Why the GameCube is Better than the Wii U

Nintendo released the GameCube to a world that was more interested in what Sony had on offer. The GameCube fell into obscurity during that console generation in comparison to the PlayStation 2 and Xbox, but it had its fans. To this day, many people swear by the GameCube as the best Nintendo console ever made.

The Wii U also released to a lack of popularity. Despite the lack of mainstream appeal, the Wii U gained a bit of a following, and many will declare it the winner of that generation of consoles. Unfortunately the sales of the Wii U disagree.

The Reason for Failure

I want to explain a bit why I think Nintendo made the Wii U a failure. When it was first shown off, I was left uncertain why Nintendo was making it. They showed games like Call of Duty, and I know that plenty of Nintendo fans like Call of Duty, but no one was going to buy a Wii U to play Call of Duty on. As someone who grew up playing Mario, Zelda, Kirby, and many more Nintendo games, I remember feeling like Nintendo was trying to make the Wii U appeal to an audience that wasn't ever going to buy it.

The GameCube was a failure, I believe, because the Nintendo 64 was a failure. Nintendo lost a lot of appeal from developers due to their decision to stick with cartridges on the Nintendo 64, while the newly released PlayStation used much cheaper and bigger discs. Many developers left Nintendo in favor of making PlayStation games, and many consumers followed. Many former Nintendo fans made the jump to PlayStation, and many of those former Nintendo fans stayed with the PlayStation instead of going back to Nintendo for the GameCube.

Available Games

The Wii U doesn't have that many games worth playing. Super Mario 3D World is arguably the best offering that has yet to come to the Switch, and that game, while fun with friends, can be irritating to deal with in single player. Wind Waker and Twilight Princess are also available on the Wii U, but Wind Waker HD removed the Tingle Tuner in favor of a feature that doesn't work anymore. Twilight Princess HD has some improvements, but also features somewhat frequent crashes.

The GameCube has both Wind Waker and Twilight Princess, albeit without the enhanced graphics. Wind Waker has more tedious parts than in the HD version, but I personally like the Tingle Tuner's kinda-multiplayer more than I dislike the tedium. Twilight Princess on the GameCube is almost identical to the HD version, featuring improvements to finding optional collectables and not much more.

The GameCube also has games like Mario Sunshine, Mario Kart Double Dash, Pikmin 1 and 2 (also on Wii U), Star Fox Assault and Adventures, Pokemon Colosseum, Pokemon XD Gale of Darkness, Kirby Air Ride, and more bizarre games like Chibi-Robo and Cubivore.

The Wii U features Super Mario 3D World, Mario Kart 8 (also on Switch), Pokken (also on Switch), Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild (also on Switch), Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze (also on Switch), Mario Party 10, Super Smash Bros for Wii U, and Family Party 30 Great Games. I just like mentioning 30 Great Games.

There's a reason why the Wii U won't go down in history as a great system, and it's because the best games on the system were ported to Nintendo's following console as soon as they had a console that could replace the Wii U. Of the GameCube games I mentioned, only two were re-released on any Nintendo system.

The GameCube also has far more variety to the types of games that are available. Casual gamers can enjoy Animal Crossing on the GameCube. Hardcore gamers can play anything from Super Smash Brothers Melee to Metal Gear Solid. There's something that anyone can play on the GameCube. The Wii U doesn't have nearly as much to appeal to casual gamers without including the Wii library, in which case the quest for a casual game becomes a quest for a good casual game.

Controllers

The GameCube has one primary controller that almost every game uses. It's often regarded as the best controller Nintendo has ever made, if not the best video game controller ever. The controller works together with the games and can really shine when they work together. Some games, however, were clearly not made for the GameCube controller. Spyro Enter the Dragonfly has incredibly awkward controls at times, likely because the GameCube version was an afterthought compared to the PlayStation 2 version. The controls in that game don't do the GameCube controller justice, and it also doesn't do anything else justice.

The Wii U primarily used the Wii U Gamepad as its controller. It's a very large controller with a screen, and it has more weight than you'd hope, yet less weight than you'd expect. The screen is used almost never, and some games just turn the screen off. The weight is less of a problem than the size, which can become very unwieldy if you have small hands.

The other option for the Wii U is the Wii U Pro Controller. This is the only controller I might prefer over the GameCube controller. It fits perfectly in the hands, and the control sticks are usable without bending my thumbs very far. If more games allowed the Wii U Pro Controller, I might have played more Wii U games.

Innovation

Nintendo is known for their attempts at creating new experiences. This has resulted in systems like the DS being released with the, at the time, gimmicky touch screen. Nintendo's desire to innovate the industry didn't come from the DS, as can be seen subtly in the GameCube.

The GameCube launched with Luigi's Mansion. It wasn't a platformer like people expected, but instead a game where Luigi hunts ghosts. It didn't make sense at the time, and it certainly doesn't now. Later the GameCube got Kirby Air Ride, which is a racing game for people who don't want to play a racing game. It wasn't a platformer like people were expecting, but was instead a game where you ignored the modes based on racing and instead played a mode where you drove around a city and upgraded your speed, handling, and other stats.

The innovation with the GameCube came from the types of games that were released. Kirby Air Ride and Luigi's Mansion control perfectly fine, despite being strange departures from the series' they were known for.

The Wii U tried to innovate as well, but what we got instead of innovative games was unique controls for the sake of being unique.

Splatoon allows the player to aim using the gyro controls of the Wii U Gamepad. It works far better than I expected, but the option to turn it off was also vital for me to be able to have fun with the game at first. Star Fox Zero is the exact opposite. It requires gyro controls, on top of being way too complicated in terms of what each vehicle can do and how you need to do it. It's less fun than you'd hope considering it's Twister for your fingers.

Conclusion

The GameCube is my second favorite Nintendo system because of how much variety there is to the games available. Whatever mood I'm in, the GameCube has a game for it. The Wii U has subpar ports of PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 games, along with Super Mario 3D World and a bunch of games that are available on a better system. The only reason the GameCube is only my second favorite system is because the Wii can play GameCube games.