Super Smash Bros. for Wii U Review

Super Smash Bros. for Wii U

Publisher: Nintendo Developer: Sora / Namco Bandai Platform: Wii U Release: 2014 Players: 1-8 (Local), 1-4 (Online) Genre: 2D Fighting / 2D Platformer Rating: 9.6 / 10.0: Masterful


From the moment Nintendo 64 owners heard Xander Mobus bellow the words "Super... smaaaaash brotherrrrrsss!" upon booting up the game of the same name, they knew they were in for something great. A little over 15 years and a handful of spectacular sequels later, along has come what is arguably one of the greatest video games ever released. While Super Smash Bros.' 3DS iteration was one of the best reasons to own the handheld, but due to it's lack of features previously present in the series such as an animated intro, Tourney mode, Events, and a stage builder, it felt like a glimpse of what was to come with the upcoming Wii U release. The 3DS game kept Smash fanatics busy for the following month, but they all knew that this was the true game they were waiting for that was nearly seven years in the making. Was it all worth the wait? When I popped this disk into my Wii U and was treated to a beautiful opening cut scene, that question became rhetorical.

Something you will notice fairly quickly is that pretty much everything the 3DS edition lacked from previous SSB games has returned, upping the replay value by a fair amount. If you were disappointed by the missing modes in the handheld game (if you played it), than you can rejoice at the return of most aforementioned exclusions. Also, nametags. Don't tell me giving yourself an immature name that results in groans from your pals isn't fun. While these are meaningful features, you'll be spending most of your time with the chaotic local brawls. While the 3DS version had stages based more on handheld titles, the battlegrounds here are console game-oriented, or replace stages based on the same series. Rather than Reset Bomb Fortress (Kid Icarus), there's Palutena's Temple. Instead of Saffron City (Pokémon), there's Kalos Pokémon League.

If you owned the 3DS game, you will notice fairly quickly that there is no Smash Run mode. While this was a fun and addictive addition, it has been substituted here by Smash Tour. This is a Mario Party-style game in which you travel roll a dice (sort of) and travel around the board of your choice as your Mii, collecting stat boosts, items, and fighters as you go. When two players collide, a battle is initiated. Here, you'll use the fighters you've acquired, making this mode a great way to hone your skills with a character without doing training mode. The winner of the fight receives a generous reward. When there are no turns left, a stock battle occurs in which the last person with fighters remaining is the victor.

As you play through the single player modes, you'll earn tickets. These can be used to play the Crazy Orders and Special Orders modes. In these games, you're given a time limit to face fighters and earn coins, custom moves, stat badges, Mii Fighter clothing, and other goodies. When you think you're ready or when time is up, you can face either Master Hand or Crazy Hand (this depends on which variant of the mode you are playing) to make the loot yours-- if you win, of course.

SSB Wii U is the flagship title for Nintendo's new Amiibo figurines, the company's take on toys-come-to-life gaming popularized by Skylanders and Disney Infinity games. When you place a new Nintendo character toy onto the Wii U Gamepad, you will be asked the customize it. Choose its outfit's color scheme, give it a name, then ... feed it equipment. These aren't limited to three stat badges like normal custom fighters-- instead, they gobble up (off screen) any number of badges. You could just go ahead and stuff your Amiibo with all your equipment, or balance out its stats until you are satisfied. You can then proceed to place to level up your FP (Figure Player) by battling it, all the way 'till it gets to level 50. The higher its level, the more skilled it becomes. The figure can go from being destroyed by you to become the destroyer in just a few hours of dedicated training . It can even adapt to your moveset and develop its own habits. It's always fun to play a one-on-one match teaching your Amiibo a specific tactic. Amiibo support has since been added to the  3DS entry, but the figurines are compatible only with the New 3DS mode unless you purchase an adapter. Additionally, DLC has been added to Smash for the first time. Extra fighters, stages, and Mii Fighter outfits are available, and Nintendo is listening to the fans. There are online ballots for potential DLC characters (they must be video game characters, so sorry, Dragonball fans, but it will be over 9,000 years before Nintendo listens to your cries of "Goku for Smash!"), and I was pleasantly surprised to see stage ideas from the magazine Game Informer make their way into game. However, I am annoyed by how overpowered some of the DLC characters are -- Ryu and Mewtoo specifically. I guess you can say Smash, in away, has become a pay-to-win game (I'm joking of course).

