a chance to experience?

Loved Xeno X. Would buy day 1.

-THIS- is why some of us don't toss or trade our old systems. Im still miffed Sony has yet to have any PS2 BC since the Phat. And yes, Switch needs Virtual Console.

@Friendly Well you're still a fan to ME, friend.

I would take ports of Deus Ex and Most Wanted. I enjoyed those games on Wii U.

I could not get in to chronicles X. I remember it being unweildly and not very friendly.

I was so disappointed as someone who put in 150 hours in the wii game.

Xenoblade on Wii felt like more of a Nintendo game in the way it held your hand and taught you how to play. The wii U game felt like it just pushed you in and let you get on with it. I remember playing an hour and feeling absolutely nothing. That’s where I left it. Part of me wants to try again weirdly.

@GrailUK Heck, Resi4 on Wii was still WAY more fun with the Wiimote. Doesn't the Switch have a pointer in one of the Cons, or am I dreaming?

@Friendly Honestly regardless of console or fandom this whole "port-begging" kind of came off as completely unnecessary and mostly doesn't even result in anything worthwhile

This isn't even just for like older games specifically. I kind of understand where he's coming from because there's a unique sense of entitlement I've seen specifically from the Switch-crowd that feel that absolutely everything ever needs to come to Switch regardless of possibility or probability. I'm of the opinion that begging for ports or just games in general to come to a platform is generally worthless. It's why people on social media love to dog on supposed "movements" like BreakFreePersona for example

That doesn't make you any less of a fan, but going that kind of route almost never works so there's nothing you really gain from it. You won't know whether a game comes to Switch until it's either announced or the console goes its entire life without it. If it does, cool, but if it doesn't then begging won't change their minds or anything

Wii U ports allow Nintendo to maintain momentum for the platform and engagement while they take their time on the next big sequels. If you’ve played them before, there is obviously not much appeal to buying them again. But they have really helped keep the Switch relevant.

Nintendo has a real challenge in that people only really play their games on their consoles (whereas third parties dominate Xbox and PlayStation), and games today take so much longer to make. The Wii U ports have really helped them. And as I don’t get much TV time, I’m excited to play these games on a portable device.

Metroid Prime Trilogy 😁 I'd love to play them on a handheld fr

@TheFrenchiestFry Expressing interest in sequels or remakes is why things like Shenmue 3 happens

I rarely post on here, but came here to give a shout out to Affordable Space Adventure. Still my all-time favorite asymmetrical multiplayer game, along with the Pac-Man Vs. series, ZombiU, and Nintendo Land. Such a shame that more asymmetrical co-op/multiplayer games weren't developed for the Wii U, it's such a phenomenal concept that many devs haven't explored on the console or otherwise.

@Dringo Shenmue III is also a new game. I'm talking specifically about stuff like ports, remasters or remakes, and the only time that fan demand to my knowledge actually helped increase the possibility of any of those types of games coming out is Final Fantasy VII Remake because of the cultural significance behind that game

It's not like fan demand is the reason stuff like Horizon on PC or Nocturne coming to PS4 and Switch happened. Those were just because the developers thought they were a cool idea and that it would bring more fans into those particular games, not necessarily because people were head over heels about it

I also don’t get this idea that Nintendo doesn’t do new games. Like last year there was 6... more, if you want to count those smaller games... completely original Nintendo games released. And that was a quiet year. I think that’s the most of any publisher

2 Wii u articles in a week.
Wii u Lurve

I appreciate you guys want video content, but can you not post the basic list for things like this as well?
Not everyone wants to watch a 15mins video for a list that can be read in a few secs.
For those people:
-Xenoblade Chronicles X
-Star Fox Zero + Guard
-Pullblox World
-Project Zero: Maiden of Blackwater
-Game & Wario
-Kirby and the Rainbow Paintbrush
-Wii Sports Club
-NES Remix 1&2
-Paper Mario: Color Splash
-Nintendo Land
-Yoshis Woolly World
-Zelda Windwaker HD
-Zelda Twilight Princess HD

@BloodyMurder Can I get a link to that info please?

@TheFrenchiestFry Publishers do react to fan interest in products all the time. Whether it’s a sequel or a remake is largely irrelevant. If a series they’ve moved on from gathers strong nostalgic support, they revisit it. Sometimes that’s in the form of, say, the Final Fantasy or Resident Evil remakes. Sometimes that’s with a Shenmue or Mirror’s Edge. Fan interest can result in publishing decisions, and frequently does.

Unpopular opinion:

The Wii U gamepad was the most comfortable controller I've ever used. Switch Pro Controller is a distant 2nd.

@Shadowthrone I'm glad you listed them, I've got this point of not watching videos that feature whoever is presenting in the thumbnail, seems overly narcissistic.

@Dringo That's not to say it happens ALL THE TIME though

Like how many years did it take Valve to crack under the pressure and make a new Half-Life, not to mention their other dead franchises that aren't Team Fortress or Counter Strike? what about Streets of Rage 4? a new Mega Man game? any of Nintendo's franchises that haven't been brought up again past the GameCube era like F-Zero, Wave Race or Chibi/Custom Robo? Hell I'm still waiting for Konami to make an actual video game with some sense of production value or for Capcom to make a fighting game that doesn't suck on release

"All the time" is vastly overestimating how often this happens. If that was the case stuff like port begging or sequel-begging wouldn't be a thing. It would be a complete non-factor. I'd be playing Persona 5 Royal on both my PS4 and Switch while having Portal 3 on pre-order and Konami's website wouldn't be littered with PES and pachinko

@BetterThanVegas
https://ibb.co/m8fSsDy

This is why we archive everything.

It's funny how Nintendo has ported almost all Wii U games but the 3 I care most about (XCX, TWW HD and TP HD) still aren't on the Switch

I really struggled with Xenoblade X despite 1 and 2 being amongst my favourite games of all time. Even so, if almost certainly give it another go on the Switch.

