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[Durante]

I bought the Wii U exclusively for local coop play, and in that regard the standouts for me were Tropical Freeze and 3D World.

The former in its entirety and the latter for its final 20% or so. I wish Nintendo created 3D platforming content with that quality and challenge more frequently (and with coop!).

 

[RobRSG]

Bayonetta 2 and Tropical Freeze.

 

[Familienoberhauptvogel]

Please understand.

Spoiler

Only played a Wii U once, a demo unit

 

[Tangled Up in Blue]

People leaving selfies for each other in Wind Waker is probably my favorite memory of this gen.

 

[Neff]

My best in-game Wii U experience was probably the finale for The Wonderful 101, if nothing else but for the sheer amount of hype that game injected into my veins.

Yep, no contest.

After I did the first boss I realised I was potentially playing a classic. After meeting several more Wonderful Ones and playing several more levels, I realised I was playing a game for the ages.

Then I got to that QTE and I struggle to think of a gaming memory which made as much impact. First seeing arcade Space Harrier, or Ridge Racer running on PlayStation maybe. Playing Mario 64 for the first time perhaps. It's up there for sure.

Would be nice to get a Switch port, if they can figure out a way to pull off the dual screens.

 

[CrazyArcadia]

Best experience hands down was that the WiiU brought local multiplayer back into my life big time. Our group is all mid 20s to early 30s people, and it's several times a month that we meet up for Mario Kart, 3d World and more and my flatmate and I played through almost all 2 player games (with highlights being Yoshi Wooly World, Rayman and Donkey Kong TF. And Zelda with switching around players. Recently, we've started New Super Mario Bros U... quite lltp). Less gaming-enthusiastic friends even began joking how we're back to living like late teen/early 20s with meetups to eat, drink, videogames, music (we've got our lives under control with jobs etc. though, mind you). Experience is still going on and has been going since I got the WiiU in the year Mario Kart 8 and Bayonetta 2 released. Hope Switch will carry that flag, depending on their showcase on 12th January, it might be a day 1 system. Mostly I hope for Splatoon with proper splitscreen matches, we all liked the concept but it was a bummer that the "true game" was online only.

Other than multiplayer, I was blown away by Bayonetta 1/2 and Xenoblade Chronicles X.

All that positive talk about Wonderful 101 makes me want to play it again. I have a copy but didn't really get far back then. There are only a couple of games which I've been holding off buying so far, such as Pikmin 3 or Wii Sports etc.

 

[Skeletos311]

There were great games on Wii U and then there was Mario Maker. I've played more Mario Maker than anything else on Wii U and I bought it at launch and have like 20 games for it. Making a Mario level is like drawing or painting for me.

 

[Makai]

Captain Toad

 

[Yagami_Sama]

There are a few games that impressed me quite a lot :

Bayonetta 2
Xenoblade Chronicles X
Wonderful 101
Pikmin 3
The Legend of Zelda Wind Waker HD
Tekken Tag 2
Mass Effect 3

 

[Spyder_Monkey]

Mario 3D World is genuinely brilliant an up there with 64 and Galaxy.

 

[zenosparadox]

Several standout experiences:

Mario Kart 8
Pikmin 3
Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze
Super Mario 3D World
Kirby and the Rainbow Curse
The Legend of Zelda: Windows Waker HD

Fantastic games!

 

[bman94]

Say whaaaaaaaaat

Spoiler

Sorry, based on your wording, I couldn't resist

It was intentional. We made a lot of smash jokes.

"Aye we smashing tonight?"
"I'm smashing with the boys tonight"
"I see nothing wrong with a men few smashing all night"
"Oh yeah, we're having a big smash fest in my room, wanna join?"

 

[kitsuneyo]

Single player, Mario Kart 8. Multiplayer, Nintendo Land followed by Mario 3D World.

 

[MrSaturn99]

Tie between playing the system's masterpiece (Pikmin 3) or the hype train/release period/DLC ride for Smash 4.

Awesome times. I'm actually a little sad I won't be playing it regularly anymore.

 

[DarkLegion]

Bayonetta 2

Playing Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate on my living room couch, a floor away from my WiiU in my room

 

[Phoenix RISING]

I 100% Pikmin 3 and I had never played any of the other games. That says a lot about that game.

W101 was a pleasant surprise. People talked about it when it came out, and it was forgotten. I did not think Bayonetta was "over the top." This game takes concepts like Power Rangers and cranks it up to...101!

Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze is a game that everyone should play, but it's a B-tier Nintendo franchise, and it hurts my soul that so many people will miss out on this game. Best soundtrack of the generation, IMO.

