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Review

Super Smash Bros. 3DS Review

  • Coming Oct 3, 2014
  • Reviewed:
  • 3DS

Smashing success.

Smash Bros. has always felt like Nintendo’s real "tentpole" game to me, more so even than the core Mario series. That’s probably because, as a child of the '90s, I grew up with it. With Super Smash Bros. for 3DS, I feel like I can visit different eras from my history. In the trophies for characters like Pac-Man and Mega Man, I’ve found trivia for games that were simply before my time. In the renewed emphasis on competitive modes and global rankings, I feel a connection to my competitive past. In the soundtrack, I’ve tapped not just a nostalgia for Zelda and Pokémon, but for the whole Smash Bros. franchise. It’s good to be back.

The basic premise of a Super Smash Bros. match is simple. Each player picks his or her favorite character before squaring off on any of one of a couple dozen stages. Unlike most fighting games, Smash has no life bars and does not emphasize extensive button combinations. Each character's attacks are easy to learn, and the goal is to rack up damage to knock your opponent further and further away. Eventually, you'll be able to knock your foe clear off the stage, where they'll then fall to their death. It's somewhat like a trumped up, glitzy version of sumo wrestling, and it's absolutely brilliant.

Damage directly effects how far any given character will fly after being struck, but if you're skilled or lucky enough, you can stay on a stage even after taking more than your fair share of hits. This adds a layer of tension to most matches, as dealing the most damage doesn't always guarantee a win. Similarly, if you're doing well but slip up and fall off the stage without taking even the slightest jab, the failure stings just a bit more. That variability lies at the heart of Smash Bros. It's why the game is so approachable to new players and why competitive players are still discovering new techniques in Super Smash Bros. Melee, 13 years after its release. The 3DS game lacks some widely panned mechanics from Brawl, particularly the random tripping that would cause characters to simply fall over face first as well as the general feeling of a low-gravity floatiness. In their stead are a bevy of subtle new additions aimed at both casual players and the core crowd. The result feels more honest and broadly appealing than any previous iteration.

The items that drop in the middle of battles are weirder than ever and have a wider variety of effects. There are a few that can deliver one-hit-KOs, and one that will give you an extra life, and they help boost the tension and excitement of an anarchic free-for-all bout. If you play competitively, you may note that Nintendo has made tweaks to almost every area, from grabs to ledge guarding. Even classic Smash Bros. concepts like directional influence have been overhauled. Now, instead of having some control over the exact angle your character will fly when hit, you have the ability to modify the strength of the effect through a mechanic that players have called "vectoring." Characters can now be customized to increase their speed, defense, or attack at the cost of another stat. You can import Miis, give them one of three fighting styles, and micromanage some of their attacks. The main cast of characters has ballooned to 49, which is a huge increase from the 12 found in the original Nintendo 64 release. Almost all of the characters play differently. For the purposes of this review, I spent at least 10 minutes playing with each fighter (over eight hours of simply sampling the roster) so that I could figure out which ones I liked and which I thought didn't match my play style.

The characters I found myself gravitating towards were those that felt quick and light and could chain lots of attacks together. Pac-Man, for example, is incredible at this. While running, he can use an attack that hits three separate times while he continues to move forward. That can lead straight into one of his special moves, which lets you trace a short line and rocket towards an enemy. Greninja felt just as smooth, focusing as he does on light attacks and quick movement. All of the characters are extremely tight and responsive, and made me feel like I had total control over the field. Even older characters notorious for their sluggishness have been given a boost. Bowser is much, much faster for example, even though he’s still a heavier character. It’s impossible to say this early on whether all of these fighters will turn out to be as balanced as they seem to be, but for now at least, they feel closer than they’ve ever felt to being on equal footing.

Stages are similarly varied and have a wide range of hazards and tricks to keep players engaged and constantly moving. Having them on a handheld system with limited graphical power has led to smaller stages overall. Smash Bros. 3DS aptly balances that with characters that are generally tougher to kill and small arenas packed with inventive ideas. One of my favorites, Gerudo Valley, pulls its inspiration from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. A wooden bridge runs through the center of the map, and if you're not careful, a stray attack could break it, causing you to fall into a chasm below. If you do fall, you can still fight your way back up, but other players will have the advantage of higher ground. From time to time, a pair of witches will show up and blast the canyon with spells, coating the sides in either vicious flames or pillars of ice. Smash Bros. stages have always been incredibly diverse, and it's great to see that the imaginative levels haven't been lost in the transition from living room console to handheld.

