The Chuffing Mental Third Anniversary Wii U Voting Thread: Thanks For Playing!

Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga (6 points)



"Before the tedious side-on sections of later instalments, there was this perfectly paced adventure.  Joke’s End still ranks as a great area in gaming."
"The original M&L adventure sets up so many conventions for the series. Its charm is undeniable, as are the sound mechanics on which its sequels have built."  [Taken away, if you ask me...]

Metroid: Zero Mission (7 points)



"Finally, a chance to get my hands on Zero Suit Samus! Er..."

Earthbound (10 points, 2 first places)



"Got to be, hasn't it? A hitherto undiscovered oddball gem whose aesthetic was dated at the time, EarthBound seduces players with its sideways approach to conventions and characterful moments."
"I hate JRPGs. Except for when they’re Mother games. This is still the only turn-based RPG I’ve properly 100% finished, and, thanks to its long-awaited release in Europe, I no longer have to feel guilty for my first trip being via emulation. The suburban setting is so refreshing for anyone who’s not a fan of generic spiky-haired protagonists. At this point I thought I’d write “I’ll just mention the…” but there’s too much: Mr. Saturn, Apple and Orange Kid, Tessie, Zombie Paper, Buzz-Buzz, New Age Retro Hippies, Sexy Zombie Ambushes, MoOnSiDe, (short list aborted). And the best post-credits gameplay I can recall, which makes you sort out a common post-story situation that most other games would gloss over. I paid the £8 for the VC game. I would’ve happily paid £50."

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (12 points, 1 first)



"Cold it be anything else in this spot"
"I really don’t think I need to comment much on this one.  You’d have to be a mad(Andy)man not to place this."
"This is, of course, the Best Game of All Time. But those of us who are lucky enough to have a 3DS do now have access to a tidier version of the game, so I can’t give it mega-points."

Super Mario 64 (14 points, 1 first)



"Not perfect in the light of the modern day, but that level design is still absolutely marvellous.  Straight sequel please."
"This is another game I have 3 times now, but it’s a classic (albeit one that, admittedly, hasn’t aged so well technically). There’s a unique atmosphere to the game though, which feels like it’s the result of a team putting all of their efforts into exploring a brand new area of gaming. Tell me you’ve not ever booted the game up just to walk round the grounds of Peach’s Castle (as it were)."

Five points:
Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones (one first place) – "FIRE EMBLEM IS BRILLIANT ISN’T IT?"  [Nah. ]
Konami Krazy Racers (one first place) - "Really wanted to play this for a long time, so was well chuffed to get a chance. Also, Snake is now on Wii U so we can totally have him back in Smash, right?"
The Legend of Zelda: the Minish Cap (one first place) - "Brimming with brilliant ideas, like the Four Sword in a one-player adventure, the Kinstones, and of course the eponymous cap.  Best 2D Zelda until the most recent one."
Super Metroid (one first place)

Advance Wars (two votes) - "Enjoyed this but damn it’s tough, fun in multiplayer too."
"The best worst handheld game of all time. On the GBA, I'd switch it on for a quick go and end up atrophying my legs on the toilet and dying in my own filth. Now I can play it on the big screen, lounged on my sofa. Good times."
Fire Emblem (two votes) - "Great, but not quite as great as its sequel"
Wario Ware Inc.: Minigame Mania! (two votes) – "Always fun"

Four points:
F-Zero - "Still, after all this time, an incredibly fast and graphically glorious future racer."
Mother - "I hate JRPGs. Except for when they’re Mother games. This game was always expected to remain a Japan-only curio, until they finally made it available for us Gaijin. It’s a little bit clunky – the graphical limitations of the NES make it difficult to explore the world, and the localisation isn’t quite so polished; but of course as we all know, this would need a more powerful console, and a sequel, to show its true beauty."

