At this point, it's clear the Nintendo Wii U needs some new game releases. It's also clear that while Nintendo fans have been waiting for a while now, they're going to have to wait even longer. Since that's the case, some are turning to an old friend for some comfort and finding that the best Wii U game might just be Super Mario World.
To be fair, Super Mario World is one of the best games ever made, so frankly it could technically be the best title on any system Nintendo ports it to. But given the severe lack of Wii U games being released and the pathetic Virtual Console offerings currently on display for the system, the idea of paying $350 to replay Super Mario World can be pretty telling.
According to Wired's Chris Kohler, "Super Mario World is rivaling NintendoLand and New Super Mario Bros. U for hours logged on our Wii U. In fact, prior to this we'd barely even powered the damn thing up in 2013. After releasing a handful of games for Christmas and promising many more before the end of March, Nintendo delayed everything forever; ostensible 'launch' game Pikmin 3 now won't be out until August and additional ostensible 'launch' game The Wonderful 101 has gone AWOL. Third parties are releasing jack."
Kohler continues by going into why Nintendo's release schedule has been so paltry, saying HD development is giving Nintendo headaches that others in the industry got over six years ago, but he comes back to the idea that Nintendo should really expand the prevalence of the Virtual Console on the Wii U.
Sure, the fact that we're talking about Super Mario World and getting excited over the re-release of Earthbound is partly due to the fact that there is essentially nothing else of interest going on with the Wii U, but it's also because these are wonderful games. I do wonder if Earthbound would be coming out on the Wii U if Nintendo actually had other titles to shill, but the company really should be doing more of this. Kohler pointed to the Wii U possibly becoming a "Nintendo paradise," filled with virtually every Nintendo game you'd want from past consoles. There could be a nice middle ground between celebrating Nintendo's past titles and delivering new content.
"I don't think these games [older Nintendo titles] should be seen as a mere stopgap, something to be dismissed if and when Nintendo manages to ship another couple few $60 Wii U games," he wrote, and pointed to the fact that Nintendo has massive billboards in Japan promoting the Earthbound re-release.
Nintendo definitely needs new games, "but on the other hand, when we played Mario World we didn't feel like we were wasting the Wii U's potential. It's a great game even today, and the added bonus features of the Wii U version give it a sense of novelty," Kohler wrote. "It makes us want to play more old games on Wii U. In other words, there's nothing shameful about turning Wii U into a 'Nintendo paradise.' It might even be the only option."
Whether it is or not, you can count me as a supporter.