Playing the game on the 3DS, however, did cause some problems for my hands and wrists. There's a distinctly different design philosophy for console controllers which are engineered to be extremely comfortable to use for hours on end, and portable game systems which need to be small enough to fit into a pocket. As an adult male, my hands aren't terribly small, but the 3DS I used for the first few days of this review was. Besides taking some time to get used to the relatively cramped buttons, I also noticed a shooting pain and intermittent numbness in my wrist. I switched and started to play to a larger 3DS XL, and felt quite a bit better. I've played quite a few games in my time, and spent countless hours with Pokémon, Zelda, and more on the 3DS, and never had these kinds of issues. While everyone's hands are different, I feel that given the severity of my symptoms, it's worth mentioning that if you're going to be picking this game up, you might want to try the demo a bit if you're using one of the smaller 3DS models. Beyond physical complaints, I had no technical problems whatsoever, even when playing with people in Japan and Europe to test out the online features (even though there have been some early reports of lag in multiplayer matches).

Smash Bros. 3DS has two online modes to choose from: For Fun and For Glory. The former has the full standard list of stages available, and signature Smash Bros. items like the Beam Sword and Home Run Bat will appear regularly. In the latter, every stage is a variant of the Final Destination location, meaning it's completely flat and has no special characteristics. Items are banned from these matches in an effort to more closely mimic the kind of competitive environment that has grown up around the series. Nintendo's clearly trying to appease as many fans as possible, and that's not a bad thing. You can also play with friends only, and that opens up a few more options; namely, using your custom Mii Fighters, which aren't allowed in bouts with strangers.

Unless you’re playing with your friends, you won’t be able to play anything but two-minute timed matches, but even those are great. They are short enough that the pain is over quickly if you’re getting knocked around by someone much better than you, and because you don't have long to get invested in the results, each match leaves a sweet aftertaste. Because I played before the US release, the majority of my games were with folks in Japan, and I had a great time. Everything felt fair, and I was always matched with people who were close enough to my skill level that I was consistently challenged.

Single-player modes are pretty minimal on the 3DS, especially compared to Super Smash Bros. Brawl, but what's here is fantastic, and serves as both a great challenge to veteran players and a friendly romp for the less experienced. The Classic mode has existed in one form or another since the first Smash Bros., and while the 3DS version of it might seem a little bit shorter than before, it's also by-far the best. Before each run, you'll wager gold coins that you've earned by playing matches. The more you wager, the tougher the fights, but that also ups the rewards and collectibles you can earn. You'll have five main fights to finish, followed by the perennial boss, the Master Hand. You can select different sub-routes along the way, with each of them being color-coordinated for difficulty and offering that same core trade-off between reward and challenge. At the end you'll collect your winnings, possibly unlock a new character, or play through again. Which is what I did. A lot.

Betting in-game gold on myself pushed me to try harder and harder. And that actually means something for once, as previous Smash Bros. titles had comparatively easy single-player modes. Higher difficulty levels will also have different, multi-part end bosses that you’ll have to fight while saddled with a harsh time limit and limited lives. Losing causes the difficulty to drop down a notch, and you’ll lose a good chunk of cash. Seeing the piles fall away adds insult to injury, but also works as an excellent motivator.

Single-player modes are pretty minimal on the 3DS, especially compared to Super Smash Bros. Brawl, but what's here is fantastic.

You can spend the gold you pick up in an in-game store to unlock new trophies, or you can play other modes like Trophy Rush, which costs a certain amount of gold per second of play. In all of these modes the goal is to unlock more of Smash Bros.' many, many, many secrets. Hidden stages, characters, items to upgrade your Miis, and trophies all pull from the Nintendo pantheon, and are all meant to be something special to some fan somewhere. When you cut right down to it, that's really what the whole series is for--fan service that allows you to find and unlock more fan service so that you can play with other fans and share in the fan experience.

I found so much raw joy in my time with Super Smash Bros. 3DS. And even though I played to the point where I was literally in pain, I didn't have to keep playing Smash Bros. 3DS. I wanted to.

The Good
Wonderfully vibrant art with near-perfect animation
Fantastic score that runs the gamut of Nintendo's properties
Plenty of design changes that keep the formula fresh
Lots and lots of Nintendo fan service
The Bad
Handheld controls take some getting used to
8
Great
About GameSpot's Reviews

About the Author

Dan Starkey's been playing Smash Bros. since he was eight years old. He's unlocked every character and stage and almost every trophy in each game. His new main is Pac-Man, and he can't wait to start playing in some local tournaments.

Discussion

106 comments
pikachudude860
pikachudude860

Wow. So even a handheld game is beter than Destiny.

combigotes
combigotes

I personally find it  more comfortable  my nintendo 2DS. 3D effect is nice but i can´t use it more than 30 minutes... hurt my eyes... so 2DS is a great alternative with better controls imo

grr8jon
grr8jon

Reading this you'd think it'll score higher.  Only one subjective flaw - harsh reviewer.

