The Wii U was never a fighting game console, and the people who owned one knew it. The arcade crowd lived on PlayStation and Xbox in those years, and plenty of the big fighters of the era never bothered with Nintendo's tablet machine. If you wanted to throw a punch on a Wii U, you were ordering from a short menu.
What it did get, it got in good shape. Tekken was there on launch day, dressed up in Nintendo costumes for the occasion, and a few years later the Tekken formula was handed to the Pokémon. Four of the games below are the ones players pick, and the fifth is the one the critics' charts list next to them. Here are the 5 best Wii U fighting games.
5. Kung Fu Panda: Showdown of Legendary Legends (2015)
Showdown of Legendary Legends was developed by Vicious Cycle Software and published by Little Orbit. It came out on just about everything that plugged into a TV, including PlayStation 4, Xbox One and the Wii U, plus the 3DS and Windows. It is a platform fighter similar to Nintendo's Super Smash Bros., which is a bold thing to sell on a Nintendo console. The roster pulls from the first three films, so you get Po, the Furious Five and all the villains knocking each other off the stage.
Critics were lukewarm, and it received mixed or average reviews. That is about right. It is a licensed game and it plays like one, but it is also one of the very few fighters on the Wii U, and it sits on the critics' Wii U fighting chart right behind the two Nintendo games. For a kid who loves the movies and is not ready for anything harder, it does the job. Think of it as Smash with training wheels and more dumplings.
4. Injustice: Gods Among Us (2013)
Injustice is the first installment in the Injustice series, based upon the fictional universe of DC Comics, and it was directed by Ed Boon. The game was released in April 2013 in North America, Europe and Australia. Critics praised its story and its use of the DC Comics license, it became the highest-selling game in the United States and United Kingdom during the month of its release, and it won several awards for Best Fighting Game in 2013. The expanded Ultimate Edition came out later that year on the other consoles and skipped the Wii U.
Players who picked it up on Wii U call it a great fighter. They also warn that the Wii U port has less content than the other versions, so go in knowing the extra DLC is missing. The main game is all there, though, and Batman punching Superman through a wall does not get old.
3. Tekken Tag Tournament 2 (2012)
Tekken Tag Tournament 2 was released for the arcades in September 2011 and reached PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 a year later. It was ported to the Wii U as one of the system's launch titles in November 2012, subtitled Wii U Edition. Its engine allows up to four characters on screen at the same time, and it expands on the tag mechanics of the first Tekken Tag with extended tag combos and combined moves. The Wii U version adds optional touch-based controls on the GamePad and costumes based on Nintendo franchises. Seeing a Tekken roster in Nintendo outfits is exactly as odd as it sounds.
It reviewed just as well on Wii U as anywhere else, with averages of 82 to 83 percent across all three consoles, though it sold at a historic low for the main series. Players say this is the version to own. If you only buy one serious one-on-one fighter for the console, this is the safe bet.
2. Pokkén Tournament (2015)
The name is a portmanteau of Pokémon and Tekken, and that tells you most of it. The game combines gameplay elements from Bandai Namco's Tekken series, such as 3D and 2D movement, with characters from the Pokémon franchise. It was released for Japanese arcades in July 2015 and worldwide for the Wii U in March 2016, and outside Japan the console version was published by Nintendo. An enhanced port for the Switch, Pokkén Tournament DX, followed in September 2017.
Players call it a fun fighter to play with a friend on the couch, and a good change of pace from the usual party games. A few found the single player thin and got bored once the novelty wore off. Still, Pokémon trading combos that would look at home in an actual Tekken game is the kind of thing you have to see once.
1. Super Smash Bros. for Wii U (2014)
Smash for Wii U is a crossover title with characters, items, music and stages from Nintendo franchises and several third-party ones. It began development in 2012 and was announced at E3 2013, and its gameplay was tuned to sit between the faster, more competition-oriented Super Smash Bros. Melee and Brawl. The roster has 58 playable characters, 51 on the disc and 7 as downloadable content. Serious players got For Glory, with stock matches and no items on Omega stages, and Nintendo even sold a GameCube controller adapter that only works with this game. The Wii U version sold over five million copies by September 2022.
Players still name it first when the question is what to play with friends. It is also the fighting game they recommend more than any other on the Wii U, by a long way. Nothing else on the console comes close.
Which one to play
There you have it, the whole list of the best Wii U fighting games. It is a short list, but the top of it holds up against fighters on any console.
If you are not sure where to start, play Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. If you want a traditional one-on-one fighter, Tekken Tag Tournament 2 is the one. For Pokémon fans, Pokkén Tournament is an easy pick. If you like a fighter with a real story mode, try Injustice. And for younger players, Kung Fu Panda: Showdown of Legendary Legends is the gentle way in.
