I still love my Wii U. And in a way, it still has most of its exclusives: many Wii U games used the gamepad to a point where once they were on other platforms, it just wasn't the same without it.
NSMBU Deluxe is actually missing content from the original (no 5-player co-op, no gamepad challenges). Captain Toad's extra levels don't make up for the playability being compromised (the 3DS version makes up for it a bit, but the quality is so low it's practically not worth it). Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water, Rayman Legends, and ZombiU were all designed entirely around the gamepad, so their ports arguably play worse. And of course, if they ever bring Wind Waker HD and Twilight Princess HD to the Switch 2, they will be objectively worse. You don't realize what that second screen adds until it's gone.
Even games like Arkham City or Assassin's Creed IV (or lol, Mass Effect 3) may have worse visuals and worse framerates, but the gamepad really is nice for those titles. I don't know if I'd ever call them the definitive versions, but they are worth playing at least once to see what they're like. It may look like shit on the surface, but try actually playing it. You may be surprised how much you debate with yourself over the pros and cons, and find something lacking if you ever play it somewhere else afterwards.
We've seen this before. Resident Evil 4 has been available on every modern platform under the sun, in VR and with the HD texture mod, and people still gravitate towards the Wii version, just for its pointer controls. Same with The World Ends With You, where the Switch version has better graphics and music, more content, and even co-op, but without the DS control layout, none of that matters and any fan will tell you to play the DS version. So I don't know why it's weird that people would choose to play some games on Wii U over other "superior" versions.
Even Breath of the Wild, which is scientifically, objectively superior on Switch, still has mod support on Wii U that the Switch version lacks, and there are more and more elaborate mods coming out for it all the time. With all the homebrew development and BotW's decompilation, it's only a matter of time before someone manages to restore the original intended gamepad features.
And yeah, obviously games like Mario Maker and Splatoon are dead on Wii U because their online was shut down, but that's no longer an issue thanks to Pretendo, AND unlike Nintendo's shitty service, they're free (remember when consoles had free online? I do). Miiverse is arguably the best social media platform right now. No politics, no drama, just memes, cool art, and mild autism.
I also have to mention the Wii U Pro Controller, which is a contender for best controller ever made. It doesn't have gyroscope, which admittedly sucks, but its battery life lasts a ridiculously long amount of time (compared to the Switch Pro which lasts like 3 hours) and it weighs practically nothing. It also has a better d-pad than the Switch Pro.
And personally, I find playing GBA and DS to be a far better experience through VC injects rather than going through Retroarch's shitty UI and jumping through tons of hoops to set them up on PC, It may sound like copium, but I genuinely find playing those titles to be a comfier and easier experience here, and I much prefer playing on a dedicated console, on a TV, on the couch, as opposed to a handheld or a PC, where I have to worry about battery life, controller compatibility, or some other bullshit on my machine causing a crash or booting me out of the game. Y'know, some of us are grown adults and don't have the time or patience to buy specialized hardware and spend dozens of hours learning how to use specialized software, just to play games in a slightly more "ideal" setting. You people are spoiled.
The only thing I really hate about the Wii U is how it has so few third-party games. It has less than the N64, and that's saying something. Also, the menu speed is agonizingly slow. Loading the settings takes a fucking eternity.
