Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and 3DS
Wii U, 3DS
Developer: Bandai Namco Entertainment, Sora Ltd.
Background
This game may not be entirely new, as it is now over a year old, but if you are somebody who knows me at all then you knew this was coming at some point. I started playing Smash back when Super Smash Bros. Melee came out on the GameCube back in 2001. Smash has always held a place in my heart and this installment is no different. With a much more updated and vibrant art style it has much more invigorating visuals and is a far cry from the dark and more realistic take on Smash that was present in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
Roster
The most prominent component of this game is obviously the incredibly large roster of fighters that have gathered for this outing of fun-loving, brightly colored, smash ball-fueled carnage. The roster of the game vastly overshadows the previous entries’ 35 fighters with a current total of 58 characters with the recent addition of Corrin and Bayonetta to the Smash family. Among this roster lies many new faces such as Animal Crossing’s Villager, Punch-Out’s Little Mac and even the wacky duck and dog duo of Duck Hunt. These many new additions appear alongside the series’ mainstays such as Mario, Link, Donkey Kong and Kirby. While the roster may have almost doubled from the previous installment, the characters have all received very personal treatment as MOST of them have very unique move sets; the exceptions being Dark Pit, Dr. Mario and Lucina who are the games token clone characters. Even previous clone characters such as Ganondorf — who is a previous clone of Captain Falcon — Falco, the previous clone of Fox, and the returning DLC veteran character Roy, cloned from Marth, are given slight tweaks in their move set or further tweaked from Brawl to create a wider gap between them and their base character.
This game is also the first official game to ever bring together the Retro Four. For those of you who don’t know who those are; they are the four characters that represent the early stages of classic gaming. They are Mario, Sonic, Mega Man and Pac-Man. The union of these characters only helps to further the feeling of nostalgia that is just so prevalent in this game. This game without a doubt has the most balanced character roster in the whole franchise with no one character being too powerful or exploitable. A balanced character roster is very important especially with the focus this franchise puts on multiplayer both in regards to local and online play.
Multiplayer/Single-Player
If you have played this game at all then you already know how great and fully functional the online multiplayer is. However, with all the focus falling on the party-play aspect of the game, I feel that the single-player experience of this game falls flat. While the game includes both the returning Classic mode and All-Star Mode as well as the Event Mode, along with the new Master Orders and Crazy Orders in which you take on random events for rewards in a double or nothing style challenge. While this may seem like a lot it grew tired and rather boring quickly. This is slightly rectified in the 3DS version of the game with the inclusion of Smash Run. Now, I am not ignorant to the fact that the 3DS version of the game was designed to be a little more solo centric than the Wii U version but after having the game for 2 months I had finished all the solo player content with an average amount of play time. Now I only really play the game if others will play with me. But when others do play this game with me it is still a fun time as they have stepped up the multiplayer game very much when it comes to local party play as well with the inclusion of 8-Player Smash.
Stages
This franchise is without a doubt one of the greatest party game franchises out there and it never fails to liven up a group of friends. Whenever my friends and I had been playing for an extended time we would decide to play all random characters on a random stage — it’s a fun way to keep things fresh and really test a player’s skill level. This is always a fun time as the stage selection is expansive. For the most part, I enjoy playing the stages. While most of the stages are visually appealing and inviting I find myself yearning for more diversity in the stage layout. I feel as though too many stages are to similar in design with other stages such as Midgar, Miiverse, Battlefield, Big Battlefield and Dream Land all sharing the exact same stage design with slight gimmicks to make the stage feel different. Often, I feel as though they take one stage, slap a fresh coat of paint on it and call it a day. This in no way changes the great opinion I have of the game. I still believe this game is one of the best in recent years especially with all the different items that make their way into this game.
Items
A variety of items that can be used in multiplayer helps to keep the game fresh. Some items such as the Special Flag can completely change the tide of a battle for the one who wields it. However, while I am a fan of many of the items I am always saddened when someone picks up the Gust Bellows. However, that item is the only one I am constantly annoyed by and there is such a large pool of items — a total of 76 items — that I can take out the Gust Bellows and still have plenty to play with. Even items that have numerous results on use such as the Pokeball, Masterball and the Assist Trophy themselves have more options in this game. With the options having varying strengths, some are much more powerful than others. This game strives to give the players more options than any other installment in the franchise.
Downloadable Content
Nintendo really took a step back and did what few other gaming companies do and they listened to their fans. I have been pleased with every piece of DLC that has come out for Smash whether it be characters, stages or Mii costumes. I feel that almost all my realistic hopes for the game were realized. The characters alone were characters that people really wanted and Nintendo even allowed people to vote on one of the characters to be included in the game via the Smash Ballot. The first three characters for DLC were fan favorite characters from previous games that didn’t make the cut of the roster in future installments. So, thanks to this, I got my favorite character back –Roy — who made his debut alongside Marth in Melee.
While much of the content for this game is amazing I feel as though the game caters too much to Brawl and Smash 64, and severely under-represents Melee in terms of stage selection. I believe that Melee had the best stages in the franchise and it was upsetting to me to see very few of those make a return for this game.
Verdict: 9/10
All in all this game is an absolute treasure. It is one I could not recommend more for gamers both casual and hardcore. It even has a soundtrack that leaves songs in your head, long after you have finished playing it. It is such a different experience that few other games can replicate and it is something I believe all gamers should play at one point or another in their lives. It is bright and colorful and fun to look at as well as to play. It is a smooth playing game that anybody can pick up and learn to play.
