Super Smash Bros Declassified in Nintendo Direct

Nintendo’s Major Weapon for 2014, Super Smash Bros, gets Lengthy Reveal.

Nintendo Direct is the primary portal for the video game giant to deliver news and updates to their fans. This week their focus was on one of the most anticipated titles for the year and what most Wii U owners have been holding out for: Super Smash Bros.

There is so much news to get through this week, it’s almost impossible. But lets start with the biggest bits first:

Launch Windows

Nintendo revealed the approximate release times for both the Wii U and 3DS versions of the title with the 3DS getting the game first. The hand-held console is expected to receive Smash Bros in summer of 2014 (which is winter for those in the southern hemisphere); while the Wii U players will have to wait until winter (again, the start of summer for anyone down under). The Wii U release is in line with expectations of major November push to kick off the Christmas period.

New Characters

Before the Nintendo Direct, two new Pokemon were announced as playable characters. Greninja, the water-type starter from Pokemon X and Pokemon Y will be making his debut appearance. Charizard is a returning Pokemon from Super Smash Bros Brawl but instead of sharing a place in the fray with Squirtle and Ivysaur, he is here on his own.

Another major update is that characters who changed forms in previous games (read: Samus – Zero Suit Samus and Zelda – Sheik) will no longer be able to. Zero Suit and Sheik will now be stand-alone fighters.

Rosalina has been confirmed to have a distinct separate entity in her Luma. It was shown in her announcement video but only really explored now. Her ability to send out the Luma and have it return will let her combat at a distance or even two people at once. This gives her a very similar feel to Viola for any Soul Calibur veterans out there.

Little Mac is a character that requires staying on the ground. His attacks pack a brutal punch and he even has some hit-stun immunity with his feet planted firmly on the floor. In the air, however, he has virtually no recovery and is “exceedingly weak.” He has also been given a power meter. Once filled, he can deliver a one-hit-KO uppercut.

Most of Megaman and the Villager’s moves have been previously revealed. I will say, though, that the Villager’s final smash is almost a reason to pick him.

Wii Fit Trainer has a power-up and a storable projectile similar to Samus’ laser.

Smash Bros Returning Characters

Many of the regular cast have received some significant tweaks in the new game. Going into all of them in detail would make this post even huger so here is the condensed version:

Kirby: Hammer special attack is now a charge-up move and can damage him if not used timely. New final smash.

King Dedede: Side smash now throws Gordos (the spiky ball things) instead of Waddle Dees

Lucario: Received mega evolution and drastic increase in Aura attacks’ potential power.

Olimar: Pikmin pluck was hit by the nerf bat. He can only have three Pikmin and they are plucked in a certain order, making farming for purple Pikmin possibly more time-consuming. His recovery special is now the pink, winged Pikmin and dependent on how many other Pikmin he has following him.

Zelda: Down special now sends out a phantom knight to block projectiles or strike enemies with a sword.

Sheik: Now throws grenades as her side special instead of her chain; and received a powerful jumping heel kick as her down special.

Zero Suit Samus: Her jet boots now allow for higher jumps, better recovery, and more powerful kick attacks. A later video showed her reflecting a projectile with a kick.

Pit: Can no longer glide but has an easier time using his recovery special. New final smash.

Super Smash Bros Stages

With character discussion out-of-the-way, lets move onto the next big reveal: stages. Nintendo have previously said that the Wii U and 3DS version will have largely different stages. There are a few shared ones (Final Destination and Battlefield, to name a couple) but mostly 3DS stages will be from hand-held titles and Wii U from console games.

3DS stages will have two songs associated with them while the Wii U will be similar to Super Smash Bros Brawl and have a music library that you can use to customise each stage’s sound.

