Drewby's Super Smash Bros Nintendo Direct thoughts

Early this morning (here in Australia) the Super Smash Brothers Nintendo Direct was broadcast live across the world. Your typical average Joe might just say it was about a well dressed Japanese man talking about crazy cartoon characters beating on one another, but it was much more. For us Nintendo fans it was 39 minutes and 03 seconds of exciting information and reveals about the latest iteration(s) in our favorite series that pulls together iconic and beloved gaming franchises. During the course of the broadcast we learned a lot about the two games coming to the Wii U & 3DS such as release schedules, details on modes, character improvements, inclusions and much more.

Through out this post I'll go through what was discussed and share what I thought about it.

The presentation begun with an introduction to Masahiro Sakurai, the director of the new Super Smash titles. Hia, Sakurai-Senpai! 

"Smashing" shirt, Sakurai!

Before long we were straight into some of the most important new details, when we'll get our grubby mitts on the games. While we weren't given concrete dates, we now know that the 3DS version is coming Summer and the Wii U version is coming Winter. This actually through me off a little, I thought the Wii U version might come earlier because it is the console that needs the game the most. It makes sense considering HD console games do take a lot longer to make. So while patiently waiting for some big screen Smash action we can practice on the go!

In Australia the seasons are opposite, does that mean we get the Wii U version first? =P

Some technical information was discussed like the 3DS game will run in full 60fps in 3D, except for the models of the Pokemon and Assist Trophies which run at 30fps. As to why that is I have no idea but I dare say it has something to do with a dip in performance when there are more than 4 moving character models. Needless to say it is a great technical feat the team as accomplished. The 3DS game will also connect some how but no details were shown. I hope it can track you progress between both games, having 2 separate records would be a pain.

A whole lot of stages were shown from the games and Sakurai pointed out that both games will have their own set of unique stages with some exceptions like Battlefield and Final Destination that will be in both versions. One stage that visually appealed to me was one based on Balloon Trip, it looked full of hazards and it looks like the original NES game.

Just wait til those bastards wearing bird masks come swooping in.

Some stages will feature a boss the players are able to defeat and some how use to their advantage. The Doctor Wily's Castle stage will be occupied by the Red Devil. The player that defeats him by hitting his weak point can use it's explosion as an attack. Other stages were also confirmed to have boss'. It was teased that Ridley will be a boss too (so not a playable character). This seems really cool as it really looks to add another element to your matches.

One of the biggest questions everyone has is "whats the implementation for online going to be"? Brawl on the Wii didn't exactly give many people confidence that it would be good and Nintendo's attitude towards the internet barely helps. I was happy to see online play discussed in quite a bit of detail. Both the 3DS and Wii U game will include online match making along with 2 new modes, "For Fun" and "For Glory". For Fun includes all items, a randomised stage and only records wins while For Glory has no items, only Final Destination is available and both wins and loses are recorded. 

Also because of For Glory mode majority of the stages also include a Final Destination variant which is just a flat hazzardless arena. If all works smoothly this will make jumping into matches very simple.

 


An online ranking system called "Smash Power" was shown and seems to be similar to Xbox Live Gamer Score. The more points you have the better you're rated. We'll see if it's something we actually care about once we start playing.

Heaps of items were shown, both new and old. One item I think is particularly cool is the fire bar from the Super Mario series. Each time you hit something with it, it loses a fire ball. So use it carefully!

Masterballs can now be picked up as well as Pokeballs. Powerful legendary Pokemon are summoned from Masterball and the example used was Arceus who sends out a pulse causing a meteor smash on air born opponents. 

 

Finally the tasty bit, the playable characters. I'm not going to list everything Sakurai said because a lot of characters got new and improved move sets. Now characters that could transform mid match no longer do. So when Samus uses her Final Smash she no longer loses her armor to turn into Zero Suit Samus.

Whats that Sakurai? Zero Suit Samus isn't participating in the game? WHAT IS THIS BULLS%#T! I HATE YOU!

Oh, never mind...

Yep, characters like Zero Suit Samus and Sheik are now their own characters no longer tied to a down B move. Thank god this was changed, my mate uses Zero Suit Samus a lot and I don't know how many times holding in the shield button didn't activate her at the start of a match.

After more characters were demonstrated and Yoshi was announced and Sakurai detailed a mode exclusive to the 3DS version called Smash Run. In this mode up to 4 players explore an expansive dungeon looking for power ups. Once the 5 minute time limit is up the players participate in a battle using the power ups they found in the dungeon. I hope this is a bit of fun when I don't feel like a normal match, it sure looks interesting! It's also worth noting the enemies are actually from Nintendo games, not original creations like the story mode in Brawl.

And that's all, catch ya Sakurai!

But wait there's more!

 2 new Pokemon confirmed to join the roster, and Charizard uses his mega X evolution!

All in all I thought it was a great showing. If this was a E3 it would still live up to expectations. We now know in depth breakdowns of the characters modes and features. I am sure there is still more to come!

Thanks for reading!

Everyday we're closer to getting our hands on these games! What did you like in the presentation and what do you still want to see? Let us know in the comments below or the Life's a Game Facebook page!