Three Points:
Paper Mario (two votes)

Donkey Kong 64 - "The one that got away for me from the N64 era. It looks poor and plays simplistically these days but nostalgia is a powerful thing."
Super Mario Bros. - "I can still pro it. Nice."
The Legend of Zelda: a Link to the Past - "I’ve essentially got this game 4 times now (Wii U, Wii, and 2 SNES cartridges thanks to an eBay bundle), but it’s one of the best games ever. You should have this within arms reach at all times."
Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3

Two Points:
Super Mario Bros. 2

One Point:
Balloon Fight - "I put some time in to say goodbye to Mr Iwata, and was reminded what a wonderful little game this is. Endlessly playable." [ ]
Duck Hunt
Golden Sun - "Whether you liked GBA games appearing on the Wii U VC or not, it gave folk like me a chance to go back and play games they may have missed on portable formats. GS is a sweet slice of RPG, though it is a bit too fond of its own text bleeps for its own good."
Metroid Fusion – "I really haven’t got far enough into this to appreciate it properly, but that’s my fault, not the game’s.  A point awarded in apology."
Super Castlevania IV

I'm not much of a retro gamer, and this vote is exactly why.  There's a theme running throughout of games that were great in the day, outshone now or voted for out of nostalgia.  SM64 has aged.  LoZOoT has been superseded by the 3DS version.  Earthbound's a great setting strapped onto a clunky game.  Etc.

And yet.  And yet, there's still the charm there, vestiges of great design shine through.  You can look at a lot of these games and see exactly why they were blinding at the time.  Nowhere is that more true than for our winner, and the second comment on it gets the STAR COMMENT for summing up exactly how I feel about it.  Honourable mention to the Balloon Fight comment for being a bit of a tear-jerker.

And actually, several of the GBA games haven't aged so badly.  They haven't had time yet.  I personally gave my first place to Minish Cap, a game which hasn't yet been superseded in my eyes.  ALBW is better, but different enough not to outclass its cousin.  The same is true for M0M (foreshadowing!?), presumably.  M&LSS, meanwhile, is still my high point in a series that has arguably gone downhill since.

Yoshi's Woolly World (15 points, 1 first)



"It is true that you do numb to it after 6 worlds, but everything’s so adorable. Especially Wooly Poochy.
Image link: http://www.everybodyplays.co.uk/images/screenshots/2167/yoshis-woolly-worldlarge.jpg "  [Trufax.  Woolly Poochy is utterly adorable.  ]
"More subtle than some of the other games on my list, but that wool effect is just... cuddly.  That’s the only way to describe it."
"Voted in for the aesthetic rather than any dazzling brilliance, the sheer pervasiveness of the whole wool thing takes this into contention."

Splatoon (16 points)



"Ink" [Succ-ink-tly put!]
"Never has water/paint looked so good. And it's so smooth, too!"
"Stylish, weird, slick, pretty and with amazing ink splashidge."

Super Mario 3D World (16 points, 1 first)



"Mario and the gang in HD. I don't think I've ever seen so many colours on screen at once."
"Mario is a bit of a looker"
"Mostly for the raindrops running down the camera."
"Nintendo know how to get the best out of their consoles, and this game proves it again. So much colour - Mario's never looked better. New proper 3D Mario, please?"

Pikmin 3 (19 points, 3 firsts)



"When the original came out on the Gamecube, we were all gobsmacked with the detail put into the micro-sized micro-climates; it looked like Real Life. Two consoles later, Pikmin 3 blows the original out of the water (probably with mega-realistic splashing effects). The fantasy bugs looked like they could exist on our planet; the Pikmin looked like they were all separate beings, as opposed to duplicate pieces of AI coding; and the fruit. The fruit.
Image link: http://monstervine.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/WiiU_Pikmin3_3_scrn15_E3-bmp-1024x576.jpg "
"Again like MK8 this looks very Pixar to me & the fruit is mouth watering-ly great."
"Dat fruit do!"
"Surely the runaway winner, dat fruit!"

