Super Smash Bros. for Wii U Review - The Cure for Wii U's Doldrums

JonB

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Sep 16, 2012
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Super Smash Bros. for Wii U Review - The Cure for Wii U's Doldrums

One thing's for sure, when it comes to this platform Super Smash Bros. for Wii U is the only fighter wii need.

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Originality

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"...to the Gamepad (with screen, for off-TV play) to yes, the adapter that adds up to four(!) classic gamecube controllers to the fray"
I feel it worth mentioning, that is 4 GameCube controllers EACH. You can get two adaptors and have 8 GameCube controllers for 8 player smash. Even if additional adaptors are a little hard to obtain right now...
 

RedDeadFred

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May 13, 2009
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I'll enjoy it even if I hate fighting games eh? Hmm.... I don't know if I believe you. I didn't like Brawl. The original was fun at the time and I still like it for nostalgic reasons. Melee was alright, but I still didn't mind fighting games at that point.

Also, this is one of the shortest reviews I've seen in a long time from this site. What happened? Usually they are hugely detailed multi-page epics. That's something I've always liked about this site. It's not just some quick overview like IGN. I guess there's it's not necessarily wrong to do that though.
 

DrunkOnEstus

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RedDeadFred said:
Also, this is one of the shortest reviews I've seen in a long time from this site. What happened? Usually they are hugely detailed multi-page epics. That's something I've always liked about this site. It's not just some quick overview like IGN. I guess there's it's not necessarily wrong to do that though.
Well Jimothy just left and was the reviews editor and was doing a gigantic percentage of the reviews himself. I'm sure there's a transition going on where they're figuring out who's going to review the games, and how. I honestly expected Greg to have written this. But I think the conciseness works here for a game like this; it's looks great for Wii U hardware, a room of 8 people can have a blast with a billion different controllers, the online actually works, you can still enjoy yourself playing in single player, and you don't need to enjoy fighting games to enjoy this. That's about all I needed to know to make me kick my ass again for selling my Wii U.
 

KDR_11k

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I do wonder what kind of doldrums the title is talking about though, the Wii U isn't exactly short on quality releases lately. Certainly not moreso than other consoles.
 

Johnny Novgorod

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I was just watching a gameplay video of the new Smash Bros. Everything looks too small on the screen, there's a LOT going on and I can't keep track of it all. A problem I already had with the first Smash Bros. That was a game that was fun despite rather than because of itself, simply because you were among friends and nobody really cared where things went.

Another thing I'm not so sure about is the "easy to play, hard to master" analogy, which a lot of people apply to Pokemon as well. Is it really that much of a compliment? Just because a game is "hard to master" doesn't mean you should. There's no real reward for mastering Pokemon, or Smash Bros. for that matter. If something is hard to master, I want a reward to go with it. A good example are games that reward stealth over direct approach, combo-building over button-mashing. You can play either way, but the harder option usually comes along with a reward (i.e. more exp, karmic shift, whatever).

What's the upside to "mastering" Smash Bros.?
 

Johnny Novgorod

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KDR_11k said:
I do wonder what kind of doldrums the title is talking about though, the Wii U isn't exactly short on quality releases lately. Certainly not moreso than other consoles.
Most of them are either Mario games (Mario Kart 8, New Super Mario Bros. U, New Super Luigi U, Super Mario 3D World, Dr. Luigi, Yoshi's Woolly World, Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker), HD remakes of older games or plain shovelware (Nintendo Land, Wii Party U, Wii Fit U, Just Dance Wii U, Wii Sports Club, Sing Party, Game Party Champions). Also Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric.

The games aren't necessarily bad, but the Wii U's repertoire lacks variety. The only games that look remotely appealing are ZombiU and Bayonetta 2. And I wouldn't buy the console for either of them.
 

jayzz911

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KDR_11k said:
RedDeadFred said:
I didn't like Brawl.
Yeah, Brawl is the worst of the series.
eh that's highly subjective i for one loved brawl for the characters and stages. I enjoyed playing it with my friends. The competitive smash community dislikes brawl and that's good for them but that doesn't make it objectively "the worst in the series". The things they didn't like (like no more wave dashing or the tripping or whatever) doesn't mean it's the worst game just that a game that was never meant for a competitive audience didn't cater to that competitive audience that latched onto it. I love playing smash and i enjoy a good match, I might not be EVO level but that's definitely not who the game was made for in the first place.
 

Karadalis

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And once the game gets boring people will realize that they bought another rather expensive paperweight from nintendo.. just like the wii... atleast this one might get dusted off again now and then for one of the standard nintendo titles.
 

