Unfinished: Super Smash Bros. 09/11/2014

@negator: your username is quite apt.

People are apparently really passionate about Smash Brothers. That's weird.

@hailinel: Six years is a long time when you are talking about pop culture, including video games. And generational doesn't mean "100% of people like or don't like this thing". I'd be (pleasantly) surprised if the percentage of people born before 1980 who think Smash is great franchise was near that of those born after 1987 or so. Likewise for Pokémon.

Jeff not liking something doesn't demean your enjoyment of said thing. You don't need him to validate your personal preferences.

@matatat: Yeah, I loved Goldeneye when I was younger but when I look back at it now literally the only real advantage it has over PC shooters is that it was easier to play in the same room with your friends (which is nothing to scoff at).

@trilogy: I largely agree. I think for many people, they just don't like Jeff's personality and the way he says things. I disagree quite often with Jeff but it's no big deal.

I don't. I haven't taken his views on games seriously in a long time.

SMASH !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

DAY ONE I BUY

Most satisfying moment is Jeff laying it out to Dan about his favorite characters.

Dan is the biggest Nintendo nostalgia fanboy in Giant Bomb.

My new favorite thing is Jeff shitting on things people love, then watching them freak the fuck out in the comments section.

Do i need to set my Toon World Card to summon Toon Link?

Vinny is obviously living it up as a TV Guide promo Voice Over Dude

@hyper_bunny_meow: the higher those numbers go, the greater the distance you travel when you get hit. When you get hit far enough off the stage, you lose a life.

@raven10: Look, I'm not here to "get hype" about my favorite games. I'm not even the biggest fan of Smash Bros, I just think they're fun games. I don't care that Jeff doesn't like it or any Nintendo game for that matter, I am fully capable of making my own decisions regarding what I like.

I just don't understand, if Brad and Jeff could not care less about this game and shit on it whenever they can, then why did they sit in on this video? Sure, they wanted to show off the multiplayer and there aren't enough people in the office, but I'd rather watch one person play by themselves then listen to two other people have a bad time. Granted, Jeff and Brad aren't awful in this video and Jeff at least articulates why he doesn't like it.

The only reason I made that comment was because I likened this video to previous Quick Looks. During the Mario Kart 8 QL Jeff just sulked the entire time either complaining about the game or not saying anything. Same thing during the remake of Myst QL, Jeff literally spends the entire video complaining how much he hates Myst, and I just wondered, did he really need to be there? Why sit in on a video when you go in knowing you'll have a bad time? Why do they do Quick Looks of any Dynasty Warriors-style game when every single one of them thinks Dynasty Warriors is absolute trash? I appreciate criticism when they explain why they don't like a particular game for valid reasons, but sometimes they tend to go a bit overboard and turn videos to a very sour and negative note, and that's just a bummer to watch.

My hype for the new smash bros was really contained just until now... Seeing it running so well on the 3DS makes me want the Wii U version soooo badly. I need this now!! :/

@hailinel said:

Thanks for letting us know that

@theblue:

i like alternate points of view. its good for any video to have.

no need to be whiney when someone doesn't like a game.

It's true, though. Five hours of Smash Bros. from people who have worked on and are intimately familiar with how the game plays versus a Quick Look featuring two guys that couldn't give less of a shit? It's not really a contest there.

Just wanted to go ahead and say that I'm part of the "Smash generation" and I still don't really get the appeal of these games. The first one and Melee were great fun with my friends, but when Brawl came out I thought it suffered from the same problem that every Nintendo series seems to: diminishing marginal returns. If I have three friends over I'd much rather play an immaculately balanced symmetrical game like Towerfall. That's not to say that I don't think Smash is interesting, I just think taking it "seriously" is silly. But, then again, I think all competitive gaming is complete nonsense, so what do I know?

Are there any, like, genuine Nintendo fans among the staff of Giant Bomb that can take Jeff's place in Quick Looks?

