Introduction
Super Smash Bros. For Wii U is fighting game which celebrates Nintendo's vast amount of franchises and rich history. Like most Nintendo games, it's easy to learn but difficult to master. There's a bit of luck involved, but there's plenty of scope for skill and strategy. The standard matches consists of 2 to 4 players (or up to 8 in the 8-player Smash mode) battling in an arena; a recipe for frantic battles.
Super Smash Bros. differs from other fighting games. Although there's many modes/options, the default mechanic is a damage percentage rather than a health bar. The percentage can increase much further than 100%, so it's somewhat confusing to players unfamiliar with the system. The percentage corresponds to the distance the characters will fly when struck. A damage of around 100% roughly means you should be able to launch them, but the more skilful players may be able to put up more of a fight (up to around 300%, although that's a rarity). When players are launched off the screen and KO-d, they lose a point, and the player that launched them receives a point.
The standard matches are based on Time. At the end of the match, the number of total points determined the winner. There are plenty of other options to tinker with though. You can play for a certain amount of lives (stock match) or Coin matches (hitting players produces coins which can be collected), or Stamina where you do have a set amount of health points.
Controls
The A button performs basic attacks, combined with any direction produces different directional attacks. X/Y performs a jump which can be used for platforming, dodging, or to use aerial attacks. The B button combined with any direction or neutral position performs four different special attacks. You can shield by holding the R button, or dodge by pressing a direction while holding the shield button. The L button performs a grab which is great for grabbing shielded opponents. Smash attacks can be performed by simultaneously pressing a direction and the A button which can be held to charge. Smash Attacks deal a lot of damage, and are the main technique for launching players with the aim of achieving a knock out.
The game supports all the controllers; Pro Controller, Gamepad, Classic Controller, Remote with Nunchuk, and Gamecube controllers (if you purchase the adapter).
Characters
The 50 character roster highlights Nintendo's vast amount of intellectual property with characters from a vast amount of games. The majority of them play similar enough that you can swap between them without taking much time to adapt, but yet are different enough to be distinct and allow their personality to shine through.
Each character has a few colour modifications so you can choose the same character as another player; albeit an obscure-looking version. Some of the character's 'colours' are actually different characters. Examples being Bowser Jnr. whose palette swaps for each of the 6 other minions, or Pikmin's Olimar can be switched to Alph.
You can modify the characters to create custom versions of them. You can do this by equipping them with three pieces of equipment which increase one statistic at a cost to another. Attack increases lead to lower Defence, Defence increases lead to lower Speed, and finally; Speed increases lead to lower Attack. Some equipment is more extreme than others, so equipping one of each type should give you positive stats for each but different numbers. You have the flexibility of choosing whatever you like, so you can be very powerful in terms of attack but are severely weak in defence. Some of the equipment is special and has bonus effects (including some negative), giving another aspect to consider. These items are received as rewards when playing any of the game's primary modes. You can even modify their special moves (four per character) from a choice of 3 in each category.
You can also create a custom Mii Fighter. After selecting the Mii, you select the fighting style from Brawler, Shooter or Gunner. Then you choose their special moves and equipment as explained previously. Your Mii can be kitted out with unlockable headgear and body outfits. As expected, there's plenty of Nintendo-themed items like a Chain Chomp hat, or Samus' helmet, but there's plenty of more generic attire like a Samurai helmet and armour.
There's a few characters from non-Nintendo games too such as Pac-Man, Megaman and Sonic.
Amiibo
If you have purchased the Amiibo, you can scan them in via the NFC technology in the GamePad. You can't play as the Amiibo character directly, but you fight alongside them or against them. Amiibo characters start off with weak AI, but learn from experience of playing alongside you. There are designed to try and emulate your own playing style; offensive or defensive minded, quickly scooping up the items etc. The Amiibo characters can also be fed equipment which contribute to permanent statistic boosts.
Stages
There's plenty of stages which are also based on various franchises, which even come with the aesthetics of the original game. For example, N64's DK Jungle looks dark and fuzzy. There's plenty of returning classics alongside some new ones, and there's a variety of shapes and sizes.
There's plenty of dynamic elements to the stages, with many of them transforming as you play. This means you need to learn the stages so you know what to look out for to avoid danger. Stages can also have some interesting mechanics such as enemies that join in the battle. On Metroid’s Pyrosphere, Ridley will swoop down and attack. He can be defeated and temporarily join you as an ally.
The dynamic elements can cause a lot of frustration, especially to new players, because the changing environments can mean you fall to your death a bit too easy. Luckily there are Ω (Omega) versions which are flat and static versions, so you can just focus on fighting rather than platforming.
Items
There is a huge amount of items available and a wide variety of types. There's weapons like baseball bats and guns, recovery/defensive items like food, Maxim Tomato, or Starman (makes you invincible for a limited time), explosives like bob-ombs or blast box, assist items like Pokéballs which unleashes a Pokémon companion, and many more. You will need to learn what each item does and understand the best way to use it/avoid it.
