It’s always nice to see developers getting creative in these ways, but it’s times like this, when creativity comes at the expense of enjoyability, that it starts to hurt. The result is two extremely cramped fighting spaces between which players can move back and forth, rather than a single, enjoyable arena. The Gaur Plains stage, for instance, has its main platforms on either side of the stage, all the way at the top below it are several smaller platforms, and the middle of the stage is a large gap where players may fall to their doom. To their credit, many of the new stages have wonderful gimmicks and each one stands out as a completely unique and lovable stage, but unfortunately, many are so focused on novelty that they lose a certain degree of playability. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for the batch of stages in this version of the game. Every newcomer, save for the two clone characters, has a unique fighting style feels perfectly novel without relying too heavily on their gimmicks. The newcomers to this entry aren’t quite as high-profile characters as the group from Melee or Brawl-it’s only natural after after four installments that Nintendo would run out of A-list icons-but they’re no less the best group we’ve seen by far. There are heavy fighters, fleetfoots, ranged mages, and everything in between. The distinct feel of each and every character is prevalent in everything they do, which not only contributes to the wonderful diversity of the cast as they’re portrayed, but also the diversity in how they play. These characters’ personalities and quirks are highlighted in every aspect of the animation, and even their playstyles, which makes the massive roster size even more impressive. But they bring their individuality to the table with their four Special Moves, and a super-powered finisher known as a “Final Smash.” Special moves include character-specific attacks like Mario’s famous fireball, Kirby’s copy ability, and the ever-beloved Falcon Punch.
There are a total of 51 characters in the final roster, including all-stars like Mario, Link, Pikachu, and Kirby fan favorites like Captain Falcon of F-Zero fame, Shulk, from Xenoblade Chronicles, and Little Mac, from the classic Punch-Out!! series alongside famous third-party icons Mega Man, Pac-Man, and Sonic the Hedgehog.Įvery character has a series of standard attacks and “Smash Attacks,” which often serve as a finishing blow to your foes. And the goal, of course, is to score K.O.s. The higher your damage counter, the farther you’ll fly when your opponents land a blow, and if you fly off-screen, constituting a K.O. Unlike traditional fighting games, there’s no health bar to whittle away each character has a damage counter that rises with each hit. If you linger on the title screen, the game will begin a “How to Play” video for series newcomers. The latest entry has just been released, now on a handheld console for the first time in the series, and hype is at an all-time high. is a line of the best character fighters the industry has to offer, and time and again Nintendo has astounded their fans with excellent gameplay and wonderful rosters of characters.