Smash Bros is back! Are you as excited as I am? (The answer's no, it's just not possible.)
With just months before the release of Super Smash Bros. for the 3DS, and with the April Direct fresh in our minds, I've put together a comparative guide to the Veteran fighters.
Everyone’s got their
favourites and not-so-beloved, and it’s even trickier to pick a fighter in this
stage while the full roster is still being announced bit-by-bit.
This post will be the first in a few SSB-themed blogs. I've decided to go in-depth with the movesets of each character (in this case, comparing them to their Brawl Special movesets, which I've detailed in the pictures). Check below to find out what's new with your favourite character, and keep watching this space for the latest updates!
MARIO
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| FINAL SMASH: Mario Finale - Mario shoots fire across the screen, knocking the players backwards. |
Well, obviously there was no way that Mario wasn't going to be in this game. It looks like he's retained the majority of his moveset, with no changes to his special moves. Since his original design won't change much apart from a few tweaks, we're left to wonder what his palette swaps will look like. Last time we got white overalls (Fire flower Mario), maybe a nod to his more recent power-ups?
LINK
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| FINAL SMASH: Triforce Slash - A Triforce appears and dazzles anyone near to Link. He then slashes fiercely at nearby foes. |
LUIGI
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| Final Smash: Negative Zone - Luigi chants and dances as the Zone stretches in a circle around him. Foes trapped in the Zone may get stuck taunting, slow down, fall asleep or other odd effects. |
Honouring the Year of Luigi, the lean green one was among the first announcements for SSB4. From official screenshots, it looks like Luigi will be bringing his trusty Poltergust 5000 from the Luigi's Mansion series. And it looks like his new Final Smash!!
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| From IGN. Luigi appears glowing as he whips out the Poltergust. Smash Time!! |
I'm kind of sad for the loss of Negative Zone: it was a deliciously odd Final Smash, which complements Luigi's character nicely. However, it makes sense that he's using his Poltergust now. I'm quite excited to see whether it'll be a direct attack or if it'll have range like Negative Zone.
DONKEY KONG
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| FINAL SMASH: Konga Beat - DK grabs some bongos and beats on down. If the player presses the attack button in time to the rhythm, the resulting shockwave batters opponents. |
DK is back and looking about as dapper as a massive ape in a red tie ever could. He's looking particularly furry this time! Looks like he's kept his moveset in exchange for a sweet new look.
KING DEDEDE
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| FINAL SMASH: Waddle Dee Army - Waddle Dees rain down on play while Dedede dances, jolly fellow that he is. |
The King is back, long live the King! Not content with flinging Dees and Doos around (the sort of behaviour that would get you arrested if you did it in public), he will now fling a spiky Gordo, which will deal a lot more damage than before. Looks like mostly his moveset will remain the same. He looks a little cuter now with the new colour scheme, but that's unlikely to make him any less threatening.
KIRBY
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| FINAL SMASH: Cook Kirby - Kirby draws in nearby opponents and pops them into a huge cooking pot! The broth boils and sends them flying upward, while various items are scattered around the stage in the aftermath. |
Kirby looks seriously BRIGHT PINK. Maybe somebody paid him a compliment, and he's blushing. He retains his moveset with a rumoured change to his Down Special move, apparently he might change into random items as opposed to just a big heavy stone. And there is talk of a new Final Smash too, possibly something involving his recent fabricated adventures? (Pardon the pun)
SONIC
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| FINAL SMASH: Super Sonic - Sonic summons the Chaos Emeralds, turning him into Super Sonic. He dashes around the stage knocking enemies left, right and centre. |
Sonic, as usual, looks pretty pleased with himself as opposed to his moody Brawl incarnation. Not sure if any of his moves have changed - there's evidence of his homing attack in a screenshot, and also a shot of him grinning while running which is possibly a taunt. He's recently been spotted in Sonic: Lost World so it remains to see whether we'll get a new stage or possibly a new move inspired by Lost World, or maybe even Sonic Colours.
YOSHI
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| FINAL SMASH: Super Dragon - Yoshi transforms into Dragon Yoshi, growing wings and flying around the stage shooting fireballs. |
According to the April Direct, Yoshi returns with a slight change of stature - he will now stand upright, rather than like a regular dinosaur with a bent back. Now, I've frankly no idea what to do with that information. Does it mean we'll see a new set of moves?