@theblue: I think you answered your own question with the Smash Bros and Mario Kart quick looks. People want to know how the multiplayer in those games work and 4 player local is the name of the game with Nintendo "party" games. Showing just the single player side of either of those games would be doing them a major disservice. At least now we have Dan who really enjoys these Nintendo games.

As for the Myst QL, I have no idea why Jeff sat in on that one. I would say for the historical perspective maybe? He was probably the only member of the staff who actually owned his own PC when Myst came out and was old enough to have a stance on Myst's style of adventure game. Outside of that I have no idea.

And Dynasty Warriors/Omega Force Games I think they mainly quick look during dry spells. They can't all play and make videos of Destiny for an entire week. So they have to either dig into the Steam Early Access/Greenlight pages or quick look some games that maybe they don't enjoy as much and maybe wouldn't get coverage had they come out a month from now. And in all honesty I enjoy watching the very occasional Omega Force quick-look. Just to see if the studio has finally made a game that doesn't look like a high-res PS2 game.

Competitive Smash is the only fighting game that's remotely watchable or interesting. There I said it.

It really seems like Brad and Jeff just don't know how the game works, which understandably leads to them just not having much fun.

Dan kinda half-explained it but it didn't seem like either of them understood the differences between regular attacks, special attacks, and smash attacks, nor how each one has directional variations. I feel like this is 90% of what you need to know about smash to be able to feel like you know what you're doing (the other 10% would be anything on shoulder buttons). I bet if Jeff could be forced to sit through the attract-mode that explains the mechanics he'd at least appreciate the simplicity in the controls (in that every character follows the same basic control scheme).

I don't love Smash Bros games but some people sure love to hate them. I don't get it.

The hitching is a real fucking bummer. If it's that bad in the final game, I'm not picking it up. I guess that's fine as I'm getting a Wii U and this game for that anyway, but I had hoped to have the 3DS version at some point, too.

Jeff makes a point near the end of the video that he wishes they could have put all these ideas into something a lot more like a traditional fighting game, but I feel like the group of people who finds traditional fighting games to be completely devoid of fun is at least as big as the group of people that enjoys them.

I much prefer the chaos that is Smash Brothers.

"He's no Samurai Goroh"
You know what, Brad is an alright guy.

Though Captain Falcon was in all games, he was just made into a secret character in Brawl for some reason.

@hailinel: if you're coming to GB for some in depth videos on Smash than you really don't understand this site much or it's content. You don't need to be so defensive about them not caring or liking games you like (saw you in multiple comments sections of recent videos).

Of all the things to say about @hailinel...saying that he doesn't understand GB is one of the crazier options

(EDIT: or she, I don't claim to know)

I'm a he, for the record.

And I'm also free to level criticism toward the staff and the content they produce. Everyone here has that same right. Sometimes what I have to say is born out of frustration, but I at leas try to not be a dick about. I don't always succeed there, but I at least try.

Quick Looks like this make me really thankful they hired Dan. He brings some much needed energy and positivity.

I feel that Jeff was warming to the Smash Bros chaos towards the end.

Hey Jeff I agree up to jump sucks. In Brawl, you could actually set it to NOT do that, was a lifesaver.

Don't much care for the 3DS version but i'll definitely be getting the Wii U one.

I really hate having to unlock characters in Smash Bros. I don't care about the collectibles or story mode or any of that other nonsense, I just want to try everyone out and have the entire roster available when playing with friends. I wish everyone was just unlocked from the start like every other fighting game does or that there was some sort of unlock everyone now option but knowing the Smash series I am going to have to grind through a bunch of terrible content to get the full roster. I bet the internet comes through with an unlock everything save file in the first week though.

Just because it's simple doesn't mean it can't be good. Double Dragon, Final Fight, TMNT Turtles in Time are still good brawlers. Good doesn't mean deep like Bayoneta, it means the game is competent at what it is trying to do. Gang Beast is very competent at being a simple brawler. Super Smash tries to be both simple and deep which aren't mutualy exclusive, and doesn't nail either, making it an average brawler at best.

I didn't say that depth equates quality, I was pointing out that Gang Beasts is kind of a silly game to compare to Smash Bros because they're not really that similar as games at all.

