MO SADEK
Special to The Leader
Super Smash Brothers is one of those games that will make you get out of your seat and disown your childhood friend. By the end of an intense virtual fight you’ll need to take a shower and probably make a few apologetic phone calls. If you’re looking for a game to help lower stress levels, Animal Crossing, might be a better game for you.
With Smash Bros., Nintendo has created a game for players of all skill levels and backgrounds. Most people are attracted to the game for its great roster of familiar Nintendo characters a like Pikachu and Link, while others play for its fast paced combat. Overall, Smash Brothers has created a spot for itself anywhere there’s a Nintendo fan.
With the upcoming release of the newest installment for the Nintendo 3DS, you’ll be able to bring the battle wherever you go.
Roster
This is the most varied roster Super Smash Brothers has seen to date. We still have all of the familiar faces from Mario to Zelda, but there are some new faces to the series, like Villager from Animal Crossing, Punch Out’s Little Mac and Pac-Man himself. Currently, the roster includes 44 characters — almost four times as much as in the first installment on the Nintendo 64.
Visuals
Though skeptical at first, I have to say the handheld experience of Smash Brothers is just as addicting, if not more, than its predecessors. Gameplay is displayed at a smooth 60 frames per second, even with the updated effects of specials, though it decreases when the 3D feature is turned on. However, even while in 3D, the game still runs and looks fantastic. There’s an obvious effort made by Nintendo to create detailed characters — and many of them.
Controls and Combat
Combat in the game is still fluid and fast-paced, but can be a little awkward the first few matches. If you’ve been keeping up with the news, many users have been reporting broken circle pads because of the repeated button mashing and rapid taps that the game requires to execute some of the more advanced tactics. With that in mind, I was unable to play at my fullest, mostly because I wanted to see my 3DS live to see another day. Rumor has it that you will be able to configure your controls on the 3DS in the full version of the game. After more than 20 hours of gameplay, I can say that the controls are pretty natural now, though the circle pad has proven to be imprecise and annoying at times. On top of this, many players have reported hand cramps while playing the game for extended periods of time. While I didn’t experience any discomfort on my 3DS, I can’t speak for those playing the game on the smaller handheld. You may want to play the demo for a while to make sure this won’t affect your experience.
On the plus side, I was pleased to see the variation of attacks each character had. In the past, Smash Brothers’ characters Ganondorf and Captain Falcon had mirrored movesets. From the demo, it seems like each character has movesets that utilize unique fighting styles that reflect their individualities.
One new character included in the game’s demo, Villager, has a medley of comical and devastating moves, from planting trees in the middle of the battlefield to his overpowered pocket attack that allows him to catch any projectile that is thrown at him and save it for later. Hopefully, a majority of the characters in Super Smash Brothers will be this varied.
Speaking of variation, the amount of new items in the game is ridiculous. By collaborating with companies like Namco and Capcom, Nintendo is able to add some interesting new assist trophies to the game. I was really surprised watching Mario being picked up and dragged off stage by a Space Invader. Some Pokeballs are now Master Balls which contain exponentially more powerful allies, too. Basically, expect all the same fantastic chaos of the old items but redesigned and multiplied tenfold.
Nintendo has also taken into special consideration the community around the game. Super Smash Brothers has attracted a lot of competitive players from around the world. Tournament versions of all of the maps have been included, plus a variety of new rule sets have been implemented to accommodate different tournaments. There has also been some rebalancing of characters.. However, until the game is released in North America, we won’t know for sure how much rebalancing has taken place.
Though it’s been fun going around campus and challenging students, who also have the demo installed, the amount of lag in player-to-player local matches was disappointing. In a game that requires a lot of precise input and well timed attacks, a little bit of lag could end up costing a match. Hopefully, this is a problem unique to the demo and is solvable through the use of a patch.
The game has already made its debut in Japan; however, North America won’t be getting a release of Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS until Friday.