In an E3 2016 interview with Game Informer, Shigeru Miyamoto and Bill Trinen name Star Fox Zero and Pikmin 3 as two underrated Wii U exclusive titles.
At less than 13 million units sold to date, it’s hard to deny that, compared to its predecessor, Wii U is a sales failure. Despite the console’s struggle to resonate with the public, however, it still has quite an impressive library of exclusive games – some would even argue that the Wii U currently has the best lineup of exclusives out of all the eighth generation home consoles. Even so, there are some exclusive games that, like the console itself, haven’t quite met expectations. One of those games is Star Fox Zero, but according to gaming legend Shigeru Miyamoto, Star Fox Zero is the most underrated game in the Wii U’s library.Miyamoto made these comments in an interview with Game Informer at E3 2016. In the interview, Miyamoto basically stated that Star Fox Zero hasn’t been given a fair shake (the game released to generally mediocre reviews earlier this year), and that if an elementary school kid played it without having played other games in the series, they would have a lot of fun. Miyamoto also said that Star Fox Zero‘s multiplayer is fun for siblings.
Unfortunately for Star Fox Zero and Miyamoto, most professional game critics didn’t think too highly of the game. As previously stated, Star Fox Zero launched to mediocre reviews, with critics taking aim at its unconventional controls, lack of online multiplayer, and underwhelming graphics.
Besides Star Fox Zero, another overlooked Wii U exclusive is Pikmin 3, according to Nintendo of America senior product marketing manager Brill Trinen. Trinen spoke highly of Pikmin 3‘s Bingo Battle Mode, claiming that it’s the best multiplayer component Nintendo has designed since it created the Super Smash Bros. series.
Miyamoto agreed with Trinen about Pikmin 3 being underrated, saying that the game is underrated because people don’t take the time to play it properly. Pikmin 3 is apparently meant to be played through multiple times to get the full effect, and Miyamoto believes that most people simply play through once and call it a day.
We don’t know if game critics played through Pikmin 3 multiple times or not, but the game’s critical reception was much more positive than Star Fox Zero‘s – it’s underrated in the sense that it wasn’t a major sales success. Nintendo hasn’t reported its sales figures in years, but at last count, Pikmin 3 was still 800,000 units away from cracking 1 million units sold. Even with Wii U’s low install base, these are disappointing numbers, but apparently it’s still sold well enough for Nintendo to move forward with a fourth Pikmin game.
Ultimately, it’s hard to say if games like Star Fox Zero and Pikmin 3 are receiving their just dues or not. Star Fox Zero has some legitimate criticisms levied against it, and Pikmin 3, for whatever reason, must not have appealed to the majority of Wii U owners. Regardless, it’s not everyday one gets to learn the opinion of such prominent industry figures, and learning what Wii U games they feel are underrated is something that Nintendo fans may find interesting.
Star Fox Zero and Pikmin 3 are both available now as Wii U exclusives.