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Kingdom Hearts' Sora is the final 'Super Smash Bros. Ultimate' fighter
Doom Slayer will be available as a Mii Costume as well.
Strike a pose with trophies in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U
Say cheese, Super Smash Bros. for Wii U - you're getting a photo mode. According to a new post from Game Director Masahiro Sakurai on the Super Smash Bros. Miiverse, players of the console version of Nintendo's brawler will be able to pose the character trophies they've earned and take pictures in the game's Photo Studio mode. "Pic of the day. Zael from The Last Story grabs some Superspicy Curry from Master Hand. 'No...! You mustn't let that curry lure you in...!!'" Sakurai writes, describing the scene you see above. Photo Studio won't be the only difference between the 3DS and Wii U versions of Super Smash Bros. though; according to an Amazon listing, we can also expect a stage build mode and board game mode when the game launches on November 21. [Image: Nintendo]
Sakurai: Zelda, Sheik couldn't be one Smash Bros. fighter on 3DS
Character transformations in this year's Super Smash Bros. were nixed due to Nintendo 3DS hardware limitations, director Masahiro Sakurai told Famitsu this week (via Siliconera). Previous series entries featured characters that could switch outfits mid-battle; Zelda could turn into Sheik, for instance, and Samus could shed her armor and fight as Zero Suit Samus. In the latest sequel, however, Zelda and Sheik are only available as separate characters. "It's basically due to the 3DS' limitations," Sakurai said. "It was impossible to have both characters exist together [as one] on 3DS." "However," Sakurai continued, "reaching that limit can sometimes lead in good directions. Transforming characters had the drawback of ambiguous tactics and such, and I believe that they have become more fresh now." Former Smash Bros. brawlers Popo and Nana were also cut from this year's game due to hardware restrictions, as Sakurai found that the Nintendo 3DS was incapable of rendering both Ice Climbers at once in multiplayer battles. Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS premieres this Thursday in North America, and a Wii U version is due out this winter. [Image: Nintendo]
Ba-Ding! Game Boy stage joins the Super Smash Bros. 3DS fight
Super Smash Bros. on the 3DS will feature a stage inspired by Nintendo's famous handheld, the Game Boy - AKA that "old DS" where you have to actually press buttons. Game director Masahiro Sakurai posted a picture of the stage to Miiverse earlier this week, noting that, "If you turn on the 3D effect, it really looks like there's a Game Boy inside the screen." It's hard to tell exactly how the stage will function, but if we were to make a guess, we'd say it might behave similar to Flat Zone from Super Smash Bros. Melee. In that level - which is inspired by Game & Watch devices - players would have to battle one another as backgrounds changed to various Game & Watch games. Similar to the newly-unveiled Game Boy stage, Flat Zone featured walls around the stage designed to look like the edges of a handheld device. Hopefully the experience doesn't get too authentic, or we'll find ourselves unable to play unless we have a bright light shining on our 3DS systems. Guess we'll find out on October 3. [Image: Nintendo]
Target Blast minigame racks up points in Smash Bros. 3DS
In April, Nintendo told us all about Smash Run, a new game mode for the 3DS version of Super Smash Bros. that lets players stock up on stat boosts and fight with their powered-up characters. Since then, the focus has been new stages and character reveals, but Smash Director Masahiro Sakurai's recent Miiverse activity offers a glimpse at another new game mode called Target Blast. Target Blast begins with players facing a bomb on a platform. A countdown begins as soon as the bomb is touched, with the goal being to dole out as much damage as possible before launching the bomb toward a target-populated infrastructure to the right. Points are earned both for destroying the structure and for cracking the clusters of targets inside, but your freshly-crafted rubble can also destroy its neighbors, making point-rocketing combos possible. A player's final score is calculated after two rounds, though it's unclear whether each round's structure will vary, if your destruction is undone, or if the second turn is just spent dealing with what your first shot missed. Sakurai added that Target Blast scores will contribute to a player's Global Smash Power, which plays into Nintendo's skill-based matchmaking for Smash's online multiplayer. [Image: Nintendo]
Galaga star makes Super Smash Bros. cameo
For his latest Miiverse Super Smash Bros. tease, director Masahiro Sakurai has put his roster of Nintendo characters on the shelf in favor of a Bandai Namco arcade icon, the Boss Galaga. "If you get caught in the Boss Galaga item's tractor beam, it will carry you away to the top of the screen," Sakurai wrote. "You can shoot it down, but it won't join you in battle for double the firepower." For those too young to recall the early arcades, the Boss Galaga made its debut in the 1981 hit Galaga. Unlike other Galaga critters which sought only to destroy the player's ship, the Boss Galaga attempted to draw the ship in via tractor beam. If the Boss Galaga stole a player's ship and was then killed, the ship it swiped would be combined with the player's existing ship, doubling its effective firepower. As Sakurai mentioned, none of this takes place in Super Smash Bros., but at least now you know why the pixelated bug is attempting to abduct Donkey Kong. [Image: Nintendo]
Tomodachi Life stage lets you live inside Super Smash Bros.