NSMBWU is the best 2D Mario game of all time. That level design is so masterful, that they just gave us Mario Maker because they can't possibly top it

 

[Lord_Byron28]

Splatoon justified my Wii U purchase for me. I spent so many hours playing online multiplayer.

DK:TF is also my favorite 2D platformer in a long time. Music, atmosphere and level design is top notch.

SM3DW and Pikmin 3 had great campaigns as well as multiplayer.

SSB4 and MK8 are the best entries in their respective franchise and had good online multiplayer.

 

[nny]

Finding it for a good price.

Hardly touched it after that :/

 

[Huge Succeeded]

It's probably a tossup between DKC:TF and Pikmin 3. Both games are incredible.

 

[Xenoblade]

Black Ops 2 online multiplayer with the Wiimote. Highest KD, most kills, longest playtime of anyone in Australia. Still playing it regularly to this day.

 

[mekes]

I still haven't played most of my games and I have the majority of the higher rated titles. My favourite is probably Mario Kart 8. In fact, I only actually played an hour of Pikmin, 10 hours of Xenoblade Chronicles and a bit of MK8.

 

[KennyLinder]

Pikmin 3 and Bayonetta 2.

 

[Nocturnowl]

I think we all know my favourite Wii U game at this point so I'll tackle the experience route.

And that would probably be the 2013 triple threat where after the consoles early drought period we were suddenly hit (in PAL regions anyway) with Pikmin 3, Rayman Legends and Wonderful 101 in rather swift succession.
I'd been having something of a gaming lull throughout the first half of 2013 so this trio not only breathed life into a console that had been mostly dormant for me but also reignited me enjoyment of games.
I never expected Pikmin 3 to nail it as much as it did and even with the flaws W101 may well stand as my favourite Platinum game.

This kicked off a really strong streak for the console in my opinion that ran until the end of 2014, if only the console could've maintained that hot streak of quality titles even if they weren't as large in number.

When NateDrake recorded the Tropical Freeze remix of Stickerbush Symphony prior to release and the hype nova that ensued (post 1403)

The drip feed of greatness was so damn hype, what a ride that was.

 

[JobenNC]

Hundreds and hundreds of hours chasing unlocks in Mario Kart 8 with my wife, couch co-op smash bros parties in my fist home post- military, and bizarre new gameplay experiences from the likes of Splatoon, Mario Maker, and Wonderful 101

I play games very slowly, so there's still stuff I need to get to. Those two dumb plastic rectangles will forever live large in my heart.

Edit: I know OP asked for just one, but Tropical Freeze is maybe my favorite game in my favorite genre.

 

[EvilMario]

I consider Tropical Freeze to be my GOAT platformer, but there's so much to choose from. I think in the end it's Splatoon, as we even bought a second Wii U so my wife and I could play together.

First party output wise, I think Wii U is tops among Nintendo consoles, probably behind only the Super NES when factoring in 3rd party support for me. I think the system was really stellar, so giving us Switch versions of some of the best Wii U games is a-ok by me.

 

[13ruce]

Hyrule Warriors, best Zelda spinoff ever.

 

[LifeBrandRobot]

I got my black WiiU on clearance at a Target for $128 CAD. It was the last one in stock. That was cool. Also got Xenoblade Chronicles X for $16 because of an Amazon price error.

 

[Qwyjibo]

Also got Xenoblade Chronicles X for $16 because of an Amazon price error.

Yep, same here. It was awesome.

I bought my Wii U at Shopper's Drug Mart (Canada) using Optimum points promotions. It was "on sale" for $249 and I also got back ~$70 worth in points.

My best experiences were Bayonetta 2 and Mario Kart 8. Especially playing multiplayer (both local and online) Mario Kart with friends. While those two were the only truly great games for the Wii U, IMO, they were also among the best of any console at the time. Obviously it wasn't a great system or anything close but at least it had those highs. It pretty much gathers dust now, though. The 3DS will be giving me my Nintendo fix for the next year or more.

 

[Gotdatmoney]

Mario Maker was Lit.

 

[JohnTinker]

The excitement and hype leading into Splatoon, especially the Testfire weekends. Friends and I would try to figure out how to wind up in a game together but never could, but we still had a blast. Once the game came out a couple of us had 2-week long work obligations and couldn't play, so the rest of our friends were spending all of that time leveling up and unlocking new guns and buying new gear. Once that work trip was over we were feverishly trying to catch up to the rest of them.


And then there's the daily Smash updates...

 

[vaporeon]

Playing Bayonetta 1 & 2 on the gamepad. I prefer handhelds, so I enjoyed the pseudo-portable experience. Also, actually getting Bayonetta 2 in general.

