There's a GameCube vibe to the fourth and third entries.
#4 - Pikmin 3
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Nintendo EAD
Key People: Shigefumi Hino, Yuki Kando, Hiroyuki Kimura and Shigeru Miyamoto
Release Date: August 4, 2013
After many years of waiting, Pikmin 3 finally came out. Luckily, it was totally worth the wait. Pikmin 3 takes the best aspects from the first two games and combines it into a delightful and beautiful romp through the wilds of a foreign planet that may or may not be Earth (it probably is). Enjoy the restrictive time limit? It's still present as each day ticks down and you have to get enough juice to survive another day. Hate the time limit? There is more than enough juice to give you tons of time to explore the world at your own pace.
Juggling three player characters with their 100 Pikmin army, consisting of up to five different varieties, while using the GamePad's touch screen and the Wii Remote and Nunchuk is wonderful. It can still be played with just the GamePad, but the full experience of the whole suite of tools makes the game even better. The multiplayer is even a delight, with the crazy Bingo Battle being the highlight, and with Nintendo adding challenging and fun DLC, the fun isn't stopping yet. The new one is holiday-themed and it's pretty fantastic. It might have taken nine years, but Pikmin 3 is finally out and it's marvelous.
#3 - The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Nintendo EAD
Key People: Eiji Aonuma and Daiki Iwamoto
Release Date: September 20, 2013 (Digital) October 4, 2013 (Retail)
It is no secret the high esteem that Nintendo World Report holds the divisive GameCube Zelda game, The Wind Waker, in. We rated it as our favorite Zelda game of all time, and while it's not quite soaring to the top of this chart, it's still an amazing experience, quite possibly the best remake of a game since Metroid: Zero Mission. The little changes made to streamline the gameplay go a long way in making this already great game even better. The new sail makes the frustration of sailing go away. Smart contextual icons make item management simpler. The shortened Triforce quest retains the fun of exploration but reduces the monotony.
The graphics, which still look good on the GameCube, are even better on Wii U. While the bloom lighting is sometimes a little absurd, Wind Waker still looks like a moving painting or the best cartoon ever. And everything great about the original game is still there (outside of the Tingle Tuner), making Wind Waker HD the definitive version of one of the best GameCube games ever made. Check it out if you're hankering to replay Wind Waker or missed out on it before. It's amazing.