Look, we all love fighting each other on top of Castle Hyrule and amongst the bricks of the Mushroom Kingdom in the Super Smash Bros. games. But sometimes, you just gotta step outside your comfort zone and try something new. Something like the Tomodachi Life-inspired stage for Super Smash Bros. coming to 3DS this October, perhaps. Game director Masahiro Sakurai revealed today that Super Smash Bros. for 3DS - and only the 3DS version - will feature a stage based on the recently-released Tomodachi Life. What's more, it will pull the Mii data from your 3DS so that when you come crashing through an apartment, it could be you or your friends' place you see. Sakurai also noted that the placement of rooms will be randomized, and that there are several different types of rooms for the game to choose from. While initially it looks as though areas of the level are closed off, walls will fade away when a fighter occupies the room it hides. Sakurai hinted that placing a bomb in an apartment might be a good idea, which is a great example of a thought that would be utterly terrifying if it weren't about a video game. [Image: Nintendo]
Female Animal Crossing villagers join Super Smash Bros' playable cast
Super Smash Bros. series director Masahiro Sakurai revealed today that players will be able to choose among several playable Animal Crossing villagers in the upcoming Super Smash Bros. for the Nintendo 3DS and Wii U, including multiple female characters. Today's roster addition is one of several female character options introduced in the latest Super Smash Bros. series entry. Nintendo previously announced that players will be able to play as both male and female Wii Fit Trainers, and Super Mario Galaxy's Rosalina also made the cut recently. Super Smash Bros. will launch for the Nintendo 3DS this summer, and a Wii U release will follow in the winter. [Image: Nintendo]
Smash Run replaces Adventure Mode in Super Smash Bros. 3DS
In lieu of the classic Adventure Mode, the upcoming Nintendo 3DS Super Smash Bros. sequel will feature Smash Run, a new gameplay type announced during today's Nintendo Direct broadcast. According to director Masahiro Sakurai, Smash Run pits four players against each other in a cross between a platforming marathon and standard Super Smash Bros. combat. The initial section of each game will see players racing through a labyrinthine dungeon stocked with power ups where they must use each character's individual skills to navigate obstacles and defeat AI-controlled enemies. Players will plumb these depths for five minutes, then they face off in combat, using the power ups they have collected. Sakurai fails to mention how many stages will be available for Smash Run, though the map shown during the broadcast appeared quite large and complex. Smash Mode is exclusive to the Nintendo 3DS Super Smash Bros., though Sakurai made no mention of what might takes its place in the Wii U version of the game. Edit: Originally this piece described the new mode as "Smash Mode" when it is actually called "Smash Run." We apologize for any confusion and have amended the error. [Image: Nintendo]
Super Smash Bros. brings the fight to 3DS this summer, Wii U in winter
In a tweet posted immediately prior to today's Super Smash Bros. Nintendo Direct broadcast, the company revealed release windows for the next two Super Smash Bros. games. The 3DS game will make its debut this summer, while the Wii U version will appear in "winter 2014," presumably in time for the holiday shopping season. The two latest entries in the fan-favorite fighting series see the return of familiar faces such as Mario, Link and Samus, but also welcome newcomers like the Animal Crossing villager and Capcom's long-absent Blue Bomber, Mega Man. [Image: Nintendo]
New Smash Bros. screen shows changes to edge-grab system
Ledges are important in the Super Smash Bros. series. Falling off of them? Bad. Grabbing onto them? Could save your life. Trying to grab one while your opponent hogs it in their invincibility state so you fall to your death? Infuriating. Thankfully, a new screen out of the Super Smash Bros. Miiverse shows off some upcoming changes to the edge-grab system. In previous games, players could hog a stage's edge, preventing opponents from making a return, but it looks as though this has changed. In the picture, we can see Link grabbing for a ledge while Mario looks to be getting repelled. "There are many changes being made to attack and defense options for grabbing edges," game director Masahiro Sakurai wrote. "In this picture, Link is actually trumping Mario's grab." Sakurai noted a few other changes as well. Air time and accumulated damage will determine a player's period of invincibility while hanging on an edge, and grab controls will no longer be affected by damage being above or below 100 percent. This may all sound like nitpicky things to fuss over, but details like these can make or break a fighting game's balance. Besides, you'll probably appreciate it when you're the one clawing desperately back onto a ledge.
