Five games that could put the Wii U back on the map
The Wii U has had a pretty rough start. Right now it’s facing one of the worst droughts in the history of Nintendo’s consoles, and sales aren’t up to expectations. Luckily for Wii U owners there is a lot on the horizon. Here are five (announced and unannounced) titles that could give the system a much needed injection of fun.
The Legend of Zelda
A Zelda game is a given, but we will probably have to wait a while for this one. When Nintendo unveiled The Wind Waker HD, they declared it was to tide us over until the next new Zelda game arrives. We got a taste of what it could look like with the E3 2011 tech demo, but the graphical style is still undecided. In any case, needless to say this is one to look forward to.
3D Mario platformer
Nintendo confirmed a new 3D Mario platformer will be playable at E3 2013. After Super Mario Galaxy 1 and 2, which were some of the best games of this generation, this should be interesting indeed. Hopefully Nintendo can make another game of similar quality, possibly using the unique features of the Wii U gamepad. What items will return, and what new ones will be introduced?
Donkey Kong Country Returns 2
The previous DKCR was a welcome surprise on the Wii, and we can assume Nintendo didn’t revive the series for just one game. Retro Studios proved other studios than Rare can make great installments in the series, so that shouldn’t be a cause for worry. Sidescrolling, banana collecting jungle gameplay in HD? Yes, please.
Metroid
This can be similar to the Prime series, or something entirely new, as long as it retains the atmosphere and exploration of unknown planets and deep space stations that made the Gamecube installments so memorable. The gamepad can be used for mechanics like scanning the environment or suit upgrades.
Super Smash Bros
This is one of those series that doesn’t have to innovate much, in fact, changing too much would probably result in fans being upset. They should just use this new installment (confirmed to be at E3 2013 in the shape of at least some screens) to finetune the existing mechanics further and build on what has made the games so popular. Also, of course we should expect new characters, items and environments, from new games as well as classics.