Jakesta7
Jakesta7

Reviewer, gotta play stock!

14monkey
14monkey

i got to say this is a little bit suprising that this game is getting 8's and stuff eh well as long as the wiiu gets a 10

Rotondi
Rotondi

Ya baby!!! Hyrule Warriors today, then Smash 3DS, then Bayonetta 2, then Smash Wii U (hopefully)....BAMMM!

Sepewrath
Sepewrath

No mention of the cool ability to listen to music with the 3DS in sleep mode?

beardofsocrates
beardofsocrates

With just one minor complaint, you'd think that the score would have achieved an 8.5. =/ Nonetheless an 8 is still a very satisfying score for such a great game. I'm definitely looking forward to picking this up.

Bread_or_Decide
Bread_or_Decide

The controls on the demo are baffling. Who jumps with X and Y? WHO? WHO? 

Lattata
Lattata

this will have to do until the Wii-u version comes out. The controls from the demo are extremely foreign to me.

ZERGIOSS
ZERGIOSS

SEGURO LE DARE UNA OPORTUNIDAD , AUNQUE  DUDO DE LA EFICACIA DEL CONTROL DEL 3DS

BrunoBRS
BrunoBRS

from what i played of the demo, the game is mechanically so much better than brawl. my problem with the controls actually stemmed from the layout that felt a bit foreign, but i got used to it after a while (since i couldn't remap buttons on the demo). being on a 3DS XL meant i didn't have much of an issue with the cramps mentioned in the review, though it is a fair point to make.

cboye18
cboye18

I've played the demo and so far the game is much better than Brawl (which was horrible), but it still feels like and updated Brawl. Even though it's faster than Brawl, there are still some mechanics that I don't like:

- Why does it take so long to K.O someone in this game? This is a feature similar to Brawl. I'm racking up damage till 200 % and some strong and smash attacks still can't seem to cause significant knockback. I do hope there's a knockback/handicap option in this game because even though the game is faster, matches still take way too long to end.

- CPU are improved compared to Brawl, but they still tend to attack the player most of the time (observe this when you play against 2 CPU's). Also, lvl 9 CPU is broken and not fun (perfect shield ALL the time as well as dodging constantly) when playing 1 vs 1. In this regard I still find the CPU of Melee more enjoyable

- Blast zones are too large and the edge mechanics (e.x "autograb") makes it way to easy for your opponents to survive when off stage. 

All in all I still like the game, but mechanically wise Melee is better. I'm tired of hearing people say that Melee is only for competitive play as I only played the game casually for 8 years and didn't even knew about the advanced techniques till a couple of years ago. The overall feel and speed was great even for casual players, which is why I felt Brawl was dumbed down in every way except for character roster and content

Stebsis
Stebsis

They really need to add support for circle pad pro, makes holding 3DS, both XL and normal, much more comfortable, feels like a controller. But it's really awkward to press the normal shoulder buttons when the pad is in place so even that's not the most comfortable

Legend002
Legend002

The Bad: We was teased for the Wii U version.

phillybro806
phillybro806

My heart loves this game but my hands hate it. What's up with the 8 score? Only negative thing he said was that the 3DS can be uncomfortable to play with and that sounds more like a hardware issue than a game issue. I guess that was the score pulled out of the hat.

chisoxrule
chisoxrule

8?!  I wouldn't have given it a 5 for the simple fact that I really don't like this franchise.

ArabrockermanX
ArabrockermanX

Honestly with how bare bones this game is an 8 is the appropriate score. 

Flamewolf75
Flamewolf75

A review=A person's opinion. Not yours. God damn, people. Learn this.

darkfiercelink
darkfiercelink

The Bad: "Handheld controls take some getting used to" really!?

SANSHORYU
SANSHORYU

Daniel Starkey, as a doctor, I just wanted to recommend that you see a neurologist. Your outright shooting pain and numbness in your wrist suggests carpal tunnel syndrome, and a pretty severe level at that. Great review!

HPFreak623
HPFreak623

While an 8 is a great score, it makes no sense when you read the review. It reads as a 9 at minimum since their only complaint seems to be their hand cramping which they took care of (mostly) by moving to an XL.

And the way they listed the con makes it seem like the controls are awkward. The controls are fully customizable... so it shouldn't feel awkward when you find a control scheme you like.

Still, I've played the demo so I know I'm gonna love it either way. And that's all that matters.

Chaceace100
Chaceace100

From your review, I wasn't really expecting an 8 when I reached the bottom of the page. Since the controls were the "bad" I'm guessing the Wii U will get an 8.5 or 9?

FusionRain
FusionRain

I wonder if GameSpot has that Stanley Parable "8" game from the demo. They love number 8.

