Today during its pre-E3 2013 Nintendo Direct, Nintendo revealed that gaming icon Mega Man would be joining the Super Smash Bros. franchise, which is due to debut on Wii U and 3DS in 2014. Debuting during a lengthy CG and gameplay trailer, Mega Man appeared in his classic "Blue Bomber" iteration, complete with Mega Buster, numerous Robot Master abilities and his trusty dog, Rush.
Mega Man wasn't the only new character revealed during the Direct. An opening trailer highlighted "The Villager" from Animal Crossing, who not only can dig pits to trap his enemies, but chop down trees to damage them. Both Mega Man and The Villager will be accompanied by stages from their respective franchises.
Nintendo also confirmed, by debuting gameplay footage, the return of several classic characters, including Mario, Samus Aran, Fox McCloud, Donkey Kong, Pikachu, Pit, Bowser and Princess Peach. Stages revealed included the classic Battlefield location, a level set on the train from The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks, Mega Man's Dr. Wily Stage, an Animal Crossing location, Skyloft from Skyward Sword, a stage that appeared to be set in Kakariko Village from Twilight Princess, a Nintendogs level, and more.
Based on the Nintendo Direct, it currently doesn't appear that Masahiro Sakurai is making significant changes to the Smash Bros. formula. Gameplay appears to retain its core 2D mechanics, with the 3DS visuals more or less being on par with GameCube's Melee (along with slight cel-shading) and the Wii U version being considerably better. No official titles were given to either project.
Rich is an Executive Editor and wishes he could invent a time machine and travel to 2014. Tell him how much you agree by chatting with him on Twitter @RichIGN.