A ‘Smashing’ Review

Abasi Kelley, Staff Writer

The highly acclaimed Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS is finally here. Players can now duke it out with their friends once more in this latest installment of Super Smash Bros. From the gameplay to the characters, this game has it all with only a few minor disappointments. Nonetheless, it’s time for gamers to smash their way to the top of the tournament bracket and get ready for that Final Destination battle awaiting them.

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS is a fighting game where players pick their favorite character from a big roster and smash their opponents in order to achieve first place. Players try and build up their opponent’s health gauge so that they can send them flying off the stage, which causes the opponent to lose a life. A max amount of ninety-nine lives can be set up for each player to keep matches lengthy. Additionally, up to four people can play at the same time, which adds to the game’s diverseness.

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS contains the biggest roster by far, with a whopping 50 characters. Some of the newcomers of the game include: Little Mac, Greninja, Mega Man, three distinct Mii characters, Robin, Shulk, Rosalina & Luma, Villager, Wii Fit Trainer, Palutena, and Pac-Man. The original characters from the previous smash roster are also present in the game, with the exception Zelda and Sheik being separate characters. Additionally, Snake, Wolf, and the Pokémon Trainer, do not make an appearance in this title. Even though these characters are not in the game, players still have a variety to choose from.

Aside from the new characters, each of them comes with their own distinct combos as well as a final smash. Some character’s attacks and final smashes are stronger while others are weaker and less effective. An example of this would be Little Mac’s standard punch combo, which is quick and takes quite a hefty amount of damage that leaves fighters grasping for air as they lie down helplessly on the cold battlefield. Little Mac’s final smash, on the other hand, is very strong, turning him into a beast with limitless potential that allows his to pummel his opponents to the ground. Compared to Little Mac’s overpowered damage, this is not the case for Rosalina & Luma. Their attacks are weak and to make matters worse, their attacks are range orientated. This means that if a player wants to make full use out of this duo they will have to run away and hit their target from a distance. But thankfully, Rosalina & Luma’s final smash makes up for their range crazy attacks. Their final smash revolves around Luma growing continuously big as he shoots stars from all directions. Clearly, some characters are more at an advantage than others, but that depends all upon the player.

The gameplay for Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS is solid with a frame rate of 60 frames per second. This is to be expected though because the 3ds can only do so much with its hardware. On the bright side, there is really no lag in the offline modes of the game. But if a player decides to go online, depending on the person that they fight, they might experience some form of lag.

Lastly, Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS contains a new mode called “Smash Run”. Smash Run is somewhat of a knockoff of the Subspace Emissary from Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Players move through various stages on the map, but instead of going through a complete story mode they just fight enemies for five minutes and collect power ups in order to prepare for the final fight against the AI opponents. But to make up for this, players can go online on Smash run and fight with up to four players. Still, some players may enjoy the new mode while others will disregard it as a mode entirely.

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS is a game for all of the diehard Smash Bros. fans. This game may or may not disappoint some people, but it’s still enjoyable if friends are involved in the fray of things. If a gamer wants to have a great time destroying their friends and playing into the night, then Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS is the outlet for their needs.