Smashing times.
Super Smash Bros. for the 3DS. (SSB3DS... Yea gonna call it Smash 4 for this review because some times making the title shorter. Makes it just as long.) Smash 4 is the first Smash Bros. game on a portable system; and the first of the games to ever be released on two platforms. This review is for the 3DS version. If I put out a review for the Wii U version.. I will make a separate review. This review will pertain spoilers so.. You have been warned. (then again this is a brawler fighting game. Spoilers don't really matter.) Also added note.
To start off with the positives. I really enjoy how the game looks and runs. The game running at 60 fps is a really impressive feat for having up to 5 characters move on the screen. The cell shaded art style makes it fairly easy to see characters move around the stage even when outside during the day. The list of characters in Smash 4 is also worth noting 50 characters compared to 39 in the previous generation. New characters are very diverse from the Blue Bomber Megaman. To the strange duo of Duck-Hunt. To even the classic Pac-Man. (Good to see you and Megaman recovered from that Street Fighter x Tekken mess) Being able to custom make each characters move sets and stats to make them faster or have more defense makes each character more personalized.
The one complaint I will mention before I say much more is that the combat in this game seems almost. Simplified. I don't think its the 3DS hardware is the issue ether. I just noticed the moment any character hits over 120% its almost guaranteed that they will be KO'ed. This on top of every character having at least one move to deal a ton of damage at once, most notably the Side A that you can charge (or Kirby's Down B that deals 50% if used correctly) Makes the game feel fairly easy and stripped down from most challenges of staying alive as long as you can because its so easy to be KO'ed. This makes matches feel shorter and less intense.
The 3DS version has various modes that bring some interesting twists to game play. (when others take away at times)
Classic mode: Much like Kid Icarus: Uprising you can set your difficulty to make the levels and the rewards higher and make a greater challenge. Once you start you can chose one of three options. Mass effect 3 endings of Red, Blue, Green. Red being the hardest yielding the most rewards and Green the easiest yielding the least. after 6 battles you are treated to a fight with good ol' Master hand (and his brother Crazy hand on harder difficulties) On 5.1 and above you can fight Master core an entity from the hands and is almost like the soul, of final destination. Classic mode is fairly well put together making battles more choice base by difficulty, but still suffers from what a lot of this game is. A lot of these modes feel cut down and shortened due to it being on a smaller system.
All-star mode: 50 characters you must face to be claimed as the greatest Nintendo All-star player. Your reward? A trophy of yourself. Not much I really can say about this mode because it is just a boss rush of about 7 characters at a time. You can only chose between three difficulty's unlike in classic mode. The only real complaint I have is that though a great idea. All the characters are set up by the year they came out. So once you unlock every character (thus having the true all-star set up.) You know exactly who your facing each match and who they are fighting along side. In previous generations of Smash bros. I remember always was some what excited to see who I was matched up with and how they could potentially be a greater threat by teaming up on me. (Pikachu could juggle me with is Side B and Bower using a throw on me could potentially be my end if I didn't move quick enough.)
Stadium matches: From defeating 100 enemies. to beating the crap out of a sand bag. Stadium mode is a good spot to train your reflexes and manage both enemy strategies and control of the battle field. Like in previous smash games I noticed almost how simple it was to KO the enemies. It doesn't bother me as much here because it does make me feel more powerful being able to smash them out of the stage with just one hit. Target smash is a mode that has gone through changes since the original Smash Bros. Each time it does have the same goal. Break the targets! unlike Melee or Brawl that was just go and break the targets around the stages they built for you. Target smash in Smash 4 reminds me of Crush the Castle on Kongergate. Simply beat up a bomb and launch it at the target set up. then let Gravity do its work. Simple enough to do, but some characters don't have moves that can properly (or reliably) Launch the bomb in the direction your hoping to fire.
Smash Run (3DS exclusive): What seems to be the selling point for Smash 4 (like the sub-space emissary in Brawl) You fight through a dungeon like setting with enemies around for five minutes. Every move you make increases a stat. Jumping, running, punching, kicking, special moves. etc. Making your characters stronger till you face off in some sort of a final battle. Free for all matches to races, there are good mix. The more you play. The more gear you get. That being said, the greatest strength of this mode is also its greatest weakness. Time and grinding. As much fun as this mode is; the first several attempts is frustrating as hell to get used to. Enemies are scaled to what the better gear is. So the first few times you play You will be bounced around and You will get the crap beaten out of you by Nintendo enemy that doesn't like you that day. Getting past that first bump is difficult but once you play and create your special version of one of your characters it does make playing the game a lot more enjoyable.
The 3DS version of the game has vastly different stages from the Wii U version, taking a focus more on the portable games that Nintendo has put out. I enjoy most of the stages in the game but also find them lacking in a sense knowing that there was so many more stages that got cut just to be put into the other version or cut all together.
The online In Smash 4 is hands and leaps better then in Brawl. Getting into matches is fairly quick and keeping a 60 fps is.. almost obtainable. Makes it one of the best online games Nintendo has put out. I myself haven't played online much but I do consider it for if i ever want to test my luck with some people in the world.
Wrapping up I think my biggest complaint is the simplifications made to the game. I understand the system is smaller, but that doesn't make a very big excuse when the game is 2.1 gbs and the GameCube's disk space was 1.5 Gbs and had a vast amount of content also. I do not understand why the combat feels almost over powered and underwhelming; and all of the stages feel very compact. I enjoy having a Smash Bros. game on my portable system but I am unsure if it lives up to its predecessor of Melee.
