Will the Wii U have the same critical game success as the Wii?

White and black Wii U

While the Wii experienced a quick death with a rapid drop-off of anything but shovelware and obscure JRPGs late in its life, it had some of the highest rated games available of the last-generation. 11 games reached a status of 90+ on MetaCritic, which begs the question: will the Wii U meet this same critical success in terms of games that are considered instant classics? First, let’s take a look at the Wii games:

90+ rated Wii games

  1. Mario Galaxy
  2. Mario Galaxy 2
  3. Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
  4. World of Goo
  5. Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
  6. Super Smash Bros. Brawl
  7. Metroid Prime Trilogy
  8. Xenoblade Chronicles
  9. Resident Evil 4
  10. Metroid Prime 3
  11. Okami

Of these titles, both Mario Galaxy and Mario Galaxy 2 are original Wii titles. Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess was a GameCube port that received upgrades to the graphics and controls in order to support the new Wii Remote. World of Goo is the only WiiWare title on the list.

So where does that leave the Wii U in the future? Well, we’re into the second year of the Wii U life cycle and we already have three titles rated at 90+ MetaCritic score. Those titles are:

90+ rated Wii U Titles

  1. Super Mario 3D World
  2. Rayman Legends
  3. The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker HD

Despite the notably shorter list here, the Wii U is on track to possibly match the Wii in terms of highly rated games for the system. If we look at Wii releases and Wii U releases that we know are coming, there’s a match up in pattern. Super Smash Bros. Brawl made the 90+ list for the Wii and we know a sequel is currently on the way. Xenoblade Chronicles made the list as well, and we know Monolith Soft’s unnamed X game features the same combat style. Additionally, The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker HD is a GameCube port that received a significant upgrade for its Wii U release and it’s possible The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask will follow.

The only factor here that we don’t have confirmation on is whether a new Metroid game is headed to Wii U. With Retro having finished up Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, it’s likely they’ll be working on a brand new project for Nintendo. Whether that’s Metroid remains to be seen, but if games similar to the Prime Trilogy are released for the Wii U, then they have a high chance of becoming critically-acclaimed as well.

While we can’t be certain the Wii U will follow the same pattern of its predecessor, the signs look good. What do you think?