sora-ltd
Latest
Joystiq Top 10 of 2014: Super Smash Bros. for Wii U
ATTENTION: The year 2014 has concluded its temporal self-destruct sequence. If you are among the escapees, please join us in salvaging and preserving the best games from the irradiated chrono-debris. It's been a long time coming, but the Wii U finally came into its own this year, thanks in no small part to Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. The game sold nearly half a million units stateside during its weekend launch, earning the title of fastest-selling Wii U game in the United States. We'd call that a surprise, but here's the thing about Smash Bros.: everyone – young, old, casual, hardcore, and every label inbetween – wants to get in on the action. That's what makes the series special, and Smash Bros. for Wii U proved that Nintendo and developer Sora Ltd haven't lost sight of that universal appeal.
Metareview: Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS
We handed Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS four and half stars, calling it "the most feature-complete, compelling Super Smash Bros. entry to date," and setting it right alongside Fire Emblem: Awakening and The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds as a game that every 3DS owner should play. Critics around the web seem to agree that Super Smash Bros.' first outing on 3DS is worthy of high praise, though experiences with online play seem to vary across the board. Our own experience was fairly positive, depending largely on the geographical proximity of opponents. One critic notes lag issues in local multiplayer, especially in 4-player matches. Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS launches in North America on October 3.
Super Smash Bros. 3DS review: Only the strong
It may not be the undisputed industry leader these days, and Nintendo currently faces stronger competition than it ever has, but one thing you can't take away from the Japanese gaming giant is its wealth of iconic, beloved characters. From Mario to Link to Donkey Kong (and on through another few dozen familiar names), Nintendo is responsible for the majority of gaming's most famous faces. In hindsight, the idea to combine them all into one massive fighting game nostalgia bomb was sublime genius, and the Super Smash Bros. games have been among Nintendo's most popular releases on each console they've reached. It doesn't hurt that the games have all been solidly constructed from a combination of unique fighting game mechanics and spot-on controls, but let's be frank, people are buying these games because they're the best way to punch Pikachu in his cute, smug little face. That all might change with the latest entry in the series, however. Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS (that's the full title) is as much a trip down Nintendo's memory lane as any of its predecessors, but there's more meat here than in prior games. More to see, more to do, and all of it is built on the most solid fundamentals the series has yet seen. But is all of that enough to survive the franchise's first jump to a portable system? And what of the new online components, which have been a key failing of prior Super Smash Bros. games? Nintendo, along with development partners Namco and Sora, seems pretty confident, and the more time I spend with Super Smash Bros. for 3DS, the more I see why.
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."
Super Smash Bros. Wii U, 3DS to be showcased at E3
The world gets its first look at the new Wii U and 3DS Super Smash Bros. games at this year's E3. In this week's Direct broadcast, Nintendo announced series designer Masahiro Sakurai is to debut screens of the new entries at the LA expo in June. Sakurai then clarified the news on Twitter, hinting there'll be more of the inter-icon fracases than just screens.Sakurai tweeted he'd like to show both the Wii U and 3DS versions, and that, while "other games" have had visuals shown, he'd like to "release something better." It would be a bit surprising to only see screens, given Melee and Brawl both were first showcased with trailers at E3 expos.Nintendo also announced new Wii U Mario Kart and 3D Mario games are in development, and are to also be shown off at E3 2013. In their case there'll also be playable demos at the expo, but at this stage that seems a pipe dream for the new SSB games.
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!
Thank Kojima's son for getting Snake into Smash Bros. Brawl
Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima and Sora Ltd. head Masahiro Sakurai are friends. So when Hideo Kojima wanted one of his most famous characters, Solid Snake, put into Sakurai's fighting series, Super Smash Bros., all the two had to do was talk. "When I was developing Super Smash Bros. Melee for GameCube, Hideo Kojima contacted me and practically begged me to put him in there, but at that time we were deep in dev and it was too late," Sakurai told Kotaku back in 2006. Snake didn't end up in Melee, but did appear in the Wii's iteration of Super Smash Bros.: Brawl.So what drove Kojima to "practically beg" Sakurai to get Snake in the game? "My child likes Super Smash Bros., so we play it a lot together. And he told me that there's no character that you made in that game," Hideo Kojima told a group of interviewers late last week ahead of the Smithsonian's "The Art of Videogames" exhibit. Aside from his son's pleading, Kojima pointed to Metal Gear's low profile on Nintendo consoles as a second reason."As you know, we did make Twin Snakes, but generally speaking, there hasn't been a lot of Metal Gear on Nintendo platforms. So from that perspective, I thought it was a good way to expose younger people to this character, Snake," he said. It must be working, as Snake is one of Brawl's most popular characters.