Mario Kart 8  (31 points (phew), 3 firsts)



"It’s a fantasy racing game, where humanoid “things” in illogical go-karts race around unrealistic environments. And yet, in HD, it looks so realistic. Everything is almost-unnecessarily detailed, and the WiiU never has a problem displaying any of it.
Image link: http://images.eurogamer.net/2014/usgamer/mariokart8-spot5.jpg "
"Colourful, crystal clear, full of wonderful little details. Amazing."
"I was really impressed by this when I had a chance to play it. Gorgeous visuals that look even more impressive in motion."
"Metal Mario’s reflections on Rainbow Road.  It doesn’t get much better than this."
"Upon seeing this for the first time I instantly thought "this looks like a Pixar movie" especially the characters."

14 points:
The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker HD (four votes, two firsts) - "It's an absolute testament to how ahead of its time Wind Waker was that you could simply slap a new filter on it, refine a few models, and have a game that looks like it was just developed. Everything looks not a day over one, and considering this is a gamecube game that is one HUGE achievement."
"One of the most beautiful games ever, in HD?  Gorgeous.  Would have got first, should have got first, but it’s a dirty remaster so it doesn’t get first."
"Proof, if proof were needed, that artistic vision trumps technical fidelity. The lighting and the crisp visuals helped, but that wonderful cartoon ocean is untouchable."

12 points:
Bayonetta 2 (four votes, one first) - "Another game that looks bloody impressive in motion - watching Bayonetta twirl through a battle in a picturesque Gothic town... gorgeous."
"Might’ve helped that I played it immediately after the first…"
"Shows what the system can do"
"Those curves, that hair, the sly smile, the dance moves... lovely to look at. The mad enemies and backgrounds were good too I guess."

Seven points:
Kirby and the Rainbow Paintbrush (two votes) - "The charm of the aesthetic more than anything else. You could see the thumbprints! V. cute."

Six points:
Super Smash Bros. for Wii U - "In amongst all the chaos and combos, it can be difficult to notice that this game is a bit of a looker. The models are wonderfully rendered (Ryu looks better here than in SFIV) and the stages make for gorgeous scenery if you can tear your eyes from the brawl in front of you."

Five points:
Need for Speed Most Wanted U (two votes) - "A bit like my number one pick if dev knows what there doing you get games that look like this"
"Without a doubt one of the best looking "realistic" games on the wii U."

Four points:
LEGO City Undercover - "The first time I really saw how beautiful HD could be... and it was a load of ruddy LEGO bricks."

Three points:
Guacamelee! Super Turbo Championship Edition (two votes) - "Wonderfully stylised.  The enemy design in particular was ace."

Captain Toad Treasure Tracker - "Kind of cheating as it’s basically the same as number 2" [No prizes for guessing what this voter's number 2 was.]
Child of Light - "It was this or Rayman Legends but CoL's world does it for me"
Hyrule Warriors

Two points:
Rayman Legends - "There’s no denying this game looks like a modern cartoon. I’ll give it that.
Image link: http://www.cinemablend.com/images/gallery/s57806/rayman_legends_13747898331722.jpg "

One point:
Super Mario Maker - "Hang on, what’s this doing here? Well, although most of this is just copying the pixels from the original games, said games are “sacred cows”; Marios 1, 3 and World are all so iconic in their appearances. But of course, Wiggler didn’t exist on the NES; Super Mario World didn’t have airships. Nintendo have managed to create new assets that look like they were always part of the original landscape.
Image link: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/_L1yqDPCbV0/maxresdefault.jpg "

Honourable mentions:
Affordable Space Adventures and Knytt Underground - "For Nifflas’ silhouette-styling..."
Chasing Aurora - "Paper-craft imagery."

I can't quibble with any of this.  I didn't vote for Splatoon or Pikmin 3 because I haven't really played them, but I can appreciate the beauty of that ink/fruit respectively.  Meanwhile Mario's lighting effects continue to wow, a tradition starting with SM64's Wing Cap Tower beam and continuing ever since.  I'm sure that YWW ranked a couple of places lower than it should have done because the game behind it was duff, but that wool effect is a blinder.

