Super Smash In Your Pocket

Well the time has come, Super Smash Bros 3DS is here and I no longer have a social life...unless you count playing online, but that's not really social now is it? I’ve been playing Super Smash Bros. since back when it came out on the N64- back when the roster was just 12 loveable fan favourites, all from their own franchises. That roster seems tiny compared to the current roster of 49 characters that they've implemented—with an extra 3 tacked on for the Mii fighters—it seems things have changed quite a bit over the years and a lot of it's for the better.

So since its release, I’ve been spending most of my time playing Smash. The initial grind was for characters and stages but now I find myself trying to unlock more and more challenges and grinding away at them. That’s not to say it's a bad thing, honestly, it’s been the most fun of the game just trying to get better and better scores, more KOs and just general challenge oriented playing of the game. Now I’m not gonna lie to you and say that "I’ve played everyone" and "I've done everything in the game" just yet, but I have played my fair share and so far and it’s been a ton of fun. New characters, new stages to explore and new game types to try out—whether it's old favourites like Home Run Smash or the new Target Attack, you’re bound to find something you love. The new Target Attack is actually a play on Angry Birds, it's surprisingly a ton of fun and that's coming from someone who can’t stand Angry Birds.

I’ve played most of the new roster—except for a few that are just outside of my wheelhouse—and all in all I have to say everyone seems like they would be fun to play in the hands of the right players. I actually have gravitated to the Mii fighters over anyone else; although I find it a little disappointing that they can't be played online (I guess it’s for balancing issues).

One of the really cool improvements they've made on the game are the Omega stages, which basically removes the random elements from a stage but keeps the aesthetic and music, essentially turning every stage into a themed Final Destination, which is awesome. Normally with Smash Bros., there are some stages you just don’t play because some ridiculous elements make them unplayable in a fair fight kind of situation, but that's all gone now thanks to the Omega levels. I found it kind of boring after a while in SSB: Brawl because my friends and I would only play the same 5 to 6 stages, but now any stage can be played without that looming sense of “you won cause of some bullshit.”

I’m not gonna get into too much detail about the characters, because discovering moves and combos is innately part of the fun of the game, but I have to admit that the new editions to the roster have been a ton of fun. The slight changes they’ve made to the old characters have been really nice too. I honestly was really surprised by the game; I didn’t think it was going to be bad, but I had no idea how good it was going to be.

I also expected the controls on the 3DS to be average but I was really surprised at how responsive they were and how quickly I was able to pick it up and play. As someone who hasn’t bought a Wii U yet, I was actually really excited to hear that Smash was going to come out for the 3DS. It was nice knowing I didn’t have to buy a brand new console to play one of my favorite franchises and the game is well-polished to boot.

There's also a competitive online mode that I haven't put too much time into yet just cause of lag and some difficulty with patching but that's the next step for me. I’m gonna post another update next week after giving the game some more time and comment on any meta’s or power rankings I’ve noticed after taking a crack at the ranked mode.

So far, this game has been amazing, and the ease of access for playing local multiplayer is insane! It takes nothing to start up a lobby and start playing with your friends, kudos to Nintendo. If you don’t already have it, you should go out and get it because this is definitely one of the better Super Smash games they’ve come out with.