While the series' previous console iterartion had tons of controller options, this game has even more! You can use a sideways Wii Remote, a Wii Remote and Nunchuck combo (my personal favorite), the Wii U GamePad, a Wii Classic Controller, a Wii U Pro Controller and diehard fans of Melee can now get their hands on the GameCube controller adapter! I haven't yet mentioned the marvels that are this game's graphics and soundtrack. While Super Smash Bros. Brawl (which it is your duty as a gamer to play) opted for a dark and gritty visual style, SSB4 return to Melee's vibrant and colorful aesthetic, making this a treat for the eyes. Additionally, I was blown away by the size of this game's 490 track musical score, a number that may increase. This dwarfs Brawl's already astounding 267 songs as well the 3DS version's still-impressive 127. However, I can't notice a few tweaks to the soundtrack from the other addition involving a few of my favorite songs. I don't really mind that the beautiful guitar remix of the Gerudo Valley theme was replaced by the original composition. I do mind that the awesome horn and electric guitar version of the Punch Out! Circuit theme from the series' Wii reboot was substituted by a generic rearrangement that can't even hold a candle to the original chiptune. My final complaint is that the issues with online play in the handheld game have not been addressed. There's just as much lag and games that are forcibly ended, possibly more so than in the other version. Overall, most of the issues I faced were only nitpicks and I still didn't have many of those. If you own a Wii U, than you absolutely must own this game. This is a masterpiece that any fan of Nintendo must play.

Ups
Years of replay value
8-Player Smash
Massive roster
Amiibo training is great fun
Missing features return
Online character ballot
Tons of controller options

Downs
Overpowered DLC characters
Smash Run substituted
Online connectivity as bad as ever

ESRB: E 10+ Content: Cartoon Mischief, Cartoon Violence, and Mild Suggestive Themes Price: $59.99 (Retail / Download)

Masterpiece Collection

MASTERPIECE COLLECTION

There are good games, then there are great games, then there are games that you have no excuse but a tight budget not to own. Here is a list of links to every review with a score of 9.5 or higher. If I ever play a game of such quality, I will almost certainly review it.

New Super Mario Bros. - An amazing reboot of Mario side-scrollers that reminds us why we still love the portly plumber - http://toldyousovideogamereviews.blogspot.com/2012/02/new-super-mario-bros-ds-review.html\

Super Mario Galaxy - A beautiful, innovative, and straight up magnificent platformer deserving of its astounding 97.64% average score and number one spot overall on GameRankings - http://toldyousovideogamereviews.blogspot.com/2012/02/super-mario-galaxy-review.html

Super Smash Bros. Brawl - Argue about the  SSB's right to be considered a fighter, but you can't deny that it's a loving tribute to Nintendo's history that's packed with months worth of content that's perfect for having loads of multiplayer fun at the expense of your friendships - http://toldyousovideogamereviews.blogspot.com/2012/03/super-smash-bros-brawl-review.html

Super Mario Galaxy 2 - Despite having an inferior plot, this game is superior to its already amazing predecessor in nearly every way, and it's my favorite game of all time - http://toldyousovideogamereviews.blogspot.com/2012/03/super-mario-galaxy-2-review.html



Super Scribblenauts - A brilliant and challenging puzzle game that allows you to create anything (even with adjectives!) and solve everything - http://toldyousovideogamereviews.blogspot.com/2012/03/superscribblenauts-publisher-warner.html

Super Mario 3D Land - A wonderful blend of nostalgia, innovation, and the signature charm of the gaming's biggest franchise - http://toldyousovideogamereviews.blogspot.com/2012/03/super-mario-3d-land-review.html

New Super Mario Bros. Wii - A marvelous 2D platformer that's a blast whether you play alone or engage in chaotic co-op with up to three friends - http://toldyousovideogamereviews.blogspot.com/2012/05/new-super-mario-bros-wii-review.html

Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga - An incredibly fun and loyal brick-ification of the beloved sci-fi film franchise that's sprinkled with silliness and has loads of replay value - http://toldyousovideogamereviews.blogspot.com/2012/06/lego-star-wars-complete-saga-review.html

Minecraft - A sandbox sensation which allows you to assemble whatever structure you please or survive in a massive land of pixelated cubes -  http://toldyousovideogamereviews.blogspot.com/2013/01/minecraft-review.html

