The long awaited Nintendo Direct press announcement just concluded, and with it came a ton of information regarding both the Wii U and 3DS versions of Super Smash Bros. The game’s developer Masahiro Sakurai was present to relay all the news and he narrated the whole way through, giving us details on what to expect in the upcoming game.
Version Differences
He first revealed that the 3DS version will be released during Summer 2014, whilst the Wii U version will be released around Winter 2014. The 3DS version will feature fighters and animations in full 60fps and stereoscopic 3D, but Pokemon and Assist trophies will appear in 30fps. The 3DS version will only feature 2 songs per stage, whereas the Wii U version will have a large music selection available to customize for each stage, just like in Super Smash Bros Brawl.
Stages
Both versions will contain the same roster of characters but the stages and stage designs will be different for the 3DS version. The stages themselves will be a mix of returning stages and new stages from recent Nintendo games, as well as stages from older Nintendo games, such as Mario Kart’s Rainbow Road. A Mega Man themed stage will feature Dr. Wily’s castle in the background and have the ‘Yellow Devil’ enemy appear and attack the players. The Yellow Devil can be defeated, but only if you attack its eye. Other boss characters will appear depending on the stage and will be related to the game the stage is from. Every stage will also have a ‘Final Destination’ form which removes all hazards and platforms, leaving only the single platform, suitable for more competitive matches.
Online Play
Moving on to online play, Sakurai announced that both the Wii U and 3DS versions will come with it from the start. A Wii U lan adapter was recommend for a more solid online experience. Sakurai then announced two main modes for players who aren’t fighting with their friends: ‘For Fun’ and ‘For Glory’. The ‘For Fun’ mode will feature random stages and rules, where wins and losses won’t be recorded, resembling the ‘player match’ option in other fighting games. The ‘For Glory’ will resemble a ranked match, putting players in Final Destination only, with no items, and wins and losses will be recorded. Matches with friends will still contain the ability to fully customize the options. The games will implement methods against rage quitters, cheaters and players with bad conduct, issuing bans to anyone caught doing any of the above.
A new ranking system will be introduced entitled ‘Global Smash Power’, which will give you a number that represents how many people you’ve outscored, instead of an arbitrary number on a leaderboard. Online matchmaking will be random for the most part, but the Global Smash Power could determine your skill level and match you up with players based on this criteria.
Items
Items will see a return in Smash 4, along with Pokeballs. There will be many new and old items available to use at random when the option is enabled. There will also be the addition of Master balls which will always contain legendary and rare Pokemon. The Pokemon themselves are a mix of classic Pokemon from previous games and new Pokemon from Pokemon X and Y versions.
Characters
The roster of characters has received some changes as well, including the addition of new characters. Characters who previously had transformations will no longer have them, so the focus will be purely on how to utilize their individual skills. These means that both Samus and Zelda will no longer transform, and Zelda has a new move in place of her transformation move. That said, the characters they transform into aren’t gone for good. Sheik and Zero Suit Samus were announced to join the roster as individual characters, each with unique new looks, new movesets and more. Zero Suit Samus will have new jet boots which will make her more agile and open up new possibilities in combat. All the characters in the game will have new moves and tricks, and the Pokemon characters such as Lucario will receive Mega Evolution forms. Yoshi will be returning to Smash, this time standing up-right, and Sakurai promises that he’ll be an stronger contender this time around.
One of the newest additions to the roster is Little Mac, who will have his own unique power meter that will fill up during a fight. Once full, it will allow him to perform an instant K.O. to any opponent once he launches the attack. Little Mac also has moves that have armored properties, allowing him to attack through damage at certain times. These benefits are balanced out by Little Mac’s lack of good recovery options, meaning you’ll have to stay wary at all times. The other new characters have very unique aspects of their own, such as Mega Man’s Final Smash being a collection of all the Mega Mans firing a blast at the same time. You’ll also be able to choose between a male and female Wii Fit Trainer.
Two new characters were announced at the end of the presentation during a cutscene; Charizard and Greninja. Charizard was originally a character only available through the Pokemon trainer character in Super Smash Bros Brawl but he’s now a uniquely playable character. The tricky, ninja-like Pokemon Greninja will also be playable, a character with a very interesting set of moves and is very agile. You can view the reveal trailer for these characters below.
Custom Moves & Smash Run
The game will feature custom move sets available to use in matches against friends and offline. This will allow you to pick and choose what special moves your characters have in a fight, mixing up the normal formula of matches. The 3DS version will contain a unique mode called ‘Smash Run’, an online mode that puts players into a large stage filled with traps, enemies and challenges, where you have to fight off the other players and the AI enemies. This new mode is a way for players to learn the mechanics of the game whilst engaging other players in a way that makes things very interesting.
Sakurai ends the presentation with a statement that gamers should be patient while they put the finishing touches on the game. You can watch the full Nintendo Direct video down below.