JUMBO PALACE

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I bought Smash Bros when I bought my Wii U but I haven't played it for more than 30min. Trying to play Smash with the Wii U gamepad is terrible and the Gamecube adaptors are impossible to find right now. If anyone has experience playing the game with the Wii U pro controller I'd love to hear your thoughts because right now this game is sitting on my shelf until I find a decent way to play it.
 

lassiie

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JUMBO PALACE said:
I bought Smash Bros when I bought my Wii U but I haven't played it for more than 30min. Trying to play Smash with the Wii U gamepad is terrible and the Gamecube adaptors are impossible to find right now. If anyone has experience playing the game with the Wii U pro controller I'd love to hear your thoughts because right now this game is sitting on my shelf until I find a decent way to play it.
I've played this game for probably 20 hours with the Pro Controller. It doesn't bother me in the slightest. Took a little while to adjust to the controls compared to the Gamecube controller, but other then that it feels fine. My only qualm with it is the fact that dodge is tied to the Right Button, not Right trigger. I would recommend getting it if you are capable of adapting to a new controller (like me). but if you are like my girlfriend and absolutely refuse to adapt, then wait for the GC controller.
 

Jingle Fett

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Johnny Novgorod said:
KDR_11k said:
I do wonder what kind of doldrums the title is talking about though, the Wii U isn't exactly short on quality releases lately. Certainly not moreso than other consoles.
Most of them are either Mario games (Mario Kart 8, New Super Mario Bros. U, New Super Luigi U, Super Mario 3D World, Dr. Luigi, Yoshi's Woolly World, Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker), HD remakes of older games or plain shovelware (Nintendo Land, Wii Party U, Wii Fit U, Just Dance Wii U, Wii Sports Club, Sing Party, Game Party Champions). Also Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric.

The games aren't necessarily bad, but the Wii U's repertoire lacks variety. The only games that look remotely appealing are ZombiU and Bayonetta 2. And I wouldn't buy the console for either of them.
Well don't forget Pikmin 3, Hyrule Warriors, Sonic: Lost World, Rayman Legends, DK Country: Tropical Freeze, Wonderful 101, and the upcoming Splatoon. Add Bayonetta 2 and Zombie U and I'd say that's a decent variety...

Don't get me wrong, I sort of get what you're saying. But on the other hand...what's the alternative? That library looks really damn good compared to the current variety on the Xbox One and PS4. Right now at least I'd say the Wii U's library is the most superior by far.
 

DaViller

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Johnny Novgorod said:
Another thing I'm not so sure about is the "easy to play, hard to master" analogy, which a lot of people apply to Pokemon as well. Is it really that much of a compliment? Just because a game is "hard to master" doesn't mean you should. There's no real reward for mastering Pokemon, or Smash Bros. for that matter. If something is hard to master, I want a reward to go with it. A good example are games that reward stealth over direct approach, combo-building over button-mashing. You can play either way, but the harder option usually comes along with a reward (i.e. more exp, karmic shift, whatever).

What's the upside to "mastering" Smash Bros.?
Well just like the reward you get from mastering any fighting game, you get to punch people in the face in a more gracefull and effective manner. The reward is more an intrinsic one rather then something the will give you if you have done something right (trust me, the feeling you get from jumping of the stage and hitting someone so hard with a downward attack that they fall to theyr death at meteor speed, while you just hop back onto the stage and perform a taunt, is better then any experience bonus anyone can offer). It just means that the game has more to offer then just whats on the surface.

As for actual things the game rewards you with, theres an achievement system and trophys that can be used to collect little dioramas to setup funny pictures (if your into that kinda thing, I'd rather punch stuff). Lastly you can unlock new special moves and items to alter the stats and the movesets of your characters, though those can only be used in games with friends or solo not on public online matches.
 

Johnny Novgorod

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Jingle Fett said:
Johnny Novgorod said:
KDR_11k said:
I do wonder what kind of doldrums the title is talking about though, the Wii U isn't exactly short on quality releases lately. Certainly not moreso than other consoles.
Most of them are either Mario games (Mario Kart 8, New Super Mario Bros. U, New Super Luigi U, Super Mario 3D World, Dr. Luigi, Yoshi's Woolly World, Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker), HD remakes of older games or plain shovelware (Nintendo Land, Wii Party U, Wii Fit U, Just Dance Wii U, Wii Sports Club, Sing Party, Game Party Champions). Also Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric.

The games aren't necessarily bad, but the Wii U's repertoire lacks variety. The only games that look remotely appealing are ZombiU and Bayonetta 2. And I wouldn't buy the console for either of them.
Well don't forget Pikmin 3, Hyrule Warriors, Sonic: Lost World, Rayman Legends, DK Country: Tropical Freeze, Wonderful 101, and the upcoming Splatoon. Add Bayonetta 2 and Zombie U and I'd say that's a decent variety...

