15 Best Cheap Wii U Games

Tank! Tank! Tank! started life as a 2009 Namco Bandai arcade game, designed around a vertical monitor, an idea borrowed from the popularity of Japanese mobile games. It was ported to the Wii U in 2012, where it was a system launch title in North America. The arcade version went over well with critics. The Wii U version did not, and several reviewers said it should have stayed in arcades.

Loose discs sold for a typical $20 between October 2024 and August 2025. So why is it here? Because the people who own it keep pushing it as a party game for a group of friends. Play it with a full couch or not at all.

Kirby and the Rainbow Curse is a follow-up to the 2005 DS game Kirby: Canvas Curse, and it reached North America on February 20, 2015. Its art style resembles claymation, and real clay was used for reference during development. The story starts when Elline, a paintbrush fairy, escapes through a portal and uses her powers to bring color back to Kirby and Bandana Waddle Dee. Hidden treasure chests in each level unlock clay figures and music tracks.

Loose discs sold for a typical $21 between October 2025 and February 2026, which makes it the priciest game here. Critics were split on the gameplay but praised its art style and charm, and it sits at 73 on Metacritic. Players keep it on their lists of Wii U games worth owning.

Pokkén Tournament is what happens when Bandai Namco gets the keys to Pokémon. It mixes gameplay from the Tekken series with characters from the Pokémon franchise, and the fights switch between 3D and 2D movement. It hit Japanese arcades in July 2015 and came to the Wii U worldwide in March 2016. The name is a portmanteau of Pokémon and Tekken, and the Japanese characters ポッ拳 stayed in the logo outside Japan too.

Loose discs sold for a typical $9 between November 2025 and January 2026. An enhanced port, Pokkén Tournament DX, came to the Switch in September 2017, so the Wii U disc is no longer the only way to play it. Players still slip it into their lists of Wii U games to get.

Star Fox Zero was formally announced at E3 2015 and released in April 2016. Shigeru Miyamoto has said it is neither a remake, a sequel nor a prequel, but a reimagining of Star Fox 64. It came bundled with a second game, a standalone tower defense game called Star Fox Guard. Wit Studio made an animated short to go with it, with help from Production I.G.

Loose discs sold for a typical $10 between August 2025 and February 2026. Critics liked the level design and boss battles but called it short and its control scheme impractical. It was also the last new Star Fox for a decade. Players who stuck with it defend it, and one summed up the split well: "For some, the controls will never click."

Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE was the brainchild of Nintendo producer Kaori Ando, who told fellow producer Hitoshi Yamagami in 2010 that she wanted to make a Fire Emblem crossover. Her first idea paired Fire Emblem with Pokémon, which was rejected because Pokémon Conquest was already in the works, and the game became a crossover with Shin Megami Tensei. A group of teenagers team up with friendly Mirages based on Fire Emblem characters. The musical numbers were produced by Avex Group.

It came out in Japan in December 2015 and worldwide in June 2016, with the Japanese voices kept and subtitles added. Loose discs sold for a typical $12 between August 2024 and July 2025. Critics praised the battle system and were mixed on the story. Players who rank their Wii U favorites tend to put it near the top.

Yoshi's Woolly World was the first home console Yoshi game in over 17 years, since Yoshi's Story in 1997. Like Good-Feel's Kirby's Epic Yarn, it is set in a world made of yarn and cloth. You can switch to Mellow Mode at any time, which gives Yoshi a pair of wings so less skilled players can fly through a stage. Special editions came with a knitted Yarn Yoshi amiibo.

Loose discs sold for a typical $14 between December 2025 and February 2026. Reviewers loved the art style and criticized the easy difficulty, and Mellow Mode makes it easier still if you want it to. If you are going to have a pink yarn dinosaur on your shelf, this is the way to do it. Players put it among the console's essentials.

The Wonderful 101 was directed by Hideki Kamiya and produced by Atsushi Inaba, and its development began while the Wii was still around. PlatinumGames first thought of a game where Nintendo's own characters worked together to get past obstacles. Nintendo asked how that mechanic would fill an entire game, so Kamiya went with the Japanese henshin theme instead: a group of five original heroes who unite and transform into weapons.

It reached North America in September 2013 and failed to meet sales expectations. Today loose discs sold for a typical $11 between September 2024 and September 2025. A crowdfunded remaster for newer consoles arrived in May 2020, PlatinumGames' first self-published title. Players rank it right behind Bayonetta 2.

Hideki Kamiya believed there would never be a Bayonetta sequel, and his Twitter account said one might happen if the first game sold well. It came out on the Wii U on September 20, 2014 in Japan and in October 2014 everywhere else. A few months after the first game, Bayonetta is shopping on Christmas Eve with Enzo when angels attack New York City. Weapon customization returns, and you can equip new weapons on both her hands and her feet.

