Poll

Which of these Wii U eShop games would you recommend?

Family Tennis SP
Breezeblox
Midnight
Elliot Quest
Angry Video Game Nerd Adventures
Word Search by POWGI
Swords & Soldiers II
Adventures of Pip
Trine Enchanted Edition
Super Destronaut
Blek
OlliOlli
Mario vs. Donkey Kong Tipping Stars
Nihilumbra
Ultratron
Don't Starve: Giant Edition
Art Academy: Home Studio
Affordable Space Adventures
Never Alone (Kisima Ingitchuna)

Author Topic: Best of the Wii U eShop (Round 5: 2015 - Part 1)  (Read 1960 times)

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Offline M.K.Ultra

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Best of the Wii U eShop (Round 5: 2015 - Part 1)
« on: December 20, 2020, 12:32:32 PM »
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 that disc is not available or prohibitively expensive.
The Games: Round 5 - 2015 - Part 1
This fifth set of games encompasses the first six months of 2015. The following 34 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])
  • Maze (TreeFall Studios, $2.99, Wii U only, 29, 3 NWR review)
  • Family Tennis SP (Arc System Works/Shin'en Multimedia, $4.99, Switch, 7 NWR Review)
  • Rock 'N Racing Off Road (EnjoyUp $5.99, Wii U only, 39, 4 NWR Review)
  • Breezeblox (Brennan Maddox/Pugsley, $2.99, App Store, 8 NWR Review)
  • Midnight (Vilmos Gyokeres/Petite Games, $1.99, PC, 60, 7 NWR Review)
  • Blek (Kunabi Brother/Broken Rules, $5.99, App Store, 75, 8 NWR Review)
  • GravBlocks+ (From Nothing Games, $1.00, PC)
  • OlliOlli (Carbon/Roll 7/Curve Digital, $9.99, 3DS/Vita/PS4/XB1, 80, 8.5 NWR Review)
  • Mario vs. Donkey Kong Tipping Stars (Nintendo $19.99, 3DS, 70, 7 )
  • Trine Enchanted Edition (Frozenbyte, $14.99, Switch/PS4, 80, 7.5 NWR Review)
  • My Style Studio: Notebook (Cypronia, $2.99, Wii U only, 40)
  • Super Destronaut (Vilmos Gyokeres/Petite Games, $1.99, 3DS, 8 NWR Review)
  • Elliot Quest (Ansimuz Games/PlayEveryWare Games, $12.99, Switch/3DSPS4/XB1, 76, 9 NWR Review)
  • Pentapuzzle (RCMADIAX, $4.49, App Store)
  • Bubble Gum Popper (Justin Sargent/Skunk Software, $18.98, App Store)
  • Mon Premier Karaoke (RingZero, $9.99, Wii U only)
  • Angry Video Game Nerd Adventures (FreakZone Games/Screw Attack Games, $9.99, 3DS, 78, 8 NWR Review)
  • Affordable Space Adventures (Nifflas'/KnapNok Games, $19.99, Wii U only, 81 (55th), 8 NWR Review)
  • Word Search by POWGI (Lightwood Games, $7.99, Switch/3DS/Vita/PS4, 7 NWR Review)
  • Suspension Railroad Simulator (Joindots, $7.99, Wii U only, 1.5 NWR Review)
  • amiibo tap: Nintendo's Greatest Hits (Nintendo, Free, Wii U only,  NWR Review)
  • Nihilumbra (Beautifun Games, $9.99, Switch/Vita, 76, 8 NWR Review)
  • Funk of Titans (EnjoyUp, $8.99, Vita/PS4/XB1, 44, 4.5 NWR Review)
  • Ultratron (Carbon/Puppygames/Curve Digital, $9.99, Vita/PS4/XB1, 73, 8 NWR Review)
  • Stone Shire (Finger Fun Games, $7.99, Wii U only)
  • Swords & Soldiers II (Ronimo Games, $19.99, Switch/PS4, 75, 8.5 NWR Review)
  • Journey of a Special Average Balloon (TreeFall Studios, $0.99, Wii U only)
  • Don't Starve: Giant Edition (Klei Enterainment, $14.99, Vita/PS4/XB1, 75, 8 NWR Review)
  • Adventures of Pip (TicToc Games, $9.99, Switch/PS4/XB1, 78, 8 NWR Review)
  • The Stonecutter (Brave Rock Games $1.20, Wii U only)
  • Fat City (Heavy Iron Studios, $9.99, Switch/Vita/PS4/XB1)
  • Life of Pixel (Super Icon Limited, $9.99, Vita, 64)
  • Art Academy: Home Studios (Headstrong Games/Nintendo, $29.99, Wii U only, 82 (47th), 8.5 NWR Review)
  • Never Alone (Kisima Initchuna) (Upper One Games/E-Line Media, $14.99, PS4/XB1, 66, 7 NWR Review)
Highlights
The first half of 2015 starts with a steady stream of decent titles. Again the full list was rather long, so I only included the better reviewed games in the poll. If you recommend any of the games not in the poll, just post a comment. The cheapest option this round is amiibo tap: Nintendo's Greatest Hits, which teaches you how to name and register your amiibo in exchange for extended demos of NES games. If you are looking to spend a lot more, then you might check out Art Academy: Home Studio for $30. If you are not already a starving artist, then this purchase will get you a little closer to being one. This is also the best reviewed game of the bunch, 47th best Wii U game according to Metacritic, unless you ask Neal, who would argue that Elliot Quest is the masterpiece of the list. The lowest reviewed game is Suspension Railroad Simulator, which earned the loser score of 1.5 from NWR. If you interested in demos, there are two options this round: Trine and Word Search. In 2015 we see the first cross-buy offers as both OlliOlli and Mario vs. Donkey Kong give you a 3DS download with your Wii U purchase. Mr. Bungle's pick of the week is Affordable Space Adventures. The 55th best game on Wii U makes great use of the game-pad and offers some of the best coop game play on the system.
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:
  • Did you ever pay full price for Skunk software?
  • How can a balloon be special and average?
  • How many amiibo did you tap?

Offline Order.RSS

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Re: Best of the Wii U eShop (Round 5: 2015 - Part 1)
« Reply #1 on: December 23, 2020, 08:05:35 PM »
Lots of decent games in this batch, but only one clear winner: Affordable Space Adventures. Easily a top 10 game on the platform, and probably the single most interesting exclusive on the system?

I played Blek, which is a clever puzzle game about creating a repeating pattern. Works well on the Gamepad, but also made me feel very dumb and rather than working on my own intellectual shortcomings I will instead blame the game for being too hard. (And inadvertedly prove myself a fool in the process.)


OlliOlli I played recently and again found too difficult. It's an autorunner dressed up like a skateboarding game with a rad as hell soundtrack. I played this for hours but dropped it in the last world because I was eating so much gravel you could call me an excavator.


Cautionary tale: Midnight I have not played, but I did complete its sequel (Midnight 2) and strongly disliked it. Both look near-identical, so I'm baffled this got a 7/10 from NWR. It's basically a platforming game, but you can't move, so you propel your character kind of like you move the ball in golf games. Aim, swing, and hope you don't land in the rough.
Stay away from this bogey.

Offline M.K.Ultra

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Re: Best of the Wii U eShop (Round 5: 2015 - Part 1)
« Reply #2 on: December 27, 2020, 11:22:39 AM »
I think OlliOlli 2 is a little easier. I completed the game but never did quite learn how to do some of the moves.