Updated: Was updated to change Super Mario Maker from possible to doubtful after the announcement of Super Mario Maker 2

As many Wii U owners are aware, Nintendo has ported a lot of their Wii U line-up to the Switch.  Besides filling in gaps in the release Switch’s release schedule, these titles have now been introduced to a larger audience (due to Switch being a bigger success) and also have the ability to be played fully portable.   For the most part, these ports are the “definitive” versions of these games.

Looking at what’s already been ported, and what’s left over on the Wii U, I thought it’d be fun to look and see what other Nintendo games might get ported from the Wii U.

There is a Nintendo Direct coming, and I’m sure some of these will pop-up, so I will update this after those announcements happen.

All of these Nintendo published games have already been ported for the Wi U onto the Switch.   Most of them actually sold better on the Switch than their original Wii U release despite not much new content being added to them.   Here is the full list of Nintendo Wii U Ports

• Bayonetta / Bayonetta 2 – This is mostly the same as the Wii U versions but they’ve added some amiibo support

• Captain Toad Treasure Tracker – New Super Mario Odyssey themed levels (New Donk City) were added, and the Super Mario 3D World levels were removed.

• Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze – The infamouse New Funky Kong Mode was added, this allows something of an “easy mode” by using Funky Kong, who is invincible

• Hyrule Warriors – 2Player Co-op is now playable in split-screen, where as on the Wii U you had to use the TV and GamePad for different players.

• Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – This version includes all of the DLC from Mario Kart 8 plus some other additions: 6 new characters, 4 karts, gameplay tweaks and brand new Battle Modes which fills a huge void that was in the Wii U version

• New Super Mario Bros Deluxe – Mostly the same as the New Super Mario Bros U + New Super Luigi U combo for Wii U but this version adds Toadette / Peachette which make the game easier to play similar to Funk Kong in DKCTF.

• Pokken Tournament DX – This version adds 5 new characters plus later 2 more were released through DLC

For various reasons that I’ll explain, I think these games have a pretty high chance of getting ported to the Switch.  None of these have been announced for the Switch at this point, but some of them have been rumored.

• Pikmin 3 – Back in 2015 Miyamoto said the next Pikmin was “near completion”, in a later statement Nintendo confirmed that “Pikmin 4” was in development.  When Miyamoto said the “next” Pikmin, maybe he was referring to Hey! Pikmin for the 3DS which hadn’t been announced yet.  Regardless, I’m sure most agree that Nintendo wouldn’t have referred to that game directly as Pikmin 4 though.    Why does this matter?  Because this likely means Pikmin 4 is coming to the Switch, and if that doesn’t happen in 2019, I wouldn’t be surprised if Nintendo snuck in a Pikmin 3 port to hold us over another year or too.  In my opinion, Pikmin 3 was at a Super Mario, Legend of Zelda, Metroid level of quality and polish.  If Pikmin 4 is announced for 2019, then I think the chances of a Pikmin 3 port drops to very doubtful.

• Super Mario 3D World – This was such a great Super Mario game and it goes very under appreciated.  There was an unfortunate cluster of complaints around this game because it wasn’t a “real” 3D Mario, and it wasn’t like Galaxy (or the eventual Odyssey).  I also was part of the group that wanted a Galaxy 3 more than a sequel to 3D Land, but I was wrong.  Super Mario 3D World is my favorite Wii U game and is by far the best co-op Super Mario game out there.  The game’s style allows unique level design you don’t get in the Galaxy/Odyssey types, or in the 2D “New” games. This is sure to sell, and I wouldn’t be surprised if we see this sometime late 2019.    I’m also hopeful we get a sequel at some point too.

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