Last updated on November 23, 2014
It’s telling that, when told to describe how the new Smash Bros, actually is, all I could say was “it’s Smash Bros.”
I think we can say that a 90 or above MetaCritic score is what we call “expected” when it comes to Super Smash Bros. It really doesn’t matter how good or bad the game in question is (see: Brawl, which has an equivalent score to the most recent game in the series) because the series itself remain popular. Nintendo can rest on their laurels because they’re Nintendo, apparently, and not finding themselves a distant third to two consoles which didn’t even hold competent games for nine months or more. Of course, this fall on deaf ears; hype overtakes all, even if I buy the exact same game again at full retail. Possibly twice, if I decided a 2 CD soundtrack was worth over a hundred dollars to own both versions (Club Nintendo is the devil).
Color me sorta disappointed that Super Smash Bros. for Wii U amounts to a sixty US dollar fancy HD update of Brawl with enhanced speed (to please the tournament crowds) and better online play. Yes, there’s tons of bizarre ancillary features that add some value to the experience, but they just place different constraints around the same fighting game shell. If you liked previous entries, then this one will please you; if you didn’t, then it won’t be worth your while at all. Brawl added tons of stuff; this Wii U updates adds relatively little, if you bother to take a look beyond hype and nostalgia. I guess I should thank them for not shoehorning a plot of Kingdom Hearts II proportions into the mix like Brawl.
I hate to sound negative about a Nintendo property, but this new version really does not add as much as you’d imagine. Let’s take the roster, for example. Why did they add Dark Pit? He represents a simple palette swap with a few new move properties. Why does Dr. Mario make yet another appearance? What’s with Lucina, who uses the exact same moveset as Marth? And how in the heck did they not make Ganondorf and Falco different from Captain Falcon or Fox yet? At least Wolf doesn’t return to retread again upon the Star Fox character archetype, but that’s a lot of palette swaps!
Admittedly, they did add a ton of new characters, my special favorite being Little Mac’s high risk, high reward playstyle. Unfortunately, I find the vast majority of them incredibly underwhelming. Mega Man feels borderline useless at this point, being incredibly slow and lacking some verve, while characters like Robin and Shulk merely copy the whole Fire Emblem “sword wielder” type. Yes, I realize Shulk has stances, but they just affect his attributes, and not so much his basic attacks. Greninja does much the same with Lucario (and Mewtwo before him, who will be sold as DLC in the future…).
Thankfully, a few of them go for something very different; Palutena’s overly defensive and projectile style brings something very new to Smash, while Bowser Jr., Pac-Man, and Rosalina all bring strange new mechanics to the table. Rosalina reminds me of Stands from JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, able to throw out and control Luma from a distance. Pac-Man’s transformation act as an ode to the character while also giving him an incredible mobility, and Bowser Jr/Koopa Kids contain a mess of different varied moves in a fast character. I’m not sure what to think about Duck Hunt, but delayed attacks that the player controls gives me echoes of Carl Clover from Blazblue. I even like the Mii fighters and the ability to customize their movesets, which may or may not present problems for tournament organizers in the future. I’m not much of a fighting game expert (more like an admirer), so I can’t say much for balance’s sake, but they tell me it’s pretty balanced if the 3DS version gives us any indication, so there’s that!
But, all in all, there’s a real feeling of sameness that pervades the whole entire game. They literally lifted most of the stages from previous games in the series, merely giving them a polish for brilliant 1080p, but Nintendo and HAL Laboratory seemingly decided to not add much at all! I’m even surprised to see Delfino Harbor and Luigi’s Mansion in here, given that both games hit the decade-old marker long ago. That goes for most of the returning characters as well, most of which return with nary a change in their moves at all (well, except for the exciting world of frame data, I suppose, but that’s for other people to discern).
Even all the added, exciting new features don’t add much to the single player. Much as I disliked Brawl, at least Subspace Emissary felt somewhat complete; here, there’s a series of disparate modes that, while all different and presenting different challenges, all come down to playing more Smash with the game AI. Over, and over, and over again. Add that to the small list of unlockables (which have both insane requirements, or merely require you to abuse stock to do 100 battles in regular Smash mode), and there’s not much there other than unlocking trophies – and we know how fun that is!
Not that any of this matters, because multiplayer fun represents the prime Smash experience for most. Only problem is, it’s the SAME multiplayer Smash you already know. No doubt, the fun remains and the core of Smash Bros. will continue to delight me for years to come with friends and family, but I hate that I basically encouraged Nintendo to basically do nothing to the franchise at all for it to succeed. I wouldn’t even call this iterative in any way, just the bare minimum of how Nintendo could advance the series. Then again, giving the people what they want – more of the same, in this case – makes the money, and I am sure the old Japanese company (and Satoru Iwata, surely) remain deathly afraid that any minor change could cause the entire edifice to crumble.
In conclusion: I am having lots of fun playing it, but I also hate myself for enjoying something so rote and derivative that lacks any kind of advancement on previous entries. That’s some cognitive dissonance for you! Smash Bros., unfortunately, turned into a victim of its own success. Nintendo on autopilot, folks! No review will be forthcoming on Theology Gaming, that’s for sure.
