Super Smash Brothers 4 coming this summer (3DS) and winter (WiiU)

[Alberto7]

Well, Samus did take the front and center spot on the Wii U game package. It most likely doesn't mean anything, but I guess I just like the irony of it. I am also glad that they boosted Zero Suit Samus's strength. She's one of my favorites in Brawl, but her lack of strength kind of frustrated me at times. She had a lot of potential, and it seems it's being exploited now.

 

[InfinityCollision]

I've heard countless times that Meta Knight and Marth were the best, which is why I also agree.

Meta Knight has the dubious honor (well, dubious in that it represents poor balancing) of holding an almost undisputed #1 spot for pretty much the entire time Brawl's been out. He's usually placed in his own tier due to the lead he has over other characters in tournament play (some tournaments ban his use), but even in a more semi-casual setting it's really easy to see how incredibly powerful he is. Marth's been in the top tiers (though not #1) for most of SSBM and SSBB's respective lifetimes and Ken's longtime dominance as a Marth main certainly doesn't hurt that perception of dominance. I didn't enjoy him as much in Brawl with the changes he got, but I have a soft spot for agile swordsmen and clever countering.

Well, Samus did take the front and center spot on the Wii U game package. It most likely doesn't mean anything, but I guess I just like the irony of it. I am also glad that they boosted Zero Suit Samus's strength. She's one of my favorites in Brawl, but her lack of strength kind of frustrated me at times. She had a lot of potential, and it seems it's being exploited now.

Agreed. I love her playstyle, but I never really got into playing Zero Suit because she felt so underpowered. That could change this time around.

 

[StevenC]

No matter how bad Kirb-Man is, it will never top the terror that is modern Pac-Man.

Amazingly, I had completely forgotten about that Pac-Man. When I thought of 3D Pac-Man, I was thinking about exactly what we're getting and was wondering what the complaints about a possible Smash Bros appearance were about. Thanks, I guess...

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

Just had to share this.

...



And I remember seeing the new Pac Man when I was babysitting my cousin (who happens to also be as big of a Nintendo fan as me ). I was watching the new Pac-Man show with him, and I just couldn't stand how he looks. REALLY damn glad they chose the retro design.

 

[asher]

Is Captain Falcon finally out?

 

[InfinityCollision]

Super Smash Bros. Smash-Fest @ Best Buy

Best Buy's hosting Smash U play today (4-9) and Saturday (12-5) at select stores. Probably going to check it out Saturday myself.

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

Clueless Gamer: Conan Reviews "Super Smash Bros." @ TeamCoco.com

 

[Alberto7]

^ I think that video alone was better than all of E3 today! God, I love Conan some times.

On another note, I found this video really cool! (although not as funny as HHTJH's ) The reaction to Pacman got me all pumped!

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

Hearing the reaction when Pac-Man opens his mouth reminded me of the TP reaction from E3 '04. So awesome.

Character customization looks especially awesome.

 

[TheHandOfStone]

Posting an odd game balance hope/demand: characters should not be able to be grabbed while in hitstun.

Previous games (especially Brawl) had issues with inescapable (or near-inescapable) throw setups. The Ice Climbers can kill you off of a single grab in both Melee and Brawl, and certain characters have near-unwinnable matchups due to character-specific quirks of hitboxes and grabboxes. It would be so much easier if Smash 4 (like other games) didn't allow you to combo into throws. You could still combo out of them with unscaled damage, making them as rewarding (or moreso) than they are in other fighters. It would, however, prevent some of the silliness and gimmick-dominated gameplay without gambling on the vigilance of the balance team.

 

[InfinityCollision]

From what I've heard they seem to have done it the other way around: there's a lot of lag after throws and it's difficult to combo off grabs as a result. Comboing as a whole seems to be pretty limited right now, a lot of the tricks from Brawl seem to be out too. Whether they're using a limited implementation of the game engine for demos or if mechanics have actually been neutered remains to be seen.

Frankly I think both approaches are weak because they promote trading blows and defensive play instead of aggressive pursuit for combos, which is preferable no matter your level of play because it creates a more intense experience. Momentum becomes more significant. It's more fun to play and to watch. Within reason of course - I'm not trying to argue in favor of 0-death combos and there are measures that could be taken to address that without killing the combo game. Developing effective counters is the way to go, not artificially strangling combos.

Regarding what was said about Samus previously, this is HugS' take on it:

Played Samus for over 14 years, & 16 other knowledgeable players didn't pick her. If you believe Samus was the best, you are sadly mistaken

 

[asher]

I feel like you guys are asking a lot of a Smash game in terms of arcade fighter mechanics

While I do wish they were more tightly and evenly balanced... and it would be great if the fighting could get more in-depth, I just don't think it'll happen.

Thinking about it, yeah, I think Infinity's right that what the game really needs is a better counter system. I'm of the opinion you should be able to combo with grabs (because that's cool and useful) but it should never be unbreakable (duh), and aside from tweaking frames of moves having a better defined counter/priority system might be the answer.

 

[InfinityCollision]

The thing is that all of this is possible without negatively impacting the party game side of it. In fact, I'd argue that it's beneficial to the party game experience for the aforementioned reasons. All of my gamer friends, from the casuals to the guys who know all the fancy tricks and combos, default to Melee at least 90% of the time when choosing between Melee and Brawl. While the depth in that game wasn't intentional, it managed to cater extremely well to both ends of the spectrum. Sakurai seems to think the two are incompatible though.

I'm not saying we need Melee 2.0 (we don't), but Smash 4 comes across as being closer to Brawl than its own game right now. There are a couple of changes I like (ledgehogging got nerfed hard), but I'm withholding judgement on the rest for now. There's still a couple months left to tweak the game.

 

[crg123]

And Majora's Mask remake confirmed.

O____o

Omg...

 

[InfinityCollision]

It's not official... yet. Zelda Williams bringing a Majora's Mask onstage was intriguing though.

 

[asher]

The thing is that all of this is possible without negatively impacting the party game side of it. In fact, I'd argue that it's beneficial to the party game experience for the aforementioned reasons. All of my gamer friends, from the casuals to the guys who know all the fancy tricks and combos, default to Melee at least 90% of the time when choosing between Melee and Brawl. While the depth in that game wasn't intentional, it managed to cater extremely well to both ends of the spectrum. Sakurai seems to think the two are incompatible though.

I'm not saying we need Melee 2.0 (we don't), but Smash 4 comes across as being closer to Brawl than its own game right now. There are a couple of changes I like (ledgehogging got nerfed hard), but I'm withholding judgement on the rest for now. There's still a couple months left to tweak the game.

I suppose that's fair.

For some reason I like Brawl much better. I'm not sure why - I may just prefer the faster/smoother feel.

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

I suppose that's fair.

For some reason I like Brawl much better. I'm not sure why - I may just prefer the faster/smoother feel.

Melee is faster, though. Brawl is known for being pretty slow and floaty.

Also, just thought I'd put this here;

It's ....ing adorable. Miyamoto still a child inside confirmed.

 

[asher]

Is it? It's been years since I've played, and there was a bit of a gap.

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

Yeah. the main complaints, about Brawl, that hardcore Melee players have is that it's slower-paced, which is why a lot of SSB tournaments are based about Melee.

 

[asher]

Huh.

I'm just weird