Every Wii U Exclusive Missing from the Switch After Xenoblade Chronicles X

Late last month, Nintendo unexpectedly revealed that Xenoblade Chronicles X would finally be coming to the Nintendo Switch in the form of a definitive re-release. This announcement might’ve been insignificant for the average gamer, but for the diehard Xenoblade fan, it was a big deal. Xenoblade Chronicles X has been trapped on the Wii U ever since its 2015 debut, and because of this, fans have clamored for a Switch port of the RPG for ages. Almost every entry in the Xenoblade series has been ported to Nintendo’s hybrid home console, but this game in particular has eluded the platform up until now. Now that a Xenoblade Chronicles X Switch port is finally a reality, more people will be able to play the game than ever before.

Although Xenoblade Chronicles X is finally being freed from its Wii U prison, there are still a lot of games on Nintendo’s legacy console that have yet to make their way to the Switch. The Wii U was a massive commercial failure for Nintendo, given that it sold only 13.5 million units. Some might argue that the console’s underperfomance could be attributed to its lack of system-selling exclusives. And while that is true to an extent, the Wii U did have a handful of hidden gems in its exclusive portfolio, from both first- and third-party developers, that deserve a second chance on other platforms.

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Many Mario and Zelda Games Were Released Exclusively on Wii U

The Wii U wouldn’t be a Nintendo console if it didn’t have Mario games, and sure enough, it had plenty of them. Super Mario 3D World and Mario Kart 8 were perhaps the most notable Wii U exclusives in this series, but these were eventually ported to the Switch. Paper Mario Color Splash, Dr. Luigi, Game and Wario, Mario Party 10, Mario Tennis Ultra Smash and Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games, on the other hand, were not. Out of these six Mario titles, Paper Mario Color Splash is the only one that provides a traditional, singleplayer-focused experience. The others fall under the puzzle, party, or sports game categories and aren’t really essential titles to play through.

Nintendo’s second flagship series, The Legend of Zelda, doesn’t have nearly as big of a presence as Mario on the Wii U. In fact, the only brand-new Zelda game that was released for the console was Breath of the Wild; of course, that launched simultaneously on the Switch, so most people played it there instead. There are, however, two Zelda remasters that are inexplicably stuck on the Wii U to this day: The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD and The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD. These games originally debuted on the GameCube in the early-to-mid 2000s, but they received some significant graphical touch-ups in their Wii U re-releases.

Several Nintendo Franchises Made Appearances on Wii U, From Kirby to Star Fox

The Wii U had exclusive entries from many other Nintendo franchises, as well, including Star Fox, Splatoon, Pokemon, Kirby, Yoshi, and Animal Crossing. The 2015 action-platformer Kirby and the Rainbow Curse, for example, was solely released for the ill-fated eighth-generation console and never came to any other platform, perhaps due to its heavy utilization of the Wii U GamePad during gameplay. Yoshi’s Woolly World, on the other hand, didn’t take advantage of the Wii U’s controller all that much and was even ported to the 3DS a few years after its release. In spite of this, this 2015 2D platformer has yet to make its way to the Switch.

The Star Fox, Pokemon, and Animal Crossing games on Wii U aren’t much to write home about. Star Fox Zero and Star Fox Guard were met with middling reception from critics when they launched simultaneously in April 2016. The 2013 action game Pokemon Rumble U, meanwhile, was critically-panned and garnered an underwhelming 49/100 rating on Metacritic. 2015’s Animal Crossing Amiibo Festival didn’t fare much better, as this Amiibo-based party game also received universally poor reviews. At least the first installment in the Splatoon series, which came out exclusively on the Wii U, was a big critical and commercial success.

Pushmo World, NES Remix, and Nintendo Land are Some of the Highlights of the Wii U Library

There are a few other miscellaneous Nintendo games on Wii U that are worth making note of. NES Remix 1 and 2, for instance, were arcade-style video games that compiled excerpts from classic NES titles and shaked up their gameplay formulas. There’s also Pushmo World, which was a well-received puzzle game that served as a sequel to the 3DS titles Pushmo and Crashmo. It’s important to mention the 2012 party game Nintendo Lan d, as well. This was a pack-in title for the Wii U that was designed to show off its unique GamePad functionality.

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Games for Casual Audiences Were Abundant on the Wii U

The Wii U came out at a time when Nintendo was heavily trying to cater to casual audiences, so unsurprisingly, several sports, exercise, and party games were developed exclusively for the console. Among these releases were titles like Wii Fit U, Wii Karaoke U, Wii Party U, Wii Sports Club, Just Dance Wii U, Yo-Kai Watch Dance: Just Dance Special Version, Rabbids Land, Sing Party, and Your Shape: Fitness Evolved 2013.

The Wii U’s Catalog of Third-Party Exclusives isn’t Great, to Say the Least

Nintendo was able to secure some third-party exclusives for Wii U that didn’t fall under the “casual games” category, but most of them weren’t exactly great. The poorly-received 3D platformers Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric and Sonic: Lost World were only available on Wii U at launch (at least, the home console versions were), though the latter did eventually come to PC. Bandai Namco’s forgotten free-to-play co-op game Lost Reavers was also released exclusively on the console, but it performed so poorly that it was shut down shortly after release. Likewise, the 2015 action-adventure title Devil’s Third was a complete failure on Wii U, too.

Perhaps the best third-party exclusives on Wii U were the indie games, like Fast Racing Neo, Temple of Yog, Meme Run, and Affordable Space Adventures. At the other end of the spectrum, some of the worst-rated games of all time were released by major publishers solely for the console. Ubisoft’s Sports Connection, Warner Bros. Interactive’s Game Party Champions, and D3 Publisher’s Family Party: 30 Great Games Obstacle Arcade all received dismal Metacritic scores in the 30s and under. If there are any Wii U exclusives that don’t deserve to be ported to other platforms, it’s these titles.

Rebuild humanity on the mysterious planet Mira in this action RPG.

The year is 2054. Earth has been destroyed by an intergalactic war between two alien races, and humanity is on the brink of annihilation. A small number of survivors, aboard the USS White Whale, crash land on the vast and untamed planet Mira—and now it falls to you, as a member of BLADE, to help bring humanity back from the edge of extinction…with the aid of powerful giant robots called Skells!

Choose from a huge variety of special attacks, skills, and classes in a combat system that’s as deep as you want it to be. Once you’ve proven yourself to BLADE, you’ll earn the right to pilot and personalize your very own Skell—a powerful machine that can fly, transform into a vehicle for fast overland travel, and wield immense strength in combat with customizable weapons and armor.

As you go about the reconstruction effort, getting to know the people of New Los Angeles (NLA), you’ll build affinity with your party members and unlock quests for gear and other rewards. Join your choice of military organization within BLADE to take on even more missions—or even team up with up to 32 players from near and far online* in Squad Tasks, Online Missions, and extra-challenging Global Nemesis Battles!

Systems

Released

March 10, 2025

Publisher(s)

Nintendo

Multiplayer

Online Multiplayer

Number of Players

1 (Single-Player), 1-32 (Multiplayer)

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