So with less than a month left before the US release of
Super Smash Bros for the 3DS (and that it was already released in Japan), it
would appear that the character roster is set. In all there looks to be 51
fighters from various video game properties, including 3 Mii fighters that I
assume you can import your likeness into, for both the 3DS version and the Wii
U version (which apparently has the same roster and a November release date).
While there are over a dozen new characters added to the game, there are some omissions
from previous games. So let's take a look at the new and the lost characters.
The new Smash Bros fighters are Mega Man, Pac Man, Bowser
Jr., Dark Pitt and Palutena (from Kid Icarus), the Duck Hunt Dog, Greninja,
Little Mac (Punch Out), Lucina and Robin (from Fire Emblem), Rosalina & Luma
(Super Mario Galaxy), Wii Fit Trainer, Villager (from Animal Crossing), and
Shulk (from Xeno). We also have the return of Dr. Mario, last seen in the Game
Cube version of Smash Bros.
Of these newbies, the ones I am most looking forward to...
okay, I am totally psyched for Mega Man, above all others. Beyond him, Pac Man
is very cool and I am very curious about how Duck Hunt Dog will play. (Finally
we will all have our chance to shoot that damn dog! Laugh at this you
furry bastard!) As for the rest, I will have to wait and see. I am worried that
Villager will be a lot like the Pikmin guy, one that I never really got into
from Brawl. Wii Fit Trainer also seems really odd.
I do want to point out that I think this version will have
too many characters fighting with swords. Seriously, they already had two from
Fire Emblem, and now there's two more. In all, there appears to be 10
characters that fight with swords! Maybe there will be some unique variations
between them (for instance, Pit played a lot differently than Marth in Brawl),
but that also worries me. Especially when I see who was cut.
The new Smash Bros Games do not appear to include Ivysaur, Squirtle,
Solid Snake, Lucas (from Earthbound), Wolf (from Star Fox) and the Ice
Climbers. Ivysaur and Squirtle were both in Brawl as two of the three Pokemon
that could be summoned by the Pokemon Trainer. That was a neat idea, but was a
little awkward in execution. So in the new game they just went with the third
Pokemon, Charizard, as a regular player option. I'm not that torn up over
losing Ivysaur and Squirtle. I'm also not that sad over losing Solid Snake,
though I imagine others will be. Snake always felt out of place in Brawl. In a
game with cartoonish characters having near ridiculous battles, you have this
realistic looking soldier fighting with handguns and grenades. (For note, I
will miss Snake's hiding under a cardboard box... that was hilarious.) Lucas
was really just a crappier version of Ness, so
he's no big loss either.
I am disappointed to lose Wolf and the Ice Climbers. Wolf is
not a huge loss as he was really a finesse character of a finesse character of
a finesse character. Fox was already tricky to master, Falco was even harder,
but Wolf was for the advanced students. He has that weird angled charge attack
that was great... if you could get it to work. He was stronger than Fox and
Falco, but slower. I guess I just liked Wolf as the bad guy option. I would
have been sadder to see Falco get the axe.
The Ice Climbers really bug me, though. They've been around
since Melee and were very unique. No other character in Smash Bros. operated
like them, with their tandem movements and attacks. I know a lot of people
hated using them, but I actually enjoyed using the Ice Climbers. I kind of feel
like a unique option was replaced by a random sword fighter.
I also want to add that although MewTwo was replaced back in
Brawl with Lucario, I still miss him. He had neat attacks and that evil laugh.
I get why Lucario replaced him, but I still miss the evil MewTwo.
I do have to say that 51 playable characters is a weird
number. Not 50, or 52, or even 55. This makes me think there could be other
unlockable characters or possibly future downloadable packages for both the 3DS
and Wii U that give new characters, skins, locations, etc. Then a lot of my
complaints may be rendered moot. I hope that's the case. I also want to add
that the addition of Mega Man trumps every cut character combined. I am really
excited for these new Super Smash Bros. released (the expectation of a new
installment was my biggest reason to get a Wii U!) and will buy both versions
as I am a tool like that.
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