Features
- 1 Player
- 2-4 Player Lcal Multiplayer
- 2-4 Player Online Multiplayer
- StreetPass Enabled
- Connects to Upcoming Super Smash Bros. for Wii U
- Rated E10+
Over the years the Super Smash Bros. games have been some of my favourites. I loved button mashing on the GameCube controller in Melee and finally learning the actual controls in Brawl. I have spent countless hours playing the Subspace Emissary or just replaying Classic Mode over and over again. I love how all of my favourite Nintendo characters are all together as one with attributes from every game. Super Smash Bros. for 3DS has been on my mind ever since it was announced and I am excited to have the opportunity to share my thoughts about it so far.
In the previous titles there has always been a cool opening intro, but I was disappointed to find that there is no cool opening in this game. Another thing that this game is lacking is a story mode, but it might almost be better that way because this game is on a handheld console you can take on the go with you. One thing that kind of resembles a story mode is Smash Run. The way that you go about playing Smash Run is very similar to the way the Subspace Emissary is laid out and it even includes some of the same enemies. There are still the old Multi-Man smash, Home Run contest and Target Smash modes, which are all the same except for Target Smash. In the new Target Smash you rack up as much damage to a bomb and then try and launch it into the mess of blocks and targets. I prefer the old version.
Like I mentioned earlier, there is a new mode called Smash Run, which I really love. In this mode you go around defeating as many enemies as you can to earn better power-up stats. With these new and improved stats, you can battle it out against the CPU or you real life friends. There is no online mode for this mode even though it would make a great addition. Also in this mode you can collect new special moves for your character or customizations such as a brawn badge.
Classic mode has been around since the very beginning. Before you didn’t get much of a reward out of it. This time around you can get gold, Mii Fighter outfits and hats, and different customizations for your characters. You get better prizes the harder the difficulty you choose. The lowest intensity is 1 and you actually have to pay a small fee of gold to play this, but the highest is 9 where you get tons of gold, so you have to play the harder difficulties to get the better rewards. You have three choices of different paths. The blue path is the easiest with less prizes, the green path is medium difficulty and the red path is the hardest path with the best prizes. Also, like always you have to fight the Master Hand, but if you choose the black path at the end you have to fight Crazy Hand and Master Hand. If you are on one of the hardest intensities you will have to fight something known as the Swarm as well as Master and Crazy Hand.
One of my absolute favourite parts from any Nintendo game is the music. I usually find myself whistling and humming the popular themes. In every Smash Bros. the music always ends up being awesome and they always include remixes of my favourite tunes. The music in this game isn’t as epic and dramatic as it was in Melee, it seems more happy and energetic, but it is still very amazing! Most of the remixes make me jump around and dance. Whether it be dramatic or energetic it always fits the chaotic style of this fighting game. The best part of it all? Well you can listen to it all in one place! In the vault you can listen to the music and character sound clips. All of the general button sounds are very similar to Brawl, if not the same.
All Star mode is back and still amazing. In this mode, you fight all of the Nintendo characters in chronological order of when they were first debuted. It can be considered as educational because in a way you are learning the history of Nintendo games and characters. I love this mode because it is so cool to see how far Nintendo has really come. You get to fight characters from the 1980’s all the way to present day. Completing this mode is awesome because if you use an alternate costume you get a new trophy of your character in the alternate costume. This can be quite difficult though because you only get one life.
Global Smash Power, also known as GSP, is a way to see how you rank in the world in each mode. The higher the number, the more people you are better than. It is a great way to compare yourself to the rest of the world without seeing how other people are doing. If you are for some reason self conscious about your score, then it doesn’t matter because only you can see it. It is a nice personal scoring system.
Smash mode has been brought back too and it is one of the main attractions of the game in my opinion. It has the same difficulty system as Classic mode, 1 being the easiest all the way to 9 being the most difficult. There are tons of new stages like Kirby’s Dream Land Gameboy or Prism Tower from Pokemon X and Y (squeeeee that makes me so happy!), most of which are related to the handheld portable gaming systems. Certain stages have different features to them, like the Living Room stage from Nintendogs & Cats for example has falling wooden blocks and a puppy or occasional kitten in the background. In the Wily Castle stage from Mega Man, the Yellow Devil acts as a boss to fight along with the battle. One of my favourites is the Gerudo Valley stage from The Legend Of Zelda. In this stage Koume and Kotake might fly around and either freeze the right side of the stage or set fire to the left. Of course if you would like to play competitively, or with no distractions, you can simply turn on the Final Destination version of that stage.
