The 10 Best Wii U Launch Titles

The Wii U has finally arrived, and with it no shortage of launch games. Nintendo's determined to win back hardcore gamers after losing our faith with the casual-focused Wii, and the new system's current lineup of games definitely reflects that.

With over 30 day-one games in the U.S., there's something for everyone in the Wii U's initial lineup. But it's not the easiest task sorting through all those games—especially when so many of them are souped-up ports of titles that already came out on other systems.

There's Assassin's Creed 3, the Mass Effect 3 special edition, Darksiders 2, Black Ops 2, Fifa 13, Batman: Arkham City Armored Edition, Just Dance 4, Madden 13, NBA 2K13, Transformers Prime—but how many of those are worth your time? And what about the original games? Wii U's got some of those as well.

So keep reading for our take on the ten best Wii U launch games.

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It was legitimately tough to decide which of the Wii U's many ports of existing games to include on this list, but ultimately we went with the ones that we feel best took advantage of their place on Nintendo's new console.

Tekken Tag Tournament 2: Wii U Edition adds a crapload of new Nintendo-themed costumes (seriously, they're hilarious), plus the new Mushroom Battle, Tekken Ball, and Tekken Supporters modes. Mushroom Battle is the best, adding various types of Mario mushroom power-ups that serve to make things a bit more chaotic.

The GamePad can also be used for a variety of functions, including costume editing and quick combos during battle, and the core fighting game is just as great as it was on Xbox 360 and PS3.

Batman: Arkham City - Armored Edition is another port to Nintendo's new console that uses the GamePad particularly well. It essentially turns the Wii U's fancy GamePad into a miniature Batcomputer; the controller does everything. It's a sonar radar, you can read character bios and other data entries on it, and you'll even use its gyroscope to control batarangs and other items in the game.

And Arkham City - Armored Edition lives up to its name with a new BAT mode that allows the Dark Knight and to unleash extra powerful attacks by taking hits wearing his new armor.

Finally, the Wii U version of Arkham City includes past DLC missions and costumes right on the disc, so you're getting a lot more than the older versions included. If you never experienced Batman: Arkham City, the Wii U may be the best platform for it.

Don't let the kiddie visuals in Scribblenauts Unlimited fool you—this is the type of game in which you can be straight up evil. The premise revolves around a magic notebook that conjures anything you wish it to. And unlike in most video games, this literally means anything—type it in on the GamePad, and it pops up on the screen.

Want to summon a giant, red, fire-breathing octopus? Why not make it duel with a deadly ballerina? Then you can summon a volcano, a tidal wave or simply an enraged deity to take out all your devious creations.

Oh, and there's also a plot that revolves around you helping people with your incredible powers. And on Nintendo's platform you can even summon characters from Mario and Zelda—a first for the Scribblenauts series. It's definitely worth checking out.

Chasing Aurora is in the interesting position of being the only Wii U eShop title that isn't available on any other platform. It's an indie game that developers Broken Rules claim is about "the dream of flight."

If a game can't grab your attention unless it's got more explosions than a Michael Bay movie, then Chasing Aurora isn't for you. But its stark, geometric visuals and strangely competitive multiplayer gameplay should prove enticing for certain types of discerning players.

Flying around as a colorful bird feels just right, and even lone players can try out time trials and other challenges. But with a few friends Chasing Aurora really shines as a unique indie title that offers an experience you won't find anywhere else.

Trine 2 is another port of a game that was already released on numerous other platforms, but this is the first time the world has seen the "Director's Cut" edition of the game. It's a 2D fantasy puzzle-platformer in which you switch between mage, warrior and thief characters on the fly to navigate the environment and fight enemies.

The game was already gorgeous, but due to the Wii U's impressive GPU it's received a visual boost over the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions. It's also got the past DLC and some new content, plus GamePad touch screen controls.

It's got the distinct advantage right now of being one of the only eShop titles available on the Wii U. Oh, and it's even got multiplayer—having a friend take control of another character for co-op is a blast. You basically can't go wrong here.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 is practically a must-have for Wii U gamers who don't already own the game on another system. It marks really the first time a CoD game has been ported to a Nintendo system without requiring major compromises, thanks to the Wii U's increased power.

