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Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS Hands-on Preview

by Daan Koopman - September 12, 2014, 3:00 pm EDT
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Daan played the title now both in English and Japanese. Here are his pre-Smash Diary impressions!

One of the franchises I truly hold dear is Super Smash Bros., so when I got the chance to play the Nintendo 3DS version for a few hours at Nintendo earlier this week, of course I had to say yes. I wanted to see most of the characters and the stages, but I also wanted more of a proper feel for the whole package. Now, after several hours with the European preview build and now the final Japanese release, I am more than pleased with how the title turned out so far.

To kick things off, let’s talk about balance. Melee was as close as it came to perfection and while I liked aspects of Brawl, it did not resonate with me as much. When I first started playing Smash 4, I did not know which side it was going to lean towards. I tried to get a good handle on the various elements and see how it all stacked up. After a while, I started to realize that it feels leaps ahead of Brawl and closer to Melee. It is faster, quicker, and sharper.

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS, to me, impresses both the casual and the hardcore side. You can still enjoy it casually with friends and have all the item madness you could ever want. The variation in the assist trophies, Pokeballs and other goodies make every match a treat and feast for the eyes. At the same time, there are enough deep mechanics for the hard-hitting players with glorious attacks and deep characters. All of the stages have a Final Destination version and the regular ones have more stage hazards than ever before. Some might look at the game and say that it doesn't know what it wants to be: a hardcore fighting game or a light-hearted party game. To me, it shows the willingness and the length the developers are willing to go make Smash Bros. continue to work on every level.

And it certainly works. For starters, the various characters are brilliant to play and most have their own quirks to keep them engaging and entertaining. One I was really impressed by was Pac-Man. When I saw the character at E3 2014, I didn’t care much for the Namco hero’s potential, but that all changed when I started to explore Pac-Man further. My favorite move is when I moved the control stick twice and tapped the A button, making the yellow circle charge ahead and chomp away at enemies. It’s a great and fun way to rack up some quick damage.

Another character I came to appreciate was Zero Suit Samus. While the boots may look a bit crazy, the agility of the character is no joke. Swiftly moving about and doing these perfectly timed moves makes for an endless race of fun.

I feel similar about the selection of stages. The Tomodachi Life one puts the action directly in an apartment building filled with Miis (your own Miis to boot!). This is comparable to the Luigi's Mansion stage in Brawl, but the whole experience is way more expanded. I also appreciated the Rainbow Road arena from Mario Kart 7, which allowed for a quick ride across the racing course. In the E3 build, the frame rate was choppy, but that seems completely patched up right now. Shy Guys pop up out of nowhere and try to give you a very hard time while you’re trying to fight your foes.

The various modes on display aren't too shabby either. I spent most of my time so far in the single-player modes, including the Classic arcade-style mode, the All-Star mode and the neat Stadium games. It is all quite lovely, though I find that Classic is a bit too short for my liking. The whole mode only lasts six stages, though you could change it slightly by betting coins and making your opponents more challenging in the process. For a portable game, it’s awesome, but it doesn’t feel as grand as other iterations of Classic.

I also spent a lot of time with Smash Run, where you beat up enemies and collect power-ups like in Kirby Air Ride’s City Trial mode. The map is vast and difficult to explore in just five minutes. I have the intention of playing it a couple times more and seeing how many different types of enemies I can find in the various locations. The races and battles found at the end are fast paced and fun, too, which makes the mode’s lack of online play even sadder.

Lastly, I looked at the challenge wall, which Sakurai puts in every game that he makes. In comparison to the challenge walls in Kid Icarus: Uprising or Brawl, the one found in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS is small and extremely compact. There were just 35 challenges that you can find there initially and I am not sure how much more will be added to this section. You do still get rewards for clearing a space, so that is at least something to look forward to!

I barely scratched the surface with Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS. I haven’t touched on the game's Vault or discussed the various ways you can set up a friendly Smash battle. You can look forward to these details and so much more in the weeks to come. I am very excited to play more of it. Stay tuned for Nintendo World Report and experience daily entries from the world of Smash Brothers! For now, enjoy the English selection of videos we shot at Nintendo below.

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3DS

Game Profile

Dairantou Smash Brothers for Nintendo 3DS Box Art

Genre Fighting
Developer Sora
Players1 - 4
Online1 - 4
Controllers & Accessories Amiibo

Worldwide Releases

na: Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS
Release Oct 03, 2014
PublisherNintendo
RatingEveryone 10+
jpn: Dairantou Smash Brothers for Nintendo 3DS
Release Sep 13, 2014
PublisherNintendo
RatingAll Ages
eu: Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS
Release Oct 03, 2014
PublisherNintendo
Rating12+
aus: Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS
Release Oct 04, 2014
PublisherNintendo
RatingParental Guidance
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