MoeGamer’s site mission has always been to delve into the overlooked and underappreciated Japanese games of yesterday and today. And, let’s face it, you don’t get more overlooked, underappreciated and Japanese than Nintendo’s troubled Wii U console.

With Nintendo now looking to new horizons after two successful mobile apps — Pokémon Go and Super Mario Run — and its next console, the Nintendo Switch, on the way in March of 2017, now’s a great time to look back at the Wii U’s lifespan. More specifically, it’s a great time to look back at its small but well-formed library of games, and pick out those titles everyone looking to build a “complete” collection before the console disappears off the face of the planet should have on their shelves.

With that in mind, over the next few weeks/months, watch out for a series of “Wii U Essentials” articles alongside MoeGamer’s regular Cover Game features. Each focusing on a single retail game from the Wii U’s library, these articles aim to build a comprehensive record of this turbulent period in Nintendo’s history: a time when the company released some of its very finest games, yet it struggled to recapture popular attention and commercial success in the same way as the original Wii did.

The games will be presented in no particular order, beginning later this week with a look at Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker.