When Terraria first came out in 2011, there was a notable number of people calling it nothing more than a 2D Minecraft clone. I was one of those people and saw it as just another passing fad capitalising on on a popular trend. Four years and 12 million copies later, Terraria has promptly proven me wrong. The game has been ported to everything possible: PC, Xbox 360, Xbox One, PS3, PS4, PS Vita, iOS and Android. And now, Terraria will be making its way to the Wii-U and Nintendo 3DS.
The news came via a post on the Terraria forums by developer/distributor duo Re-Logic and 505 Games. In response to a number of leaks and rumours that had suggested a Nintendo port of the popular game was imminent, they decided to make it official and shared what the box art for each console would look like.
Besides this however there was little other information given on what the new ports would contain. The biggest question that most players probably want answered is how the game will incorporate the Wii-U GamePad’s screen and the 3DS’ secondary screen. There is the potential for additional gameplay functionality to be incorporated that make use of Nintendo’s unique hardware. If there is a way to innovatively and fluidly include the additional screens, then the Wii-U and 3DS ports could become the definitive versions of Terraria.
The addition of Terraria to the Wii-U is an especially good move for Nintendo. It is another popular, third party title that may lead the way for other indie’s to port to Nintendo’s flagship. And although the Wii-U is doing better now than it has in previous quarters, having a few extra, quality games never hurt.
Terraria for the Wii-U and Nintendo 3DS are expected to launch sometime in the first half of 2016.
