With the last of the E3 2014 media briefings coming to an end, this year’s event brought forth a ton of new announcements, updates, and plenty of surprises for the gaming community. Of course, no E3 event is complete without its share of disappointments; fans were mislead by the sudden appearance of Conker during the Project Spark trailer, several popular Japanese properties were nowhere to be seen during Sony’s business-focused presentation, and plenty of anticipated titles have been pushed into 2015. Nintendo’s own Digital Event stream wasn’t without disappointment either, as Super Smash Bros. for the Nintendo 3DS will have a slight release delay.
Earlier this year, Nintendo presented fans with a Super Smash Bros. episode of Nintendo Direct. Led by Game Director Masahiro Sakurai, the Smash-themed broadcast introduced Nintendo fans to new multiplayer modes For Fun and For Glory, and Smash Run for the 3DS version. Much like The Subspace Emissary in Smash Bros. Brawl and Adventure Mode from Melee, certain stages will feature boss-characters. Fans also got a taste of Charizard and Greninja, as both Pokemon were revealed to be playable in either version of the game. Sakurai originally stated that Super Smash Bros. for Wii U would release in Winter 2014, with the 3DS version coming this Summer. Due to the increasing amount of content from Nintendo and Bandai Namco, the 3DS version has been pushed just outside the Summer release window, and is now confirmed for October 2014.
During the E3 2014 Digital Event stream, it was revealed via fight-scene between Reggie Fils-Aime and Satoru Iwata that player-created Miis would be able to participate in battles. Whether it’s on Wii U or 3DS, players have the ability to use their own Mii- or create one from scratch- as a playable character alongside the normal cast of fighters. To avoid balancing-issues, Miis can be equipped with one of three different fighting styles; Brawlers are in-close fighters who prefer open-handed combat, Swordfighters use an array of weapon-based moves, and Gunners feature a wide range of projectile attacks. “The Regginator” also confirmed the existence of Skylanders-type figurines being produced for the Wii U version of Smash Bros. These figurines- Amibos- include character data based on whatever character the figurine represents. As shown in the E3 Digital Event, a Mario Amibo figure can be placed on the Wii U Gamepad; Mario then appears in the current match as an AI-controlled teammate. Fils-Aime went on to state that Amibo figures learn and adapt to the user’s play-style, and will be compatible with a multitude of games.
While fans have speculated her appearance in the new Smash Bros. titles, a new animated trailer confirmed that Lady Palutena will be a playable character in both versions of Super Smash Bros. Pit’s majestic overseer from Kid Icarus: Uprising is equipped with a wide range of projectile, trap and spell-based moves. While they weren’t shown during Nintendo’s event, Pac-Man and Mr. Game and Watch were revealed behind closed doors as playable characters. This brings the third-party roster to three characters: Sonic the Hedgehog (Sega), Mega Man (Capcom), and Pac-Man (Namco) will all be appearing in Super Smash Bros. Wii U/3DS. While Solid Snake (Konami) made a surprise appearance in Brawl, the soldier has not been confirmed for the upcoming games.
Super Smash Bros. for 3DS will release on October 3, 2014; the release window for the Wii U version has been changed from “Winter 2014” to “Holiday 2014”.
