This review is part of a dual review of SSB64 and SSB4 to celebrate the 3DS release of Smash 4.
It's here! It's FINALLY here!! Smash 4 has released for the 3DS! The amount of hype I had for the game was unreal! I first got the Special Demo version via Club Nintendo to hone my skills on the game, then I bought the full release via eShop on 4th October.
Smash 4 has a ton of different changes to the previous game, which include:
- More faster paced gameplay which is slower than Melee but faster than Brawl
- The addition of characters such as Pac-Man, Palutena, Duck Hunt Duo and more
- New modes like Smash Run and Target Blast (AKA Super Smash Angry Birds)
- FD versions of stages to appeal to the competitive Smash players
- Customisable Special Moves
- Your Miis being in Smash Bros for the first time!
- The online modes have changed
Now let's talk about the new modes. Smash Run is based off of City Trial from Kirby Air Ride. In this mode, you have 5 minutes to go around the map beating up enemies from various series like Mario, Kid Icarus and Zelda and gaining stat boosts to improve your fighter. You can also pick up Coins, Trophies and customizable parts for the fighters to use in the customisation mode. If you get KOed at any point of the 5 minutes, you will lose some of your stat points. At the end, there is one final battle, which could involve racing to the finish, jumping up platforms to see who gets the highest distance or just a regular battle with certain conditions. My opinion on Smash Run is that while it is fun, I still kind of miss the Subspace Emissary Adventure from Brawl. It just reminds me of what could've been if Sakurai wasn't pissed about people uploading the cutscenes to YouTube. Otherwise, Smash Run is a fun and quick way to improve your fighters stats.
The next new mode is Target Blast (or Super Smash Angry Birds if you want). This mode makes you build up damage on a bomb, then launch it out and blow up the targets. Hidden customizable parts and trophies are sometimes put in there for you to obtain as well. However, you only have 10 seconds to launch the bomb, otherwise it will explode in your face and you will fail. You also have 2 attempts to get a high score so use them wisely. This mode is also a lot of fun as well! I think that Nintendo should work with Rovio and release a game inspired by Angry Birds and Target Blast! :)
Trophy Rush is another new mode with lets you break rocks and bricks to achieve Fever mode, where you can get trophies, money and customization parts. The amount of time you have depends on how much coins you deposit. The highest amount of time is 2:30. Hazards can come in and impede your progress and having to many blocks on screen will cause the platform to disappear and you fall to your doom, so be careful.
The character roster for this game is the biggest one in the series to date, with characters like Mario, Rosalina, Pac-Man, Sonic, Mega Man and more being in the game. A few of the characters may be clones, but I will happily accept them in the game (except for Dark Pit). There are also alternate characters and male/female variants for certain characters like Robin, Bowser Jr, Wii Fit Trainer and the Villager.
Other changes included in Smash 4 include the online modes which now consist of For Fun: which has items on and no FD stages, For Glory: which has items off and only FD stages and Conquest, which players can fight as certain characters to win more customizable parts. The Classic mode has changed to where there are different pathways that you can choose to fight the fighters related to that series. You can also get rewards by stopping the roulette on a certain reward to obtain it when you beat the stage. Other changes include the faster and more balanced gameplay, the customisation of characters and Miis and the inclusion of FD stages to appeal to those competitive Smash players (I only use FD stages on Training mode really).
There is also an online leaderboard called Global Smash Power, which shows how many players you outrank in certain modes like Classic, All-Star, Home-Run Contest etc.
On the down side, the online seems to have lag issues when there are more players are online. I have played online with a few of my friends and have experienced this issue to a point where the match would just disconnect and call it a 'No Contest'. The lag isn't as bad as Brawl was but it is still there.
Other than this issue, this is easily the best Smash Bros game I have ever played on any console, surpassing Melee by quite a bit, because of the amount of content that was put into this game and the amount of effort that Sakurai and his developers put into Smash 4. This may be looked as the starter course to prep people up for the Wii U version, but I already think that the 3DS game is the full Smash Bros experience on-the-go! It is available on eShop and there are physical copies of it in-store! Do not miss out on this game! Unless you are waiting for the Wii U version which is not far off from releasing, then by all means, wait for it. It IS the game that is gonna help the Wii U get more sales! :)
Ice Climbers, you will be missed. :(