Super Mario 3D World - Bring some buddies along and play through beautiful and bursting with fun high-def levels with some fun new power ups - http://toldyousovideogamereviews.blogspot.com/2013/12/super-mario-3d-world-review.html

Super Smash Bros. for Wii U - The dozens of new additions, both tiny and, major, make the long wait for this sequel entirely worth it. This will be a go-to party game for years to come - http://toldyousovideogamereviews.blogspot.com/2015/10/super-smash-bros-for-wii-u-review.html

Told You So Scoring System

Told So Scoring System

I already made a list like this on my site's sidebar, but here is a much more descriptive version of my review system.

I rate the games I review on a scale of 0.1 to 10.0. Each score range has a corresponding rank. Here is a list of the scores and their ranks, along with a description to go along with them.

SCORE -- RANK
0.1-0.9 --- Beyond Bad

This game is so bad, it is literally worse than bad. Nothing is good about this game, nor is there anything promising about it. A game of such poor quality is likely near-unplayable due to countless bugs and a frustrating control scheme.

1.0-3.9 --- Awful

Just horrible. The game may have potential, but it is impossible to overlook how unpleasant it is to play.

4.0-4.9 --- Bad

This game may have a couple fun moments, but that's where the good things end. It's just too bland and unenjoyable.

5.0-5.9 --- Mediocre

This is a subpar game. It definitely has some promise, but there's about an equal level of entertainment and buggy blandness. You'll have some fun, but be will be disappointed.

6.0-6.9 --- Okay

There's definitely some fun to be had here, but there are also a good deal of flaws. This game is enjoyable, but you'll need to ignore the issues to truly like it.

7.0-7.4 --- Good

This is a game that is fun most of the time, but has its share of flaws. It may not captivate you for very long due to the issues that are present, but it will be fun while it lasts.

7.5-7.9 --- Satisfactory

There are some issues, a couple of which may be major, but there's enough entertainment to make you want to come back.

8.0-8.4 --- Great

Although very entertaining, there will definitely be some problems you have with this title. It's unlikely that there's more than one issue that could be considered major, and you'll still have a lot of fun with this game.

8.5-8.9 --- Fantastic

Tons of fun with a few flaws that can be overlooked. This game may not be perfect, but it's pretty darn good even though there's a handful of small issues.

9.0-9.4 --- Excellent

An amazing title. There are some issues, some of which are noticeable. There's far more good than bad, though, and this is a game that can very easily be enjoyed.

9.5-9.9 --- Masterful

A masterpiece of a game more than worthy of your time. Any issues are very small do incredibly little to deduct from the experience.

10.0 ------- Perfect

Simply perfect. A game worthy to be considered one of the greatest ever made. If there are any flaws, they are so hard to notice that you won't care one bit.

The score of the games I review is based on several factors.

Visuals

Essentially how good a game looks. If a modern game has pixelated or hand-drawn visuals, this factor's power is based on the level of charm. I base the graphical appeal of old games off of how good the games looked at the time of their release. This aspect of the game is less effective if there are blurry textures or pop-up.

Audio

How do the music and sound effects hold up? I base the effectiveness of this factor off of how realistic or fun to hear the sound effects are and how memorable the music is, if there is any.

Playability

Is the control scheme easy to understand, and how long does it take the learn the basics of the game? Games with steep learning curves can still far well, but you won't enjoy them if you have a fairly short attention span.

Replay Value

Will this game keep you coming back for more, and how long does it take to complete? A game needs entertaining distractions from the main attraction for this factor to fare well.

Fun Factor

This important thing of all is the overall entertainment. How fun a game is to play matters more than everything else on this list. It takes more than beautiful visuals and amazing music to make a great video game. What's the point of playing if you're not having a good time?

Castle Crashers Review

Castle Crashers

Publisher: Microsoft Developer: The Behemoth Platform: Xbox 360 Release: 2008 Players: 1-4 Genre: Brawler / RPG Rating: 8.7 / 10.0: Fantastic

Above is a group of players battling barbarians.

