At the end of the Nintendo Direct broadcast today, President Iwata introduced a trailer for the game all Nintendo fans live for: Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and 3DS. I will attempt to control myself. Attempt.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvudMu-5kIU]
The trailer opens with an endearing scene from Animal Crossing: New Leaf, which was released for 3DS this past Sunday. Yes Nintendo, this is effective marketing. As it turns out, “Villager” from Animal Crossing is a new playable character. From the footage shown, his weapons include items found in the Animal Crossing universe, from fallen trees to pitfalls. Whether or not there will be a female option is yet to be seen. Nevertheless, Villager is adorable.
The clips continue to cycle through new courses and old (Skyloft, Nintendogs, and a high speed train racing down the Spirit Tracks, among others). What is really showcased here is the graphical upgrade, and special items and course features will likely be unveiled slowly as the release date (sometime in 2014) approaches. After the broadcast, Nintendo launched the official Super Smash Bros. website, where fans can receive all of the latest updates during the coming months.
The game seems to follow the same 2D battle format as previous Smash Bros. games, with, again, significantly improved visuals, as was expected. We won’t know details about gameplay mechanics until later, of course, but it seems to follow the same basic format (if it ain’t broke don’t fix it). It will be interesting to see how the Wii U game pad is incorporated, though. I have a feeling that if Nintendo doesn’t make it a necessity for at least some of its big-name titles, it might not be utilized to the extent the company originally intended. This is also the first Smash title to be released on a handheld system, but there wasn’t a lot of information on that. Will the two be exactly the same? Will they feature different characters and courses? Will they connect with each other? We shall see.
Mega Man fans who have been vying for the little blue character’s incorporation in the series will be happy to hear that they are finally getting their wish. Nintendo released a supplementary trailer that introduces Mega Man to the Super Smash Bros. roster, with no shortage of him beating up on Mario (am I the only one experiencing déjà vu?).
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nl-KdTLIoc]
I could tack on some intellectual and put-together conclusion, but there’s really only one thing that wraps up how I feel about this announcement.
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