It plays identically to the PS3, Xbox 360 and PC versions, and thanks to the Wii U's GamePad it comes with some extra functionality as well. During multiplayer, the GamePad's screen can serve as an interactive map and can be used to select loadouts, score streak rewards and more.

And of course, you can pull the game down to the GamePad's screen and play it directly from the controller when someone else wants to use the TV (or when you have to take a shit, provided the bathroom isn't too far away from the console). Brilliant.

Little Inferno is certainly the strangest game you'll play on the Wii U right now, and possibly one of the strangest you've played all year. Its premise is deliciously simple: burn shit. Burn as much shit as you possibly can, then buy more shit to burn, and burn that too. Burn it all.

With your Little Inferno Entertainment Fireplace, you might even be able to burn enough shit to stay warm through what may or may not be a nuclear winter. That's where half the fun comes in; figuring out what's going on in the game's story, and what's actually up with mysterious characters like Miss Nancy, Sugar Lumps and The Weather Man, who only communicate via letters.

And though you'll spend 99 percent of the game in front of that fireplace, using the GamePad's screen to set hundreds, if not thousands, of things on fire, there's plenty to discover. Simply playing around with the physics and the ways different things react when they burn—from massive explosions to altering gravity itself—is great fun, and there are even riddles to solve by burning specific combinations of items. All in all, it's an incredibly unique game at a great eShop price.

Nintendo Land is the Wii Sports of this generation, in that it's meant to show off the Wii U's specific advantages—like the capabilities of the GamePad, with its motion controls and touch screen, and the console's social aspects. And it does such a fine job of this that it makes the deluxe console bundle, which includes Nintendo Land as a pack-in in addition to more storage and other goodies, well worth the extra $50.

It boils down to a virtual theme park with 12 attractions based on favorite Nintendo franchises like Metroid, Zelda, Mario, Donkey Kong, F-Zero, and more. These range from single-player games that use just the GamePad all the way to games for five players that use four Wii Remotes as well as the Wii U's unique controller.

Unlike Wii Sports, which included a couple duds like the lame boxing mode, Nintendo Land's games are all worthwhile in their own right. Plus earning coins with which to build up your virtual park is a great reason to keep coming back. If you're looking for an indication of the Wii U's potential, this is it.

This is it: every time Nintendo launches a new console (Gamecube, Wii, DS, 3DS, etc.) every gamer everywhere complains that there wasn't a new Mario game on day one. With the Wii U, Nintendo's finally given us what we asked for in the form of New Super Mario Bros. U.

It may not be another Mario Galaxy, but the NSMB line is as solid as they come. And even compared to its predecessors, the level design in New Super Mario Bros. U really shines. Yoshi is back in multiple awesome forms, and the game features an exciting overworld—we don't believe this much care and design has gone into a Mario level select screen since Super Mario World.

Multiplayer is present as well, of course, allowing up to four to team up with the GamePad and Wii Remotes. And though touch controls are kept to a minimum, you can pull the game down onto the GamePad's screen for a more portable experience. Bottom line: if you're getting a Wii U, you're getting NSMBU.

Are you surprised that New Super Mario Bros. U didn't get the top spot for best Wii U launch game? Well, don't be. ZombiU has a ton going for it, and with it Ubisoft has done the smartest thing possible: release a major new IP as a console launch title.

ZombiU is the only triple-A game to hit the Wii U that isn't a port, a sequel or one in a series, and for that alone it deserves your attention. But it's also a bonafide first-person survival horror game, with plenty of challenge and unique mechanics like permadeath, which fits in perfectly with the zombie-infested world.

It's even better than Nintendo Land at showing off the Wii U's potential, and it also proves Nintendo's new commitment to providing hardcore, mature gaming experiences on the Wii U. It's the only must-have Wii U launch game that wasn't made by Nintendo—and make no mistake: a must-have it is.

Do you disagree with any of our choices? Think we left off an important Wii U launch game? Let us know.