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‘Smash Bros’ just keeps looking better and better…

‘Smash Bros’ just keeps looking better and better…

Mario Charizard

 Super Smash Bros 
Bandai Namco Games, Sora Ltd
Nintendo
Wii U, 3DS

This month’s Nintendo Direct is one a lot of you have been eagerly awaiting; a Smash Bros 3DS/Wii U information overload! Super Smash Bros director Masahiro Sakurai talks extensively about the features of the upcoming installment for 39 mesmerizing minutes.

Watch here: [vsw id=”7xUWnQu2Grs” source=”youtube” width=”425″ height=”344″ autoplay=”no”]

For those of you that haven’t the time or the attention span to watch through the whole video, we’ve plucked out the best bits to keep you in the loop.

(TL;DR)

Characters:

Good news! The character roster on both versions of the game will be identical, so you won’t have to grab both in order to play as your favorites. Characters that had alternate forms e.g Zero suit Samus and Sheik, will no longer transform. Instead, their transformations will be available as entirely separate playable characters.

Smash bros rostersheik

 

Two new editions to the roster have been introduced, namely Charizard and Greninja from the Pokémon games, bringing the total number of currently playable Pokémon to 4.

greninja

charizard

 

Moves:

Several characters will have a slightly different moveset than they did in the previous iteration of the game. Zelda for example having lost the ability to transform into Sheik, will now have a moved called ‘Phantom Slash’ as her downward special. Also, a new feature has been included allowing players to customize their character’s special moves. This can include giving Mario a bigger more powerful fireball, or making Donkey Kong’s headbutt impervious to flinch.

Phantomcustom moves

Stages:

Many stages will be carried over from the previous games, however there are a multitude of entirely fresh ones being introduced too. Some stages will be console exclusive i.e. only available on 3DS or Wii U, in addition to this, some stages that appear on both platforms will vary slightly in appearance. Almost every stage will have an optional “Final Destination form” giving them a similar layout to the stage of the same name.

stage differences

Online play:

Online play will no longer be anonymous random battles, you’ll be able to use your Nintendo network ID name when matchmaking. There will also be a code of conduct penalizing those who cheat and abuse the game (e.g. regularly quitting, inactivity, constantly targeting a specific player) with a temporary ban. When playing online against strangers you will have the choice of two modes: ‘For fun’ and ‘For glory’. When playing on ‘For fun’, stages will be selected randomly and all items will be switched on. When playing ‘For glory’, there will be no items and the only stages available will be in Final Destination forms.

For fun

Items:

There seems to be a lot of awesome new toys to play with, as well as new Pokémon and Assist trophy characters to mix things up. Items shown so far include the Pow Block, a Beetle that grabs your opponent and carries them up into the sky, the X Bomb which blasts a stream of fire in four directions, a Fire Bar, a Back shield that does what the name implies, Bombchu which explode on opponents after crawling along walls towards them, and many more!

victini

skull kid2Fire Bar

 

New features:

Some characters will have special attributes that give them an edge in battle to make up for other shortcomings, one such character is Little Mac. When Little Mac connects attacks or receives damage his power meter increases, when the meter is full he gains access to a one-shot, one-hit K.O move. Also, some stages will have boss characters built in that will interfere with players, but will also offer rewards if you’re able to defeat them.

ko punch

boss

 

Finally, there’s a new gametype exclusive to the 3DS version, called Smash Run. Players search a dungeon by themselves or with friends for a limited amount of time, exploring and fighting enemies as you progress to acquire power ups, after which you’ll enter a match using the power-ups/items you picked up in Smash Run to boost your abilities and potentially give you the upper hand in battle.

smash run

…and there it is. Hopefully this keeps you going until the release. Super Smash Bros is set for a summer 2014 release on 3DS and a winter 2014 release on Wii U. Be sure to check out the Charizard/Greninja reveal trailer below. It’s pretty darn flashy.

[vsw id=”BgmC56ndgeg” source=”youtube” width=”425″ height=”344″ autoplay=”no”]

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