I would love Nintendo Land for Switch! I gotta say Wii U was the most family console ever because of all the co-op games the Wii and Wii U had, and they're all fun family games! Too bad the Switch isn't like that.

@Mr_Persona a lot of it would not translate to the Switch. But I think they could make a sequel and then maybe include the elements that do work.

The main reason I don’t care for the ports is that it feels like they are being released almost in lieu of creating new content.

Pushmo World.

Maybe I’m in the minority here, but because I have had every single Nintendo console since the NES and played all the games I wished to on those consoles. For me Nintendo it’s time to move forwards and release some new AAA in-house games. At has been a while from your own internal studios. I’m hoping after 3d world it’s all going to change to new Switch games.

Wii Fit U. The. I would move my wiiu upstiairs. I need yearly skijumping

And we need a winter omympics game.

Does it never get to the point where you think that maybe you should have just bought a Wii U if you liked this many games from it?

wiiu was very very awesome

@TheFrenchiestFry If what came over as ports and remakes was just down to "a dev thought it was a cool idea," we'd be seeing every intern programmer at Square working on a port of their favourite childhood SNES and PS1 game.

Fan demand ABSOLUTELY plays a part in what gets ported over. That's why we're getting Nocturne and SMTV, rather than a Raidou port and a new game in the Devil Summoner series.

@BloodyMurder
Atlus censored TMS#FE, not Nintendo. If you want to blame anyone, blame Atlus for censoring it in the first place.
https://www.gamespot.com/articles/tokyo-mirage-sessions-fe-team-talks-atlus-localiza/1100-6441341/

Meanwhile, i started to expand my Wii U game quantity when i heard this wish for Wii U port to Switch.

Jon, you forgot the #1 Wii U killer app: Mario Party 10

@TheFrenchiestFry i don’t see how begging is feeling entitled. It’s actually the opposite. We’re in the grace of the developers / publishers for some titles.

But yeah, I like games on this marvelous system . I’ve already bought ~200 games on Switch and most AAA games and some double dips. I love to play whenever, wherever, even if the game is a bit downgraded. I’d love to have everything portable with the option to play it on the big screen too.

@nessisonett @nessisonett Alot of us do not have these games, and Monster Hunter Rise, Bravely Default 2 and No more Heros 3 say hello. So, when you say alot of us, you are wrong. The Wii U sold around 13 million. The Switch has sold around 78 million. So, quit acting like the majority of Switch owners have played these Wii U ports. The minorty may have, but the majority of Switch fans have not. 65 million Switch owners have never played these games, so do the math, and get your facts straight. If the minority does not want to buy these games, so be it. Then the majority can still choose to do so.

@TheFrenchiestFry that’s the problem I have. $60 for a straight port is taking advantage of their fans. $60 for a new game is to pay for research and development of that game. The overhead for these ports is a very small fraction of a new game. But fans will pay for it so Nintendo isn’t going to try. No new Mario Kart in 7 years. Metroid should be sold to a company that will use the IP.

@1UP_MARIO
I need to take a look at your Wii U games collection to find interesting titles that i might miss.
Gosh... You have so many Wii U games while i still only have 8 Wii U games (All USA).
Btw, did you / your kids really play those Wii U games (Rabbid, Turbo, Funky Barn) ?

@AngelFox Aaw! And now I’m a huge fan of you

@WOLF13 Bowser's Fury is new. Also, if people want to pay 60 bucks for a game, that is their choice. Also, yes let someone else have Metroid and let it end up like Cyberpunk 2077. Oops

Nintendo crafts games to perfection. Demon Souls is not worth 70 bucks.

@JR150 It was indeed localised by Atlus themselves and not Nintendo's treehouse division, this is a very often overlooked point by the puritan crusaders that crapped on this great rpg

I agree with some of the list, especially the Zelda titles and Yoshi’s Woolley World.

Disagree on Star Fox though. Incredibly average game even if the controls were addressed. That series needs a proper reboot and rethink, not another rehash of the same basic story. There’s stacks of potential to do more with the franchise than what Zero offered:

I would love to see both Wind Waker and Twilight Princess come to the Switch, and can see them actually releasing this year as part of Zelda's 35th anniversary. As much as I would like to play Color Splash and Wolly World, they seem very unlikely as we got Origami King and Crafted World (which are two great games). I also wouldn't be against Kirby and the Rainbow Paintbrush making it's way to the system as well.

@nessisonett The situation is not the same. You can trully make games with backwards compatibility when the systems are so different. If there was backwards compatibility with 3DS, being both handheld, the games would look like crap on TV. And if we could play WiiU games on Switch, we´d miss the second gamepad (so many games wouldn´t work), we probably couldn´t play them on handheld, etc.
They are totally different systems. This is not like WiiU compared to Wii, or Wii to Gamecube, or 3DS to DS. Switch has nothing to do with any of them.

I would be very happy with the two Zelda games and Yoshi’s Woolley World, those games are all amazing. I would love to own higher resolution versions that are portable. I’m thinking a Nintendo Direct lays out what is coming after Mario 3D World releases so hopefully we will know what is coming soon. For my money, I’m betting on a focus on Zelda with the anniversary myself. Maybe even a weird Mario 35 type title with various challenges like speeding through the first Dungeon with 35 other players or something along those lines. A lot to look forward to this year.

Xenoblade X MUST come to Switch. I still find it impressive, one of the best looking games on WiiU (and Switch lol).
Also I really want a collection with both Zeldas. I´d buy them day one.

The rest of them, though... I don´t think they are coming. Same with Splatoon, Paper Mario and Mario Maker, games like Starfox or NintendoLand deserve a brand new game.

I'd just like for Nintendo to port the Fatal Frame (Project Zero) series over. That series deserves a second shot, I'd hate to see the abysmal sales of FF5 on the abysmally sold Wii U, to kill off this franchise.

I'm guess Zelda TWW and TP will be ported over, hopefully has a combo pack and not individually at full price.