Don't get me wrong, I sort of get what you're saying. But on the other hand...what's the alternative? That library looks really damn good compared to the current variety on the Xbox One and PS4. Right now at least I'd say the Wii U's library is the most superior by far.
But doesn't all of that boil down to "another Pikmin game", "another (bad) Sonic game", "another Donkey Kong game", "another Rayman game" and "another Dynasty Warriors Zelda game"? I don't know, it seems like a console that is constantly on holding pattern. I know every publisher has a bunch of recurring IPs but in Nintendo's case that seems to make up 90% of its repertoire.
 

Jingle Fett

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Johnny Novgorod said:
Jingle Fett said:
Johnny Novgorod said:
KDR_11k said:
I do wonder what kind of doldrums the title is talking about though, the Wii U isn't exactly short on quality releases lately. Certainly not moreso than other consoles.
Most of them are either Mario games (Mario Kart 8, New Super Mario Bros. U, New Super Luigi U, Super Mario 3D World, Dr. Luigi, Yoshi's Woolly World, Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker), HD remakes of older games or plain shovelware (Nintendo Land, Wii Party U, Wii Fit U, Just Dance Wii U, Wii Sports Club, Sing Party, Game Party Champions). Also Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric.

The games aren't necessarily bad, but the Wii U's repertoire lacks variety. The only games that look remotely appealing are ZombiU and Bayonetta 2. And I wouldn't buy the console for either of them.
Well don't forget Pikmin 3, Hyrule Warriors, Sonic: Lost World, Rayman Legends, DK Country: Tropical Freeze, Wonderful 101, and the upcoming Splatoon. Add Bayonetta 2 and Zombie U and I'd say that's a decent variety...

Don't get me wrong, I sort of get what you're saying. But on the other hand...what's the alternative? That library looks really damn good compared to the current variety on the Xbox One and PS4. Right now at least I'd say the Wii U's library is the most superior by far.
But doesn't all of that boil down to "another Pikmin game", "another (bad) Sonic game", "another Donkey Kong game", "another Rayman game" and "another Dynasty Warriors Zelda game"? I don't know, it seems like a console that is constantly on holding pattern. I know every publisher has a bunch of recurring IPs but in Nintendo's case that seems to make up 90% of its repertoire.
You were talking about lack of variety tho, not the fact that they were sequels. You said most of them are Mario games, HD remakes, or shovelware, lacking in variety.

In Nintendo's case, I think you should take a look at what those games are sequels to. For example, you say "another Pikmin" or "another Donkey Kong" as though it's the latest Call of Duty or Assassin's Creed--Pikmin 2 came out in 2004, literally a decade ago. The last Donkey Kong game was in 2010, and the one before that in 2007. That's only 3 games in 7 years. How many Call of Duty or Assassin's Creed games have we gotten in the same timespan? Heck, Yoshi's Wolly World is the only sequel to Yoshi's Story from 1998 (16 years ago).

Hyrule Warriors isn't a Mario game or HD remake and it's not a traditional Zelda game/sequel either, even if it is based on Dynasty Warriors. Wonderful 101 and Splatoon are both new IPs and there are some other new IPs in the works. Sonic and Rayman, not Nintendo IPs...Sonic Lost World also wasn't a bad game either, its metacritic user score is actually higher than both Watchdogs and Destiny. You could also easily say "another Bayonetta game" since that's a sequel too btw...

All that being said though, compare that lineup to the alternative. Even if it isn't perfect, it's still a much better lineup I'd say or at least with way more variety than what the Xbox One and PS4 currently have to offer.
 

Nixou

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How many Call of Duty or Assassin's Creed games have we gotten in the same timespan?

Which is a big problem: Ubi, Activision and many other AAA studios are overusing their IPs in order to milk them as much as possible: their series stagnate not because the people behind these lack talent or dedication to their craft, but because they're not allowed to take the time to refine their ideas.

Nintendo has the inverse problem: they give the creative teams time to correctly conceptualize their games, but its the lack of manpower which cause their games to pretty much always end up being released much later than promised (or in the WiiU's case, led the whole damn OS to be released unfinished... and to think people whined about the console's hardware).

***

Sonic Lost World also wasn't a bad game either

Despite a few kinks, it was, in fact, a very fun and beautiful game...
So of course Sega abandoned it's formula in favor of bandage fetichism, because God forbids that they do something artistically sound like building upon the foundations of a good Sonic game, relaunch the Shenmue series, localize the WiiU remake of Yakuza or give Rieko Kodama the team and resources to make a home console RPG (Every time they release new footage of Xenoblade X, I'm painfully reminded how much this looks like the Phantasy Star that should have been done years ago if they had taken the creative mind behind the series out of whatever corporate dungeon she's currently jailed in)
 

Nazulu

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I don't know, this review seems more like advertisement. I highly doubt it's perfect. Even little problems should be mentioned.

Does all the characters feel like they have enough smash power? Are all the items functioning well, none of them become really annoying? Are the supers a lot more balanced now? None of the stages are a pain in the ass? The screen doesn't stretch out too far at certain times? C'mon, there has to be something.