Smash Bros. screenshot visits 3DS single-player mode
Another week, another excuse for Super Smash Bros. creator Masahiro Sakurai to tease players with a screenshot from the franchise's upcoming 3DS/Wii U debut. This time we see an image of the handheld's single-player mode. "To be clear, the new Super Smash Bros. games do not feature a story mode like The Subspace Emissary," Sakurai wrote in a message posted to Miiverse, where the above screenshot debuted. Despite this, the image appears to depict a 2D stage occupied solely by Mario's three dimensional character model. Superficially, that seems similar to both Subspace Emissary and the Adventure mode found in Super Smash Bros. Meleé, but there's not enough information available to deduce anything solid. The Wii U and 3DS incarnations of Super Smash Bros. currently lack a release date, though Nintendo claims that both games should debut before the end of 2014.
Super Smash Bros. trophies will differ between 3DS, Wii U versions
Super Smash Bros. series director Masahiro Sakurai announced via Miiverse that the upcoming Nintendo 3DS and Wii U versions of Super Smash Bros. will each feature unique unlockable trophies, giving players an incentive to play the game both at home and on the go. Sakurai revealed that the 3DS version of Super Smash Bros. will feature character trophies taken from Nintendo's handheld games, while the Wii U edition's trophy set is largely inspired by console releases. The announcement further establishes the 3DS version of Super Smash Bros. as a tribute to Nintendo's portable heritage, as the company previously announced that "there will be more stages based on handheld games [in the 3DS version], while themed stages from home console games will be on Wii U." While both Super Smash Bros. games will feature the same roster of playable characters, each version boasts its own unique graphical style and other distinctive elements, ruling out the possibility of cross-platform play. A release date has not been announced for either version.
Super Smash Bros: What happens when Kirby eats Mega Man is 'classified'
Super Smash Bros. creator Masahiro Sakurai may have been forthcoming about the new Super Smash Bros' lack of cross-platform play, but when it came to the really important information, he was still pretty cagey. For example, what could be more important than finding out what happens when Kirby eats Smash newcomer Mega Man? These are two gaming icons whose main ability is to steal the abilities of others. For all we know, Kirby swallowing Mega Man could create a rift in the fabric of reality, destroying all life as we know it. Alas, Sakurai wouldn't give us much information. "A lot of what you're asking is still classified," he told us through an interpreter at E3. "As far as the physical appearance of Kirby," he said, "I think what you imagine is probably pretty close to what will actually happen." Sakurai put his hands next to his head, in what we're pretty sure was the international sign for "Mega Man's helmet." We followed up by asking if Kirby would be gifted with a Mega Buster. "He's got little tiny arms, so who knows."
No cross-platform play for Smash Bros on 3DS and Wii U
The Wii U and 3DS versions of the new Super Smash Bros. will not feature cross-platform play, director of Sora Ltd. Masahiro Sakurai tells Joystiq. Since each version of the game has completely different stages, cross-platform play wouldn't work, he told us through an interpreter. Each version will interact with one another, however, as announced back in 2011. Specifically, players will be able to take characters they've customized and transfer them to the Wii U version. He wouldn't elaborate on exactly what those customizations are, saying only that they won't be costumes and they won't be something that players have to unlock through repetitive tasks. Different costumes, he said, would take away from what makes each character unique. He also wanted to avoid boring, repetitive tasks, while Sora works to produce a "stress free, easy connectivity" between the two versions. When asked if the level editor would return, Sakurai gave us a "no comment."