@JR150
That's a fluff piece. It was Treehouse who did it because Nintendo handled all the publishing aspects.

Next you'll be telling me Monolith Soft censored Xenoblade X over the fluff piece done by Kotaku.

Id kill for XBX on Switch!

@Anti-Matter yeah. They are the games the kids enjoy. Funky barn was bad though

@TheFrenchiestFry I am not saying if people request something it makes it happen automatically. I am a senior business journalist. I know how these things work. A handful of people wanting F-Zero is not going to make Nintendo create a sequel.

But if enough people say they want one, then it becomes a consideration.

Your initial message was about the pointlessness of people requesting ports or remakes. But it’s not pointless, because sometimes it works.

As long the Switch does not have a GamePad, I keep playing them on the Wii U.

Pushmo World - YES!!
Recently got back into playing on my 3DS b/c I realized I'd never played Stretchmo.

I love that series!

@BloodyMurder
Nintendo is the publisher becuase it had the FE IP. Atlus localized and censored it like they did to Persona 5 Royal (censoring a gay joke) and Persona 2 on PSP (removing Hitler).

(Its localization was handled by Atlus staff rather than Nintendo's internal localization division Nintendo Treehouse. Atlus was chosen over Nintendo due to fan expectation of the type of localization common to an Atlus-published title, and the wish to make the game appeal to long-term fans of the company's work.)

https://www.gematsu.com/2016/04/atlus-handling-tokyo-mirage-sessions-fe-localization

Nintendo doesn't censor games developed by third parties. You can look it up for yourself and find that it was completely on Atlus. Please do research before you make claims.

No more Xeno games of any kind for the Nintendo Switch.

Ive had enough of them

Do people asking for xenoblade chronicles X actually played the game? It was an utter disappointment after the first Xenoblade chronicles. The game looked great for a Wii U game, but that was about it.

@nessisonett This is because most switch owners never had a Wii U. And I don't see how the Wii U could be backwards compatible with a single screen. Also Sony has been doing this an aweful between the PS3 and PS4 and it worked.

@1UP_MARIO Awesome collection!

@BloodyMurder Thanks. Wish there was more in depth info on that but oh well.

The value question around ports is a bit weird, in my view. A few people are commenting on the fact that these games are ports so should cost less... which suggests the games should be cheaper because they didn’t cost much to make....

But that’s a bit odd. Because I don’t pay less to see an indie movie at the cinema than I would when I go see a Marvel movie.

For me, value is about enjoyment + time. By that metric, Super Mario 3D All Stars is a bloody bargain.

But different strokes for different folks

@Hordak I agree, the Wii U gamepad is the most comfortable controller I have ever used, by far. So glad I got the extended battery for it for marathon Breath of the Wild sessions.

I like Fatal Frame, but it's design was was so focused on using the gamepad, so I'm not sure how good it would be ported. I lot of the reason I enjoy that game comes from swinging around the gamepad as a camera. I wish NL would quit praising Star Fox Zero because it was trash. The controls aren't even why I didn't like it. It was absurdly short, it tried to throw in too many different styles of gameplay leaving it an unfocused mess. Plus the parts I did like totaled about 40 minutes of gameplay. Thinking of the parts I liked, I did enjoy the Arwing free range mode, but the size of the battle space was pathetically small and a lot of times the boundaries were invisible so you'd smack it's them without having any way of knowing they were there. I'd be open to a sequel where they go back to the drawing board, but Zero was terrible. I did love Star Fox Guard, but that would be REALLY had to do without the touchscreen.

Color Splash, Rainbow Curse, and Woolly World are all amazing games and I was glad to see them here. None of them are ever going to happen though--Color Splash and Woolly World already have full-on sequels on Switch (the latter also has a 3DS port already), while Rainbow Curse didn't sell particularly well and would be tricky to get working in docked mode (but Captain Toad's on Switch, so anything's possible!).

I was also glad to see Nintendo Land and would also have put Mario Party 10 on there for the same reasons. But let's face it, unless you were to hook two Switches together, both games are fundamentally not possible on Switch.

@Rhaoulos
I played it and loved it. It got me into the Xenoblade series and without it, I never would have purchased 2 and Definitive Edition of 1. So yes. I'd love to see it on Switch.

XBC X is the big one for me. It's my favorite so far out of the series and it deserves an HD remaster for Switch.

Xenoblade Chronicles X is definitely coming this year. I'd like to have all of Xenoblade all on Switch.

Xenoblade X would be soooooo good on Switch! I lost my original save file (accidentally reformatted my external hard-drive...) which had 300 hours, so I've been itching to reexplore Mira with some quality of life improvements!

@nocdaes 100% agree about Star Fox Zero. The control "innovations" were clumsy add-ons. Trimming them away wouldn't be hard. The main issue, unfortunately, is that what's left is still mostly a prettied up version of 64... but I'd still enjoy it.

I wouldn’t mind NES Remix getting a port, or better still a new game- SNES Remix. Those games were such good fun I don’t know why they haven’t done more of them.

@michellelynn0976 what Nintendo game has been perfection as of late ?
And yes, the market allows Nintendo to charge whatever they want. Fanboys would pay $60 for super Mario world if Nintendo asked.

I still do want Xenoblade Chronicles X to come to switch, it's the only one I haven't played. I just don't know when they would port it if they actually do it. I feel like porting it over this year would be too close to the release of XCDE. If they do it later though I don't know if it would end up being too late in the switch's lifespan

@AngelFox It has a scanner. I don't think it works as a pointer though. Not sure.

Yea, no all I want is XCX...Oh the Zeldas

@Nourldean I spent 120 hours on this game and could not enjoy it one bit because the girl in my version wasn't 13. Ruined it for me.

Just kidding, I loved it.

The gate keeping over people wanting Wii U ports is funny. Why should games be stuck on a system that sold less than 15M units Worldwide??? Especially considering how the existing ports have sold very well.

