Topic: Best of the Wii U eShop (Round 7: 2016 - Part 1)

[M.K.Ultra]

Background
The Wii U eShop will only be open for a limited time so it is worth looking at the games there while there is still time to buy them. I will be going through the list of eShop games chronologically by release date using Nintendo's Game Store site. I will be skipping over Virtual Console releases for now, but I will cover them at the end. I am also skipping games that were released on disc, unless the disc version costs more than the download.
The Games: Round 7 - 2016 - Part 1
In our seventh set of games we look at the first half of 2016. There are 43 titles are up for discussion with info in the following format:
Title (Developer/Publisher, price, availability on other consoles, Metacritic score (Metacritic Rank on Wii U), NWR review score [link to review])

• Wicked Monsters Blast! HD+ (Corecell, $3.99, PS3)
• The Perplexing Orb (TreeFall Studios, $2.00, PS4)
• Level 22 (Moving Player, $6.99, Vita/PS4/XB1, 70)
• Joe's Diner (VIS games/Joindots, $3.99, PS4)
• Shadow Puppeteer (Sarepta Studios/Snow Cannon Games, $14.99, PC, 57, 5 NWR Review)
• Shutshimi (Neon Diety/Choice Provisions, $9.99, Vita/PS4, 77, 8 NWR Review)
• Word Puzzles by POWGI (Lightwood Games, $9.99, Switch/3DS)
• Oddworld: New 'n' Tasty (Just Add Water/Nephilim Games/Oddworld Inhabitants, $19.99, Switch/Vita/PS4/XB1, 81, 8.5 NWR Review)
• Outside the Realm (TreeFall Studios, $0.99, Wii U only)
• Smart Adventures - Mission Math (Engine Software, $2.99, App Store)
• Inside My Radio (Seaven Studio, $1.99, Switch/PS4/XB1, 56, 6 NWR Review)
• Steel Rivals (nuGame, $6.99, PC, 19)
• Twilight Princess HD (Nintendo, $49.99, Wii U only, 86 (22nd), 9 NWR Review)
• Jewel Quest (PlayEveryWare/iWin Inc, $4.99, App Store)
• Grumpy Reaper (EnjoyUp, $4.99, Wii U only, 55)
• Infinity Runner (Wales Interactive, $6.99, PS4/XB1, 59, 6 NWR Review)
• U Host (Andy Ford/Bear Box Media, $1.99, Wii U only)
• Bird Mania Party (Teyon, $1.99, 3DS)
• Mutant Mudds Super Challenge (Renegade Kid/Atooi, $9.99, Switch/3DS/VitaPS4, 83 (38th), 7 NWR Review)
• Lovely Planet (Quicktequila/TinyBuild Games, $2.49, PS4/XB1)
• Emojikara: A Clever Emoji Match Game (Intropy Games, $2.99, Wii U only)
• Paranautical Activity (Code Avarice/Saturnine Games/Digerati, $9.99, Switch/Vita/PS4/XB1, 46)
• Asdivine Hearts (Exe-Create/Kemco, $4.99, Switch/Vita/PS4/XB1, 57, 6 NWR Review)
• Pinball Arcade (Farsight Studios, Free, Wii U only)
• Mini Mario & Friends: amiibo Challenge (Nintendo, Free, 3DS)
• Sudoku and Permudoku (Sebastian & Tosha Küpper/Diplodocus Games, $0.99, Wii U only)
• PixelMaker (Nostatic Software, $4.99, 3DS)
• The Beggar's Ride (Bad Seed, $5.99, App Store)
• SpaceRoads (Wurd Industries, $9.99, PC)
• Midnight 2 (Petite Games, $1.99, Wii U only)
• Super Meat Boy (Team Meat/Blitworks, $14.00, 83, 8.5 NWR Review)
• Tachyon Project (Eclipse Games, $9.99, Switch/Vita/PS4/XB1, 7 NWR Review)
• Queen's Garden (Seven Sails/Joindots, $3.49, App Store)
• 8Bit Hero (Sean Garland/Righteous Weasel, $4.99, Wii U only)
• Sweetest Thing (Seven Sails/Joindots, $3.49, PC)
• Dragon Fantasy: The Black Tome of Ice (Choice Provisions, $9.99, 3DS/Vita/PS4, 7 NWR Review)
• Rynn's Adventure: Trouble in the Enchanted Forest (Arcane Four Studios, $9.99, PC)
• Dual Core (Gray Fin Studios, $9.99, PC, 75)
• The Book of Unwritten Tales 2 (King Art/Nordic Games, $11.99, Switch/PS4/XB1)
• Olympia Rising (Paleozoic Games/Play Every Ware Games, $4.99, PC, 64, 6 NWR Review)
• Twin Robots (Ratalaika Games, $4.99, Vita/PS4)
• Run Run and Die (EnjoyUp, $3.99, Vita)
• Rubik's Cube (Cypronia, $4.99, 3DS)
• Prism Pets (Mouse Potato Games/Intropy Games, $2.99, Wii U only)