Back in 2008, indie games had only recently been rising to popularity, and Microsoft's Xbox Live Arcade housed some fantastic individually-developed titles. Microsoft decided to publish The Behemoth's second game, Castle Crashers, the hilarious, hand-drawn hack-and-slash adventure that has since become the eleventh most downloaded title on the Xbox 360. The story begins when the knight of your choice is partying in a castle. Suddenly, an evil wizard and his army of goblins steal a magic crystal and kidnap four princesses. Due to the main characters never speaking, this cannot be explained. That's even more vague than a Mario game's story, but this is entirely overshadowed by the incredibly fun gameplay and abundant humor.

This may be a beat-'em-up game, but the combat doesn't feel repetitive, as there are tons of combos to learn and weapons to acquire. In addition to your primary and sub-weapons, you will also eventually a acquire an Animal Orb. These adorable floating pets all have a unique ability. Scratchpaw the tiger, for example, increases your strength and agility, and Bitey Bat occasionally nibbles on the noggins of your foes. Adding to the depth of the battles are the magic attacks. These attacks vary based on the element your character wields-- red knight uses lightning, orange uses fire, green uses poison, and blue uses ice. As you upgrade your magic statistic, you unlock new moves.  You can use your magical move set by holding the right trigger. You can't just use an endless stream of poison bursts or fireballs-- your magic use is limited by a meter that slowly refills after being used, much like in the Zelda series. Every time you level up, you are given skill points to assign to statistics once you return to the map. You can upgrade your strength, magic, defense, and agility. You make a magic-oriented fire knight like my brother, or a balanced lightning knight like me. Each stat can be upgraded up to 24 times, so it will take you awhile to max out your stats. If you think you made the wrong character choice or have maxed out, you are able to restart from square one as any other knight or secret character.

As I stated earlier, Castle Crashers is chock-full of humor. One moment, you'll be leaping over logs on a baby a deer that is endlessly streaming droppings behind it, and the next moment you'll be in a river battling a massive, hairball-spewing "catfish" with a cat's head while you're either riding a fish or dinosaur or standing atop a log, wheel, or dead bandit. I'm not joking when I say that, and every aspect of the game from the locales to the boss battles is laughter-inducing. My favorite touch is that if you rescue a princess while playing with other people, you all must fight to the death over who she kisses. The humor, as well as the abundant cartoonish gore stand out even more due to The Behemoth (as well as popular Flash content-based website Newgrounds) founder Dan Paladin's charming and vibrant hand-drawing art style that wouldn't be out of place in a wacky so-stupid-it's-funny cartoon. You will traverse a large map as you progress. You can not only access stages from here, but also visit shop, PvP arenas, or the blacksmith. This is a game that is fun no matter what, but it is pretty much meant to be played with friends. So far have I've hardly played without my brother or friends by my side. As a solo experience, the game is still fun, but extremely difficult, especially during the boss battles.

One of my favorite aspects of cooperative play is the revive system. If your pal goes down, you are able to use CPR to revive them. While performing this, a gauge will be displayed above your fallen comrade displaying a heart in the center and a moving white vertical line. In order to restore to most health possible, you must press Y when the line is in the center. There can be issues when trying to revive your buddy. For example, my brother was once killed by a spiked crusher in a factory stage, and my friend and I were unable to even ineffectively revive him before a spiky mass fell on our heads. We had to continue without him, and soon died as well. Additionally, your friends may force you to rush the revive so they can join in on battle, than once again die. The main problem I have with the story mode is that if you get stuck for a long time on one stage, you have no choice to resort to-- ugh-- grinding to be able to power through. Additionally, there are several minor bugs such as a character freezing or you being teleported into a foe's arms after interrupting a grab animation. Another small quibble is that no two players can select the same character. This usually isn't an issue, but it can be incredibly irritating when playing online with random people. Is it really fair that your only good character is a level 35 blue knight, but your friend picked his level 12 blue knight first? The main adventure is fantastic, but there's even more to the game. There are two other modes-- the Arena, and All You Can Quaff. In the Arena, you can face hordes of monsters independently. If you have friends with you, you can select your teams and partake in Melee. a battle to the death in which you are able to use all combos and magic attacks; Quickdraw, a bows-only battle in which you speed up as you collect flaming arrows; and Treasure. Here, you are given only a shovel to dig up gold and gems, which dishes out damage to your foes. You will eventually unlock Beefy, in which you can only attack your enemies only by snatching a Behemoth, the developer's surprisingly small chicken mascot, transforming you into a massive muscular murderer. All You Can Quaff is an eating competition in which you must rapidly mash the X and Y buttons to consume food faster than your pals and computer-controlled opponents. If you don't mind getting blisters, you won't mind playing consecutive rounds of this, but it's fun the first time around. I also adore the splendid soundtrack by a wide array of artists that blends orchestrated pieces with zany and intense techno tunes. All of these modes can be enjoyed via Xbox Live, though the aforementioned character restrictions are a more prominent issue. Castle Crashers is incredibly entertaining, but I recommend bringing along some friends to make the most out of this title. This is a game that strongly deserves a place in any Xbox 360 owner's digital library.

