I was able to find a Wii U in near mint condition from a guy on OLX (an Indian online marketplace for buying used goods). The person I got it from hadn’t used it all except for trying out some features.

While the console itself is pretty impressive (HDMI on a Nintendo console!), it just doesn’t have a huge number of games released for it. However, being backwards compatible with the Wii, it has access to a huge library of games. Of course, that requires some tweaking 😉.

Gamepad⌗

How can I not talk about the Gamepad? It felt clunky at first but it’s probably the most comfortable controller I’ve ever held. I read online about it’s poor battery life but I haven’t had a problem with it. Sure, it lasts for only 4 hours (supposedly, I haven’t measured the time it takes for a full discharge) but it’s good enough for me I guess. The only complaint I have with the gamepad is about the buttons at the top (the ZR and the ZL buttons to be exact), I find them hard to reach and they feel a bit stiff at times.

Games⌗

I was able to hook up an old 2.5" hard disk to the console. That gives me a ton of storage for storing Wii U games. The Wii U formats the hard drive into a proprietary format - something that can only be used with the console.

One game that I’ve been having a lot of fun lately is Super Mario 3D World. It’s a great 3D Mario game and the local multiplayer is way too good. Thanks to the console’s backwards compatibility, my friends are able to play with me using their Wii Remotes. The game can be challenging at times so be warned! The Super Mario Galaxy series deserves a mention here because of how innovative the game design is. It’s playable because of the backwards compatibility that the Wii U offers.

One thing to keep in mind is that almost ALL of the good games on this system have been ported over to the Nintendo Switch. So, unless you really really like Xenoblade or you’re into collecting weird stuff I would recommend getting a Switch instead.

Final thoughts⌗

I’ve tried a lot of consoles but the Nintendo ones stand out from the rest. Be it the Nintendo 3DS, the Nintendo Wii U or the Nintendo Switch. The Wii U and the Playstation 2 are now the top 2 consoles of all time for me! I sure hope nobody requires an explanation for why the Playstation 2 made it into the list 😉!