The greatest fighters in Nintendo history return for round four in Super Smash Bros for Wii U. A silly title, I’ll admit, but no game of the franchise has been as anticipated as this one. Smash Bros for Wii U has been given praise for being the fastest selling Wii U game (even surpassing Mario Kart 8‘s sales), and it certainly is worthy of carrying such a subtitle. Super Smash Bros is a series most known for bringing Nintendo’s top stars in a battle of the best.
Since the original Super Smash Bros debuted in 1999 for the Nintendo 64, the series has done nothing but get better with every release, and is personally my favorite fighting series of all time. Nintendo’s surprised many fans with each game by bringing a few new characters each game, the most surprising of this round being Namco’s Pac-Man and Capcom’s Mega Man.
The gameplay has been tweaked since its previous installment, Super Smash Bros Brawl. The game now has an almost harmonizing balance between the speeds of Melee and Brawl, something that Nintendo fans have longed for since 2008. Select characters have also been buffed while others are nerfed, even Final Smashes have been shortened. It’s certainly thrown off the game a little if you’re used to Brawl.
One thing Nintendo has brought to the series is the amount of hazards featured in the newer levels. At times, it honestly feels like I’m fighting the stages rather than my opponents, like Mega Man or Samus Aran’s new levels. Not all new stages are like this though, the hazards can act to your advantage at times.
One of my favorite parts of the new Smash Bros is a few of the newcomers this time around. As I mentioned earlier, Pac-Man and Mega Man are probably the biggest and most surprising additions. Now, the epic battle between Nintendo, Capcom, SEGA, and Namco can begin.
I’m going to try and not spoil all the new characters, but some of my favorites are Lucina (Fire Emblem), Lady Palutena (Kid Icarus), and the Wii Fit Trainer, surprisingly. There are more than who I’ve just named that have been added to the roster, but you’ll just have to keep playing to find out for yourself.
Smash Bros also has a new mode called Smash Tour. Your start out by selecting a Mii, then play a Mario Party-like board game followed by random rule-set matches with random characters. Honestly, it’s probably my least favorite thing to do in the game, it just seems really boring to me. I only played it just to experience, and to unlock a new character.
It was really slow and somewhat painful to play as I went. Even if I was matched with my best fighter, because of the random rules set, conditions, and stats of other players, I wouldn’t be able to win at the top of my game.
A few more things have returned to the series like Multi-Man Brawl (where the polygon characters have been replaced by Mii fighters), Home Run, Target Smash, and even Classic Mode. Nintendo has even made several changes to Classic Mode, they’ve completely remodeled it. Obviously, you’ll still end the mode fighting Master Hand, but do it faster on a higher difficulty, and prepare to have yourself a challenge.
One of my favorite improvements of the new Smash Bros was the online mode. Compared to Brawl’s online, it’s nothing. There’s hardly any lag in the matches at all, unlike Brawl’s online. Even Stage builder has had a makeover. Instead of using unlocked parts to build your level, you can now use the Gamepad to literally draw the level out, this would be a really interesting feature for creative minds to give a shot.
Smash Bros for Wii U’s an amazing must-buy title for any Nintendo or Smash Bros fan. Definitely something to have in your Wii U game library. You’ll find yourself lost in hours of constant brawling, not even including the new special features. Like every game, Smash Bros. has its flaws. Smash Tour may not have been the best idea to add, a few newcomers seem like clones, and of course we all miss the story mode that Brawl’s Subspace Emissary brought to the table. For the first Smash game in HD, it’s definitely something that will keep me playing until my controller wears out.