Speaking about online mode, there’s an option to play with anyone on your 3DS friends list who owns the game or you can play with anyone from around the world. In Against Anyone mode, you can choose to play For Fun, For Glory or to Spectate. For Fun mode enables you to play with all items and regular stages and you can choose to either play normal smash or a team battle. The scores are not recorded. In For Glory mode there are no items and all stages are in Final Destination mode and you can choose to do a normal smash, 1-on-1, or a team battle. The scores are recorded. When you select Spectate mode you are able to watch other people settle it in smash and bet gold on who you think the winner will be. My experience online has been all right, but there has been a lot of lag. Playing online was introduced back in Brawl and has only gotten better. You can get penalized for dropping out mid battle, for being idle too long, and other general things that other people would find annoying. I think this makes for a much a better player experience.
All of this could be quite hard to comprehend for a newcomer of the series. Losing all the time can be frustrating but with some practice you can really improve. If you don’t feel like practicing you could get straight into fighting on a higher intensity, but I do recommend practicing, especially before you play online. Even if you do select the For Fun mode, people are still very good and a beginner might grow to hate the game if they assume that just because it says For Fun means that it will be easy.
The gameplay is pretty decent. It is kind of hard to see on the regular sized 3DS but on the 3DSs XL identifying your fighter and items becomes much easier. Moving can sometimes be difficult with the 3DS’s analog stick. This combined with the input lag is one of my biggest problems with the game. I often find myself moving the analog stick too hard in a direction and getting worried about breaking my 3DS. The fighter movement is a mix between Brawl’s floatiness and the fast pace of Melee. Although most fans prefer the movement of Melee, I personally love the way it is in this game.
The items have always been one of my favourite elements of the games. When Assist Trophies came along in Brawl, things got even better. The assortment of items that may or may not appear during a match is very fun. It is almost like receiving a birthday gift. Getting a Pokeball or an Assist Trophy is even better though. You never know what character (or Pokemon) will pop out. Anyone from Tingle to the ghosts from Pac Man can appear and help you out. One new thing among this type of stuff is Master Balls. Usually a strong or rare Pokemon will come from a Master Ball. Pokeballs are awesome because you could get Pokemon ranging from the adorable starter Chespin to the powerful land Pokemon Groudon. All of these are what really sets it apart from a normal fighting game.
There are 49 characters in total (if you include the Mii Fighter) 12 of which are unlockable. I love some of the new additions to the series such as Pac Man, Villager and the Koopa Kids, but of course I still love all of the returning characters. My favourite character to use in a battle is Toon Link because he is a speedy, tiny swordsman who really suits my fighting style. However this is only my personal preference, everyone has their own unique fighting style with their own favourite character. One of the fan favourites is Little Mac but I have kind have grown to despise Little Mac because of all of the times I have lost against him online!!
As a big fan of the Super Smash Brothers games, I can say that this a really good installment in the series. It is an incredibly entertaining game that has endless replay value (especially if you play online). It is also a fun party game or a competitive competition. I really enjoy that it is finally portable. This was a great decision as I always used to find myself wanting to play it on my way to school but now I really can (I am guilty of even playing it in class!). Younger children might have a bit of trouble playing it as it could be too difficult for them and it is a bit violent but it can still be fun. Other than that, this is a fun game for anyone really as it is not too childish but it has a ton of fun colours and characters that children are sure to enjoy even if they just watch someone else play. After playing this game I can definitely say that I’ll play lots and lots, and I can’t to see it on the TV screen when the Wii U version comes out. Super Smash Bros. for the 3DS is awesome!!
Kid Rating: AWESOME
About the Kid Reviewer
Growing up in a gaming household with her mom and COG writer Jen Dingle, Hannah has been playing video games since before she knew how to talk. One of the biggest Legend of Zelda fans out there, she aspires to be a Pokemon Master, and can be found glued to her Nintendo 3DS at all times. She loves internet memes, Harry Potter and trolling her mom, and can be found tweeting about her favourite games and space cats on her twitter account, @NyanHannah