The Wii U 2014 report card: Games trump innovation

The Wii U is finally finding itself.

Nintendo originally positioned the console as an innovation, similar to how the Wii’s rocked gaming in 2006. But while that system had motion controls, the Wii U has a giant GamePad with a touchscreen. However, this gadget hasn’t resonate with the market, and the Wii U isn’t close to becoming the massive hit that the Wii was.

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Now, two years after the system’s launch, Nintendo has found a new identity for its troubled console. The Wii U is no longer that system with the weird controller — it’s a console that plays some of the best games Nintendo has ever made.

As we recently did with the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, we graded the Wii U, although we’re specifically looking at its 2014 since it’s a year older than its competitors.

Games

The Wii U is beginning to see a familiar problem for Nintendo consoles. A lack of third-party publisher support means that the system has to depend on quality first-party games. Luckily, Nintendo does a great job with its own software, and it has released new games in some of its most reliable franchises on the Wii U this year.

Here’s what you can only get on Wii U:

• Wii Fit U
• Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze
• NES Remix 2
• Mario Kart 8
• Pushmo World
• Hyrule Warriors
• Bayonetta 2
• Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric
• Super Smash Bros. for Wii U

Mario Kart and Super Smash Bros. are always strong sellers for Nintendo, but it was a wise move to release fantastic additions to those series on the Wii U this year. Tropical Freeze is also a solid first-party title, especially for fans of 2D platformers. Meanwhile, Pusmo World and NES Remix are fun downloadable games. And while it also came out on the 3DS, the retro sidescroller Shovel Knight is one of the best indie games of the year. The Wii U also has Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker coming out later in December.

The Wii U only saw two notable third-party exclusives this year. One of them, Bayonetta 2, is an incredible action game that defies stereotypes regarding what we usually expect from a Nintendo exclusive. It’s violent, sexy, and drops more than its fair share of F-bombs. More important, it’s exciting and entertaining. Sonic Boom, meanwhile, is an absolute mess that brought the troubled Sonic franchise back to its lowest point since the abysmal 2006 entry in the series (the same one that saw Sonic passionately kiss a human girl).

Elsewhere, the Wii U isn’t getting the multiplatform releases that it used to. Big games like Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, Assassins’ Creed (Rogue and Unity), and Far Cry 4 aren’t available on the console. It did get a version of Watch Dogs, but only several months after it came out for other systems.

For the most part, the Wii U is a system for Nintendo games and little else. Most of theses are great, but it means that many will want an Xbox One or a PlayStation 4 along with their Wii U if they want to play a lot of the biggest games.

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Grade: B

The Wii U has great exclusives, but third-party support is becoming practically invisible.

Features

The GamePad

When launching the Wii U, Nintendo tried to sell the system by promoting the GamePad, a tablet-like controller with a giant touchscreen. Although interesting minigame collections like Nintendo Land showed some neat ways that the GamePad could create new experiences, actual Nintendo games don’t really use the feature for much of anything.

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Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze actually blacks out the screen while you play on the TV. Mario Kart 8 either uses it to display the map or a giant horn button. Smash Bros. just displays character info. It’s hardly innovative stuff.

Still, you can play all of these games entirely on the GamePad, which is a nice feature, especially when someone else in your family is using the TV. But it really feels like the GamePad has become an afterthought for Nintendo. What Nintendo once heralded as the system’s selling-point now feels like baggage.

Amiibos

Just this month, Nintendo introduced a line of toys that can connect to Wii U games via the GamePad. Based on popular Nintendo characters, the Amiibos so far work with Super Smash Bros., Mario Kart 8, and Hyrule Warriors.

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Unlike with Skylanders or Disney Infinity, the figures don’t unlock new characters for those games, but they do add new features. For Mario Kart 8, you can dress your Mii driver like the Amiibo you connect. In Hyrule Warriors, you unlock new weapons. In Super Smash Bros., you can save a specialized, custom version of a fighter that can become stronger the more you play with them.

It’s a versatile system, and the toys have extra value since they can work with future games. Plus, the figures themselves look nice and make for good collectibles.

Virtual Console

The Virtual Console is Nintendo’s online store that offers old games to download to your Wii U. However, Nintendo is incredibly slow about putting new games in the store, usually only releasing one retro game a week. The concept is still great, but we need more.

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Still, we did see some real classics added to the Virtual Console this year, including The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse, and Super Mario Bros. 3. Nintendo also added Game Boy Advance games.

Apps

The Wii U has all of the big video-on-demand apps, including Netflix, Amazon Instant Video, and Hulu Plus. However, it doesn’t have many of the specialized video services, like the WWE Network or NFL Sunday Ticket. Nintendo hasn’t really released many new apps for the Wii U in 2014, indicating that this isn’t a particularly important area for it.

Grade: C

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The Amiibos are cool, but the GamePad is really beginning to feel more like a regret than a cool feature. Meanwhile, the system’s selection of apps is merely adequate.

Support and online infrastructure

Nintendo has released some nice features for the Wii U via system updates in 2014. One of best is the Quick Start menu, which shows recently used software as soon as you turn the system on. It enables you to jump right into a game or app without having to wait for the lengthy system boot-up process. Another update enabled owners to organize their games and apps into folders.

It’s nice to see Nintendo work to improve the system. These updates make the Wii U a better console than it was when it launched.

Also, while Nintendo systems don’t usually rely on online connectivity as much as Sony or Microsoft, it is nice to see the online components of Mario Kart 8 and Super Smash Bros. working smoothly.

Grade: A

Nintendo seems dedicated to improving the Wii U with system updates.

Incentives and price

The Wii U costs $300 and comes in bundles that include at least one free game, including Super Mario 3D World, Mario Kart 8 (only at Walmart), and New Super Mario Bros. U (with New Super Luigi U). Target and Toys ‘R’ Us also have a $300 Wii U bundle with Skylanders: Swap Force.

This makes the Wii U cheaper than the Xbox One ($350 for the holidays) and the PlayStation 4 ($400). Of course, the Wii U’s hardware isn’t as powerful as those systems, so the price difference makes a little sense. Still, having the lowest price is definitely worth something, and many of those Wii U bundles include some of the console’s best games.

Grade: B

The Wii U costs less than the competition, and its bundles include some great games.

Conclusion

The Wii U is hitting a steady pace. Sure, it’ll probably never be the massive hit the original Wii was, but fantastic games like Mario Kart 8 and Super Smash Bros. are making it a much more attractive purchase than it was a year ago. It’s also has the lowest price among the big three consoles.

It might not be your first system, but anyone who loves great games should consider owning a Wii U.

Overall grade: B