FIFA 13

FIFA 13 was among the launch titles for Wii U and brought EA Sports' football simulation, long developed by EA Canada, to Nintendo's new console. The game offers a wide range of competitions, clubs, and national teams, a career mode, and online matches, while the Wii U version used the gamepad as a supplementary screen for tactics, lineups, and match overview, letting the player consult it without having to look away from the television during a crucial moment of the match.

Gameplay was built around the then-heavily promoted precise ball-duel system, meant to bring more realistic personal duels between players on the pitch, along with generally improved physics and team behavior compared to previous entries in the series, including defenders' reactions to quick passes. The match presentation tried to approach a television broadcast, with commentary, statistics overviews, and the atmosphere of packed stadiums before kickoff. The graphics on Wii U matched the console's contemporary standards, though they didn't reach the level of the simultaneously released versions on the more powerful hardware of other consoles in the generation.

Contemporary critics placed FIFA 13 among the series' solid yearly additions, with gradual rather than revolutionary improvements over the previous entry, and the Wii U version was received as a correct, if not technologically leading, variant of the game compared to other platforms. Today the title is interesting mainly as a document of Wii U's launch support from major sports publishers and as a reminder of the football season captured in its lineups and competitions. For fans of football simulations, FIFA 13 on Wii U represents more of a supplementary way to play the series on Nintendo hardware than the definitive version of that year. Still, it remains valid testimony that even major sports publishers like EA believed enough in Wii U's early phase to bring their most-watched annual brands to the console.

Why play it: For fans of football simulations, it's more of a supplementary way to play the series on Nintendo hardware than the definitive version of the year, yet it stands as testimony to Wii U's launch support from major publishers.