Is anyone else still breathless from all the crazy Smash reveals last week? I know I am. But, the Smash train keeps on running, and it’s my job as the conductor to keep it going choo-choo! Week 33 of our coverage mostly focused on the various Special attacks at our disposal, as well as a couple of other goodies. So enough talking!
Let’s get Smashing!
Have I mentioned how much I love the prospect of Mii Fighters? Nothing exemplifies the boundless creativity of the Smash world better, in my opinion. Monday’s screen showed off 3 epic projectiles that can be utilized by Mii Swordfighters – Shurikens of Light, Chakrams and Gale Strikes. The Chakram sounds most versatile, since you can control the direction it flies. On top of the fact that it is a Side Special, it means clever players can consecutively toss the Chakram after the Gale Strike or the Shurikens. Nasty. And this is just one small facet of the battle options present with Mii Fighter. Lovely!
I would be the first to remind you that I generally am not excited by the prospect of Trophy screens, but this one is different for a couple of reasons. First, it is the epic Eggrobo. I have somewhat of a soft spot for robots and I am fond of Sonic. But the real reason I really make an exception? Eggrobo shows up in Smash Run as a obstacle! Laser beam havoc FTW.
I’m not sure how I feel about Wednesday’s screen. At first I assumed it was just another same old same old mini game. But Sakurai’s post makes me suspicious – “Here’s a new mini-game that’s quite a bit different from Coin Launcher in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. It’s called Trophy Rush! The details…will be kept secret for now.” See, anytime Sakurai gets shifty about something, I get curious. Why keep secrets about a mini game? I’m keeping my eye on you, Mr. Sakurai…
If, like myself, you looked at Pac-Man’s trailer last week and wondered how the hell he attacks, Thursday clarified it some with his strangest move, the Bonus Fruit. Sakurai explains it better than I could – “As you charge this move, the bonuses will change, and all of them have different characteristics and movement patterns when thrown. The bonuses cycle in the same order as in the original game, and the charge-up period doubles once you cycle beyond the orange.” Most intriguing. I still want to know why one of the fruit in question is a ship, but that’s neither here nor there. Pac-Man looks to be a truly interesting and compelling new weirdo character. Can’t wait to try his moves out!
Friday went into more detail about the various customizable aspects of the game with this lovely screen. Donkey Kong not have enough range for you? Then try out his Storm Punch! Now every player will have 12 custom special moves at their disposal. Granted, you can only use them while playing single player, with friends or locally, but I still highly anticipate making my own amazing custom Brawlers. Now I just cross my fingers and wait for a new level creator mode!
But wait, that’s not all! As always, we have a great Character of the Week by long time writer, first time contributor (and fellow Mega Man fanatic) Justin Guillou! Take a read, you’ll like it.
Character of the Week
JUSTIN: When Super Smash Bros. Brawl came out, I was actually really disappointed to find out that Link was heavier and slower. I always enjoyed playing as Link in the previous Smash Bros. games, but when I controlled Link in this game, I realized that he just was not for me. At least… until I unlocked Toon Link. I did not think too much of Toon Link at first, since I had not played and finished Wind Waker at the time. It would not be until I picked up the HD version on Wii U that I realized how great of a game it was.
Toon Link is everything I could possibly want in a Smash Bros. character. Not too fast but at the same time incredibly agile. Brawl is known, and often criticized, for having floatier mechanics than say Melee, but Toon Link really benefited from it. As a lighter character, these physics allow him to cover a lot of distance in the air, making it easy to recover should he be knocked off the stage. What makes Toon Link shine are all of the tools he has at his disposal. One of his most useful moves is his boomerang. It does a decent amount of damage and if used correctly, can knock the opponent towards you, allowing for an easy set up for a smash.
His arrows come out quickly and when used with the boomerangs can keep his opponents at bay. His shield can also block most projectiles if you just stand still. This is a very underused ability that many people seem to forget about. I love taking advantage of it and confusing my friends when they try to get me with a projectile. If my opponents decide to get in close, I simply use his spin attack to quickly rack up damage and sometimes even get an opportunity at a grab. Another useful technique is using Toon Link’s bombs to reset him and allow him to use his recovery move again. This technique is a bit tricky to pull off and requires some good timing and a bit of luck.
If there was one major problem with Toon Link, is that while he can rack up damage pretty quickly, his moves have very low KO potential. As a result, battles can go on for much longer than they need to. It can be frustrating to know that even at 120%+ you are still unable to defeat an opponent with a smash. Also, because Toon Link is a light character, he can be taken out relatively easily by characters with hard hitting attacks such as Ike or Snake. If there was one character I lost the most lives to while playing as Toon Link, it was probably Ike.
Another one of Toon Link’s weaknesses is that he suffers a lot from tripping. This little guy slips and falls very often if you are not careful. Thankfully, it has been said that the new game will remove tripping!
Despite those few issues, Toon Link was and still is a joy to play, and I hope to continue playing as him in the upcoming Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and 3DS.