The new games argument doesn't hold much water either. The Switch is getting more new games this year(SMTV, MH Rise, Persona Strikers, YSIX, MH Stories 2, NMH3, BD 2) than Wii U ports(Mario 3D World)

Spent 200+ hours on XCX and hard froze my system several times due to equipment choices. Outside of the ending I loved every second of it and would totally sink in another 200 easy. In terms of just gameplay I enjoyed it more than the other 2 Xenoblade games.

Aside from Wind Waker HD, Twilight Princess HD, & Xenoblade X, I'd rather see new installments/sequels to these games than ports. Like it'd rather see a new Warioware game that specializes in the Joycons than get a port of Game & Wario.

@meeto_1 I can’t guarantee you’d love X more if you played it longer but I ended up loving the game and also didn’t like the first couple hours of it. It did have some flaws but it was a great experience from an exploration standpoint, something the other titles had much less of due to their linearity.

@1UP_MARIO impressive collection

@WOLF13 Zelda, Mario, Pokemon, Smash, AC, LM3, FE3H. Need I go on? Your opinion doesn't make it the last word. If people want to pay for it, they will. Deal with it.

@nessisonett All of Nintendo proper’s studios have released games on the Switch with the majority coming in the first year: Splatoon 2, Arms, Odyssey, and BOTW.. Since that’s been 4 years, i think the next round of big titles should be coming soon.

Nintendo Land's local multiplayer is still one of my favorite gaming experiences ever. That game alone will make me keep my Wii U forever.

Give us mario vs donkey kong switch

The HD Zelda's will definitely come this year.

Woolly World would make me really happy. I never owned a WiiU. Make it happen Nintendo. Please.

@Rhaoulos Xenoblade chronicles X got me into the series and ultimately ended up to my in my top 10 games of all time. I loved it. Sue me I guess idk

@mariomaster96 WWHD/TPHD are probably the next Wii U games to come to Switch due to Zelda's 35th Anniversary coming up.

@nessisonett,

Even more baffling is the people that do not seem to factor in the fact the Wii U only sold 13 million consoles, so all these games will be brand new to a large percentage of Switch owners, and therefore not previous generation games they have already owned and played.

I am still a wiiu diehard (I have 3 of them after all) but it is what it is. I’m not mad at Nintendo for porting what they can.

The two Zelda games are a given at some point, but the rest are unlikely, either because of the effort involved in making them work without a second screen or because of the lack of interest. In some cases, both. NES Remix should have happened already, but if Nintendo had wanted to get those on Switch then they'd have done it by now, as those surely require the least amount of effort of all those in this video.

@AngelFox Indeed. Sadly many companies have realized that instead of backwards compatibility, they can just re-release the games for more money.

@rockodoodle would be nice to have a second one

Bring em all over. WW/TP HD, XCX, color splash, etc. I have a wii u but why not!!!

@BloodyMurder

Wtf are you even talking about? Even if NOA was telling them to censor it, which ya know, seem odd seeing NOA allows games with full nudity on e-shop, they just ... would. It was the "censored" version on the Wii U, and the only difference is that the 13 year old doesn't have a sexy bunny outfit.

I think the bigger reasons it wouldn't come for a while are that Monolith flat out said it would cost to much and it's not a focus. Oh and maybe the fact that the whole team is working on BOTW2.

But sure, just go on thinking it's because they don't want you to sex up a child so you can scream "CENSORSHIP!!!"

https://www.gameinformer.com/2018/10/18/monolith-soft-says-a-xenoblade-chronicles-x-switch-port-would-be-too-expensive#:~:text=Monolith%20Soft%20Says%20A%20Xenoblade%20Chronicles%20X%20Switch,the%20bulk%20of%20the%20developer%27s%20output%20these%20days.

There’s so much to play on Switch, I’m totally baffled by the responses to this story.

Nintendo isn’t going to give you a powerful gpu, and they are just going to keep making games that are boring derivatives of themselves.

Do you really need another terrible Mario or Zelda? If these games had different names, nobody would look twice.

Some of the best innovation in decades is happening all around you, but you you don’t have anything to play. wtaf

@nerdface I have plenty to play. I just want some fresh Nintendo content....

@nerdface I bought the switch to play Mario games. I owned a wii u. So basically I got Mario and rabbids and Mario odyssey for the switch while those who skipped wii u got nsmbud and 3D world as well. I’m definitely buying those games but they aren’t new experiences for me. And yes I need as much Mario as I can get. A Mario every year till I die please and thank you.

@TheFrenchiestFry
I absolutely agree: ports are good to keep game preservation through console generations; however, the pricing is the real problem. I remember how "New Play Control" games, such as Pikmin and Dk Jungle Beat, were released on Wii at a low price (no more than 40 euros, i'm sure). And behind them there was even the effort to adapt them to motion controls! The industry has changed, and Nintendo is no different.

I really don't understand those who say: "Well the price isn't a problem to me, because this is like a new game for me!"... But IT ISN'T A NEW GAME! It should be desirable for everyone to have a fair pricing of such ports. I really don't understand...

Well it's not like these games did great on wii u sales wise I'm guessing the price point is influenced by the whole wii u generation being a huge sales disappointment all round on top of not as hefty porting cost.like it doesnt cost as much but must cost something. The selects range was great value but reflective of a desperate push to sell to limited user base after the intentional launch of the game buyers. I remember even struggling to pick from the buy 2 get 1 game free offer as the were so few releases on the wii u I'd bought most of them at launch already.

Like love my wii u and I do double dip for some ports on switch myself but like wii u was such an absolute sales disaster.
A year into its existence and it was hard to find the games in game stores was given so little shelf space. Remember people asking me what it was under my tv and they were actualy gamers.

Xenoblade Chronicles X is the last game remaining from my Wii U collection aside from Zelda:Wind Waker (which I hope and suspect will be part of a Zelda 35th Anniversary Collection this year). If both end up being ported to Switch then what I'll have left will be strictly Wii titles.

