Super Smash Bros 3DS

So it's finally out. Was it worth it? 

Super Smash Bros Brawl came out for the Wii in 2008 and despite its age, it's still a game that is played frequently at my place. There's nothing like SSB for whittling away the hours and before you know, suddenly 3 hours have passed. So you can say I was looking forward to the latest iteration of the series.  

Super Smash Bros is the first handheld version of the game, with its console counterpart 'coming soon'. When? Your guess is as good as mine so you'll probably have to get the 3DS version to tide you over first. 

So what's new in Smash Bros? Well, the graphics got a lot better but then again, it has been 6 years and the graphics are hardly even the most important part of smash brothers. They could have had the exact same graphics as the Wii version and I would still have been on it. 

With the disclaimer in mind, most of the characters seem to have retained their main specials with a few exceptions. Zelda's down special is now a summons instead her transformation into Sheik; mostly because Sheik is another character in the game. They've cut down on a lot of the redundant characters, such as Ness and Lucas, Fox and Wolf, and so on.

The game play is still the same, a strange mix of casual and mediumcore fighting gameness, being easy enough that almost anybody can dive into the game and play it. However, there's still a fair bit in the game that requires you to know just what you're trying to achieve and how to do it, which includes information such as 'priority', 'reach' and 'hit box'. If those words aren't familiar to you, don't worry. You will STILL enjoy SSB. You just might lose a fair bit. 

With that being said, what are the pros and cons of the handheld version? I know a lot of people are debating whether to get the handheld one of the wii U one, but in all honesty, I feel that they are sort of for two different situations. Let's look at it this way, it's a portable fighting game that's fairly simple to play and easy to get into. This is pretty much WHAT I've been missing in my life since Jump Ultimate Stars. This is the version of the game you can take out with you while with friends and just play a short match or so on when you have time. On the bus? No problem. Smash. On the train? No problem. Smash. At the hospital? Okay, maybe there's a slight problem but still SMASH!

So why don't you just buy the handheld version and forgo the Wii U version? Again, they're totally different in a sense. The Wii U version is the version you buy if you have friends coming over constantly and you want to be able to play on a BIG screen. One of the cons about playing Smash on a 3DS screen; even a 3DS XL, is that the screen is TINY compared to the TV screens you used to play Brawl on. Secondly, the controls. In the end, it just feels better to have an actual controller for this in hand. Lastly, the 3DS version WILL lag occasionally. This is one of the biggest flaws IMO and while it doesn't lag in 1st player mode, it will lag in multiplayer mode. Even hotspot mode. Disclaimer; I had already played like 2 hours of brawl hotspot multiplayer before the game just suddenly started lagging badly during a few matches. I have no idea why but before that, everything was fine. However, this is an issue and I feel it should be mentioned. In case anyone is curious, it was a 3 player hotspot with 1 CPU opponent. 

So in the end, is this game everything I was hoping for? Pretty much; except for the lag. There aren't any huge innovations to the gameplay but they did tweak it a bit and that's fine with me. I don't need huge innovations but having new characters and slight changes is more than fine for me. If you've liked smash brothers brawl, you'll want to get this game. If you like a simplistic fighting game that's fun and involves Mario beating the crap out of pikachu, then you'll want to get this game as well.