15 Best Wii U Launch Games

Epic Mickey 2 is the sequel to 2010's Epic Mickey. The first game was a Wii exclusive, but this one came out on the PlayStation 3, Wii, Wii U and Xbox 360. A second player can join as Oswald the Lucky Rabbit and help Mickey save the Wasteland. It also added voice acting and musical numbers, which the first game did not have.

Players are not kind to the Wii U version. It does not work with the Pro Controller, so you need the GamePad to play, and players who tried both say the Wii version is better. Sales were rough too: it sold 529,000 copies in the United States by the end of 2012. It was the last game from Junction Point Studios, which closed two months after it came out. Still, if you have a friend and a soft spot for old Disney cartoons, it is a pleasant weekend.

Razor's Edge is an enhanced port of Ninja Gaiden 3 with all of the original's downloadable content, plus changes made to improve the game. It was announced at E3 2011 as a launch title for the Wii U. Outside Japan, Nintendo published it, which made it only the company's third game rated M by the ESRB, after Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem and Geist.

For a few months it was a Wii U game only, until Tecmo Koei brought it to the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in April 2013. Players still suggest it when someone wants something different on the Wii U. It is fast and very bloody, and on a Nintendo console in 2012 that alone made it stand out. If you bounced off the first release of Ninja Gaiden 3, this is the version to give a second chance.

The Armored Edition is the Wii U release of Arkham City. WB Games Montréal made it, and it came out on November 18, 2012, alongside the console's launch in North America. It has all of the content from earlier releases, plus a few things of its own. The GamePad's touch screen holds Batman's equipment and upgrades and shows a map of the city. BAT Mode is new: Batman builds up energy during fights, then switches it on to hit much harder.

Critics were positive. One review called it "the best way to experience Arkham City", though some of the new features were a "nuisance". Players still call it one of the safest third-party buys on the Wii U. If you only know Arkham City from other consoles, this is the most hands-on version of it, and it is a great way to spend a week in Gotham.

Nano Assault Neo is a twin-stick shooter set in a microscopic world, where you stop a virus called Nanostray before it spreads. It is the sequel to Nano Assault, a 2011 game for the Nintendo 3DS. Two people can play each level together, one on the GamePad and the other on the TV with a Pro Controller. It also supports Off-TV Play, so you can keep shooting while someone else watches the TV.

Reviews were mainly positive. Nintendo Life called it "a great game that is a little light on content", and IGN gave it a 9 out of 10, with strong praise for its graphics. Players still name it among their Wii U favorites. It is short and very pretty, the kind of game you finish in an evening and then replay for a better score.

Scribblenauts Unlimited is the fourth game in the series and was a launch title for the Wii U. It was also the first Scribblenauts on a home console. You help Maxwell solve puzzles by summoning almost any object you can think of. This time the puzzles sit in a large overworld that is open to exploration, instead of a menu of separate stages. The Wii U version has its own cameo objects from Super Mario and The Legend of Zelda.

Critics liked it. IGN gave the Wii U version an 8.8 out of 10, while noting that it was easy and the Nintendo characters were limited. Nintendo World Report gave it a 9 out of 10 and praised its use of the GamePad. Typing in something ridiculous just to see what shows up never gets old, and kids will happily spend an hour on it without touching the story.

Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed was a launch title for the Wii U in North America and Europe. Your car turns into a boat or a plane in the middle of a race. Some tracks change shape as you go, so each lap plays a little differently. The weapons are silly, from snowballs that freeze people to swarms of wasps. The Wii U version also has one extra racer based on the console's avatar system.

Critics praised the roster and the big improvements over the first game. It is still one of the racers players recommend on the Wii U. Sega's racer is busier than Mario Kart, with more to unlock and more going on in every race. If you already own Mario Kart 8 and want another kart racer, this is the one to get.

Little Inferno came out on the Wii U in November 2012 in North America, Europe and Australasia. It is the debut game from Tomorrow Corporation, a studio founded in 2010 by Kyle Gray, Kyle Gabler and Allan Blomquist. You sit in front of a fireplace and burn things, like credit cards, batteries and tiny galaxies. That is almost the whole game, and it was designed as a satire of games where you spend hours on tasks that give you nothing back.

Critics were split. Some praised the ideas and the satire, while others found the gameplay too simple. Players still recommend it to anyone who will listen. Kyle Gabler wrote the music, and he gave the soundtrack away for free on the studio's website soon after release. It is a strange little game that sticks with you, and it is short enough to finish on a rainy afternoon.

Tekken Tag Tournament 2 started in arcades in September 2011 and reached the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in September 2012. It came to the Wii U as a launch title that November, with the subtitle Wii U Edition. This version has optional touch controls on the GamePad and costumes based on Nintendo series. The console release has 59 characters, and teams of two can tag in and out for longer combos.

