Hey, Baconeers!

by Lady Russell

We got a new Nintendo Direct today, covering one of the most anticipated games in their lineup for both Wii U and 3DS: Super Smash Bros.. If you missed it, no worries! That’s what I’m here for; to watch videos that you don’t have time for. But if you’d really prefer to watch it for yourself, I’ve also got you covered there: you can click here to watch it from Nintendo directly.

Masahiro Sakurai, director of Super Smash Bros. as well as our host for the evening, gave us some welcome updates concerning the newest installment. Let’s start off with the best news: release dates! Well, almost. Only time frames were confirmed. We get the games for each system at different times, with the 3DS version coming out this Summer this year, and the Wii U version coming later in the Winter.

And the 3DS version was confirmed to run at 60 frames per second in stereoscopic 3D. While some assist trophies or other things may run at 30 FPS at times, it should have no effect on gameplay.

New Characters

As we all probably knew, both systems get the same roster, but I know you’re all dying to know if anyone new introduced! YES. Charizard was announced as well as a surprise Pokémon challenger: Greninja! While these two were only teased at the end, I’m sure we’ll get to see more details soon.

Updates on Old Players

Sakurai started off by announcing that during Samus’ Final Smash, she will no longer lose her Power Suit. Apparently no characters will be making any form changes at all during this game, but you can still play as Zero-suit Samus if you like! To make up for her loss of power, they’ve added nifty jet boots to give her some speed and some nasty kicks. They also come into play with her recover ability, giving Samus a boost.

Zelda is obviously returning, with some tweaks to her moves. Her downward special move is now “Phantom Slash.” If you’re familiar with The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks, you’ll recognize this move. Zelda can now summon the armor-clad phantom to attack or defend. But this move can also be reflected back at Zelda and used against her.

If you were worried that Shiek wouldn’t come back, don’t be. Shiek returns with two brand new moves: burst grenade and bouncing fish.

Olimar can now only have three Pikmin now, available in a certain order. Sakurai explained that this is actually a good thing, and that it would be easier to manage your Pikmin. Olimar also gets a new recovery moved called “Winged Pikmin,” which can be significantly less powerful the more Pikmin Olimar has weighing him down.

Pit’s gliding ability is cut, and he now slowly descends with every flap of his wings. His Final Smash has been changed so that he now uses the three sacred treasures from his latest game, Kid Icarus: Uprising.

Most exciting was the news brought with Lucario’s update. Lucario, as well as Charizard apparently, will be able to access their Mega Evolutions from Pokémon X and Y.

Updates on New Players

Rosalina has a power called “Luma Shot” in which she sends out Luma for ranged attacks. Luma can wander on her own, and the two can attack while separated from each other. Each has their own move set. Rosalina’s has a special attack that uses shooting star bits, which can be used by either character. She can use a launch star as her recovery move. Perhaps her coolest move was “Gravitational Pull,” in which Rosalina can bend gravity to pick up items or deflect projectiles. Her Final Smash is called “Power Star” in which a giant Power Star unleashes the fury of both small and giant shooting stars.

Little Mac showed off some of his boxing moves. While most of his moves revolve around using his fists, he has an interesting mechanic different from his fellow challengers: a power meter. Little Mac can get energy from attacking and getting damage and fill his power meter. When full, he can use it to unleash a “K.O. Uppercut” that knocks out any player. It seems that all of Mac’s attacks are extremely powerful while he’s on the ground, but he’s extremely vulnerable in the air. Not only are his moves weak and his defenses lowered, but his recovery ability is terrible.

The Village showcased his charming moves based off some of my favorite Animal Crossing activities. While not really explained, he had some cute moves that incorporated his pocket and the charming little trees of Animal Crossing. His recovery move is using a balloon to float upwards! The Villager’s Final Smash was sort of cute, where he, Tom Nook, and Nook’s nephews all built a dream house on top of his opponent. It would be really adorable if his eyes weren’t so creepily merciless.

We also got to see some new moves by Mega Man, but they went so quickly I barely got a grasp of it all. His moves mostly consist of powers he had throughout his entire series. We saw two moves the Wii Fit Trainers use as well, but nothing very substantial.

Lastly, Sakurai mentioned that there will be special move sets that can be customized. I’m looking forward to this being fleshed out a little more. These mysterious move sets can only be customized for local battles and battles with friends.

Stages

As previously discussed, the 3DS and Wii U versions will have some different stages between systems, as well as sharing some of the same stages. However, the shared stages may not be so similar and can appear differently depending on the version. We got a look at some of the stages for each systems.

But the most exciting was the new Mega Man stage, Dr. Wiley’s Castle. The Yellow Devil, a large yellow monster with a red eye, will appear and attack players. Players must decide if they want to attack the boss or the other players attacking.

Apparently, other boss characters will be making appearances as well.

Multiplayer

Masahiro Sakurai also discussed Online Play. Players will be able to fight their friends as well as strangers on both systems. You’ll be able to enjoy two modes of online play: “For Glory” or “For Fun.” “For Fun” let’s you play a random stage, with all items available. Wins will only be recorded for battles in this mode. But “For Glory” battles will only play on the Final Destination stage, with no items and all wins and losses recorded. You can customize rules for battles against friends only.

Speaking of Final Destination, the flat, platform-free stage, all stages will have a Final Destination option with no architectural features whatsoever.

They have also removed anonymous battles. You will be able to see the names of the people you battle, whether they be friend or stranger. That means you can also report other players for misconduct. Smash Bros will also take measures of their own against players who start a game but don’t play, target a specific player, self-destruct, or cheat. These players get slapped with a temporary ban of varying length depending on the crime.

Sakurai announced a specifically designed ranking system for Smash called “Global Smash Power”. Your Smash Power number will not specifically put you in a rank, but will tell you how many people you “outscore” on the game based on your skill level.

Items, Assist Trophies, and Pokémon

We had some new and old items appearing. My favorite new items were things like the Beetle from Skyward Sword, Bombchus, Bottled Fairies, Ore Club from Kid Icarus, and the Steel Diver.

New assist trophies were introduced like Isabelle from Animal Crossing, a giant Nintendog, Chain-Chomps, Skull Kid, Midna, Mother Brain, Andross, Waluigi, etc.

Best of all were the new Pokémon announced. You’ll be able to use not only regular Pokéballs, but Masterballs! Masterballs have rare and legendary Pokémon, like Arceus, Xerneas, and Entei. There’s also new Pokémon appearing from Pokémon X and Y, like Fennekin and Gogoat.

Smash Run

Finally, we have Smash Run, a fun looking multiplayer game that I’m pretty excited about. Smash Run has two phases. First, you and all your opponents will be running though a very expansive stage where you all will be fighting to collect power-ups. Each power-up does something different to enhance your character. After 5 minutes, the powered-up players get transported to an arena to battle it out. Fighting before getting to the arena is pointless, because everyone starts off at the same condition. If you want an extra element of chaos, you can also use the Random Fighter option.

And that about wraps it up!

All in all, I had a fantastic time watching this Direct. I couldn’t recount all the details, so I really recommend that you watch for yourself. I’m almost happy that the two versions won’t be releasing at the same time, because I’ll be buying both. Don’t pass this game up, because it’s going to be spectacular.