 

[PetrCobra]

Devil's Third Siege Mode. I hope Itagaki transforms it into something new that will be able to live on, specifically I'd prefer a sequel on Switch. Devil's Third Online is a thing but that will be a F2P game and I'm afraid it'll feel too different.

 

[jax]

Amiibo Hunting.


Not even kidding.

 

[Gynemaniac]

Tokyo Mirage Sessions. My only complaints would be: the late game attack sessions taking a long time, no autosave, and the lazy localization in terms of costumes and whatnot. Really hope we get another game like it for the Switch.

 

[EvilMario]

Tokyo Mirage Sessions. My only complaints would be: the late game attack sessions taking a long time, no autosave, and the lazy localization in terms of costumes and whatnot. Really hope we get another game like it for the Switch.

The late game sessions took so long that I was actually able to play FE: Fates while they did their thing. Sometimes even able to do a full turn before it was over.

 

[SporeCrawler]

I 100% Pikmin 3 and I had never played any of the other games. That says a lot about that game.

W101 was a pleasant surprise. People talked about it when it came out, and it was forgotten. I did not think Bayonetta was "over the top." This game takes concepts like Power Rangers and cranks it up to...101!

Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze is a game that everyone should play, but it's a B-tier Nintendo franchise, and it hurts my soul that so many people will miss out on this game. Best soundtrack of the generation, IMO.

NSMBWU is the best 2D Mario game of all time. That level design is so masterful, that they just gave us Mario Maker because they can't possibly top it

tropical freeze is one of the best 2D platformer on the system. That says a lot.

 

[UnemployedVillain]

Exploring the continents in Xenoblade Chronicles X. I can say no other games has given me that sense of exploration of an alien world, on any console.

 

[PillarEN]

It was Super Mario World 3D. Still haven't played through the two key RPGs though. I'm starting Tokyo Mirage Sessions this month.

I did play through the two Bayonettas in case anyone is wondering. I know that those games are considered sacred here haha. I liked them. Finished them both. SMW3D was close to the special feeling of the two Galaxy games though.

 

[Gynemaniac]

The late game sessions took so long that I was actually able to play FE: Fates while they did their thing. Sometimes even able to do a full turn before it was over.

Yeah I would just go on my phone and read gaf. At least they looked flashy the first few times.

 

[Dash Kappei]

Pikmin 3 and Splatoon.
Mario Kart 8 was great.

But the king was offtv play.

 

[Akainu]

Putting it down and playing another console. 😜
Had some fun playing smash on tiny screen.

 

[Cid Highwind]

Buying one in 2012 looking forward to a new Zelda game.

 

[J@hranimo]

Splatoon in itself. First buying the game, playing with some cool gaffers and forming the SplatGAF community, the drip-feed of new maps and especially all the weapons. The game remained fresh for over a year. It's been a really good time

Second goes to Smash 4 Pic of the Day. Nothing like the new smash bros cycle messing up my sleep schedule for months at a time! lol

 

[Outtrigger888]

I have 2 young kids and the wii u was the only console to provide a ton of couch co-op experiences for us. I really hope that trend continues on the switch.

 

[javadoze]

Probably getting Pikmin 3, Wonderful 101, and Rayman Legends in a sale in fall 2013. It was like the true "relaunch" of the system for me after the dry nothingness in the months after the original launch.

 

[McGruber21]

Other than a very brief but insanely fun time between me and my old bud playing Nintendo Land Chase Mii, I'd say the most fun I had with the Wii U was actually Black Ops 2 zombies online, in my bed, playing on the game pad.

Oh and Pikmin 3 😘

 

[Griss]

My best three Wii U experiences in no order:

Buying Mario Kart 8 at midnight on launch and playing it for 12 of the next 24 hours. Incredible game, the Mario Kart of my dreams. 12-man multiplayer that just worked was glorious. The tracks, the music, the roster... it was one of the best days of gaming of my life.

Playing through Pikmin 3 for the first time was magical. Perfectly paced and utterly beautiful.

And of course, Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze. I'll never forget how much my mind was blown during Grassland Groove. The flow of the game, the level design and that music track all came together to make me tear up with a sheer joy, the kind I used to experience as a kid. The whole game was perfection, but that was the standout moment.

 

[BobbyColtrane]

Playing thru Lego Marvel with my now 6 year old son, when he was 4 or 5. Just a magical experience for me.

 

[TheMightyJerkules]

4 player Mario Kart 8 multiplayer on launch day.

 

[d_escudero]

Re-playing Earthbound Begginings (now legal) and Earthbound, so many memories from both games.

Multitasking in Pikmin 3 was really good
And Splatfests