Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS (大乱闘スマッシュブラザーズ for Nintendo 3DS, Dairantō Sumasshu Burazāzu fō Nintendō Surī Dī Esu) and Super Smash Bros. for Wii U (大乱闘スマッシュブラザーズ for Wii U, Dairantō Sumasshu Burazāzu fō Wī Yū) are upcoming fighting video game being developed by Sora Ltd. and Bandai Namco Games and published by Nintendo. It will be the fourth title in the Super Smash Bros. series of games, in which characters from various Nintendo franchises fight against each other. The game was first announced at the Electronic Entertainment Expo 2011. As the title suggests, the game is being developed for both the Nintendo 3DS and the Wii U consoles, with the 3DS version releasing in October 3, 2014 and the Wii U version releasing in November 21, 2014.

Gameplay
Like previous games in the series, Super Smash Bros. is a competitive fighting game in which up to four players controlling various Nintendo characters fight against each other. Players use a variety of attacks to damage their opponents, increasing their damage percentage which makes them easier to knock out of the playing field. Smash Balls, items first introduced in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, make a return, allowing whoever obtains them to perform extremely powerful attacks. Assist trophies, another returning feature from Brawl, will be included, such as Skull Kid from The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask and a French Bulldog from Nintendogs. Like its predecessors, Super Smash Bros. will feature collectable in-game trophies based on characters or items seen in various Nintendo games.

Two versions of the game will be released, one for Nintendo 3DS and the other for Wii U. The Wii U version is presented in high-definition visuals, while the Nintendo 3DS version will feature characters with black outlines, which can be toggled on and off. Both versions will include the same roster of playable characters, but the two versions will each feature exclusive stages, assist trophies, and collectables. The Nintendo 3DS version will feature those from Nintendo handheld releases while those in the Wii U version will be featured from Nintendo home console releases. Many of the stages in both versions will feature a “Final Destination” variation, which features flat terrains with hazards and layout alterations removed. The Nintendo 3DS version features an exclusive Smash Run mode, based on the City Trial mode from Kirby Air Ride, in which players navigate an open environment for stat-increasing power-ups, before facing each other in a match.

Both versions of the game feature local and online multiplayer, including matches against friends and strangers. Whilst local and online matches with friends have fully customisable rules, online matches with strangers are divided into two modes: “For Fun” and “For Glory.” For Fun features random stages and items, with Smash matches only and Final Destination stages omitted, whilst For Glory limits matches to Final Destination stages with no items and the option for 1-on-1 battles for more tournament-style gameplay. Players are also able to customize characters to alter the behavior of their move set, though customized characters may only be used in local and friend matches. In addition to a moderation system regarding various forms of griefing, an online ranking system called “Global Smash Power” was also detailed based on the player’s solo mode score, which shows how many other players someone has outscored, rather than listing their position on a leaderboard. There will be no ranking system for the online matches, but there are plans to make sure that random matches are organized by the players’ skill levels.

Characters
As of April 8, 2014, 29 different playable characters, from different Nintendo and third-party franchises, have been confirmed to appear in Super Smash Bros. Along with various veteran characters from previous games, including the return of third-party character Sonic the Hedgehog, six new coming characters have been announced to date: Mega Man, the Wii Fit Trainers, Villager, Rosalina, Little Mac, and Greninja. Certain characters who could change mid-game in previous titles, such as Zelda and Sheik, are now playable solely as standalone characters.


 * Notes


 * {{legend|#d8ecff|The character has not appeared as a playable character in a previous Super Smash Bros. game and is new to the series.}}
 * Character exists in both a female variant and a male variant.

Development
Lead developer Masahiro Sakurai has stated development on the game had not begun at the time of its announcement, and began after the completion of Sakurai’s other project, Kid Icarus: Uprising, in March 2012. The game is a joint-project between Sora Ltd. and Bandai Namco with Yoshito Higuchi, as director. For the 3DS version, Sakurai wants it to be more of an “individual” and “customizable” experience where, hypothetically, the player could take a customized character and upload it to the Wii U version.

In 2011, Sakurai commented on the possibility of including a Capcom character in this iteration of the series, saying that “[he] can’t say that it's entirely out of the realm of possibility that some Capcom character could appear in the next Smash Bros. The big problem, though, comes from the idea of trying to get characters from a completely different universe to fit with the style that has been dictated by Nintendo’s characters in a fighting game.” The balance of the characters’ powers were previously only measured by Sakurai, but he will involve his staff more in this game to make sure the characters are competitively balanced.

In February 2012, Sakurai commented that, in his brainstorming for the future title, he had been looking over the information on the Smash Bros. Dojo (the official Smash Bros. website) and reflecting on the past game’s development. He later commented that the game will “change directions,” and emphasized connectivity between systems again. By June 2012, Sakurai reported that the game’s development was in its first steps, and that he intends to bring back old Nintendo characters for it. In August 2012, Sakurai stated that while the addition of third-party characters appealed to fans and broadened the Smash Bros. audience, he recognized the need to narrow down their inclusion since introducing non-Nintendo characters “willy-nilly” would lose focus of the game. He also noted that the game system had been completed. Feeling that the series had found its target audience and introducing gimmicks would hinder rather than help the brand, Sakurai explained that he was thinking of ways to introduce a new, different experience, while retaining the frantic gameplay from previous installments.

In January 2013, Nintendo confirmed that the first screenshots of the game would be shown at E3 2013 on June 11 to 13, and Sakurai confirmed that a trailer would be shown at the respective Nintendo Direct on June 11. The game was fully revealed in a Nintendo Direct on June 11, 2013, which showcased gameplay footage for both versions of the game, as well as revealing Animal Crossing’s Villager and Capcom’s Mega Man as playable characters. The Wii Fit Trainer was later shown to be another playable character on the convention floor. It was stated that Bandai Namco characters get no priority, even though the publisher is supporting the game.

In an interview with IGN, Sakurai stated that they had removed the tripping mechanic introduced in the previous title and that there are no plans for including downloadable content in the near future. He also commented that the gameplay was between the fast-paced and competitive style of Melee and the slower and more casual style of Brawl.

When Joystiq asked what level of interaction the two versions of the game would feature, Sakurai said that there would be no cross-platform play between the Wii U and 3DS since each version will have different stages. Despite this, Sakurai said that character customizations could be transferred from one version to the other. Sakurai did not provide details on how customization would work, although he did say that it would not be different costumes or features acquired through repetitive completion of in-game tasks. Sakurai has also stated that the main single-player campaign will not feature cutscenes akin to the Subspace Emissary mode in Brawl, as he felt the experience of viewing such scenes for the first time was ruined by people uploading said scenes to video sharing sites. He has instead chosen to focus on promotional character introduction videos for each of the brand new fighters that benefit from internet sharing. To promote the game, Sakurai has been posting daily screenshots of the game to both the official website and Miiverse each weekday.