larry_koopa

Love that Rosalina one!! Just grabbed it for my fiancée.

No surprises here, but as I've said before, it was Tropical Freeze for me this year. Hands down.

What a quality year for Nintendo all around. It's hard to argue with these results, though personally Tropical Freeze is my Game of the Year.

Happy Holidays, everybody!!

So glad I've never cared about Amiibo. It certainly seems to make life easier. Call me crazy, but I'd rather spend my money on games to play, not on toys that don't do anything that's worthwhile...

I'm going to keep my mind open. I do prefer to just use a regular controller with all of my games, but I'm willing to give this a shot. That said, if I have to spend the majority of my time looking at that GamePad screen I will be disappointed. I want to be taking in the HD graphics on my 42 inch TV, not the dinky, low-res GamePad screen...

Tropical Freeze for Wii U and overall Game of the Year for me. I doubt it will win either, but it's the most fun I've had on a Nintendo console this year.

Anyways, looking forward to seeing the results!!

Two things:

1. Make sure it is animated. It cannot be live action.

2. Don't make it weird.

That is all.

As somebody who has been advocating for video reviews for a long time now, this sort of thing makes me very happy. Or perhaps this type of thing has always been in that "latest videos" section and I just haven't been paying close enough attention. If that's the case than I certainly feel like an idiot...

Well with all the great stuff they've released this year I would certainly hope so

So three years into the life cycle of the Wii U it will finally have games that make good use of the GamePad... just sayin'

What's going on in these factories

Well I am not playing this game again until I get confirmation that this is fixed. Nintendo had better patch this up in an update soon.

What is this? Ubisoft??

@drewb0203

I agree. One of the worst Mario games in recent memory.

Very fair review. This game is just clearly a lazy-effort all around on Wii U, which is too bad for those with only one console who were looking forward to this release.

It's not a reflection on the console itself, merely on the development team of this port.

My 5 reasons:

1. Mario Kart 8
2. Tropical Freeze
3. Smash Bros.
4. Mario 3D World
5. Mario Kart 8

I love Sony, love my PS3, and am looking forward to getting a PS4 next year, but those games right there are the reasons why I'm still a Nintendo fanboy at the age of 27.

Thomas - thank you. This was one of the best pieces that I have ever read on the site, and unlike plenty of users I actually read everything through before I comment.

You're completely spot-on with everything here and I applaud you for putting all of this out there.

@OdnetninAges

Right, apparently not liking bad games means I'm no fun at parties. Glad I care what you think, kid.

When a system can offer you Super Mario 3D World, Tropical Freeze, Mario Kart 8, and Smash Bros., why would anybody want to waste their money on a game with the word "Sonic" in the title?

Glad I pre-ordered that bundle. My fiancé and I happily put over 10 hours into the game since Friday night.

Tropical Freeze, Mario Kart 8, Bayonetta 2, and Smash Bros.

The four biggest Wii U titles of the year, and yet NONE of them use the GamePad in a meaningful way, if at all.

I love the Wii U, but the GamePad is a joke. Accept it, people.

Why are people so upset about a pending score? We're all just going to buy the game in 2 days anyways, so let's calm down a bit.

And plenty of sites do this. They want to test the online modes under real-world conditions.

Anyways, who cares. Come Friday morning none of this will matter.

Simply excellent, Thomas.

Look, I hope this project is very successful for Nintendo this holiday season and beyond, but until these things do more than their pointless functions in Mario Kart 8 and Smash Bros I have zero interest in them.

What Nintendo needs to do is make a Disney Infinity-esque game where there's actually a world for people to use their Amiibo in. That would be interesting to me and they had better announce something like that at E3. But unlocking a Kirby costume in Mario Kart? I'll pass, thanks.

I could certainly live with all of these predictions

Downloading right now and it seems to be going at a pretty good clip. Might be because I'm in Canada and it's currently 7:14am here. Most of the country is still in bed at this point lol.

@BenAV

Not at all, my good man.

They keep making this trash every year, and yet people keep buying it...