As with the sound category, the STAR COMMENT goes to the prettiest image linked to, and that would have to be the MK8 one.  Rainbow Road is quite the looker!  Honourable mention to "Dat fruit do!", a sentiment we can all agree with.  Delicious.

Child of Light (10 points)



"Perhaps slightly more for its ambition than its execution because the rhyming couplets dragged almost immediately and there was rarely any need to use a secondary character who wasn't the healing clown. It just looks so good, sounds so brilliant and plays so, so well."
"When Ubi don’t do triple-A, the quality shines bright as day.  Turn-based battles, power of flight: place in this list?  I think it might!"

Runbow (10 points)



"Fun multiplayer, good platforming. Good."
"It's a joy from start to finish. It may only be what I call a 'persistence platformer' (i.e. with enough patience and determination you'll get through, no matter what your skill level) but Runbow eclipses the competition with its genius central idea and the careless throwing of eight other players into the mix for a laughstravaganza (I promise I won't use that word ever again)."
"This is without a doubt one of the best party games on not only e shop but on the wii U as a whole."

NES Remix (10 points, 1 first)



"A clever ideal, well executed. A few more remixes, and a few less straight-up "do this bit of NES gameplay" sections would have been appreciated, but this deserves a spot on the list for Matthew's incredible outburst on Expert Super Guide."  [Hang on, that's NES Remix 2 in the link! ]

Shovel Knight (23 points, 2 firsts)



"Brilliant game, the more I play it the more I love it"
"Everything about this just oozes class, the music, the controls & the art style. I love it to bits."
"I need to finish this.  Solid gameplay, debatable aesthetic."
"The original game was, for me, very clever but slightly limited. Then Plague Of Shadows came out, for free. What an astounding piece of DLC, to have the entire game reworked with a new plotline (a better plotline, for me) and a new central character, whose different powers changed the levels so thoroughly. Incredible work."
"This is the way to do retro. This is old-school in audio-visual output only; everything else is polished to a degree that most NES developers would’ve dreamed of back in the 80s."

Guacamelee! Super Turbo Championship Edition (28 points, 2 firsts)



"A metroidvania with Lucha Libres and suplexes, built around a top pun? Sign me up! I still haven't spent as much time with this as I would have liked, but what I've played is top. Hopefully I'll get back to it."  [Do iiiiiiiit.]
"Do you like Metroidvanias? Do you like the satisfying move mechanics of Smash Bros.? Do you like sort of Mexican cultural references, embellished by people who don’t quite understand them? Then this is the game for you."
"Guacamelee! is so far up my street it's moved in. A perfectly planned Metroid-like with so much charm that it has to wear earplugs to stop charm spilling out onto the floor. The power curve is so beautifully drawn as you journey from lowly mook to inescapable flying death machine... I just want a sequel."
"I like me a good Metroid-like but it's actually the combat that makes this great & not exploring the world."
"Metroidvania plus pop-culture with an extra helping of difficulty.  Juan-derful."
"Timeless game, always fun for a blast through"

Five points (one first place):
Bayonetta - "Hope others remember this is a eShop title really"  [If they did, they didn't vote for it, mystery voter!]
Knytt Underground - "A massive sprawling world, full of little nooks and crannies to explore, and characters / quests to stumble upon; with a very dark sense of humour, a hauntingly beautiful ambient soundtrack, Nifflas’ unique art style, and the most subversive rule-breaking this side of the Stanley Parable. Even the level select screen is an adventure with hidden levels (one of which has you playing a completely different story, as a completely different character)."
Spin the Bottle: Bumpie's Party/Nobby's House Party/Nobby's Party - "Simply one of the best multiplayer party games of all time. Get a big group of friends, switch the TV to the music channel, line up your Wii Remotes and you are guaranteed a laugh."  [What the hell's it called these days?]

Four points:
Thomas Was Alone (two votes) - "The proof that a good narrative can make up for shortcomings in the gameplay. None of Thomas Was Alone is actually hard, as such, or uses the gameplay elements at its disposal to anything like full capacity... but it charms, and it wins."