There is a special item called the Smash Ball. This floats and bobbles around until enough damage has been dealt to it. The player who deals the final hit gets the ability to perform their unique Final Smash; an unblockable move which should end with at least one KO.
Smash/Special Smash
Smash mode allows you to set up fairly standard games. You have a choice of victory condition, Time, Coin, Stock and can choose which items are enabled, as well as the overall frequency of them. Special Smash is like Smash, but have extra options. Stamina, Size, Head, Body, Status, Gravity, Speed, and Camera are adjustable, leading to crazier games.
8-Player Smash
8-Player Smash has it's own dedicated mode, but there is no requirement to even fill the 8 slots. If you do want to fill the slots with 8 human players; it's going to be a challenge. Since you cannot play this mode online, there's obviously a requirement to have 7 of your chums around at once, each with controllers. You can fill the spaces with AI-controlled characters though.
You can create whatever combination of teams you want, so you can have a free-for-all or a teamed match. You can have up to 4 teams, so you can play 2 vs 2 vs 2 vs 2, or any other combination.
When playing with more than the standard 4 players, you are limited to certain stages since most stages will be too small. I found 8 players was a bit too hectic and was hard to keep track of what was going on. On the larger stages, the camera is too zoomed out, and on the smaller stages, it just seemed like a frantic button mash. So although a nice idea in theory, in practice; it didn't work.
Smash Tour
Smash Tour is a board game, with a Mario Party-like feel to it. There are three boards to choose from (Small, Medium, and Large) and a set number of turns to define the game's length. Four players gather statistic boosts, items and characters which culminates in a final battle; a free-for-all stock match where each of your characters has one life. When one is defeated, your next character enters the fray. By the time you get to the final battle, you can write off at least one player because they won't have enough lives to put up a fight.
On each turn, you are given an item, and each player rolls a dice simultaneously. Then you choose where to move, collecting the items on each space.
Standard battles only take place when a player makes contact with another on the game board. All players participate in these battles regardless of which players collide. I found the battles were over far too quick because the free-for-alls are stock matches with one life. If you make a mistake and plummet to your death, then you are out. The characters are either over-powered based on stats, or over-powered by using items to modify the battle. At the end of the battle, the winner steals the character off the runner up. The other 2 players simply lose their characters.
Despite a cool concept, Smash Tour’s approach creates short and chaotic matches that just don't seem satisfying and gear the battles more towards luck.
All-Star Mode
In All Star Mode, you play a series of battles until you have defeated every character in the game. Each match will pit you against several characters with fairly easy AI. You only have one life and your damage carries over from one match to the next, but you do have a choice to use one of your healing items. There's a couple of Tomatoes, a Fairy in a Bottle, and a couple of Hearts. Defeat in a fight ends the mode and you must restart, so it is vital to heal between the matches and take care whilst battling.
Events
The events list is a series of branching paths which unlock as you complete events and meet the conditions to progress (certain events require specific characters and are only available once you have unlocked this character).
There are 51 Events total, with an additional 21 co-op events. The characters are usually preselected and you can choose a difficulty. Winning unlocks at least one more event, but to win a prize, you need to beat the criteria which could be to win under a certain time, or win on a certain difficulty.
The ideas to the events usually have some thought behind them, like battling four different coloured Toon Links in a Four Swords game, Samus vs Captain Falcon in a bounty hunter match, or Dark Pit fighting against Pit.
Classic
Classic mode is a series of rounds leading up to the battle with Master Hand. Players bid coins to attempt higher difficulties (ranging from 0.0 to 9.0), which lead to higher rewards. When you fail a round, you lose some of the prizes you've obtained and the difficulty drops by 0.5. It's an interesting system and at least it guarantees you will finish the mode, even if you get stuck on a particular fight.
The UI is a bit strange; a flat board where you move your character to the group of enemies to select an event. The groups show specific reward bonuses, such as trophy icons or special parts. At times, Intruders invade the scenario and alter the selected battle after selection. After five rounds, players face a Fighting Mii Team battle, then move onto the final boss, which changes depending on the difficulty level selected.
On lower difficulties, this final battle is simply Master Hand. Higher up, it becomes Master Hand and Crazy Hand which is a multi-stage battle; the quantity depending on the difficulty. At the highest difficulty, the final challenge is Master Fortress. This is partially a platforming/action arena where you must defeat enemies and destroy targets.
Like most fighting games, the final boss seems unfair. Some moves seem too hard/impossible to evade and occasionally you find yourself being hit by the time your character recovers from the previous attack.
Special Orders
Special Orders allow you to spend coins on randomly generated event matches, with the reward for winning being a trophy, equipment or more music.
In Master Orders, you’re given the option of three events with different difficulties. These scenarios are usually battles with a twist; modifications based on the ones found in Special Smash such as Tiny/Large, Metal, Gravity, or item modifications like the Life-sucking flower. Winning earns you the prizes shown on the ticket you select, whereas losing earns you nothing; so it's not a huge loss.
