You can really see the evolution of Nintendo's Wii U graphics:

How does Smash Bros stack up to these games

You know, I can't help but point out that with Captain Toad and Mario Kart 8, Nintendo pretty much has a great foundation for another Mario Galaxy and F-Zero game, respectively. They would have to do reworking and tweaking on the Mario Kart 8 engine for F-Zero but it's certainly got the grunt for it. And since Mario Galaxy is in space - which helps to alleviate potential graphical burdens, the Captain Toad iteration of the 3D World engine could be perfect for a new Galaxy game. Both of these games would be excellent show pieces for Nintendo.

Smash is an interesting case.

Unlike these games, which are all 720p, Smash is 1080p, which means it pushes more than twice as many pixels, but as a result has simpler shaders.

The fact that they got it running at 1080p and an almost locked 60fps is still impressive though, and definitely shows technical evolution over early Wii U games like New Super Mario Bros U or Pikmin 3.

Really cool to see just how far Nintendo has come with HD development over the last few years. Interesting to see a Toad spinoff of all things being the most visually stunning game on the system so far, though there's plenty of Wii U games in 2015 aiming to take that title :P

Looking forward to emulating this.

It is very noticeable increase in the graph from one engine to another , even though the same they managed to greatly improve it!

Yeah, they're really starting to get the hang of not just HD development, but also the quirks of the hardware.

Zelda Wii U should look amazing when it finally releases. I also have my eye on FAST Racing Neo; Shin'en are tech wizards, and their last game, Art of Balance, is probably the most technically advanced game on Wii U at the moment.

cycycychris said: ZyroXZ2 said: I couldn't help myself, I smiled at the people who responded that they saw it in my review! You actually watch my stuff! Sorry, back on topic: I actually think the SM3DW graphics engine always had this capability, but that it was scaled back a bit to consider 4-player mayhem. Nonetheless, I have to agree that it's good to see that Nintendo recognized the extra room and decided to make use of it! I really don't know how your channel is still under 1,000 subs, you really do a great job on it.

Part of it is because I refuse to join a network that wants to either merge my channel with theirs or do some sort of revenue sharing.  Fortunately, I'm about to make an announcement today about a network I HAVE joined that pretty much gives me all the freedom and independence I like

To answer someone else earlier in this thread that asked about Smash Bros for Wii U: I mentioned in my review that Smash Bros has the problem of simply porting over last generation assets.  While I understand it runs in 1080p@60, some stages like the Garden of Hope show off the potential of a properly reworked retro stage could look beautiful.  Instead of giving retro stages the same treatment MK8 did to theirs, Smash Bros simply plops them in with last generation assets: something I clearly dinged the score for as the Wii U deserves to have exclusives that make full use of the hardware.

That's actually a really interesting and good point! Let's hope Nintendo's listening.