Some of you might be able to remember back when Super Smash Brothers for the Nintendo 64 came out. At the time it was huge to have such a massive crossover game of so many franchises. And who has more perfect pantheon of stars than Nintendo? It was amazing just to see Mario, Link and Samus on the same screen. Not only that but for a fighting game it was surprisingly fresh – an emphasis on mobility and fun over combos and clunky controls. The first Super Smash Bros. had twelve characters and it amazed us. Flash forward 15 years and we now have the franchise on handheld and with 50+ characters!
It’s the same quick-moving, high-mobility fighting style the series has triumphed at with some minor additions to the gameplay. Certain modes allow for customizble character movesets which is a series first. It also creates a huge amount of depth when you figure each character has custom moves to unlock and there are over 50 characters to choose from. Probably the most impressive part of the game is just how jam packed with content it is. It’s sad to see the Subspace Emissary from the last game go (For those who don’t know, it was a full fledged story mode with co-op that played a bit like Kirby Super Star). But in its place we have a crazy amount of new modes.
There’s your classic Smash mode which everyone is familiar with. You set the rules and items and just duke it out on a chosen level with 1-3 enemies. You can set up teams as well to make it a 2v2. There’s also Classic mode which works a little like a campaign, which has you choosing a character and advancing through a series of fights and you get to choose the path of the fights. All-Star Mode allows you to advance through a series of fights with every character in the game. Home-Run Contest you try to get a dummy to fly as far as possible. Target Blast you try to navigate through a level in time to destroy all targets. Multi-Man Mode where you try to defeat as many enemies as possible before you get overwhelmed. And these are all just the singleplayer modes.
For multiplayer you can play over wi-fi and play a VS mode which follows the rules of classic Smash, and an exclusive mode called Smash Run which has players advancing through a level defeating AI opponents and collecing power ups, and when the time runs out all players fight eachother with said power ups.
So, as you can see it’s an impressively huge game especially for a handheld. But, it’s not without a few issues. On the technical side the internet matches I played were very laggy. This might be fixed with patches but almost every match was incredibly laggy. And for a fighting game that can really hamper the experience. Likewise, being on such a small device it can be hard to keep track of your character as the screen is so small. This is particularly true on larger maps which has the map zoom out if players are far apart.
I also hate to complain about the huge amount of characters in the roster simply because they give you so many, but I can’t help but feel a bit bummed about the overall additions. While pretty much all your favorites from Brawl return, if you compare the additions from that game (like Diddy, Meta Knight, Dedede, Sonic) to this one there aren’t as many huge characters, with a bit more emphasis on lesser-knowns. It’s a minor nit pick because some of the additions are excellent and I’m still blown away by Mega Man’s inclusion. But I still can’t help but feel there are a few characters from our beloved pasts that should make an appearance.
If you like Smash, you’ll love Smash Bros for the 3DS. And think, you can play it just about anywehre now that it’s on a handheld. That format does hold it back a bit in terms of screen size and lag but it’s a small price to play for such a content-filled game of undiluted fun. Indeed, the Wii U version coming out at the end of the month will be the larger and more complete version, but this one should be a definate compliment if you are a Smash or Nintendo fan.
4 stars out of 5