Ups
Varied combat
Very humorous
Charming hand-drawn visuals
Game can be replayed with all characters
Four player co-op
Revival system
Additional modes
Splendid soundtrack

Downs
Extremely vague story
Grinding sometimes necessary to improve
Reviving can sometimes be impossible
Only one player can use each character
Mildly buggy

This game is also available on Xbox One, PlayStation 3, and PC (via Steam)

The System Difference: You can purchase both the original and remastered version of this game on Xbox One. The remaster runs at 60 FPS and replaces All You Can Quaff with the much more entertaining Back Off Barbarian mode in which you press the face buttons to move across a map while avoiding barbarians. The PC version also has this mode. I only briefly played the game on PS3, but I found the volleyball mode that replaced All You Can Quaff to be incredibly fun. On Xbox One, PS3, and PC, you can unlock characters that were DLC on 360 via Insane mode.

ESRB: T Content: Blood & Gore, Cartoon Violence, and Crude Humor (PARENTAL WARNING: This game contains large amounts of animated blood) Price: $14.99 (Download)

Goat Simulator Review

Goat Simulator

Publisher: Coffee Stain Studios Developer: Coffee Stain Studios Platform: iOS Release: 2014 Players: 1 Genre: Sandbox / Action Rating: 8.5 \ 10.0: Fantastic

Above is the result of the goat latching its tongue to a car.

Goat Simulator sounds, with all due respect, like a boring Farming Simulator expansion, but it's actually probably the most hilarious sandbox game you'll ever play. This is a port of the popular but critically disliked PC game which has removed the original version's inappropriate content. The developers claim that this is a "small, broken, and stupid game", but this is to imply how funny this game is. The concept is ridiculous-- you, playing as an invincible goat, wreak mayhem upon small cities through the use of head-butting, your adhesive tongue, various supernatural powers, and extremely glitchy physics. The main noticeable difference in this mobile port is the graphical downgrade. The other version of the game takes up only a few dozen more megabytes, so I don't get why the visuals here look like they were rendered on a PS2 and suffer from pop-up.When you boot up the game and press the play button, you are asked to choose from one of two maps to play. Each map has a large set of trophies to collect, secrets to discover, and goats to unlock. That's right-- as if being a normal goat wasn't cool enough, you are also able to become a giraffe, an ostrich, a penguin, a whale, a robot, a giraffe-like alien, or another type of goat. Humorously, the other animals are named as goats (the giraffe is "tall goat", the penguin is "classy goat", etc.). Goat Simulator is all about asking questions and getting answers the glitchy and funny way. Questions I've asked myself include "What happens if I drag that guy onto a treadmill?" "What happens if I strap a pitching machine to myself, then stick my tongue to a grill?", and my all-time favorite: "What happens if I stick my tongue to a rollercoaster cart?" Every experiment you make is bound to at least garner some chuckles. The funniest events usually occur unintentionally, such as when I headbutted some guy and sent him hurtling into a gas tank, causing collateral damage and also setting him aflame. Since the bystanders are as resistant to injury as you, they're pretty much punching bags. If there's ever moment you just don't want to end, tap the slow-motion button, and laugh hysterically you soar through the air along with a group of now flaming people, exploded gas tank behind you. When you've gotten sick of wrecking people's houses, blowing up cars, and stealing knocking chip bags and bottles off store shelves (don't be surprised if you think you see a bag of Doritos or a bottle of Coke), there are plenty of side attractions. If you're in Goatville, I recommend wrecking Coffee Stain Studio's office where you can play a Flappy Bird parody starring a goat, infiltrating the low-gravity testing facility (accessing this area without glitches involves a Mario reference, unlike the other version), or fighting goats in the arena (now you get a crown for winning the title bout!). Goat City Bay offers even more fun, with attractions including an amusement park, a playable Steamworld Dig parody, and a party on the roof of a hotel DJ'd by the one and only Deadmau5. When on the roof, Deadmau's unreleased song "Petting Zoo" plays. These are only the most notable features, but there are tons of more pleasant surprises in both maps. If you enter the sewer in Goat City Bay, you can find a group of four turtle-people that look like a combination of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Shrek. It's pleasantly surprising and very satisfying to discover a secret or pop-culture reference. One of my favorite features is the ability to record your session and upload it to Kamcord or a social media app. When a PC or mobile game is ported to mobile devices, controls are always a concern. This game's touch controls are responsive and easy to use. Like nearly every mobile port of a PC hit, there is content from the original version that is not present in this edition. The deductions are mainly goats and hidden trophies, so it's hard to care, but the inability to download user-submitted maps and goat mutators like on PC, while understandable, was disappointing. Additionally, the maps have been tweaked in ways both noticeable and irrelevant. For example, a train track replaces the low-gravity testing facility in Goatville, and now can be accessed via a green pipe that wouldn't be out of place in a Mario game. Another change is that the cliffside in Goat City Bay has been removed. To make up for this, there is a new goat exclusive to this edition: the Anti-Gravity Goat. It was awesome enough to deck out my goat with a glass dome helmet and purple boots, but nothing beats watching a mess of furniture float around a living room, further ruining a guy's day by headbutting him in low gravity, than turning it off, or  or completing all the air height and airtime-based objectives with a single jump. Another issue is the lack of multiplayer. The computer version did offer split-screen multiplayer to anyone with a controller, and I would like to see GameCenter, Bluetooth, or online multiplayer added to this game eventually. As I mentioned earlier, the game is incredibly buggy. While the game occasionally crashes, it's fun to watch the goat's head spazz out when it's against a wall, and it's straight up hilarious to watch the goat glitchily jerk across the screen in a stretched-out mess. It has even been said by Coffee Stain that glitches are an integral part of the experience. The game gets boring after you've wrecked everything, but I can think of no better way to kill a couple hours. This game may be broken and stupid, but I had a great time playing it.