"Gang Beast is very competent at being a simple brawler. Super Smash tries to be both simple and deep which aren't mutualy exclusive, and doesn't nail either, making it an average brawler at best."

Again, that just seems crazy for you to say; entire tournaments have formed over mutual enjoyment of the mechanics of Smash Bros. It's hugely acclaimed by a wide variety of outlets and communities. Gang Beasts certainly has an appeal, but I wouldn't fault anyone for preferring it, but a lot of people would pick up Gang Beasts, play it for half an hour, have their fun and quickly get bored before moving on to something a little more complex. Making statements like "In a world where Gang Beasts exists, Smash Bros is not a good brawler" or "Gang Beasts is very competent, Smash Bros is an average brawler at beast" with such a definitive tone is weak when you have so little to back that up.

I think Mount Your Friends is a more entertaining party game than Monopoly. Would I say "In a world where Mount Your Friends exists, Monopoly is not a good party game"? Absolutely not, because it's a a sweeping statement to make and i'd have very little to back that up with.

Haven't played Smash since the original this seems like the right gap of time to play it again.

I don't care if I have nothing to back it up, it's an opinion. If you think Monopoly is not a good party(?) game, that's your opinion, I might agree or disagree, but I won't pretend you shouldn't say that because you have nothing to back your claim, as far as you are concerned it's 100% true. We ain't discussing facts here, it's the internet where poeple throw arguments at each other in an attempt to make the other party look like he or she is an idiot. And it's beautiful!!!

@bigpillow: There is a world of different between "I like this better than this" and "This is bad. This is good". Needless discussions like this wouldn't happen if you could keep in mind the importance of discerning between the two.

Yeah, like I hate playing Marvel. Street Fighter less so, but i'd still jsut rather watch it at tournaments. SMASH THOUGH, that I can get behind easier since it's way simpler but not in a bad way!

There's enough 'traditional' fighting games now that they've come back. Nothing wrong with Smash being its own thing.

The best fighting games are, in order:

Street Fighter (some version)

Smash Bros

Soul Calibur

Everything Else

I like traditional fighters just fine. Jeff/Brad are just into this weird false dichotomy. Plus, I'm pretty sure I'm a year or two older than they are. It's not some thing where these games are for people who don't like online multiplayer or didn't have internet back in the day.

I am the same age as Dan and EVERYONE I knew played Pokemon Red/Blue. It seems his "this is kids stuff" attitude started a little early. Granted, current 14 year olds only play shooters, comic character games, and minecraft so perhaps Dan was a man(child) ahead of his time.

As much as I know Dan likes Smash Bros. (and equivocally as much as I like Dan), there is a chunk of misinformation in this video, which sort of bums me out. For one, Captain Falcon has been in every Smash game (as a veteran from the first game, Melee, and Brawl, and clearly returning here).

Trying to talk about the very cool and fun aspects of competitive Smash here would probably be fruitless, but it's worth viewing the documentary made about it last year. As Ryan once said jokingly "you just don't understand the hidden depth." Which, at least in Melee, certainly exists! Just give this match a shot and tell me you don't get a little excited!

But yeah, big thing -- they've never removed characters that were in all games prior. Some that were in Melee and Brawl didn't make it into this one, though, for sure.

Other than that, thanks for the video guys. Cheers.

Jeff is such an old man.

"All the coolest stuff is in the trophies" (Jeff's position) is more accurately described as "These are the obscure ass characters that only a few thousand people would give a shit about if we made them into characters". NO ONE REMEMBERS WHO KARATE JOE IS.

Kinda amazed Jeff liked Subspace Emissary, because the cutscenes were the only good part of it. The levels were just as tedious in exactly the same ways as everything Jeff and Brad disliked about Smash Run. Subspace Emissary is like 30 minutes of nuts cutscenes, then like 10 hours of super garbage generic levels and enemies.

Jeff is so out of touch with smash. `People that take it seriously are out of there minds` he says as he has zero understanding of the game what so ever. No need to insult a group of people you don`t understand.