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Wii U Christmas Gift Ideas for an 11+ Year Old
The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker HD
Casting players as Link, a little green adventurer on a quest to rescue his missing sister, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD is a remake of one of the best-loved games in Nintendo's long-running action/adventure series. With a story that unfolds as you sail the high seas in, of all things, a talking dragon boat, you'll discover a mysterious connection to the past, encounter a motley pirate crew, and put paid to many a pig guard during your swashbuckling adventure, in a tale that feels a lot like an interactive Disney or Studio Ghibli film - but with more puzzle and enemy-filled dungeons to contend with. Splitting your time between exploring the game's vast ocean world, and finding your way around the aforementioned, maze-like dungeons, it's the challenge of the latter that's arguably the game's highlight. Each with a different theme, and packed with plenty of puzzles to be solved, you'll need to make clever use of Link's varied equipment to pass, whether you're bashing enemies with your sword, sailing gracefully down the side of a tree with a parachute-like leaf, or bouncing projectiles back at the bad guys with your shield. All wrapped up in a bright, colourful and cute exterior, The Wind Waker HD is a great addition to any Wii U library, perfect for Zelda fans new and old.
Buy this if they like: Sailing, Adventure, Strange men in green jumpsuits
For more, check out our full review, or for more suitability information, see our Parent's Guide
Buy The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD from Amazon
Pikmin 3
Ever wanted to lead an army of flower people into battle on an alien planet that's crawling with humongous enemies, all in search of a new flavour of fruit juice? Us neither, but that's what the charming - and at times heart-wrenching - Pikmin 3 is all about. Having landed on a world where blades of grass are ten times their size, your plucky band of spacemen and women quickly realise they're going to need help if they're going to find enough food to take back to their home planet - and the help, it turns out, comes in the shape of the local residents, known as Pikmin. Leading a squad of up to 100 of these strange little flower people as you explore the planet and hunt for food, you'll be hurling the Pikmin at the various obstacles and enemies you encounter, and making use of their more unique abilities in order to proceed. Along with being able to smack at enemies with their heads, each colour of Pikmin has its own special ability - fire-proof Pikmin are red, yellow ones can conduct electricity, and solid grey rock Pikmin are capable of breaking through ice and stone, meaning you'll need to pick out the right troops to solve the problem at hand. With a whole planet to explore and plenty of secrets to uncover, Pikmin 3 rewards those who like to search every nook and cranny. It can be a bit frustrating, or even upsetting at times, when one wrong move with a particularly hungry enemy sees your army reduced to virtually nothing in a split second, but Pikmin is a game that rewards the patient.
Buy this if they like: Strategy, Leading an army, Fruit juice
For more, check out our full review, or for more suitability information, see our Parent's Guide
Sonic & All Stars Racing Transformed
Get a load of this! Imagine your average Mario Kart race, but with vehicles that can take to the skies and fly like a plane or bounce along the waves as a boat, as the courses fall apart and change before your eyes, and you've got a pretty good idea of how Sonic and SEGA All Stars Racing Transformed works. Simply pick your favourite Sega character, from a roster that ranges from the popular (Sonic, Tails and Dr. Robotnik), to the obscure (Ulala, Beat and Vyse), and jump in your car to get ready to race around a host of SEGA game-inspired tracks, all while pelting each other with weapons. While it comes with full support for five player split-screen competitive racing on the Wii U (with one player using the GamePad), Sonic & All-Stars Transformed also comes with a pretty substantial co-operative "challenge" mode, which sees up to five players competing together to complete a number of challenges, whether you're weaving in and out of traffic as fast as you can, drifting through a series of checkpoints, or simply taking part in a good old fashioned race. Be wary though - it can get rather hard towards the end!
Buy this if they like: Mario Kart, Sega, A real challenge
For more, check out our full review, or for more suitability information, see our Parent's Guide
Buy Sonic and All Stars Racing Transformed from Amazon