Smash Bros. director says Wii U version will be familiar and focused
Masahiro Sakurai, who is overseeing the upcoming Namco-created iteration of Smash Bros. on the Wii U and 3DS, says the goal for the game will be to keep things focused and fresh, rather than blowing out either the mechanics or the character list.Sakurai told IGN that because the franchise is so popular lately, he believes the core gameplay is on target, and thus won't change much in the next installment. "The game system itself is complete," says Sakurai, "so we don't want to make it 3D or introduce complicated controls just for the sake of it." The Wii U's new controller will be used, but outside of that, it sounds like things will stay familiar for fans.That will be true for characters as well. While Sakurai thinks "Snake and Sonic joining were fantastic," he's leery of going too far outside the Nintendo staple, for fear of losing "the focus of the game." Will there be anything new at all? Sakurai says only that he and his team are thinking of "ways we can introduce a slightly different, fun experience all the while keeping the usual frantic game play."
Kid Icarus: Uprising studio Project Sora closed
Project Sora, the studio responsible for Kid Icarus: Uprising, has closed its doors. A short message on the studio's website, translated by Andriasang, states that the company was closed on June 30 and that the website will shut down on July 31. Project Sora was started by Masahiro Sakurai, the brains behind Super Smash Bros, back in 2009.Kid Icarus: Uprising, the only title released by the studio, debuted to reasonably strong sales and critical praise this past March. Sakurai is currently working on the next iteration of Smash Bros for the Wii U and 3DS with Namco. We've reached out to Nintendo for more information on Project Sora's closure.
Here's some wonderful Smash Bros. whiteboard art from Sakurai's team
We don't know how far in development Super Smash Bros. for 3DS and Wii U is, but we know for a fact that the staff at Sora Ltd. is at least thinking about the series. And by "thinking" we mean "doodling on a whiteboard."Studio head Masahiro Sakurai tweeted the above whiteboard portrait, explaining that the staff drew it, and it's "excellent." They were smart enough to make Kirby the center of attention, which is always a good move when the guy who created him is your boss. But check out flying Luigi!
Namco's Smash Bros. team includes Tekken, Tales, Soulcalibur staff
A pair of statements on Nintendo of America's Nintendo Direct site offers more detail on Namco Bandai Studios' involvement with the next Super Smash Bros. game, coming to Wii U and 3DS. Director and Sora studio head Masahiro Sakurai (who appears to have gotten even younger) said that the team started development after the announcement of the project. "Currently, the prototype prepared by Namco Bandai Games and Namco Bandai Studios' special team looks pretty good, and it's working great," he said.Namco Bandai Studios' Masaya Kobayashi named some of the staff from Namco's side who will work on the fighting game, also describing their pedigree. "Yoshito Higuchi, the producer and the director of the 'Tales' series, Tetsuya Akatsuka, producer and director of 'Mobile Suit Gundam: Extreme Vs.,' the art director/sound director of the 'SoulCalibur' series, the main development team staff from the Tekken series...and that's just for starters." Kobayashi lists Ridge Racer games, We Ski, and Go Vacation as his own representative works.If having a random mishmash of Namco staff working on Smash Bros. concerns you, remember that Brawl had a lot of programming done by Game Arts, whose history of shooters, Lunar, and Grandia games is even less obviously transferable to fighting game expertise.
Kid Icarus: Uprising sequel not likely, Sakurai says
Despite strong sales and positive reception, it seems a Kid Icarus: Uprising sequel just isn't in the cards right now. Masahiro Sakurai, the game's director, has said that it's possible we could see another Kid Icarus game in the next 25 years, but not from his studio, Project Sora."If by 'lasting universe' you mean to ask if there's a sequel, the answer is no," Sakurai told IGN, "because we pushed a lot into the game in order to let people have this short yet deep experience, but the novelty of that would likely grow thin in the next game. For now, my thought is that perhaps we'll see someone else besides me make another Kid Icarus in another 25 years."25 years is a long time, but we're sure Kid Icarus: Rerising will really rock the 8DS when it drops in 2037.