Here is the list of stages announced in the Nintendo Direct episode:

 Super Smash Bros 3DS

Reset Bomb Forest (Fire Emblem)

3D Land (Mario)

Spirit Train (Zelda)

Gerudo Valley (Zelda)

Arena Ferox (Fire Emblem)

Tortimer Island (Animal Crossing)

Living Room (Nintendogs)

Prism Tower (Pokemon)

Rainbow Road (Mario Kart)

Find Mii (Street Pass)

Balloon Fight (Balloon Fight)

DK Jungle Japes (Donkey Kong) – Past stage from Super Smash Bros Melee

Super Smash Bros Wii U

Mario Galaxy (Mario)

Pyrosphere (Metroid)

Town and City (Animal Crossing)

Boxing Ring (Punch-out)

Pilot Wings (Pilot Wings)

Skyloft (Zelda)

Windy Hill (Sonic)

Garden of Hope (Pikmin)

Wii Fit Studio (Wii Fit)

Palutena’s Temple (Kid Icarus)

Halberd (Kirby) – Past stage from Super Smash Bros Brawl

Each stage is also said to have a “final destination” mode that is a flat, plain version of each stage to add some variety to competitive matches without unduly interfering with the match.

Online Play

Both versions of the game will feature online play. Like with Super Smash Bros Brawl, you can choose to play with friends or with anyone. When choosing to play with anyone, however, you can opt to play for fun or for glory.

Playing for fun will only record wins, your stage will be randomly selected (excluding Final Destination), all items will be on, and only smash battles.

When playing for glory, both losses and wins will be recorded, one-on-one battles will be possible, no items will be on, and the only accessible stage will be Final Destination.

Online play will be tied to your Nintendo Network ID. A code of conduct will be put in place to ensure that everyone is able to enjoy the game. Nintendo have also put in a Global Smash Power ranking that will allow you to earn points based on online play and completing off-line portions of the game.

Items

A number of items have been announced as either coming or returning to the series:

Beam Sword (Super Smash Bros)

Bumper (Super Smash Bros)

Smart Bomb (Starfox)

Motion-Sensor Bomb (Super Smash Bros)

POW Block (Mario)

Beetle (Zelda)

Fire Bar (Mario)

Back Shield (Kid Icarus)

Bombchu (Zelda)

Fairy Bottle (Zelda)

Ore Club (Kid Icarus)

X Bomb (Kid Icarus)

Hocotate Bomb (Pikmin)

Rocket Belt (Pilot Wings)

Steel Diver (Super Smash Bros)

Assist Trophies

Assist Trophies have also been rumoured to be tied into All-star mode.

Andross (Starfox)

Devil (Super Smash Bros)

Knuckle Joe (Kirby)

Saki Amamiya (Super Smash Bros)

Lyn (Fire Emblem)

Nintendog (Nintendogs)

Waluigi (Wario)

Dr. Wright (Super Smash Bros)

Skull Kid (Zelda)

Mother Brain (Metroid)

Midna (Zelda)

Ashley (Wario)

Dark Samus (Metroid)

Chain Chomp (Mario)

Isabelle (Animal Crossing)

Elec Man (Megaman)

Color TV-game 15 (Pong)

Pokemon

Mater Balls have been added. Only rare and legendary Pokemon are released from these. Other Pokemon have also been announced:

Arceus

Meowth

Electrode

Eevee

Staryu

Metagross

Fennekin

Meloetta

Gogoat

Entei

Deoxys

Palkia

Kyurem

Victini

Keldeo

Xerneas

3DS-exclusive game mode: Smash Run

A 4-player game that throws characters into a dungeon similar to those seen in Super Smash Bros melee‘s adventure mode. They are given five minutes to fight through the dungeon and past the enemies to collect power-ups. After the five minutes, a 4-player fight occurs using the powered-up characters.

Unexplored Rumours

Nintendo have announced a number of features that will be explored at a later date. Among these are links between the console and hand-held versions. Custom move sets have also been shown. These involve various changes that you can make to a character’s special moves. For example, a bigger, slower moving Mario Fireball or a loop-de-looping Pit Arrow.

Sorry, guys. I know it’s a bit of a length wall of text to get through but there really was a stupid amount of information packed into the Nintendo Direct.

If you want to check out how any of the stages, characters, items, or skills look, you can watch the full episode here.