Bryan Rose has the North American version of Smash Bros. in his hands. Here are his thoughts the first day into the fray!
I got the review copy of Super Smash Bros. for the 3DS late last week, so I thought I would share my experiences thus far in this diary feature before the review goes up on September 26. This is the North American version of the game, so I won’t get into too much details until review time, but I’ll touch upon what I did for the first few hours I played and what I experienced.
The first mode I jumped into was, in fact, Classic Mode. Now, this mode has been touched upon, but I’ll give my two cents - it’s been revamped and I’ve found it to be way more fun than previous entries in the series. Most of the game has you collecting coins to spend on trophies, among other things. The way Classic Mode works now is that you select a rating to see how high you’re willing to go in terms of difficulty. The higher the difficulty, the more you spend to compete at the higher difficulty. But here’s the interesting part: the more you spend, the bigger the rewards are for clearing each stage. More money, more trophies, more everything can be obtained the higher you are willing to go. Beyond the betting theme, Classic Mode remains a battle between you and bigger fighters, metal fighters, and the occasional 3-on-1 affair, nothing too different this time around. The arching paths you take in between fights is an interesting new touch as well.
All Star Mode is also here, and it’s what you’d expect. Not a ton of new stuff here, but I did enjoy the new timeline theme in which you fight your opponents based on what year they made their debut. Nothing too fancy, but still fun to play.
I jumped online for a bit and found it to be pretty fun. I only played the “For Fun” mode (which allows items and different stages, something the “For Glory” mode forbids), and noticed little-to-no lag in between battles. Of course, since I am not a competitive player at all, I got second in both of my matches but hey, it’s better than dead last! I also spectated on a fight between two fighters. I betted on the guy I thought would win if this were a real fight to the finish (because that’s always how I bet) and I ended up winning! Of course, since I’m frugal I didn’t win a whole lot, but the spectating mode is fun for those (such as I) who like to gamble without spending real world money.
Today was a “get into the game” sorta day. I’ve cleared Classic Mode with a few fighters, earned some trophies, but have barely scratched the surface in the overall experience. There’s still Smash Run to explore, and while I did play that today I think I’ll preview that feature at a later time as I’ve only played it for a cup of tea at most, nothing extensive. Stay tuned to this diary into the next week as I’ll continue to play and give my thoughts as I delve deeper into the world of fighting, mauling Nintendo brawlers.