The Special and First Print editions also included a Wii U port of the original Bayonetta, so one of those gets you both games. Loose discs sold for a typical $15 between July and December 2025. It received widespread critical acclaim for its combat and visuals. Players almost always name it together with the first game.

Xenoblade Chronicles X was first announced in 2013 under the working title X, and it was set for 2014 before slipping to 2015. Series creator Tetsuya Takahashi returned as executive director, and anime composer Hiroyuki Sawano wrote the music. The team set itself the challenge of making an expansive world for players to explore on a tight development budget. Nintendo Treehouse and 8-4 handled the localization.

Loose discs sold for a typical $13 between January and August 2026. Critics praised the combat and world design, and they faulted the story and the lack of explanation for its systems. A Definitive Edition came to the Switch in 2025, and until then the Wii U was the only place to play it. Players treat it as one of the console's must-owns.

Tropical Freeze is the fifth Donkey Kong Country and a direct sequel to the 2010 Wii game Donkey Kong Country Returns, released in February 2014. Dixie Kong is back for her first main series appearance since 1996. Cranky Kong is a main playable character in the series for the first time, which feels overdue for a guy who mostly grumbled from the sidelines. Shigeru Miyamoto influenced the ground pound and gave small tips but was otherwise not involved.

Loose discs sold for a typical $11 between December 2025 and February 2026. Reviewers praised the level design and soundtrack, while the high difficulty got mixed opinions. An enhanced Switch port followed in May 2018. Players rank it with the console's best platformers.

Nintendo Land was first announced at E3 2012 and released as a pack-in launch title for the system, which goes a long way to explain why so many copies are around. It has twelve minigames based on Nintendo series, set up as attractions in an amusement park. Several show off asymmetric gameplay, where players get different experiences depending on the controller they hold. In Mario Chase, the Toad players watch the TV in split-screen and only know how far away Mario is.

It sold 5.21 million copies by March 2023, the fifth highest-selling Wii U game. Loose discs sold for a typical $9 between January and April 2026. Critics liked the minigames and how well it showed off the hardware. Players point to it as the party game to grab first.

Splatoon was made by a young group of Nintendo employees and grew out of a prototype for a competitive, ink-based territory control game. The player characters were first going to be rabbits, until others at the company said that rabbits shooting ink did not make sense. The squids that replaced them, the Inklings, took their mannerisms from skateboarders. Turf War was the only mode for regular matches, and ranked games ran from C− to S+.

Critics praised the style and the gameplay, and they faulted the lack of voice chat and the small number of maps at launch. Nintendo kept adding maps and weapons and held Splatfests, where players picked one of two teams. Loose discs sold for a typical $10 between July and September 2026. Players who still have a Wii U keep bringing it up.

Pikmin 3 is the sequel to the two GameCube Pikmin games, released in Japan on July 13, 2013 and in all other regions the next month. Three Koppaite captains are sent to explore a planet full of food and bring it home to save their own. Rock Pikmin were new, and you could play it with a Wii Remote and Nunchuk if the GamePad felt like too much. The ending changes based on how much fruit you brought back.

Loose discs sold for a typical $10 between December 2024 and April 2025. Reviewers praised its well designed levels and its graphics, and Pikmin 3 Deluxe brought it to the Switch in 2020. Players back it most of all if they liked the first two.

Nintendo confirmed Mario Kart 8 in a January 2013 Nintendo Direct, unveiled it at E3 2013 and released it in May 2014. Paid and free downloadable content followed, with more tracks and a new difficulty setting. Critics praised the gameplay and presentation but criticized the battle mode, and the Switch's Deluxe version was later praised for improving it.

The original is the best-selling Wii U game at 8.46 million copies, which is why there are so many loose discs around. They sold for a typical $10 between July and September 2026. It has been named among the greatest video games. Players pair it with the one game they rank above it as the first two discs to buy.

Super Mario 3D World is the sixth original 3D platform game in the Super Mario series and the sequel to Super Mario 3D Land from 2011. Co-director Kenta Motokura said the team discarded a huge number of ideas, because "sometimes you just can't tell if an idea is good or bad by looking at it on the drawing board." Rosalina was later added as a playable character. A spinoff, Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker, came out in November 2014.

Critics loved the level design and soundtrack, though some called the camera unreliable in multiplayer. It returned on the Switch with Bowser's Fury in February 2021, and between both versions it sold 19.36 million units. Loose Wii U discs sold for a typical $8 between January and February 2026, the cheapest game here. Players recommend it more than any other cheap Wii U game.