Smash Brothers Recap – All the Announcements from the last few Weeks

Super Smash Bros. news seems to be pouring in from everywhere lately. From EVO 2014 to the Nintendo Digital events, we just can’t get enough of Super Smash. Let’s recap some of the biggest news to happen recently in the Smash Brothers universe.

Recent Announcements

Nintendo announced that three more playable characters are getting ready to battle in Super Smash Bros. on 3DS and Wii U later this year. During the July 14th’s Smash Bros. character reveal event, Melee fan favorite Captain Falcon will be returning, packing his infamous Falcon Punch alongside two new playable characters from Fire Emblem Awakening. The legendary hero Lucina will make her presence known on the battlefield, and Robin will also be there supporting her by representing the player-created character in Fire Emblem Awakening. Let’s take a closer look at the Newcomers.

Newcomers 

Robin (the default name) will come with a choice of a male or a female skin, and it is expected that they will both have the same abilities as seen with the male and female versions of the Wii Fit Trainer and The Villager. Robin is a Grandmaster Tactician and can use tomes and wield swords, making him/her a very versatile character in the Smash roster. The trailer shows Robin using a variety of magic spells from Fire Emblem such as Thoron, Arc Thunder, and Nosferatu, and then seamlessly switching to a Levin Sword. Robin looks to be one of the most resourceful characters added to the roster, and the character seems to be without many missteps. Robin lands quickly on the ground so that there is little flailing in the air and the use of the tomes looks to add another level of playability to his/her arsenal. Instead of being either an overbearingly long range defensive character or an up close offensive player, Robin can be both. The Smash Boards exploded when Robin was revealed and, as of now, it seems that we will be seeing much more of Robin in competitive Smash tournaments in the future. That is if the Wii U version can surpass the Gamecube’s Melee. The response for Lucina, however, wasn’t as welcoming.

I am a huge Fire Emblem fan and I absolutely loved how Lucina was revealed to be in the new Smash roster. Not everyone shared my excitement though, and after her reveal, fans of the series began questioning her character’s true difference from Marth. Many believed that she was merely a female Marth skin because they are both Sword wielders and have a lot of the same move sets. Let’s face it; they even resemble each other because of their lineage. The creator of Smash Bros. Masahiro Sakurai put all of it to rest by explaining on Miiverse that Marth’s power comes from the tip of his sword while Lucina’s power comes from the entirety of hers. Basically he explained that Lucina is an easier,and better balanced character than Marth, because Marth depends on a more calculated directness with his attacks. He concluded this by saying “Whenever there is even a small difference in abilities, that character gets an actual roster slot. That is why you can select Lucina individually.”

One of the other main characters of Fire Emblem awakening, Chrom, was also revealed to be in the game. However, only Lucina and Robin will be fully playable of the three. Due to the extensive Fire Emblem roster already confirmed for Smash Wii U and 3DS (Marth, Ike, and now Lucina and Robin), Chrom will only appear in Robin’s Final Smash. This was initially a letdown for many Fire Emblem fans; however, it is understandable considering that there will be so many representations from the Fire Emblem universe (most of them being sword wielders), so any more would just seem repetitive. Don’t get me wrong, I would love the option to play as Chrom, but I understand Nintendo and Sakurai-san’s decision to not include him. Check out the reveal trailer for Captain Falcon, Lucina, Chrom, and Robin below.

Another surprise came when Nintendo announced that Ubisoft’s Rayman will be an assist trophy in Smash Bros. for both Wii U and 3DS. The news was revealed by Masahiro Sakurai on Miiverse when he shared the process of making this possible.

In order to make Rayman’s trophy, we asked Ubisoft to share their references. We were expecting to receive 2D drawing references for Rayman, but to our surprise, they sent us data of a brand new 3D model that they rendered for this game!! And that was how this trophy was created. It takes a lot of work creating each model, so it’s wonderful that the creators contributed their own efforts!!

It really is as wonderful as Sakurai-san explained. Rayman has been a beloved character since his days on the Sega Saturn and he is a very welcome addition to the Smash roster. While many people would have liked to have seen Rayman as a fully playable character in the new iteration of Smash Bros., we’ll settle for the assist trophy for now.

Let’s switch gears and take a look at the EVO fighting championship where Smash Bros. Melee is still the reigning champ.

 EVO 2014 Winner for Smash Bros. Melee: Mang0

EVO 2014 has wrapped up in Las Vegas on July 13th, as it is it was probably one of the most memorable fighting game tournaments I have ever seen. Besides Reggie Fils-Aime congratulating the competitors, (and reminding them that Smash for Wii U and 3DS is on its way), two time title holder Mang0 (above right) who played as Fox McCloud was able to beat Hungrybox’s Jigglypuff in the Grand Finals of the Smash Brothers Melee tournament. The Tournament came down to the best of the best in the Smash tournament ring, and in the end, only one could take home the title. Congratulations go out to Mang0 and his nail biting win over Hungrybox. It was an amazing finish.

Melee for many is considered to be the best Smash Bros. of all time because of the gameplay it offers. It is fluid, responsive, the controller is accessible, and it does away with the gimmicks that the Wii version Brawl brought to the franchise. There are no Adventure Modes or “Smash Balls” in the game. Smash Bros. Melee prides itself on being a fighting game. It doesn’t hide it like Brawl did. You vs. 3 of your friends is where the game truly shines. While the Gamecube iteration of Smash is king, it looks as if the Wii U version is trying to dethrone it.

I also wanted to send our wishes and thanks to Prog, who saw his last tournament as the announcer for a competitive Smash Bros. match. Prog has been announcing Smash tournaments since they were in their infant stage and without him, the community wouldn’t be as big as it is today. Check out the match for yourself.

If that wasn’t enough excitement for you, take a look at some of the new potential characters below.

Potentially Leaked Characters

During the Nintendo e3 Digital Event, the Goddess of Light Lady Palutena was announced from Kid Icarus: Uprising. Palutena is Pit’s greatest ally and along with her reveal there was a not so hidden image of Dark Pit in the background. Since it has been confirmed that there will be no Subspace Emissary in the new iterations of Smash Bros for 3DS and Wii U, Dark Pit must serve some purpose other than just hanging around in some nonexistent Adventure Mode waiting to capture Palutena. Dark Pit has not been announced at this time as a playable or assist trophy but I’m sure we will know more closer to the release.

Lucinia’s reveal was not exactly surprising to some, as she had already been leaked during Nintendo’s e3 Digital Event for the Amiibo reveal. If you’re not sure what an Amiibo is, click here to find out – see if you can find Lucina, as well as some other potential unannounced Smash characters in the image above. I just hope Toad is in Smash. I really want a shot at him and his high pitch grainy voice.