Before anyone jumps on this, I don't care about what they scored the game. It's Smash Bros. We don't really need a review to know if we want it.

Silverline62
Silverline62

Wut!? 8? Are you kidding me this is a 9 minimum.

The-Techspert
The-Techspert

Was this review taped on easy mode? No decent player/computer would get hit by that many Kirby B downs lol

dribblesbarbax
dribblesbarbax

I like the way Gamespot are trying to be more realistic with how they score games. 8 is a great score. People just have to realise that their ceiling is set a little higher than other gaming sites. An 8 to Gamespot is a 9 to other sites. They both enjoyed the game to the same extent but Gamespot seems to be bringing scores back down to Earth. And justifiably so.

adolrojas
adolrojas

@Bread_or_Decide I do, it is waaay more comfortable for me, since it is better and faster for the competitive. I've been doing so since Melee.

BrunoBRS
BrunoBRS

@Stebsis doesn't the CPP press the shoulder buttons mechanically? i was under that impression.

zeca04
zeca04

@chisoxrule And you come here to the review of one game from a franchise you dislike. :D congratulations for having free time.

ArabrockermanX
ArabrockermanX

@Flamewolf75 That's only true for youtube reviewers and other people who are not professionals. They have to have some sort of standard and quite honestly his review is well done. 


For a Smash fan(like me) this game is probably a 10/10, for anyone else the game will feel a bit empty with how quick everything can be unlocked and the lack of single player modes.

Goron24
Goron24

@SANSHORYU Nintendo really didn't take ergonomics into consideration when designing the 3DS it seems. given this and the fact that you need to hold the device at an awkward angle for the 3D to even work.

Goron24
Goron24

@HPFreak623 You can't say that the hand cramps were fixed by moving to the XL when many of us (including myself) will not buy an XL, if the game is physically painful to play on the platform it was designed to be played on that is pretty bad. Granted I am not sure how you would fix that (change the controls to something really strange I guess) but it still sucks, I mean the 3DS seems to cramp up no matter the game. Even X and Y

blastmaster554
blastmaster554

@dribblesbarbax Giving lower scores than any other site for the sake of giving lower scores doesn't mean realistic. By that logic, GameSpot's click-bait reviews like Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze is "realistic" for someone to give a game a 6 because "it's too hard."

People like you need to realize to stop being a sheep for game review sites and judge the game by playing the game, not by a stupid score giving by someone that was either paid off or being bias. 

Stebsis
Stebsis

@BrunoBRS @Stebsis No, it doesn't go over the regular buttons or push them, it uses infrared to connect and a game needs to specifically support it.

Sepewrath
Sepewrath

@Goron24 @SANSHORYU I've never held it at an awkward angle to see the 3D and have no hand or wrist problems playing the demo on a normal 3DS.

HPFreak623
HPFreak623

@Goron24 I can actually, as that's what the review said. They said they went from playing on an original 3DS to an XL after a few days and their hands felt better for it. I'm just stating what the reviewer said. And while yes, I know not many people will move to an XL (I have a launch 3DS and refuse to buy an XL now with the New Nintendo 3DS on its way), for those that have an XL/2DS, they shouldn't have these problems. At least not as severe. 


The review does state that if you have concerns, to try the demo first which is a good idea. As I've had the demo for 2 weeks now, I know that I have no cramping issues on original 3DS despite my somewhat large hands. But that might be because I usually break (put down/close my 3DS) every 30-40 minutes give or take to let my hands rest. You should be doing that regularly anyways.

dribblesbarbax
dribblesbarbax

@blastmaster554 Not sure you know what logic is. And Gamespot arent lowering scores for the sake of lowering scores. Thats just a ludicrous statement. Seriously think of how self destructive that would be to any company. They're simply trying to be more honest in their opinions of games. You can see it how you want. That doesnt bother me. I know what I'll like and you'll know what you like. End of argument. 

Devil_78
Devil_78

I agree . Gamers must see many sites and trying the game instead of rely on one site review.

dribblesbarbax
dribblesbarbax

@Devil_78 Yeah nowhere in my comment did I emphasize that that was the case. I way up as many reviews as possible as any responsible consumer should do before even thinking about purchasing. Then and only then can someone criticize a review score.

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS More Info

  • Coming Oct 3, 2014
    • 3DS
    Duke it out with your favorite Nintendo characters in Super Smash Bros. for the Nintendo 3DS.
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    Average User RatingOut of 0 User Ratings
    Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS has not been released yet!
    Developed by:
    Bandai Namco Games
    Published by:
    Nintendo
    Genres:
    Fighting, 3D, Action
    Content is generally suitable for ages 10 and up. May contain more cartoon, fantasy or mild violence, mild language and/or minimal suggestive themes.
    Everyone 10+
    All Platforms