Three Points:
Little Inferno - "Weird. Creepy. Cute. Hilarious. Stupid. Genius. All of these words and more could describe the marvellous oddity that was Little Inferno! I love to burn things, and this gave me a safe and amusing opportunity to do so. "

Two Points:
Affordable Space Adventures - "Only its length stops it from being the greater of the Nifflas games; however it shares the same philosophy in terms of graphics, sound, and certainly the macabre sense of humour. The narrator’s got a similar feel to the Portal games – you know that what he’s saying doesn’t quite tie in with reality. And the best use of the Game Pad by far. (If only there was a way we could rank tha–oh wait)"
Freedom Planet
Scram Kitty & his Buddy on Rails
Steamworld Dig – "Still great fun diving down that mine and getting rich"
Stick It To The Man
Year Walk - "The jump scare made me crap myself, so I never finished this, but it gets in for the doll moment alone.  Brilliantly atmospheric and unsettling."

One Point:
Bit.Trip Presents... Runner2: Future Legend of Rhythm Alien - "More Bit Trip Runner, good times"
NES Remix 2 - "A wonderful showcase of the best of Nintendo’s old-school line-up. Beats the first game, thanks to the better game line-up. And I bet it’s the closest a lot of us have got to finishing Zelda II. (Not me though. I did it for real. I’m awesome like that.)"
Nihilumbra - "A clever, beautiful, thoughtful puzzle platformer with a nice art style and great music, let down by a disappointingly short runtime and a lack of substantial challenge."
Octodad: Dadliest Catch
Teslagrad - "A Metroidvania where each room is an intricate puzzle, or a beautifully told bit of story.  Death comes often and swiftly, which can irritate."

Honourable Mentions:
BIT.TRIP Presents... Runner2: Future Legend Of Rhythm Alien - "It's all about the joy, a little like Runbow. The music that you create by simply running from left to right - and remembering all the bloody fiddly actions - is just made to make you happy."

EDGE - "So underrated, this. At the time of typing you can pick it up for 71p, which is almost criminal. It is the most basic-looking Wii U game there is - indeed, I'm reasonably confident a SNES could run a decent version of EDGE. This matters not, when the game is so smart and addictive."

Stealth Inc. 2: A Game Of Clones - "A critic divider, I loved it for the sarky and bloodthirsty mindset it encouraged. A well-planned puzzle game with bags of charm but a little too much fondness for its hub to truly excel."

The Binding Of Isaac Rebirth - "Suspiciously simple on first play, Binding Of Isaac Rebirth is as deep as they come. Gross, grotesque, possibly even slightly offensive... but more addictive than you'd care to mention."

The console has relied on the eShop to pull it through some of the more barren periods, and by and large the eShop has delivered.  It's arguably given us more epic one-player adventures than the retail selection, with three of the top five fitting that description (depending on your definition of "epic").  It's also given us brilliant party games, and a whole host of curios.  Little Inferno, the first birthday unofficial eShop winner, is nowhere to be seen on the list, such is the quality that's come out since.  (Neither is Trine 2, thank God.)

Two games shot ahead of the competition, though.  Guacamelee! was my first choice and SK my third, so no qualms there.  STAR COMMENT goes to the third Guacamelee! comment, for its smile-raising similes and... evocative imagery..

Splatoon (9 points)



"Built from the ground up to only work on Wii U. The map on the touchscreen, the tilt-assisted aiming, the fun online multiplayer... what a game!"
"The touchscreen map is good, yeah, but it’s actually Nintendo’s free online service that wins here, encouraging everyone to join in, for what is generally a very reliable online experience indeed."
"This always seems to split opinion but I love the gyro aiming in this as it allows me to make quick adjustments without having to be on a ridiculous sensitivity setting."

Affordable Space Adventures (9 points, 1 first)



"How can you incorporate a touchscreen into a game? Turn it into a touchscreen. Suddenly having a bank full of controls is so much more immersive than holding 3 shoulder buttons and the right analogue stick. Brilliant. And if you mess up? It’s your fault. You didn’t press the right button. Dumbarse."
"Nothing else like this on wii U & for those who have played it will know how well the touchscreen is used but for me audio plays just a big part in this game & it's the only time I've had the gamepad volume set to max."

