Well, this Smashing Saturdays certainly lived up to its name this week! Granted, a lot of that had to do with the Smash Bros. Direct this Thursday, but, even beyond that, it was pretty great. The highlights were some great trophy screenshots, as well as a couple of new secret character reveals. Since we’ve got a lot to cover, let’s get Smashing!
Monday had a slew of pictures discussing how the Wii U version of the game operates. This first screen was only the tip of the iceberg.
I’ll let Sakurai do the talking for this one – “Going clockwise from the top-left corner, here are the pictures that appear for Rules, Time Limit, Custom Fighters, Stage Choice, Damage Ratio, and Handicap.” Even the basic stuff looks glorious in HD. But that’s not all he had to share for Monday.
“In the Wii U version, you can customize additional rules from the beginning of the game. Here are the pictures displayed for Stock Time Limit, Team Attack, Pause Function, SD Penalty, Damage Display, and Score Display. You can almost hear Fox’s cry in the picture displayed for SD Penalty settings.” I love how you don’t have to unlock additional rules for the Wii U version. Also, how creepy is Villager in that bottom-left pic?
Tuesday was utterly glorious for fans of Xenoblade Chronicles. The amount of polish and craftsmanship that goes into these trophies is even more apparent in HD. Not that the 3DS trophies are anything to sneeze at, but this is by far prettier looking. Metal Face looks truly threatening.
Have I mentioned lately that Sakurai is a troll? Even knowing that 99% of players are familiar with the entire Smash roster by now, he still plays it close to the chest with screens like this. I won’t ruin it for you, but this pic does correspond to an upcoming character reveal. I wonder who it could be!
OK, like I said earlier, Thursday was a big day for Smash Bros. First, Sakurai showed off this screenshot which displays increased functionality for the big screen in the Boxing Ring stage. I admit it’s a lot cooler looking this way. But Thursday was mostly amazing cause of the Smash Bros. Nintendo Direct, which I covered on the site. The highlights were Smash Tour mode, up to eight-player multiplayer, Tournament implementation, the official reveal of Bowser. Jr and the announcement of the surprising return of Mewtwo! I admit, I did not see that coming. Makes the wait for November 21 harder and harder.
OK, Friday’s pic looks downright disappointing after Bowser Jr. and Koopalings, but here goes.
First off was this pic for Friday. Not bad, considering the previous max number of players on screen was four. Sakurai also had this pic to show off.
And this quote to go with it – “And here’s a stage prepared for a large number of fighters, Big Battlefield!! Fighters can spread out, so it should be easier battling on a stage like this.” I admit, I do like the idea of unique stages crafted solely with giant battles in mind. I can only imagine how hectic those will get. Also, Sakurai kept the trend of adding more secret characters to the roster. After this is the point of no return.
I know I already said earlier that Bowser Jr. has been revealed, but I wanted to share his epic reveal trailer with you, just in case you missed it. Gotta love the epic Airship theme music!
Another character who was officially revealed on the site is none other than the monochrome menace, Mr. Game & Watch! He’s back and just as insane and delightful as ever. I told you way back when Pac-Man was revealed that he was coming back.