@Azooooz

I agree. Keep it simple and limited to actual Nintendo stuff, not everything that's ever appeared anywhere.

This is already too confusing for me. My fiancé and I will be steering clear of this fad; we'll just have fun playing games instead.

I've never been a fan of transparent handhelds or controllers. To me they just look cheap - like they should be full of candy or something.

Anyways, to each their own.

What's this? An unpolished Sonic game? Unheard of!

I would hardly call Birdo, King Boo, and Petey Piranha "series staples," but otherwise this was great. Can't wait for these new tracks!!

@Punished_Boss_84

Also well said. I honestly could not imagine just having a Wii U this console generation. Yes, Nintendo's first party stuff is amazing, but I don't just want to play Mario Kart and Tropical Freeze over and over again , waiting months on end for something new to come along. I have very diverse gaming tastes and Nintendo alone just doesn't cut it anymore. It did when I was 7, but not now that I'm 27. Sometimes I want to play racing games that don't involve turtle shells, and sometimes I actually want to shoot stuff in my games. Not many of those options on the Wii U.

@SpookyMeths

Well said.

Personally I'll take Mario AND everything that Sony can offer as well. That's how I get all of my gaming bases covered.

This feature really does just seem stupid and pointless.

I'm hoping that the amiibo use in Mario Kart is better than this.

Knowing that this game is right around the corner almost makes me forget how truly awful the first year of the Wii U's life was. That's all under the bridge now, though. Tropical Freeze and HD Mario Kart and Smash Bros?? Thank you, Nintendo.

I think the Wii U already offers great value at it's current price (not to mention plenty of bundle options out there as well.) I know I'm waiting for a serious price cut before I buy a PS4. Plus right now the PS4 doesn't have a single game that I want, but that'll change as the cycle moves along.

I'm perfectly content to split my time between my Wii U and my PS3.

I was in my local EB Games yesterday and they had plenty of copies available. I'll be buying my physical copy in a few months once I get through my course.

Thanks for doing this, NL. I'm looking forward to playing the actual game a few months down the line. I downloaded the demo when it became available and really enjoyed it, but I found it very difficult to actually learn combos. I found that all the moves more or less look the same, so I felt like I was just button mashing while dodging affectively. Hopefully when I can sit down with the full game I'll actually be able to learn some techniques.

Another year, another couple of mis-guided Sonic games. Somebody wake me when the formula actually changes.

Also, the words "adventure" and "explore" should not be used when discussing Sonic. Ever. Do developers simply not remember the Genesis Sonic games??

I think this is pretty cool. I'm still going to stick with my trusty Larry Koopa, but it'll be neat to have Link be one of the other 11 racers.

Mainly though I just care about the new Cups. That's worth the money right there.

What a hottie.

This is such a great deal. I can't wait!!

Still have all three DKC games on my Wii. Not in the habit of buying things multiple times just because Nintendo thinks I should. Why, that'd be like buying 3 different remodels of the 3DS... not like anybody would be eager to throw their money away for something like that, now would they..?

Zero interest in this.

@ThomasBW84

Great review!! I can't wait to pick this up. Wii U Game of the Year contender??

Totally checking out that Bayonetta 2 demo later tonight!!

No I'm not disappointed at all. People, it's missing three controller inputs when compared to the GamePad and Pro Controller. The sticks don't click and it's got one less shoulder button on the left. It would not work for any game that uses those inputs. Wind Waker and Mario Kart and Mass Effect and Tropical Freeze are all perfect with the Pro Controller. Stop being greedy and stop complaining. You all wanted to be able to play Smash with a Game Cube controller and you got your wish. Be thankful for that and move on.

I'm perfectly happy with my Pro Controller for everything else. I just want this for Smash Bros. Tropical Freeze and Mario Kart 8 control just fine the way they are, thank you very much.

@Jllanos22

Agreed. I'm not buying a thing until somebody actually provides me information on how these things will work not just in Smash Bros., but Mario Kart 8. I'm not just buying them because they look nice.