Super Smash Bros. for the 3DS came out in North America on October 3, 2014. This is the first time in history that we are given the opportunity to play Super Smash Bros. on the go. In addition, it’s also the first time that we have the four classic iconic video game characters (Mario, Sonic, Pac-Man, and Mega Man) battle it out against each other. Is Super Smash Bros. for the 3DS an ideal fighting game to play on the go? The answer is yes, but it still has some flaws that should have been addressed. In addition, Super Smash Bros. for the Wii U and 3DS fixes some major issues that were present in Brawl such as removing tripping, the slow/floaty game play, and the laggy online mode.
Presentation - Super Smash Bros. for the 3DS is a mixture between a party and a fighting game. It’s not a traditional fighting game like Street Fighter or Tekken where depleting health meters cause a player to score a KO. Instead, Super Smash Bros. is all about racking up damage percents to KO an opponent off screen. What makes Super Smash Bros. a party game is that spawning items can randomly cause a player to win or lose a given match. Fortunately, there are options to turn items (including Final Smashes) off to make Super Smash Bros. have more of a competitive environment. In addition, some stages have a Final Destination version, to make them completely flat, and remove all stage hazards to make Super Smash Bros. even more competitive for casual and tournament play. Next, I’ll explain about the different modes.
In the solo mode, there is a Classic, All-Star, Stadium, and Training mode. In Classic mode, a player selects a character to battle against the CPU opponent/s, and defeat the Master Hand and Crazy Hand and/or Master Core depending what level of intensity (which goes from around levels 1-9) you place it at in order to unlock new characters, stages, and trophies. However, there are a few elements missing from Classic Mode (in the Wii U and 3DS versions) that were present in the previous iterations. In between a few battles, there is no more Break the Targets, Board the Platforms (that haven’t been present since Smash 64), race to the finish, or grab the trophies (that were in Melee). In addition, Adventure mode has been completely removed (that was present in Melee) and Subspace Emissary (that was in Brawl). While this problem doesn’t have a major impact on the game play, itself, the lack of given variety makes Classic Mode even quicker to beat, and causes me to drag the score down a bit. Instead, there is a new mode called Smash Run which has you fighting against different enemies from various video game franchises.
Luckily, All-Star mode returns from Melee where a single player battles it out against several different characters at a time. The catch is if, you die in battle, you have to start it out from the beginning again, and it has no options to continue like you can in Classic mode. Fortunately, there are a few hearts that can help deplete all or most of your damage percentage before you begin your next battle. Unlike Classic mode, the damage percentages that you accumulate stay with you, and doesn’t reset itself to 0% unless you grab a heart or a fairy bottle. My personal recommendation is to grab a heart when your damage percentage is 100% or higher.
In Stadium mode, there are several mini-games that you can play which are Multi-Man Smash (defeating a bunch of CPU opponents at a time), Target Blast (a mixture between Break the Targets and Angry Birds), and Home Run contest that has been present since Melee. Finally, Training mode (which has been present since Smash 64) enables you to train with your mains (characters), and even learn a few techniques/combos along the way. In addition, there is also a Group mode where you can battle with a friend. The modes that are available in Group mode are All-Star, and Multi-Man mode. The biggest new addition to Super Smash Bros. is the ability to customize your Mii fighters and characters. You can customize to change up their special attacks, increase their attack, defense, and/or speed stats, and even change up their clothing and hats.
Next, I’ll talk about the character roster. There are about a total of 50 or 51 characters with the addition of Mii fighters (brawler, gunner, and swordsmen). In addition, Mewtwo will be playable as a DLC character in the Spring of 2015. Several new characters that made it into the fray are Pac-Man, Mega Man, Villager from Animal Crossing, Wii Fit Trainer, Shulk from Xenoblade Chronicles, Robin and Lucina from Fire Emblem Awakening, Little Mac from Punch Out, Greninja (a new Pokemon), Palutena and Dark Pit from Kid Icarus Uprising, Rosalina and Bowser Jr. (with the Koopalings), and the Duck Hunt Dog. In addition, Dr. Mario (who was cut from Brawl), made a surprise return from Melee. Now if we can convince Nintendo to bring back Roy from Melee, then this will be the best Super Smash Bros. game yet.
In addition, all of the Smash 64 veterans return from the previous iterations such as Mario, Luigi, Pikachu, Jigglypuff, Link, Kirby, Ness, Captain Falcon, Yoshi, Samus, Donkey Kong, and Fox along with several Melee veterans such as Marth, Peach, Bowser, Zelda, Ganondorf, Mr. Game and Watch, and Brawl veterans such as Ike, Pit, R.O.B., Lucario, Wario, Diddy Kong, Sonic, Meta Knight, and King Dedede. In addition, Masahiro Sakurai’s (the creator of Super Smash Bros.) goal was to buff up most characters including Mario, Luigi, Bowser, Link, Zelda, and nerf some overpowered characters such as Meta Knight to make the game even more balanced than it was in Brawl.
Graphics - The visuals of the characters aren’t quite as realistic as they were in Brawl, but the bright and colorful visuals make up for it. However, the visuals of the backgrounds are very detailed, colorful, and doesn’t have technical problems with glitches so far.
Sound - There are a lot of awesome different Nintendo tracks to listen to from different video game franchises. However, unlike from Brawl and Smash Bros. for the Wii U, the 3DS version only has you listen to one of two different tracks for each stage since the given hardware is obviously more limited than the Wii U.
Game play - The game speed is a mixture between Melee and Brawl, which is a nice compromise for any one who prefers one of the two games. Unfortunately, advanced techniques that were in Melee such as wave dashing, L canceling, and SHFFLing, aren’t present in Smash 4. However, tripping has been removed from Brawl, but foot stool jumping is still present in Smash 4.
Lasting appeal - With several modes such as Classic mode, multiplayer, and online mode returning from Brawl, Smash 4 is an ideal fighting game to play on the go. However, there is no download play which means that your friends need copies of the game to play Smash 4. Despite the fact that Smash 4 is missing in some key features, it’s still a solid fighting game that makes you want to continue playing even more.
The good - several major issues have been fixed up and removed from Brawl such as tripping, slow/floaty game play, and the laggy online mode, a diverse character roster and stage selections, the addition to customize your Mii fighters and characters, and Final Destination versions of several stages make Smash 4 even more competitive
The bad - several modes are missing from Classic mode such as Break the Targets, and race to the finish, the removal of Adventure Mode/Subspace Emissary, no download play in mutliplayer mode, and some characters are missing such as the Ice Climbers, Roy from Fire Emblem, Lucas from Earthbound, Wolf from Star Fox, and Solid Snake from Metal Gear Solid
Presentation - 8
Graphics - 10
Sound - 8
Game play - 9
Lasting appeal - 8
Overall 8.6 out of 10 GameSpot Score 9 out of 10