Critics gave it averages of 82 to 83 percent on every console, and it won several fighting game of the year awards. Players still recommend it on the Wii U. For anyone who wanted a serious fighting game on a Nintendo console in 2012, this was the one to buy, and it is still a deep one to learn.

Black Ops II came out on PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on November 13, 2012, and on the Wii U on November 18 in North America. It was the first Call of Duty on the Wii U. The story is set in a near-future Cold War, and it was the first in the series with branching storylines, where your choices change the current mission and the rest of the story. Zombies came back too, with modes other than plain survival for the first time.

The Wii U version missed out on the extra map packs, though it did get the Nuketown 2025 map on August 7, 2014. Looking back, critics rank it among the best games in the series. On a Nintendo console it is a bit of a curiosity now, but the campaign and Zombies still hold up.

Assassin's Creed III came out on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in North America on October 30, 2012, and the Wii U and PC versions followed in November. It moves the series to Colonial America during the American Revolution. You play two characters, the Templar Haytham Kenway and his half-Mohawk son Connor. It also added naval combat, with Connor captaining his own warship.

Critics praised its scale and its story, but not its pacing or mission design. Players who played it on the Wii U still recommend it. The ship battles are the best part, and they hold up very well. Its sequel, Black Flag, came out in October 2013 and turned those ships into a whole game, so this is where that idea started.

Darksiders II came out on PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in August 2012, and it was a launch title for the Wii U in North America and the PAL regions that November. You play Death, the most feared of the Four Horsemen, looking for proof of War's innocence. The game mixes combat with a lot of lever and portal puzzles. Armor and skill trees let you build your own version of Death.

Vigil, the studio that made it, was closed by its publisher THQ. A Deathinitive Edition came to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in October 2015, made by Gunfire Games, a studio of almost entirely Vigil staff. Players still recommend both Darksiders games on the Wii U. If you want a Zelda-style adventure with a much grimmer hero, start here.

Mass Effect 3 came out in March 2012 for PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. The Wii U version, Mass Effect 3: Special Edition, was a launch title on November 18, 2012. It ends the original trilogy, with Commander Shepard leading a final campaign against the Reapers, a machine race that has invaded Earth. Your choices decide which characters survive. Up to four players can team up in co-op, and that progress helps the story mode too.

On PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 it scored 93 out of 100, the highest-rated game of 2012 on both systems. The ending did not go down as well, and BioWare later released the Extended Cut pack to expand it. Players still list it among the Wii U games worth owning. It was a huge, serious sci-fi story on a Nintendo console, and that was a big deal at launch.

New Super Mario Bros. U was a launch title for the Wii U and the first Super Mario game in HD. It grew out of a tech demo shown at E3 2011, which Shigeru Miyamoto later announced would become a full game. It added the Flying Squirrel power-up, and a player on the GamePad can help out in Boost Mode. The developers made the world map one big open layout, out of nostalgia for Super Mario World.

Critics liked the gameplay and graphics but said it was too much like the earlier games. That did not stop anyone buying it: with the Switch port, the two versions have sold over 24 million copies as of March 2025. Players still recommend it, usually together with New Super Luigi U. It is the safest pick here for anyone who just wants good Mario levels.

ZombiU came out as a Wii U launch title in November 2012. Nintendo approached Ubisoft for a mature game, and Ubisoft Montpellier, the studio behind Beyond Good & Evil, made it. It began as Killer Freaks from Outer Space, a fast shooter with small, agile monsters, until the team realized the GamePad suited slower games. You are a survivor in London in 2012. When you die, you take over a new survivor and can hunt down your old, infected self to get your gear back.

Critics praised its atmosphere and the permadeath system, and they complained about glitches and load times. The game failed financially, and a sequel was canceled. The 2015 port, Zombi, removed the multiplayer. Players still name it when someone asks for the Wii U's darker games. Checking your bag on the GamePad while something groans behind you is still one of the best uses the controller ever got.

Nintendo Land came packed in with the Wii U as a launch title. It is a theme park with twelve attractions, each based on a Nintendo series such as Mario or The Legend of Zelda. The big trick is that the player on the GamePad gets a different game from everyone on the TV. In Mario Chase, one player is Mario, and the Toads chasing him on the TV only know how far away he is.

Critics praised the minigames and how well it showed off the hardware. It sold 5.21 million copies by March 2023, which makes it the fifth highest-selling Wii U game. Players still put it on their lists of Wii U games to own. One player summed it up: "Even if you don't have friends, Nintendo land." It is still the best explanation of what the GamePad was for.