All three games in the Pilotwings series were launch titles for different Nintendo consoles in various regions, acting as a sort of tech demo for their respective systems. The original Pilotwings was a launch title for the SNES in North America, Pilotwings 64 was a launch title for the Nintendo 64 in both Japan and North America, and Pilotwings Resort was a Nintendo 3DS launch title in Europe and the United States.

Wuhu Island was originally created for Wii Sports before its debut appearance in Wii Fit. An early version of the island can be seen in a leaked development image for Wii Sports, and in footage of the unused Airplane sport in the E3 2006 demo for the game. The leaked image also indicates that the Airplane sport would have also given you the option to fly around the island with a Rocket Belt, an idea that would later be reused in Pilotwings Resort.