MARTH
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| FINAL SMASH: Critical Hit - Marth raises his sword into the air, before delivering a powerful strike. One of the fastest and most powerful smashes in the game, it can deliver up to 60% damage. |
Marth seems to have aged a little since Brawl (accordingly) including a costume update and a haircut. There is a lot more change to the little details in his costume, which ties in with the newest Fire Emblem games. Sakurai has confirmed a more impressive, stronger Shield Breaker move, in the hope that players will use it to its full potential. There hasn't been any other word yet on his moveset, or whether comrades Roy or Ike will be joining him.
BOWSER
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| FINAL SMASH: Giga Bowser - Bowser turns into Giga Bowser, filling half the stage. He can still take damage and doesn't gain any new attacks, he's just massive. |
Bruiser Bowser suits the new colour scheme: he looks a little more fiery and appears to have had a slight tweak to how he appears in his home series, looking meaner and tougher. Although still a heavy character, he appears to be a little faster this time around. I always used to feel like I was controlling him through a vat of syrup: attacks seemed sticky and slow. He also doesn't seem as hunched over, and he's even seen delivering a kick during gameplay footage one of the trailers. I'm hoping we see an improvement to Bowser's speed - I know that's a big ask from a giant turtle, but he's got to be able to stand toe-to-toe with the nimbler characters. And please, no more breakdancing.
LUCARIO
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| FINAL SMASH: Aura Storm - Lucario flies to the top of the stage and beams down with his Aura. The more damage Lucario has taken, the stronger the attack will be. |
Ack. Lucario's back. Why is Lucario back? (Sorry. I hoped against hope that he'd have been replaced by a different Pokemon. I know he has the advanced attack power thing, but how about bringing in a different Pokemon with a unique ability?)
Sorry. At least I don't have to speculate as much on this one. Lucario proved popular and potentially deadly, with his Aura power growing the more damage he takes, and he will now deal more damage. However, footage from the Direct showed that he may now be more difficult to control as a result.
Also, he's been showing off a new Mega Evolution. It's not yet clear how or what will trigger a Mega Evolution: whether it'll only be on certain stages, or if it'll have something to do with a Final Smash. But Lucario's Aura powers while in his Mega Evolution will henceforth do the maximum amount of damage.
(Seriously though. I'll even take Magikarp at this point.)
PIKACHU
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| FINAL SMASH: Volt Tackle - Pikachu becomes a ball of electricity and whizzes around the stage. The player can control him and pressing the Special button causes a jolt of electricity. Pikachu does take damage. |
Pika! Doesn't Pikachu look brighter than his Brawl counterpart?
Pika has a new Down Special, Meteor Smash: similar to Thunder, a bolt hits Pikachu's enemy and he wallops them on the way down. Here's a screenshot taken from the April 3rd daily update of the Smash Bros site:
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| From the Smash Bros site/IGN.com. As you can see, Pikachu delivers a shock to Bowser before unleashing Meteor Storm. |
DIDDY KONG
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| FINAL SMASH: Rocketbarrel Barrage - Diddy flies around the stage, shooting players with his peanut popgun. |
DK's cute little pal is back. Aww, isn't he sweet, all wearing clothes and stuff. He thinks he's people.
In one of the WiiU screenshots, he appears to be stretching out. Looks like he's delivering a really stretched double punch of some sort, whether that's his Double Slap attack or something a little different: have a look, see what you think!
No word yet on his Final Smash - I enjoyed Rocketbarrel Barrage, and it was easier to control than Sonic's Final Smash, so I hope it stays. Allegedly you can now hit his barrels and they will come off. Diddy's peanut popgun is a bit more powerful now, and able to break shields.
PRINCESS PEACH
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| FINAL SMASH: Peach Blossom - Peach dances gracefully as hearts and doodles of her fill the screen and peaches rain down. Enemies near to Peach take up to 40% damage. The peaches can be eaten to replenish health. |
Well excuuuuse me, Princess! There's been a bit of a flap after Sakurai tweeted a close-up picture of Mario and Peach holding hands, with a ring placed on her finger. Maybe she'll finally let him have a piece of that cake.
As well as a more relaxed pose and Peach is shown in one of the screenshots breaking out her signature Peach Bomber, bumping a surprised Fox with her hip. But she's also seen in another picture swiping at Pit in mid-air with her crown! She now incorporates stylish ribbons into her up-smash attack, which is quite a nice touch. Her Final Smash was a bit of a joke though, wasn't it? Peach deserves something a bit more kick-ass, and I hope for something different. In this picture from IGN she appears to be casting a rainbow. Maybe this'll be a super new Smash.
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| From IGN Super Smash Bros Wiki. |
FOX
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| FINAL SMASH: Landmaster - Fox leaps upwards offscreen, damaging anything in his path. The Landmaster appears in his place, damaging stage and foes with its cannon or simply by running them over. |
Fox is the only confirmed fighter from the Lylat Wars/Starfox series, and he has yet to be joined by his comrades (if any).