While I've purchased the newer versions of various Wii U games for the Switch, I personally think it's way past time for any future Nintendo consoles to be fully backwards-compatible with digital purchases especially. It would be a great way to reward fans for purchases by making them future-proof, and free their resources up for completely new and original projects.

A couple of those Wii U games look like they'll push the limits of Switch hardware.

Nintendo Land is still such a fresh experience after all of these years. At the time of the Wii U's launch, the possibilities of the system seemed boundless, but sadly, it was quickly apparent that third parties had little to no intention of utilising what made the Wii U unique (and even Nintendo themselves seemed to jump ship with most of their latter releases).

Game & Wario, the low-budget proof-of-concept that it is, was also full of brilliant ideas. Sketch, Gamer, and Camera especially. Some of the "toys" were also really cool.

I think (and hope) Nintendo will eventually return to dual-screen gaming, likely with a detachable screen that can connect to the main unit so that its use will be optional on a game by game basis.

@Rhaoulos Xenoblade Chronicles X is best viewed as Final Fantasy I, III, V in that it is systems driven with a lite story. It is the combat system, skell system, world progression, and a thousand side quests that make the game. For the most part you fill in the details between the story beats given. It’s not for everyone, but I grew up with the story plots of NES Dragon Quest.

That is part of the reason it was X and not 2. I hope they eventually go back and make an X2 to fill in some of the missing/cut story given the ending.

Sony had the right attitude to ports on the ps3. They bundled a whole series together (Devil May Cry, Prince of Persia, God of War, Ratchet, Jak and Daxter, Ico etc), upgraded to HD, widescreen, added a few bells and whistles, and charged £20-£30 for each collection. Great games at a fair price given they weren't from-the-ground-up remakes. Those were the days. Now game companies have realised that nostalgia is worth more.

Actual "Great" Wii U Games:
Zelda Windwaker HD
Zelda Twilight Princess HD

Somewhat Positively Reviewed Wii U Games:
Xenoblade Chronicles X
Pullblox World
Kirby and the Rainbow Paintbrush
Wii Sports Club
NES Remix 1&2
Nintendo Land

Negatively Reviewed Wii U Games:
Star Fox Zero + Guard
Project Zero: Maiden of Blackwater
Game & Wario
Yoshi's Woolly World
Paper Mario: Color Splash

So 2 great Wii U games and 11 games that are "great" the same way that the Ford Edsel is a "classic car".

@MontyCircus Yoshis Woolley World didn’t review poorly. It holds a higher metacritic rating, which is an aggregate of reviews, than most of the titles in your “somewhat positive” list.

@MontyCircus Woolly World wasn't negatively reviewed? And Xenoblade was received quite well also, only a few points below Twilight Princess HD on metacritic. Odd.

@Smigit @Orpheus79V I put anything both below an 80 on MetaCritic and under an 8.0 on IGN in the naughty pile. I use 85 on MetaCritic or a 9 on IGN for my dividing line for a "great" game. "Twilight Princess" made the cut and "Xenoblade X" did not. Also, "Twilight Princess" on Wii was a 95 on MetaCritic and a 9.5 on IGN. "Xenoblade Chronicles X" got an 84 on MetaCritic and 8.2 on IGN. Much, much different.

pretty much everyone: nah, Wii U didn't have gaems

nintendo: so how about Wii U ports to Switch?

pretty much everyone: bring them over!! all of them!!

@MontyCircus Each to their own, but metacritic places Woolley World above most of the games in your somewhat positive list. I think it’s misleading to drop it down and say it “reviewed poorly” when it’s just IGN pulling it down below those other titles, a single review site.

Something like Paper Mario Color Spash was more widely criticised at release from what I read. IGN also rated that title 7.3, bellow the 7.4 they have Woolley World, so that title at least is rated worse on both IGN and Metacritic (76 vs 78) and presumably belongs in the craptacular list.

@Smigit When I see a MetaCritic score under 80 or IGN under 8, alarm bells go off in my head. I find those reviews tend to have issues, problems, bugs with the games in question.

"I think it’s misleading to drop it down and say it “reviewed poorly” when it’s just IGN pulling it down below those other titles, a single review site." On the contrary, I use IGN to "save" games from my "DO NOT PLAY" list if they are at or above an 8 but MetaCritic has them below 80. All the games in the "reviewed negatively" list I posted are BOTH under 80 on MetaCritic and under an 8 on IGN.

Good call on Color Splash, I screwed up putting it in the "good" pile.

@nessisonett most of us don’t have Wii U’s though. Even if every Wii U owner bought a Switch (they didn’t), only a fraction of Switch owners would’ve had a Wii U anyways. Given how poor the Wii U sold, it’s not really comparable to most console generations. Sure, backwards compatibility would be ideal, but the fact is we don’t have that and most of us never got to play those games. Most people asking for these games DON’T have them sitting around.

@BloodyMurder are you seriously upset you didn’t get a game with a near nude 13 year old?

God I don’t understand people who get upset over censorship when it’s just removing half naked children. It’s gross. Let studios fix poor choices.

@Harmonie Exactly. Why not just buy a Wii U to get them all.

It's like people begging for a Rare Replay port from Xbox One for years, but can't afford to pay 100$ for a used Xbox One and 3$ for the game in a bargain bin.

Port starfox and the 2 Zeldas and I’m fully satisfied xxxx

@RonDale Right on. My biggest problem with Switch is that it abandoned dual screens and asymmetrical functionality.

If the Switch "Pro" is dual screen based, I would love games like ZombiU to pop up on it and demonstrate that vision that Iwata pushed for.

The only title I’d want to see Ported over with new levels and online play.
Zombie U

@Friendly buy a wii U, if u want these games so bad

I'll take 1 great new I.P. from Nintendo over 13 Wii U ports tbh.