Super Mario Maker (15 points)



"Because you can use the GamePad to make levels that rival Nintendo's finest designers (or not)."
"Draw a Mario level? I’ve been doing that since I was about 8 years old. But now I can do it for real? Yes! *guitar sound*"
"Try to imagine this game without using a gamepad & then be thankful for that touchscreen that allows you to make levels so quickly & easily."

ZombiU (17 points, 1 first)



"For a long time this must have stood as being better than Nintendo's own efforts. Great stuff."
"Good inventory and detection and stuff."
"This is still the top use of the gamepad for me, great inventory/map/radar system & the use of the gyro sensors also pulled you into the world."
"Uses the gamepad screen to ramp up tension in an ingenious way. Plus, the multiplayer is a good chuckle."

Nintendo Land (26 points, 5 firsts)



"Everything"
"It wasn’t quite the Wii U’s Wii Sports, but it made great use of the gamepad nonetheless.  The fabled asymmetric multiplayer, done how it should be done."
"The original and never-bettered GamePad ad, in my opinion."
"Wii U's Wii Sports, absolutely untouchable. Mario Chase should have sold the Wii U all by itself."  [Untouchable!  Mario Chase!  Snort.]

Eight points:
Game & Wario (two votes) - "Given a bad rap for not being Wario Ware, but some of the multiplayer modes are phenomenal; the best pictionary ever, the madness of islands that's just made for drinking games... bangers."
"Hear me out here gents!  A terrible terrible game for the most part, but the Miiverse mode was the best use of Miiverse on the console.  Had some great fun drawing stuff on that.  The game had some other decent uses of the gamepad too, but most of it was so bollocks that I got only around to playing Islands over a year later."

Five points:
Scribblenauts Unlimited (1 first)

Four points:
Project Zero: Maiden of the Black Water
Spin the Bottle: Somebody or Other's Party - "Couldn't be done on anything else. Fun, silly, clever nonsense. A true party game, in that it exists to encourage silliness and laughter and contact in a party situation."

Three Points:
New Super Mario Bros. U - "The simple act of encouraging me to post on Miiverse after every level made me appreciate the nicest, most artistic social network out there."
Rayman Legends

Two Points:
Captain Toad Treasure Tracker (two votes) - "Using the GamePad to control the view is never my favourite but CT:TT had more than one trick up its tiny supercute sleeve."
"Using the touch screen and microphone to move the levels around was more subtle than most, but fitted into the game perfectly.  No shoe-horn required (unlike the amiibo implementation...)."

The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker HD - "I know that putting maps and inventory on the touchscreen feels like the bare minimum in terms of innovation, but it’s incredibly useful, and after years of horrible Wii motion-pish, it actually helps the game experience."
The Wonderful 101 - "Controversial! Controversial? I don't know, but the use of the touch screen for the controls was at least novel. In it goes!"
Yoshi's Woolly World - "Single best use of amiibo.  Tremble before Ganondoshi!"

One Point:
Darksiders 2 - "I know that putting maps and inventory on the touchscreen feels like the bare minimum in terms of innovation, but it’s incredibly useful, and after years of horrible Wii motion-pish, it actually helps the game experience. (Copy/Paste time)"
Shovel Knight - "Clever use of miiverse where you can drop hints for people but it is never intrusive like it can be in other games."

Well that was another clean sweep.  To think that Ninty Land was so shunned initially; now, it's the favourite user of the Wii U for five of the six voters who played it.  I'm giving the STAR COMMENT to "Everything", because it sums what NL did up in one word.  Great fun with multiple players, superb use of the Wii U's capabilities.  A deserving winner.

I've only played SMM of the remainder, so I won't comment on the rest of the top 5.  I will, however, laugh at Ubi for attempting to make a game so well designed around the Gamepad try to work on other consoles.  Ho ho ho.