It looks like Fox's dash attack will have a longer reach. Good luck to anyone who found it difficult to pull this off without falling off a ledge! Otherwise, Fox's moveset will be staying mostly the same. He will be able to jump out of his hexagonal shield, so it's great for ledge guarding.
TOON LINK
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| FINAL SMASH: Triforce Slash, same as Link's. Sigh. |
Toon Link marks another point of contention in our household. My husband claims he has a totally different feel to Adult Link (Grown Link, Big Link, XXX Link or whatever you want to call him), whereas I don't really see the point of him. He's basically a clone of Link. Having said that, I do enjoy his kooky, cartoonish design as opposed to Adult Link's realistic proportions.
My opinion aside, he's had a slight cosmetic change in his moveset, but I don't think there's anything major.
PIKMIN AND OLIMAR
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| FINAL SMASH: End of Day - Olimar jumps into the SS Dolphin, drawing in any nearby foes, rockets off-screen only to come smashing back down again. He really aught to replace that ship for a newer model. |
Excitingly, Olimar seems to be one of the players with the most changes. He was almost embarrassingly weak in Brawl, and even more so without his Pikmin.
Now, Olimar can only have three Pikmin at any time in his party. Also, the Pikmin will be plucked in this order: Red, Yellow, Blue. Once these are lost, he will pluck a White, followed by a Purple, then back to Red.
His recovery move, where he flings his party Pikmin out like a chain, will have to go! And in its place, we are treated to an appearance from the Winged Pikmin who can carry him to safety - however the flight path and height will be determined by the number of Pikmin in his team, so that chunky Purple might be a hinderance...
CHARIZARD
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| FINAL SMASH: Triple Finish (with Ivysaur and Squirtle, he unleashes Hyper Beam) |
I've put Charizard with the Veterans because he is technically a returning hero. But I'm equally excited to be talking about his new moves as a separate playable character.
With no Red running alongside him, Charizard gets free rein. Since he had to share the spotlight (grumble, grumble) with Greninja, his moveset has been kept pretty hush-hush. He will be getting a Mega Evolution, but like with Lucario, it remains to see how that will play out.
PIT
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| FINAL SMASH: Palutena's Army - Centurions ram into the players, causing damage and knocking them flying. |
As one of the most popular characters, thanks to his varied moveset of projectiles and amazing recovery moves, it's no surprise that Pit's back for the next instalment.
He boasts a new, cooler-looking Final Smash: Three Sacred Treasures, which looks like an incredibly powerful and exciting Smash. Pit shoots with his bow while shots rain down on foes from a number of directions, dealing massive damage!
However, he has lost the Glide ability in favour of a more direct, fast version of Power of Flight as a recovery. In his trailer, Pit travels diagonally at a decent towards a ledge. No idea how easy it'll be to control in contrast to Glide - it looks a lot more accurate.
SAMUS and ZERO SUIT SAMUS
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| FINAL SMASH: Pulse Laser - Samus shoots a huge plasma ray out of her arm cannon. In Zero Suit's case, she just pops her suit back on. |
Now a separate playable character, Zero Suit Samus has had a little costume update, and she has a new addition. Yes, I know it's typical for women to go on about shoes, but look at them. If jet boots look like that in the future then sign me up, I don't care if I'm in my fifties by the time they're invented. In her trailer, Samus looks a lot speedier and more agile, boasting a few new kicks and a new recovery move. She has a particularly graceful upside-down spinning kick that reminds me a little of Chun-Li of Street Fighter fame.
SHEIK AND ZELDA
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| FINAL SMASH: Light Arrow - Both Sheik and Zelda draw a large arrow while any fighter in her sights will flinch. The Light Arrow can travel through walls, and will likely KO any character it hits. |
Since Zelda won't be using her Down Special to turn into Sheik, she now has another move - Phantom Slash, which summons a Phantom to defend her or attack a foe. It can however be deflected and turned against her. No sign of any other changes to her moveset, but I like the variability of this.
As for Sheik, her (er, his?) new side special is Burst Grenade, where Sheik tosses a grenade onto the field. Her new Down Special, instead of turning her back into Zelda, is a wide-reaching acrobatic kick known as the Bouncing Fish. She looks as quick and agile as ever.
Keep your eyes peeled for my next update, where I'll introduce the new fighters (I have quite a lot to say about them), and keep watching the Smash Bros website for further announcements. There are still seven slots to fill in the character roster. Watch this space!
NOTE: All screenshots taken from the official Smash Bros website/IGN Smash Bros Wiki.
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