I can hardly believe it’s been 55 entire weeks since I started writing Smashing Saturdays. It seems both longer and shorter, depending on when I think about it. The one thing that has undiminished since the start is my passion for all things Smash Bros. Though tempered by experience, I still find the game an absolute joy to play, and appreciate the wide diversity of characters, clones and all. But I feel the definitive version of Smash is going to be the Wii U version. Though the final pics of the week weren’t as epic as I might have hoped from Sakurai, I have a special feature to truly close things off in epic fashion.
But first, let’s discuss the pics of the week one last time! Let’s get Smashing!
Monday started with this absurd photo, which I can only assume is from the Photo Studio mode. I’ll let Sakurai explain – “Intensify your activity by dodging a rampaging car“… Wait. That didn’t clarify things at all! Bad Sakurai, bad! Oh well, moving on to Tuesday.
Tuesday had a duo of pics that discussed various co-op features. In the Wii U version, everybody can play together in every Stadium game, including Home Run contest. Apparently you take turns smashing the crud out of the Sandbag with your bats.
Not to be left out, this pic also was a part of Tuesday. Sakurai had some more coherent stuff to say this time around – “The batting order gets determined randomly to make it fair for the poor person that has to go first. Target Blast and Home-run Contest are games that you play over and over again, but you might find unique ways to play when you only have one shot at victory.” Still won’t compel me to play the Stadium games that much, but I’m sure some will appreciate the additional features.
Now Wednesday’s pics were much more compelling. Though I almost forgot it existed in Brawl, Masterpieces mode is back (with a vengeance?) in the Wii U version. I love me some retro, so I really look forward to playing through these classic games another time.
“Some of the Masterpieces aren’t unlocked at the beginning of the game. It’s impressive that there are even games from the Game Boy. Some games have different starting points, while others come loaded with save data.” I find it quite interesting that you have to unlock some of the Masterpieces, but that’s kind of par for the course with Smash Bros. More unlockables than the 3DS version is hardly a bad thing.
One of the things I liked the most about the previous Smash Direct is the veritable smorgasbord of controller options at our disposal, and that was what Sakurai focused on for Thursday. “You’ll need to link the 3DS version to the Wii U version to get them to work together. Luckily, this is easy. On the 3DS version, you simply select the Wii U option, and select the 3DS option on the Wii U version.” Sounds easy enough. Below is what the display changes to look like.
“This is what the screen looks like on the 3DS version when you link it with the Wii U version. We included this hoping that it might work as a remedy when you don’t have enough controllers.” I love that I can use my 3DS as a controller, especially now that I am more than used to the controls on the portable version. Though I am still very tempted to buy that GameCube adaptor…
Finally, Friday mostly focused on the fact that, as of Friday, Super Smash Bros. for Wii U is finally out. Huzzah!
And Sakurai also wanted to show off the Wii U Pro controller options. I can’t comment on the gameplay in the Wii U version yet, since I haven’t had a chance to play it as of this writing, but I will have many things to say once I do. Unfortunately they won’t be in this forum, but feel free to follow me on Twitter and listen to my ramblings. My handle is @SpeerofD3stiny.
But that’s not all! I promised you a proper send off, and I meant it! Click this link to see the real finale to Smashing Saturdays!
