Super Smash Bros. is an interesting beast. It has to appeal to its core fanbase that plays it like a fighter while still appealing to those who play it like a party game. Super Smash Bros. Melee heavily appealed to the former while Super Smash Bros. Brawl heavily appealed to the latter. With the latest game, Nintendo is working to appeal to fans of both.
In a Nintendo Direct solely focused on Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and 3DS, game director Masuhiro Sakurai revealed all new details about the upcoming game. Over the course of 39 minutes, he talked about online multiplayer, stages, differences between the 3DS and Wii U versions of the game, character rosters and more. He even revealed the launch windows for both titles.
Arguably, the most important news for Super Smash Bros. is its launch date and Sakurai came out with that information first. He revealed that Nintendo will not be releasing both versions at the same time. Instead, the 3DS version will be out in Summer while the Wii U version launches this Winter.
Next up, Sakurai touched upon the online multiplayer portion of the game. In the previous game, players of all types were ushered into anonymous brawls with one another. In the new Smash Bros., players will now be able to choose between two lobbies – For Fun and For Glory. For Fun lobbies will allow players to play on all stages (sans Final Destination), all items are turned on and only wins are recorded. The For Glory lobby is the exact opposite, all items are turned off and the only playable stage is Final Destination. To prevent stagnation, almost every stage in the game has a Final Destination form so players will have the same flat platform to play on, but without having to see the same background every time.
Speaking of stages, Sakurai reiterated that stages will not be the same across both platforms. The 3DS version will have stages inspired by Nintendo’s handheld titles while the Wii U version will have stages inspired by Nintendo’s home console titles. Some stages from past games have returned as well, including Halberd and Jungle Japes.
Since the 3DS version of the game will out first, Sakurai thought it would be pertinent to reveal a game mode exclusive to that version. It’s called Smash Run and it gives players five minutes to make their way through a labyrinth of enemies while gathering powerups. At the end of those five minutes, four players will be thrust into a battle with all the powerups they collected during the exploration portion of the game. It’s very similar to the City Trial game mode in Kirby’s Air Ride for the Nintendo Gamecube.
As for new characters, Sakurai started off by saying that there will no longer be characters that change forms mid-fight. This is meant to help players focus on one moveset instead of having to adapt to a brand new one midfight. Instead, those transformations are now their own characters. For example, Zero Suit Samus and Shiek are now their own characters with their own unique movesets that aren’t beholden to Samus or Zelda respectively. Since there’s no longer mid-battle transformations, Sakurai also revealed that Charizard is now a standalone character. It can also mega evolve into the black and blue Mega Charizard X.
Speaking of Pokemon, the only completely brand new character revealed in this latest Nintendo Direct is Greninja. The ninja frog Pokemon will use his attacks from the games, but with a distinctly ninja-like flair. For example, he throws water covered shurikens and can use substitution magic to dodge incoming attacks.
There was a lot more information in the Nintendo Direct, including Assist Trophies, that aren’t covered here. To learn more about the upcoming Super Smash Bros., be sure to watch the Nintendo Direct below:
Image via Nintendo/YouTube