Of that list, I'd say:

Xenoblade X
LOZ Windwaker HD
LOZ Twilight Princess
Fatal Frame

Have a realistic chance of a Switch release, the others not so much:

Starfox would need completely rebuilding, so might as well just make a new game.

NES/SNES remix probably don't have a place with the NES and SNES services of Switch.

Paper Mario, Kirkby and Yoshi have all had follow ups released on Switch so unlikely.

Wii Sports has had its day I think. There could be a new version some point down the line but I think that is some way off and likely not a port.

Skyward Sword is the one that I think is possibly more likely than any of those though mentioned above though (obviously wii not wii u).

My stance on ports, as someone who bought a Wii U, and bought all of these games once already, is that if people wanted to play these games maybe they should have bought a Wii U when it was current.

I'm not saying the Wii U wasn't without issue but if you buy a console for specs instead of library then you reap what you sow. The library was clearly good, because half of them have been ported already and this article proves there are plenty more which are of interest.

As someone who has been buying and playing Nintendo consoles for over 20 years, it frustrates me that those who opted out don't have to stand by their choice, and my FOMO gets exploited and I get to pay twice for a few extra levels or features, and even then only if I'm lucky.

That said, that's just one very focused annoyance for me. Many more frustrations that are finally getting on top of me come down to Nintendo's contempt for their customers, both loyal and new.

The one that sticks out is Windwaker HD really. That was no.1 on this site's WiiU games as voted by the site's "viewers" here. I can see that happening but maybe a bit later in the Switch's lifespan.

I would like Xenoblade Chronicles X . I didn't like it as much as XC1 but preferred it to XC2.

I loved Nintendo Land and Game and Wario but they were about syncronised gameplay between the gamepad and the tv (for the many of the mini/midi games) so how would they adapt that for switch handheld play without taking a lot of its charm and game's actual purpose away? Same with Wii Sports Club. If we see any of these 3, they would most likely be remade games althogether for the Switch. Where is my Warioware of Wario Land Switch game?!

Twilight Princess HD would be a nice playthrough but wouldn't that be the 3rd port now? Gamecube to Wii, Wii to Wii U (HD) then Wii U to Switch? Admittedly brilliant ports, but....

Fatal Frame sticks out like Windwaker HD in a way because it is a good and unique gaming experience that would be aces on the Switch.

The 3DS version of Wooly World was great and that actual console sold well. Also the "sequel" is on the Switch. So is there any need? I don't think Nintendo will think so.

The Kirby Paintbrush game was one of the lesser selling Kirby games. It may sell better on the Switch, but they seem to have abandoned that Canvas Curse style gameplay. Will it be any good with your stubby finger on the Switch as opposed to the stylus?

We already have a Paper Mario and a Mario Party on the Switch. Seems strange to effectively go backwards in the games' timeline and port a relatively average selling game on the Wii U for the Switch.

NES Remix 1&2 & Pullblox Worldare good shouts for the Nintendo Switch I think. But could Ninty not just do a NES Remix 3 and a Pullblox World 2 for the Switch? Maybe NES Remix series is unlikely with the Switch NES online service.

I actually liked Star Fox Zero but having had the 3D game of Star Fox 64 and now Zero on Wii U, I can't see more Star Fox on this console tbh. Maybe towards the end of the Switch's lifespan but that is a very long shot for me. How did they both sell? Hmmm...

@NintendoArchive @Ventilator Better idea: Stop whining that games become available on more systems.

Using QR codes to share levels in Pullblox was genius! It means there are no servers to kill off and we can trade levels forever!

@Subtle24 This has been the case since forever and ever. How many versions of street fighter II have been released? How many versions of Pacman, Space Invaders or Mario Bros? Game producers rerelease the same game with little addons since forever.

You could also stand by YOUR choice to buy games early, or you could decide to wait from now on for 'definitive editions' since almost each game nowadays gets one within a few years after release.

Can we stop with the 4 people bought a Wii U joke? 13.56 million is a lot more than 4. It's not anywhere near the Switch sales, but it's still a lot.

I just want Twilight Princess, Wind Waker, and Xenoblade X.

@Ventilator Well IMO, there is a difference between asking for one game from the previous console to be ported than asking for an entire library from the previous console to be ported.

Like me with Persona 4 Golden. It's a game I'd really like to play. I would love to see it ported to the Switch. (I don't feel entitled to that, though, no). But here's the thing: When I think about the PS Vita, Persona 4 Golden is the ONLY game I'm interested on from the Vita.

For me, a console is defined by its games. If a console only has one or two games of interest to me, then it's most likely not a worthwhile investment for me no matter which way I look at it... But when we're getting up into four, five, six plus games, then things are different.

And this is what baffles me. All of the port begging from the Wii U. People are coming out of the woodwork that wanted like twenty of the Wii U's games... and I'm just like... Why didn't you get the Wii U?

It wasn't a bad system. It wasn't at all. It has many pluses as opposed to the Switch in fact. There is no way on earth that the Wii U is so bad that people shouldn't have been buying it for its games. And that's what leaves me utterly confused. I understand that the general populace was confused by the Wii U name, thinking it was a Wii add-on, but those of us on this site? We knew what the Wii U was. We had no excuse not to get one (unless it wasn't financially viable, which then I completely understand. But what percentage of port beggers here had that issue versus how many just didn't get it just because?) if we liked such a large number of games for it.

@BloodyMurder Literally the only thing censored in X was the "boon slider" in character creation and some of Lin's outfits cuz she's like 13 and X was such an amazing game for exploration and rpg mechanics that if that ruined the game for you I think you missed the point and are playing the wrong game. Plenty of ecchi games out there if that's what makes or breaks a game for you. Same with TMS just missed some boobs and not much else, also a good game.

@Harmonie I see your point about one game, but Rare Replay have 30 games where most of them costed 50-60 bucks each on original release. Several of these games are retail DVD Games too, and several of them were upgraded to 4K/60 for FREE. Without 4K/60 upgrades, Rare Replay still fills a 50.GB Blu-Ray. Switch would need 2 x 32.GB Retail carts for this collection.