Ups
Stupidest, therefore greatest concept ever
"Experimentation" is hilarious
The funniest occurrences are unintentional
Slow-mo button
Tons of pop culture references
Glitchy physics
New goats
Great way to kill a couple hours
You're a goat!

Downs
Downgraded visuals
Occasionally crashes
Missing some content from original version
Boring once everything has been wrecked

ESRB: T Content: Violence Price: $4.99 (Download)

3rd Anniversary Post

It's Told You So Review's 3rd Birthday!

I'm publishing this post in celebration of my blog's third, albeit belated anniversary! Since the day I created this blog, I've published 90 posts, received 15,283 pageviews, received 105 comments (my replies among them), and been followed by 11 people (my two Google accounts included)! This was my most prosperous year yet, as I added tons of sections, I posted more reviews than in any other year, and my number of views practically doubled! Be sure to keep commenting and checking out my blog, and maybe become a follower! Thanks!

Super Smash Bros. for 3DS Review

Super Smash Bros. for 3DS

Publisher: Nintendo Developer: Sora / Namco Bandai Platform: 3DS Players: 1 (Solo), 1-4 (Group), 2 or 4 (Online) Release: 2014 Genre: 2D Fighter / 2D Platformer Rating: 9.3 \ 10.0: Excellent

Above are four players battling on the Paper Mario stage.