Crazy Orders builds on this concept by giving you 10 minutes to play as many challenges as you can, but you can cash-in and choose to take on Crazy Hand whenever you like. Damage to your character is cumulative between matches (though a small amount is healed in between). The total amount of damage you accumulate is used to determine your HP for the final battle, encouraging you to gamble and play on to receive more damage. Each play of Crazy Orders costs 5000 coins or one Crazy Orders Ticket (which can be acquired via playing other game modes). Due to the price and the risk/reward mechanics, Crazy Orders becomes very tense.
Target Blast
Sadly, the great 'Break the Targets' from previous installments has been removed. It used to be great, navigating a course whilst locating and smashing targets in the quickest time. Instead, we get more of an Angry Birds-style game.
You have to launch a bomb to smash as many targets in two attempts. When you touch the bomb, the countdown begins. The bomb has the mechanic of the Home Run Contest, where the damage done to the bomb affects its distance and trajectory. It's up to you to decide how much damage you want to deal to it, but you need to remember to take into account the fact that you need to launch it. The bomb can destroy targets as it flies through the air, and will explode when the countdown reaches zero. So you can either plan to have the bomb explode mid flight, or to have it settle before exploding.
There are three stages which is a small amount, but it will take you a long time if you want to set a score with each of the characters!
Multi-Man Smash
Multi-Man Smash is set on a Final Destination-style map where you battle against many Mii characters. A single smash is usually enough to defeat them, but it can be very challenging to survive depending on the game mode you choose. 10-Man Smash is about finishing the game quickly, whereas 100-Man Smash can be quite challenging to survive. 3-Minute Smash can feel similar, but your main aim is to last a set length of time. Rival Smash is a competitive mode where you have to get more kills than the other opponent. Endless Smash can be similar to 100-Man Smash, but will continue until you die. Cruel Smash actually gives the Mii's a significant advantage over you and will therefore destroy you within seconds; getting one kill is a challenge!
Home-Run Contest
Home-Run Contest is the same as always; apply as much damage as you can to the sand bag, pick up the bat and perform a smash attack to launch.
Training
Training allows you to experiment with different moves and learn how much damage each attack does.
Stage Builder
In Stage Builder, you can draw on the GamePad to form the landscape. There's a few hazards you can place, but it seems a very limited selection. There is a limit to how much you can place on the screen, but there's enough to be fairly creative. You can pick the background scenery, the texture for platforms and the background music.
Challenges
A wall of challenges essentially serves as an achievement list. By completing a challenge, you unlock that specific block’s prize and also learn about the challenges in the adjacent blocks. There's a lot of variety in the challenges, spread across the game's several modes.
Trophies
In the Trophies section, you view your Trophy collection, purchase new ones in the Shop and play Trophy Rush. There are 716 trophies to collect; basically every single character and item from Nintendo has a trophy, plus there are some non-Nintendo ones like Rayman. These trophies come accompanied with a description which gives some history of the character or item. In Trophy Rush, players can break falling boxes and avoid hazards to try and collect trophies and parts. The duration of the Trophy Rush is correlated with how many coins you paid to play.
Album
If you have an SD card, you can take in-game screen-shots and then annotate them.
Movies
In the movies section, you can view any video sequences you have encountered in addition to promotional movies for the game.
Sounds
Nintendo has a great reputation of creating quality music for their franchises. Given that this game is essentially a celebration of Nintendo, the sound in the game is incredible and has an option in the menu where you can listen to any songs you want. The songs can be played in random, in sequence, or on repeat.
Each stage in the game has several songs associated with it, and you can adjust the frequency of occurrence.
Records
Records shows many different statistics, tracking all sorts of play-time within modes and character use, as well as battle statistics like kills, deaths, self-destructs, damage taken, received, distance walked, run etc.
Tips
View an endless sequence of random tips explaining various character moves and traits.
Masterpieces
Play classic Nintendo games (for about 5 minutes) that introduced the characters featured in the game.
Multiplayer and Online
The game features online multiplayer. It's easy to play with friends since it uses Nintendo Id's from your Friends List.
There's a few modes to chose from, For Glory matches are 1 vs 1 matches that are played on Final Destination with no items, leading to skill based fights. For Fun matches allow items for a more standard Smash match. Team Smash has 2 vs 2 matches. Spectator mode is for if you want to watch other characters battle and can place bets on who wins.
Other Comments
Smash Bros. creator Masahiro Sakurai decided to sacrifice an adventure mode and use the time expanding and perfecting other content. Although it was a great mode in previous games and sadly missed, there's plenty of quality content to keep you busy.
I think there's a lot of modes that are similar in that they pit you against several characters with a handicap (e.g. being able to smash them easily), but if you don't like a particular mode, then you don't have to play it. You can easily wrack up an insane amount of times just playing single Smash matches with your custom settings.
Conclusion
Super Smash Bros. For Wii U is an amazing game, the series is well-received and this version is the most complete package. There's so many characters to use, and so many options to customise to cater for your preferences. It's a great game for all skill levels, being yet another Nintendo game where it's easy to learn but difficult to master. It's great for fans of fighting games, and brilliant for Nintendo fans; it's a must own game, and yet another reason to purchase the Wii U if you haven't already.