Mailbox: The Wii U's Legacy, Mii Singing, Hippos - Nintendo Life Letters

Guess who's back, back again? NL Mailbox's back, tell a friend.

Yes, it's once again time to recline in a comfy chair with your favourite beverage by your side, as we rifle through our monthly mailbag. Got something you want to get off your chest? We're ready and waiting to read about your game-related ponderings.

Each month we’ll highlight a Star Letter, the writer of which will receive a month’s subscription to our ad-free Supporter scheme. Check out the submission guidelines at the bottom of this page.

It's a fairly light month, but let's not prevaricate about the bush, let's dive right into things...

Nintendo Life Mailbox - April 2026

"it is fun to bounce off them" (***STAR LETTER***)

Hello,

I am wondering what your favourite Nintendo hippo is. The highest-profile ones currently are probably the Hoppos from Mario Wonder along with their appearance as one of the Wonder Effects in Mario Tennis Fever.

The Mario universe also has several others such as the tree-climbing Bopapodamuses from Donkey Kong Country Returns, High-Octane Hippo from WarioWare Move It, the big-eared Hippopo enemies from Super Mario RPG, Scoff from Donkey Kong 64 and the bubble-blowing Hippo from Super Mario Land 2, along with a level in that game with multiple names including the ‘Hippo Zone’.

Outside of the Mario universe, we have ten Animal Crossing villagers who are hippos (Bertha, Biff, Bitty, Bubbles, Clara, Harry, Hippeux, Lulu, Rocco and Rollo). Fun fact: hippo is the only land animal to have had a total of one villager in an Animal Crossing game, with only one hippo villager in Wild World.

There is also the Ground-type Pokemon Hippopotas and its evolution Hippowdon. Zelda: Link’s Awakening has a hippo model in the Animal Village posing for a painting. And while he is not actually a hippo, we can consider King Hippo from Punch-Out too. My favourite is probably Hoppos because it is fun to bounce off them. I would love a Hoppo amiibo!
eXtremeHippo

With all the stuff going on right now, I just enjoyed this one. Hippos. What's not to like?

Oh, and favourite hippos? Easy. It's the fruit-eating Kablasta hippos from Labo VR. - Ed.

"Skipping to the good bits"

Hey, guys! Avid reader here.
Skipping to the good bits, I was wondering how you feel about the Wii U’s legacy now that practically its entire library is on switch.
It came to my attention when I was gushing to my friend about the Wii U, and he retorted saying that it’s redundant given the present ports, and I’ll confess I have no rebuttal to that, haha.

I ultimately do appreciate the Wii U for what it left behind (though I kinda wish the Yakuza and Zelda remasters would get ported already). I still own a Wii U pro controller even if I haven’t found a way to connect it to my steam deck.

Cheers!
Yousef

The Wii U walked so the Switch run and jump and wahoo into the stratosphere. It's still the best place to play Mario Maker, Nintendo Land was an underrated winner, and I still love being able to whack a golf ball from my GamePad into the telly. I liked the Wii U and it's curvy discs then, and I like them now.

There are still a handful of exclusives, but Wii U will never be truly gone all the while it holds Affordable Space Adventures in its cold, dead hand. - Ed.

"make my Mii sing"

Dear Nintendo Life staff

I wonder who has the most creativity when playing games like Tomodachi Life 3DS and ACNH. I have tried to make my Mii sing with "Indonesian" language by typing certain words with English accent that sounds like Indonesian pronounciation. For example, I typed Ke Chow Wuck to make my Mii say "Kecoak" (Cockroach).
Also, from ACNH I did a lot of photoshoots at Harv Island to make random narrative photoshoots such as a WICKED scene, my Halloween story, ACNH anniversary, Holidays, etc.
Well, that's how I enjoy both of those games.
From: Anti-Matter

I take any opportunity to crowbar my Star Trek uniforms into our ACNH coverage, and I smell an opportunity right now.

Therefore, t'is I, my dear Anti-Matter, who has the most creativity with games like these. Marvel at my creative genius in the pic below, as I wear my First Contact/latter-era DS9 Mister Worf get-up while relaxing in my Captain Picard Ready Room. - Ed.

"a pun master"

Hi there,
Do you guys have a pun division, or is every author a pun master? Even if the topic of an article doesn't interest me, I always check what pun you came up with. Excellent work!
xmkbest

Very kind. We've all studied punnery to varying degrees, and Jim is currently writing his pun master's thesis. I would write one here, but that would be a bit crass, no? There's a sensitivity to the art, to the craft of pun. You can't just jam one in anywhere willy-nilly.

Plus, it's Friday evening and I can't think of one. - Ed.

Bonus Letters

"Hello everyone I want to give this to Mr. Miamoto" - Super Mario

If you can't get face time with him, we're never getting that interview. - Ed.

"Could you please provide more information about New Nintendo 3DS?" - Alivhuna

The non-XL New one is the best. And I've got 19 pink and white striped faceplates for it in my basement. Will that do? - Ed.

That's all for this month! Thanks to everyone who wrote in, whether you were featured above or not.

Got something you'd like to get off your chest? A burning question you need answered? A correction you can't contain? Follow the instructions below, then, and we look forward to rifling through your missives.

Nintendo Life Mailbox submission advice and guidelines

• Letters, not essays, please - Bear in mind that your letter may appear on the site, and 1000 words ruminating on the Legend of Heroes series and asking Alana for her personal ranking isn't likely to make the cut. Short and sweet is the order of the day. (If you're after a general guide, 100-200 words would be ample for most topics.)
• Don't go crazy with multiple correspondences - Ideally, just the one letter a month, please!
• Don't be disheartened if your letter doesn't appear in the monthly article - We anticipate a substantial inbox, and we'll only be able to highlight a handful every month. So if your particular letter isn't chosen for the article, please don't get disheartened!

How to send a Letter to the Nintendo Life Mailbox

• Head to Nintendo Life's Contact page and select the subject "Reader Letters" from the drop-down menu (it's already done for you in the link above). Type your name, email, and beautifully crafted letter into the appropriate box, hit send, and boom — you're done!