"Kameo" alone were one of the best looking, best sounding and best games on PS3/360 generation.

As for Wii U, it were never a bad console. It just sold less than it should even with all it's great exclusives and is why people think it's a bad console.

Funny thing is that people begs for 10's of ports from a console they all think were a failure due to lack of games.
Something doesen't make sense there.
If they thought Wii U were so great, they would already had the console years ago.

For comparison GameCube and Xbox 2001 only sold around 5 millions more than Wii U which is not a lot.
Were GameCube and Xbox also failures then since most ignored both consoles almost as much as Wii U?
Can't say it's a less market when PS2 sold over 150 millions, and not even PS4 or Wii could match it.
Also. GameCube only sold nearly half of what N64 sold din in 1990's.

GameCube, Dreamcast and Xbox all sold low amount of consoles, but they all had lots of great games worth getting those consoles.

Wii U sure have a bunch of bonuses missing on Switch.
Folders, External HDD support, Sweet systems apps, more apps, Pro Gamepad had up to 80 hours on one charge, Overall better Amiibo support. Mario Kart 8 on Wii U also had direct upload to YouTube from MK TV ingame.
I could write a long list, but you probably know it all.

@Friendly its more my concern that Nintendo sells these games at a premium, and pretends they are new, all the while their new game output is as slow as it has ever been, and the new games they have put out are often lackustre (pokemon, fire emblem three houses, splatoon 2, 1-2 switch labo, arms, Smash Ultimate to an extent). I have no interest in a company kept afloat by lazy ideas, that are then defended by an unimaginative fanbase.

@Harmonie Wii U might be favourite system (even though the Gamecube, N64, or Snes are probably better)

@NintendoArchive you call fire emblem 3 houses, splatoon 2 and super smash bros ultimate lacklustre?

My god. Your standards mate. Lower them.

@NintendoArchive also funny how you mention labo, arms and 1-2 switch and unimaginative in one post.

@Ventilator i didn’t think the wii U was a failed system due to the lack of games. I just wasn’t able to invest time into it due to rl stuff (doing masters and working abroad).

Why do people have problems with ports to a hybrid system. You do not have to buy them? And be honest, your backlog screams to you ‘please, don’t buy any new game!’, am I right?

Top video. Great selection. I'd buy Paper Mario: Color Splash and Xenoblade Chronicles X on Switch day one. The Zelda's probably too.

Make a video for exclusive Wii U indie games! Don't forget to mention Affordable Space Adventures, Knytt Underground, Scram Kitty and his Buddy on Rails, Year Walk, Stealth Inc. 2, The Swapper, Thomas Was Alone, Noitu Love Devolution, EDGE, and Underground. I'd say Lone Survivor too, but a Switch port is already in development.

@Friendly arms feels like a mode in Nintendo land in terms of content, (a small exaggeration), labo while being very creative has very underwhelming software attached to it, three houses is incredibly cheap-looking, and is very lacking in terms of traditional FE gameplay; a game for all the shippers, I guess, Splatoon 2 added duelies, an umbrella, and salmon run to the original's grand formula, while its single player was worse, and the only new competitive mode (clam blitz) wasn't any good. (I played splatoon 2 for 220 hours, it doesn't offer anything substantial enough, that you wouldn't get playing the 1st.) 1-2 switch is a sham when compared to its party predecessors, Nintendo land, wii sports resort, even wii play motion and wii play. Add in the fact that there is no new retro title for the last 7 years, no new Mario kart, no new 2d mario (admittedly they were stale, but by no means bad), no warioware (the last being a compilation), no smash game that properly remembers the generation that preceded it, as the others did, no 3rd party exclusives like in the days of the wii (just late to the party ports, that are cheaper and better anywhere else), no return of an old franchise, such as pikmin, punchout, star fox, Kid icarus, f-zero, donkey kong country, etc, no new franchises either (cept for arms....great). Couple this with the fact that I don't think their flagship titles on the switch have been much of anything; sure botw and Odyssey are novel and flashy at first, but I don't there content is all that compelling (especially odyssey, botw could be argued that the new makes up for the old). As for Luigi's mansion 3, I didn't play it, cus i thought dark moon was very underwhelming, then there's link's awakening, which i cant really say anything good or bad about it. There's the lacklustre pokemon games, the grindy and disappointing octopath traveler, astral chain (people seem to like that one). Four years in, and that's how i see the switch, not to mention having terrible hardware issues, bad online (not free either anymore) no additional hardware perks, like StreetPass, miiverse, or backwards compatibility. I don't actually play the thing anymore, I guess my standards are too high; all those years playing much more compelling content from Nintendo.

@NintendoArchive Reading your comment I couldn’t stop thinking: What are you doing on a Nintendo fan website (anymore)?

Your opinion is your opinion, all fair and square. But maybe you should find a different hobby, if all those many games you mentioned are not to your liking.

Or move for a generation to different hardware and return the next to Nintendo’s hardware. You will be able to play Mario Odyssey the definitive edition and Breath of the Wild HD Remastered master quest hero mode #Encore.

@Friendly this page partially concerns the Wii U, which I very much enjoy to this day, and I don't frequent this site hardly at all anymore, nor do I play the switch anymore, nor will I play their console more than likely. As for what you said about definitive editions (for games I don't care about,) you are really demonstrating the very thing that makes me think that Nintendo will never have my interest again.

@NintendoArchive ok, to each their own. I hope you’ll find what you’re looking for out there.

@NintendoArchive just read a reddit thread. Funny how times have changed.

