Wii U Game of the Year… So Far

It’s only natural that the best games from the first half of the year, which are up to eleven months old by the time awards season rolls around, can be somewhat overshadowed by the current hot properties.

It was with this in mind that I decided it might be nice to round up some of the other Nintendo Enthusiast staff to take stock at this halfway stage and honour some of 2014′s best games that might not make the final cut in five months’ time.

[GamingSinceThe80s]

I though from the picture they were saying it was GM.But in fact it is MK8 and I can live with that.I would have also accepted DKCTF.

[3-4-5]

DK:TF or MK8 so far.

Super Smash Brothers is going to be better than both of them combined x7 though.

[ARESWARLORD]

Mario Kart 8 is my game of the year. Its a blast

[jholden3249]

DKC Tropical Freeze by a land slide. Not even Mario Kart 8 can touch that game.

[dafegamer]

i think mario kart 8 is the more "fun" game of the two
DKC Tropical freeze is a hardcore platformer and can be unforgiving at times

[OtakuDJK1NG-Rory]

Mario Kart 8
Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze
Shovel Knight

so far!

Expect Hyrule Warriors, Bayonetta 2 and Super Smash Bros. to compete.

[dafegamer]

Mario Kart 8 easily

[eferreira]

Shovel Knight was great but it's no game of the year.
Mario Kart fixed a lot of issues from the wii version but I still don't think it beats out 7 or Mk64. Smash will be the game of the year for Nintendo.

[wonderfulmonkeyman]

I think TW101 deserves some accolades, here.
Platinum really outdid themselves with such a concept, and it's a genuinely challenging game with a storyline that's both engrossing and comedic with just a touch of seriousness in all the right places.
The various heroes and heroines all have cool personalities[even if a bit cheesy at times], and the ability to level up individual members to further increase the range of transformations that some of your attacks can become[such as Gun going to Bazooka and then into Lazer] are novel ideas, and the extra uses of some of the transformations[blade reflecting things, gun acting like a suction device to shoot things back, etc] really added variety to the strategy of many of the game's encounters, so much so that just button-mashing your way through stuff isn't going to get you anywhere.
It's a game that stands tall amidst giants such as Devil May Cry, when looked at critically yet fairly.

Shovel Knight should be paired right alongside it in quality; for a game in an old style, it has all the heart of several of them.
It's got challenge and fun in abundance without being too overly heavy on story, and a final boss battle where you honestly see the usefulness of Shield Knight as Shovel Knight's partner and equal.

Overall, it's tough for me to choose between the two of them, but both definitely deserve attention.
Too many "hardcore" gamers are dismissing these games over their looks, the gamepad's uses in them, or the systems they're on in general, and that's just downright shameful because they deserve high honors.

Honorable Mention, from me, goes to Guacamelee: Super Turbo Championship Edition.
I went into it expecting a game that just barely hits par and came away with a much higher opinion of it as a Metroid-vania style game.
The combat is easy to learn but difficult to master[which brings to mind Muramasa: The Demon Blade, which is already a pretty high mark as far as I'm concerned], and the story is told well without being too dramatic.
I'd give it more points if it had a bit more variety in the enemies you get to face, but other than that it was a decently challenging game[when not using the super mode all the time] that had some genuinely well-done secret areas that would push you to your limits trying to clear.

The Wii U's future is looking pretty bright if good games like these keep coming.

[deafdani]

Wonderful 101 is my favorite game of all time, but it's a 2013 title. Kinda hard to give it GOTY 2014, don't you think? :P

For me, best Wii U game of this year is dispute among Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze and Mario Kart 8. Shovel Knight was a pretty good game, but doesn't come close to the other two in my opinion.

Haven't played Guacamelee yet. Will do eventually, once I clear my backlog a bit.

[BobSilencieux]

Wonderful 101 was my GOTY last year too, but yeah, like you say, that was last year! I would definitely recommend Guacamelee though...

[ForgottenProphecy]

Mario Kart 8 hands down

[jcnba28]

Right now I'd give it to Mario Kart 8. It's one of the best kart racers I've ever played and the drifting feels so damn good!

[Sheed]

I know super smash bros hasn't come out yet but, we might as well already say it's wii u game of the year.

[Chrischi1988]

Na, Smash is very good, but it doesnt beat MK8.

[higgins78]

Yes, Mario Kart 8 is without a doubt (thus far) the GOTY, however...SM3DW still remains the quintessential Nintendo/Wii U experience.