Super Smash Bros. Direct Recap: Coming Summer and Winter 2014

The last time we had one of these, we had Hideki Kamiya drilling the release date of The Wonderful 101 into our heads… September 15th (Damn it, Kamiya). Well, on top of that, it revealed some interesting aspects to the game. And that’s what we were hoping for coming into today.

So, does Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and 3DS have a release date? Well, not quite. It does have a release window of sorts; two, to be precise. The versions will be released separately. The 3DS version will be coming in the Summer of 2014. The Wii U version will release this Winter. I’m expecting solid release dates to be fully revealed at E3 this year. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Here’s what else they revealed.

Differences between the versions were talked about. Obviously, there will be technical differences based on hardware, as well as the previously announced release window. Characters will be the same, but stages will be different. Also, the 3DS will have 2 musical pieces per stage while the Wii U version will have several songs that can be played. Sakurai also teased elements that will link the two versions, but he’ll reveal those later.

Stages were talked about as well, with games finally being put to some stages we’ve had no clue about since Sakurai first showed them to us. He also revealed that most stages will have a Final Destination version (this is important for a tidbit revealed later on). Here’s a list of the stages that were shown off.

• 3DS
  • Reset Bomb Forest
  • 3D Land
  • Spirit Train
  • Gerudo Valley
  • Arena Ferox
  • Tortimer Island
  • Living Room
  • Prism Tower
  • Rainbow Road
  • Find Mii
  • Balloon Fight
  • Jungle Japes

• Wii U
  • Mario Galaxy
  • Pyrosphere
  • Town and City
  • Boxing Ring
  • Pilot Wings
  • Skyloft
  • Windy Hill
  • Garden of Hope
  • Wii Fit Studio
  • Palutena’s Temple
  • Halberd

In addition to this, Sakurai talked about some of the hazards. In Wily Castle stage, he showed off the Yellow Devil that appeared in the Mega Man reveal back at E3 2013. The Yellow Devil will attack the fighters until they defeat him. Whoever gets the final strike will be rewarded with having a massive explosion that takes out your opponents. He also teased another boss character from a stage with what appeared to be a shadow of Ridley from Metroid.

Online modes were talked about next. Both versions will have online battles. Outside of playing with friends, you’ll have two different modes you can play: For Fun and For Glory. For Fun will have stages randomly selected with all items on. These will be Smash Battles only with only wins recorded. For Glory will have no items on the flat Final Destination stage. 1-on-1 battles will be possible in For Glory mode. Also, wins and losses will be recorded in this mode. Friend battles can be set up however you please.

The online environment was also talked about. Nintendo Network IDs will be used to identify players. In addition, a Code of Conduct will be implemented into the game. Nintendo will be working towards stopping players from dropping out after starting, relentlessly targeting one player, repeated self-destructs, frequent dropping from the server, and any other form of cheating, as well as baseless reporting of conduct violations. These may lead to temporary bans from online play.

Sakurai also revealed something called Global Smash Power, which will be determined by Solo Mode results. The score will be based on how many people you are better than rather than a ranking system. And while ranking won’t be used for multiplayer, matchmaking will be implemented based on skill.

After talking about the online features, Sakurai featured items that will appear in the next Super Smash Bros. game. Here’s a list of what was shown:

• Beam Sword
• Bumper
• Smart Bomb
• Motion-Sensor Bomb
• POW Block
• Beetle
• Fire Bar
• Back Shield
• Bombchu
• Fairy Bottle
• Ore Club
• X Bomb
• Hocotate Bomb
• Rocket Belt
• Steel Diver

Assists were given a special feature. These will appear in All-Star mode. Here’s a list of those that were shown:

• Andross
• Devil
• Knuckle Joe
• Saki Amamiya
• Lyn
• Nintendog
• Waluigi
• Dr. Wright
• Skull Kid
• Mother Brain
• Midna
• Ashley
• Dark Samus
• Chain Chomp
• Isabelle
• Elec Man
• Color TV-Game 15

The Pokemon in the game were talked about next. Regular Poke Balls will be around, but Master Balls will now be a part of the game, with rare and legendary Pokemon being released. Here’s a list of the Pokemon that are coming:

• Meowth
• Electrode
• Eevee
• Staryu
• Metagross
• Fennekin
• Meloetta
• Gogoat
• Entei
• Deoxys
• Palkia
• Kyurem
• Victini
• Keldeo
• Xerneas
• Arceus

Characters became the focus next, with Sakurai showing off some of the new features for some of the returning characters. For instance, characters can only fight in one form during a fight. This separates Samus and Zero Suit Samus, as well as Zelda and Sheik. Zelda and Sheik will now have their own Down-B attacks. Meanwhile, Samus’s Power Suit won’t fall apart during the final smash. No final smash was revealed for Zero Suit Samus.

In addition, some characters have been changed based on changes to certain series. For example, Lucario will have a Mega Evolution, which reflects the additional evolution from Pokemon X&Y. Also, Sakurai revealed that Yoshi, one of the original Smash Bros. fighters, has been confirmed for the game. His moves will include some abilities that were used in Yoshi’s New Island.

As for new characters, Sakurai showed off the move sets for Rosalina and Luma, Little Mac, Villager, Mega Man, and the Wii Fit Trainers. Both Little Mac and Rosalina and Luma were shown in-depth. Rosalina and Luma will be able to fight close together (ala Ice Climbers) as well as apart. Rosalina can throw Luma and then control Luma’s movements. On the other side, Little Mac was revealed to have extremely strong power on the ground but weak while in the air. He’ll also have a wire-frame outfit based on the original arcade game. The power meter was also explained as a special attribute that will result in a 1-hit KO. This is separate from his Final Smash.

Custom move sets are added into the game. This can be used for local multiplayer or playing online with friends. Default sets will be used for online matches without your friends.

A game mode for the 3DS was revealed, called Smash Run. This is a battle game where you search a dungeon with up to 4 players. This mode lasts 5 minutes and leads to an end battle that features power-ups that each character collected while in the dungeon. You can also outfit yourself with any item you have.

At the end, Sakurai thanked us for watching, but had one last reveal: Charizard and Greninja, both from Pokemon, join the Smash Bros. roster. This will actually be Charizard’s second time as a roster member (part of Pokemon Trainer in Brawl) but the first time on his own.

And that about does it for this Direct. What did you think of the information presented today? Let us know in the comments below. Also, be sure to check out Josh Speer’s Smashing Saturdays every week on… Saturday. He’ll have all the latest images from the game as well as the Character of the Week and Most Wanted Brawler features.

This article will be updated periodically today to reflect new information and images as we are able to get to them. Special thanks to Eric Chetkauskas, David Rawlings, and Brandon Rose for helping with images during the presentation. Also, thanks to Josh Speer, Will Whitehurst, and Guy Rainey for their help during the Direct.

You can watch the full Direct below.