“In between Wii U and Switch there was huge narrative about Nintendo "should go software only". Part of the reasoning behind it being how Nintendo can't make popular console anymore, yet it is capable of developing some of the best titles on the market. Now that Nintendo has console with some user base, it feels like there is opposite narrative.“

I'd love to have a port of Metroid Prime Trilogy (I know it was on Wii, not Wii U) and I played XCX briefly on my Wii U before it broke down. I could buy another Wii U somehow, sure, but I like my Switch's form factor and don't want to go back. I don't feel it's 'begging' for the port so much as "that would be nice if they did it, but I won't blow a gasket if it never happens".

Why not port as many games as possible? A game doesn't lose total value just because it's old. I do agree that last- and older-gen ports shouldn't come out at full price though, physical or digital.

@Friendly I remember that rhetoric, of course, I never cared for it as I was having the time of my life in the Wii U days. Of course, that was due to the 3ds as well, when the Wii u software waned, the 3ds software increased, and vice versa, the year 2014. Makes me miss the hardware division.

I'll tell you what, while I find your optimism and contentment insufferable, you live up to your handle, guy.

@Rhaoulos I played 200hrs+ on Xenoblade X and thought is was amazing! I like the entire series really. X was just a different beast to the others, it prioritized exploration and free form gameplay over a narrative focused experience. I will say the game was not intuitive or beginner friendly so you really had to dig in and figure out it's nuanced systems. I doubt it will come to Switch but that game deserves a bigger audience than it got 1st time around.

Honestly regardless of console or fandom this whole "port-begging" kind of came off as completely unnecessary and mostly doesn't even result in anything worthwhile

there's a unique sense of entitlement I've seen specifically from the Switch-crowd that feel that absolutely everything ever needs to come to Switch regardless of possibility or probability.

@TheFrenchiestFry Let me get this straight. Someone has already bought a current video game console, but doesn't have the money, time or inclination to purchase a second/third/fourth machine; said someone would like to play particular games not yet published for the console in hand. And you consider that person... entitled? According to you, that someone should go out and spend additional hundreds or more - for the benefit of private corporations - just to buy one or a few games?...

Do you realize how anti-customer and absurd you sound? First-world problems indeed.

I also don’t get this idea that Nintendo doesn’t do new games. Like last year there was 6... completely original Nintendo games released. And that was a quiet year. I think that’s the most of any publisher

@Dringo The expectations people have of Nintendo, versus Sony or Microsoft, are very very interesting. Don't you think? And I am guilty also; I am constantly on the lookout for the next Metroid, let alone a revival of F-Zero...

Your initial message was about the pointlessness of people requesting ports or remakes. But it’s not pointless, because sometimes it works.

@Dringo Apparently people forget that the original Xenoblade Chronicles appeared outside Japan due to noisy fan interest. Admittedly as a localization and not as a port or a remake, but no less impressive for that.

@NintendoArchive how can I not be content. I’m living the Wii U days.

@Friendly not quite sure I am bailing what you are swathing.

@Friendly You are right. My backlog is insane.
PC/Steam, Wii U, Switch, Xbox One, PS4, 360, PS3, VITA, 3DS, Wii +++
I also have Game Pass Ultimate, PSN+ and EA Play to make it worse.

@Dualmask I have Metroid Prime Trilogy on Wii U installed, but it's Wii version.

@Muddy_4_Ever Yep, it's true... I remember being surprised at the time (inbetween growing frustration over the controls!) at just how similar to 64/Lylat Wars it was - and I had played the 3DS "port" fairly recently too.

I agree, I'd still be happy to play it again with the controls sorted out. The dream is something new... but as I said, it feels like Star Fox is a low priority for Nintendo. I just hope it doesnt do an F-Zero and dissapear for a prolonged time.

@Ventilator I knew it!

I have the same problem... Most of us probably.

@COVIDberry I do get why Nintendo fans are so demanding, it's because they buy Nintendo machines for Nintendo games.

I have a PS5, it's super good. And I've loved Spider-Man and Astrobot. But when I look at the year ahead, the games I am looking forward to... Resident Evil Village, Far Cry 6, Hogwards Legacy, Back 4 Blood, Gotham Knights... sure, Ratchet & Clank and Ghostwire: Tokyo, too. But a number of games from different companies.

Whereas Nintendo consoles... it's all about Nintendo. So if Nintendo is having a quieter few years, which is inevitable when a year like 2017 happens... people get frustrated. I've been watching the market for enough years to know this happens every time. And then, once the dust settles and we look back over the course of the generation, we realise that actually it was pretty bloody great. And it has been. And I expect, continue to be.

XenoBlade Chronicles X - I really tried to love you, with our cool scifi story and mech simulator. I even got your collector's edition for my birthday and poured tons of my hard earned free time trying to play you. Unlike your older sister game that I got used at the tail end of the wii's life cycle with a bunch of other games; You came right out in the middle of a game draught after much hype. Allas the honey moon ended right after the starting cutscenes.

I fought through the endless menus and poorly explained game systems and endured the truly awful music of New LA. I just couldn't scale your steep grind walls of the game story. Your constant teasing of owning mechs fascinated and frustrated me into searching for X/Y/Z quest items for hours upon hours. I just couldn't do it anymore. You broke me.

If we are to have a relationship again, things would need to change for the better. Maybe you can learn from your younger sister game, though she still suffers from some of the same things.You need to respect my time and not forcibly extend the game via level and grind quests gates. Also please simplify and better explain... everything you got going on. Also give access to mechs after a few hours not 40+ hours.

If you can do those things Maybe maybe we can get back to speaking terms.

Better idea: Stop whining that games become available on more systems.

@Friendly I try always to strongly reject prejudice. And that's a good thing, because if I allowed myself to succumb, I would be developing a strong dislike for contemporaneous Wii U owners about now. The terms "elitist" and "gatekeeper" come to mind, not to mention the phrase "Misery loves company".

Its an aspect of fanboy psychology, I guess.

@COVIDberry and you’re a better person than I am for it

Monster hunter stories isn't on the switch and that's a shame to be honest

@Dr_Corndog still doesn't change the fact that the port was garbage

@Envy Mmm kay.