There were concerns when I reviewed the 3DS version of Super Smash Bros. that the handheld version would only play second fiddle to the console version. Perhaps I should have viewed it as a warm up instead; everything the 3DS version of Super Smash Bros. does, the Wii U version does better. Super Smash Bros. for Wii U is a joy to play, has excellent strategic depth, and a superb plethora of features to keep fighting game fans and Nintendo fans coming back for more.
The most immediately striking aspect of Super Smash Bros. for Wii U is the gorgeous visuals. This game plays at 60 frames per second in full high definition and with barely any frame rate issues. The wide range of fighters for you to choose from are brilliantly modeled and textured. Even the stages are absolutely lovely and sport a great deal of detail. In fact, the stages can really be too detailed; fairly often I found myself having a hard time keeping track of my fighter amidst the chaos of the stage, let alone the background. When playing the newest Star Fox stage, for example, I would fall to my doom because I was so busy watching the space battle occurring just behind the brawl. Or The Great Cave Offensive the action can get so far zoomed out that your character looks like a blip lost in a world of color. These are minor enough issues though. This game is a feast for the eyes.
Just too fit to hit
Besides just looking great, Super Smash Bros. has a wide variety of game modes for all players to enjoy. Of course there is your basic Smash mode, online play, and single player for learning the ropes and unlocking new characters. This newest iteration of Smash has made the effort to step up the variety and it shows. The Stage Builder is dramatically improved from its lackluster incarnation in Brawl and Sakurai has finally blessed us with a character creator. The character creator in particular gave me a lot of joy. At long last all my ridiculous Mii’s can duke it out. Event Mode, curiously absent in the 3DS version, is back with a vengeance. Also impressive is the online play. Nintendo has taken the criticism of the past to heart, and after a trial with the 3DS version, has finally produced a Super Smash Bros. title with functioning and simple online play.
I have a few grievances with Smash for Wii U, however. The input lag from Brawl is slightly toned down but still present for some reason. As I mentioned in my review of the 3DS version, a few of the character choices irk me. I understand that you made Kid Icarus: Uprising, Mr. Sakurai, but Dark Pit still feels unnecessary. That hurts quite a bit, especially when one remembers that Ice Climbers got completely cut. Another flaw is the continued lack of a traditional Target Mode which has been replaced by an Angry Birds knock off. Lastly, even though online is light years ahead of the online in Brawl, some latency issues are still present. Fortunately Nintendo has announced that they will be releasing patches and DLC, so improvements to these areas are still possible.
The backgrounds of stages can be so detailed that you get distracted from the action!
Even without some of my favorite characters, however, the gameplay of this iteration of Smash is among the best yet. Now supporting 1 to 8 players, Super Smash Bros. has never been more gleeful to play. The character balance is actually decent this time around and every character is a blast to play. The newcomers are especially inventive and surprising – I never would have thought that Wii Fit Trainer would be my favorite character. Pac Man, Villager, Greninja, Palutena, Bowser Jr., even Duck Hunt all bring unique new strategies and are all thrill to play. Expanding the battle to now support 5-8 players is a refreshing new feature as well. However, 8 Man Smash is a little too bananas. It is very difficult to keep track of your character and even harder to get an attack in edgewise. The massive variety of controller options is a cool, if odd, feature. Between the Wii U Gamepad, the Wii U Pro Controller, Gamecube controllers, Wii controllers with or without the nunchuk, or even a 3DS, players are bound to find a control setup they like. Plus the odds of anybody being excluded due to running out of controllers is very small.
Super Smash Bros. for Wii U is without a doubt the biggest launch of any game on the Wii U. Many have questioned Nintendo’s wisdom these past few years as they have banked on various games to “save” their struggling console (Pikmin 3! Super Mario 3D Land! Mario Kart!). Here is my two cents; the Wii U hardly needs saving. All of those “saviors” were good games in their own right. Super Smash Bros. is an outstanding game in its own right. Could this game “save” the Wii U this Holiday Season? Perhaps. But what matters is that good games continue to be released. If Nintendo maintains the quality demonstrated by Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, the future of the console is very bright indeed.