I never thought Smash Bros.’ intense
four-player multiplayer battles needed more fighters, but eight-player brawls
have become one of my favorite modes in Super Mario Smash Bros. Eight-player
battles are local-only, which is an unfortunate limitation, but if you
get a group of friends together you’ll fill these big, vibrantly colorful
arenas with sheer madness happening in every corner. Each character displays
fantastic personality in combat, drawing on a rich history from dozens of
different beloved games. As I strike, dodge, block, and weave through seven
other fighters, a match builds up to a climax that’s genuinely fun, each and
every time. That represents Super Smash Bros. for Wii U as a whole: it’s bigger
than ever, but remains laser-focused on the finely balanced action that makes
this a legendary fighting game series.
Smash Bros. Wii U wraps more than 30 years of gaming
history together into an approachable brawler. Every fighter in the 49-strong
roster uses the same button-presses to execute attacks and special moves, but
each has their own distinct style that’s fun to learn. It makes them simple to
pick up and play, but also challenging to master.
Bowser, for example, uses burly
strikes and kicks to pummel foes into submission, while Smash Bros. newcomer
Duck Hunt uses a tricky move set of clay-pigeon projectiles, explosive barrels,
and attacks
that make playful references to the 8-bit era. Add in iconic characters like
Mega Man, Samus Aran, Captain Falcon, Fox McCloud, Animal Crossing’s Villager,
Pac-Man, Wii Fit Trainer, Link, Mario himself, and dozens of others, and you’ve
got something for pretty much anybody who’s ever loved a video game.
The attention to detail in every part of Super Smash
Bros. is fantastic, and all of it is delivered at a speedy and smooth 60 frames
per second. Mega Man walks using his signature awkward sideways-shuffle, and
the new Mario Kart Circuit arena captures the zero-gravity look and feel of a
Mario Kart 8 track. Items like the deadly Bullet Bill or POW Block stir up
old-school Super Mario Bros. memories while also sending a satisfying wallop to
opponents. With so many tiny details and references to observe, it’ll take lots
of hours to see everything Smash Wii U has to offer.
Excellent moment-to-moment combat
is the real jewel of this game, and the many ways it can be played, from the
Wii U GamePad to classic GameCube controllers with an adapter, make it a gift
that keeps on giving. The action scales incredibly well: two-player duels are
tense, while eight players all trying to Smash each other out of the ring is
complete chaos. Turning items off removes the random element, turning it into
more of a test of skill. But that’s just the beginning.
The constant variety of the multiple
modes keeps me playing. Event mode, for instance, makes learning new
characters’ moves easy by putting them in playful solo or co-op adventures. One
of these is “Keep ‘Em Off the Ship,” in which you play as Falco and go up to
smash a squad of parachuting Mr. Game & Watch enemies out of the ring, and
it provided me some great training for how to use the speedy character’s aerial
attacks. The mission text makes some hilarious references to video game
history, but the skills I picked up hold equal value, and the addition of
two-player co-op makes it even more fun.
Modes like Classic, Special Orders, and All-Star take a
similar approach, using diverse matches, fun scenarios, and specific rules to
set up creative encounters, but each allows you to choose the level of risk and
reward. Special Orders allow you to spend accumulated Smash coins on special
event matches, where winning unlocks another trophy or a handy piece of custom
equipment; the higher the difficulty, the better the prizes. However, losing
comes at a hefty price torching most (or in some cases all) of the stakes,
giving these matches special tension.
Nearly every mode of Super Smash
Bros. offers a set of unlockable rewards, and the only parts about unlocking
them that aren’t satisfying are the awkward menus and, more importantly, the
stingy drop rates for custom special moves. Those swappable special moves alter
the speed of Mario’s Fireball or the properties of other special attacks, so
they’re pretty important and fun to mess with. The prospect of new custom
equipment, special moves, beautifully rendered trophies, and more kept me
playing for hours, even though Super Smash Bros. didn’t really give me enough
direction for how to actually unlock the prizes I wanted.
The only mode that’s a snooze is Smash Tour, which is
effectively a mediocre virtual board game with too many boring parts. Four
players take turns gathering up stat buffs, items, and characters in a build up
to a final battle, which is a cool concept, but Smash Tour’s approach distills
the essence of this amazing brawler game into painfully short matches full of
random elements that just don’t have the same satisfying payoff or feeling of
accomplishment.
Super Smash Wii U’s online modes
offer lots of match types to play with, from tense 1-on-1 showdowns without
items, to 2v2 faceoffs in Team Smash, with up to two fighters playing from the
same console. Just like in Mario Kart 8, getting friends together can be a
little bit of a hassle involving text messages because Nintendo’s system
doesn’t allow for notifications. But once you’re all set up, you can launch
private matches with friends and unleash characters with customized movesets,
or watch other players’ strategies through handy replay and spectator modes.
Sadly, eight-player Smash doesn’t make the cut online, but four players is more
than enough for a good brawl.
This is also the first game to
integrate with Nintendo’s new toys-to-life, called amiibo. There are no figures
in the box, so this is an extra purchase, but if you do buy in they’ll add
another, much smaller avenue of variety to Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.
Computer-controlled figure players will stand in as opponents, and each one
learns to defend itself as it levels over time. The investment required to
reach max level is small (maybe three hours) and having a brutally tuned A.I.
to unleash on your friends is fun to watch – but of course, sometimes my amiibo
made some questionable decisions. I’ve seen my fully leveled Mario figure wreck
opponents, but I’ve also watched in horror as it totally gave away the match.
I’m proud of my amiibo, but sometimes it’s like dealing with a child that only
listens half the time.
This is dummy text. It is not meant to be read. Accordingly, it is difficult to figure out when to end it. But then, this is dummy text. It is not meant to be read. Period.
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