Highlights
2016 was the last big year for the Wii U eShop. The full list of 58 games is too long, so I not only selected the better reviewed games for the poll, but I also left some titles off this post entirely. If you recommend any  games from the first half of 2016 not included, just post a comment. Those looking for a good deal might want to pick up Pinball Arcade and Mini Mario and Friends as both are free. The most expensive title this week is the digital version of Twilight Princess HD. Even at $50 you are saving over the physical copies which sell for around $60 CIB.  The Book of Unwritten Tales is also rare, averaging $25 for the disc alone, so check out the sale price of $12 in the eShop. After Twilight Princess HD, the best reviewed games are: Oddworld, Super Meat Boy, and Mutant Mudds, which like last week are three independent title available on Switch. The lowest reviewed game is Steel Rivals which has a paltry 19 on Metacritic. The cross-buy program goes silent this week, but those interested in a demo should check out Word Puzzles by POWGI. My personal pick this week is Dual Core, a slower-paced twin stick shooter with a sci-fi storyline. I really enjoyed this one, it has a 75 on Metacritic, and is a Wii U console exclusive.



Comments
I welcome any corrections to the information I found when compiling the list. The information here is for the US so let me know about differences in other regions. Not sure what to comment, consider questions like:

• Will Nintendo re-release Twilight Princess HD on Switch this year?
• Is Mutant Mudds Super Challenge harder than Super Meat Boy?
• Do you have all the amiibo needed for Mini Mario and Friends?
• Who is your 8 bit hero?

[Order.RSS]

Couple good ones, Mini Mario & Friends: amiibo Challenge is basically a free demo of Mario vs. Donkey Kong, plays similarly to Lemmings. There's about an hour of levels, but if you have the right amiibo you'll open a few more levels (I did not get to try those, though).

Super Meat Boy is really good, and a noteworthy release since it took so long to come to Nintendo systems. Believe there were plans for it to release as WiiWare back in the day, but the 40mb size limit threw a wrench in those plans. It got an auto-runner sequel recently on Switch.

Inside My Radio is also a platformer, but mixed with a rhythm game, so you can only jump in sync with the beat. Decent little game and goes on sale often.

Star Fox Guard also released around this time, on disc and the eShop, which is a great tower defense title using both screens effectively. Should've been a launch game or included with Nintendo Land, I think. Feels like this got totally forgotten.

Avoid: Joe's Diner is one of those PS4 games which can't run on PS5, which is its only notable quality. Midnight 2 is hot trash, a 2D platformer with golf mechanics. Tachyon Project is a twin stick shooter like Geometry Wars, but slows down a lot whenever too many enemies are on screen. Infinity Runner is a first-person autorunner where you turn into a werewolf, and it's a very shoddy version on Wii U. Audio glitches, music cuts out, cut-scenes occur in the wrong order so it spoils the "story" for you, and there's several game breaking glitches which prevent you from completing it. All right game on other systems maybe, but avoid it here.

Lastly, did anyone ever play those Kemco RPGs, like Asidive Hearts here? Are they any good?