I have been waiting quite awhile for a new Super Smash Bros. game. In fact, I listed "Too long a wait for the sequel!" as the only flaw of Super Smash Bros. Brawl., a game that I awarded a perfect score of 10.0. After years of waiting, my wish has been granted! I was very hyped for this game, but a little skeptical because HAL Laboratory was no longer the developer. Instead, those duties have been given to Sora and Namco Bandai. Sora is the developer of 3DS masterpiece Kid Icarus: Uprising, while Namco Bandai is behind the Tekken and SoulCaliber fighting series, as well as may other games both inside and out of the genre. Series creator Masahiro Sakurai is a member of Sora and is still the director, but who can't blame me for being a little nervous. Not surprisingly, the game ended up being incredible. The main modes of the Super Smash Bros. series are still present. Of course, you can still have a one-to-four player brawl, and customize the rules to your liking. Those who didn't think that four players was enough will be satisfied with the new limit of eight players! This can be accomplished by an owner of the Wii U version selecting the 8-Player Smash mode. One player can use the GamePad, up to four players use Wii Remotes, and you could even have eight 3DS users can link up to the Wii U mode. If eight players on one screen simultaneously isn't enough, than I don't know what is! Quite a few new characters are joining the brawl: Duck Hunt Dog (from Duck Hunt), Bowser Jr., the Koopalings, and Rosalina and Luma (from the Mario series), Robin and Lucina (from the Fire Emblem series), Palutena and Dark Pit (from the Kid Icarus series), Wii Fit Trainer (from the Wii Fit series), Shulk (from Xenoblade Chronicles), Greninja (from the Pokémon series), Little Mac (from the Punch Out series) and third-party characters Mega Man, Pac-Man, and Ryu from Street Fighter (who can be purchased as DLC. Returning from Super Smash Bros. Melee are Dr. Mario and Mewtwo, the latter of whom is available as DLC. Of course, there is a handful of new stages. The 3DS edition of the game includes stages based on Nintendo's handheld games that are not included in the other version. Some of the new battlegrounds are from 3DS titles, such as 3D Land (Super Mario 3D Land), Reset Bomb Fortress (Kid Icarus: Uprising), and Tomodachi Life (from the game of the same name). Exclusive to the 3DS version is the new Smash Run mode. In this mode, which can be played with three CPUs or with three friends over local wireless, you have five minutes to explore a large map and defeat enemies from nearly every franchise represented in Smash in order to acquire stat boosts. After your time is up, there will be an event that can be a free-for-all, a team battle, a race through an obstacle course, or something else. You're also able to choose what tracks from the game's vast library of music will play during the five minutes. I've become addicted to this mode, but it's a shame that it had to substitute the Adventure mode from the previous two games. The Subspace Emissary Adventure from Brawl was so good it could have been a great game on its own. Smash Run doesn't have as much depth and can get repetitive due to there being only one map, but it's still very fun. Another notable new feature is the ability to customize the abilities of any fighter. You can unlock new smash moves and substitute the default moves if you don't like them as much. Additionally, you can pick a set of powers to use in Smash Run. You are also able to apply stat-changing badges. Each badge increases a stat but in turn decreases another stat. Some badges also have special effects, like granting you a ray gun at the start of every battle. I like my fighters a little on the Bruiser (higher damage) side. In addition to being able to customize fighters, you are able to create your own Mii Fighter. When you create a Mii Fighter, you are able to choose from three classes: Brawler, who's attacks are primarily melee-based; Swordfighter, who combines sword attacks with some medium-ranged weapons; and Gunner, who's attacks are all projectile-based. You are able to unlock clothes for your fighter, some of it Nintendo-themed. If you think Toads from Mario are adorable (and who doesn't?), then it is possible to have a mushroom cap and look as adorable as a Toad... kinda. All of the single-player modes, including All-Star and Classic modes remain in the game. All-Star's concept of defeating every fighter in the game without dying remains untouched. Classic mode, in which you face a series of battles concluding with a duel with Master Hand, has been changed. Rather than completing a predetermined series of fights, you are able to choose your path. Additionally, you are now given two lives per fight rather than five to use throughout the entire series of skirmishes. Another change to classic mode is the 0.0-to-9.0 difficulty wagering scale that is heavily inspired by the Fiend's Cauldron from Kid Icarus: Uprising. You are now able to purchase Nintendo-themed trophies, using either in-game coins or Play Coins. Super Smash Bros. Brawl added online features. However, you were only able to do a free-for-all. You now have a lot more freedom. You are able to fight For Fun, in which you can battle with items and no stats are recorded; or For Glory, in which there are no items, stats are recorded, and you must play on the flat Final Destination-inspired Omega variants of stages. The online mode suffers from occasional lag, but not enough to be annoying. The main letdown of this game is that while there is a tremendous deal of content, one of the only major addition is a new mode, one which replaced a better mode, at that. It's also disappointing that this game features no animated intro like the last two titles. Equally disappointing is how much harder it is to play with pals. Sure, you can still have extremely fun four-player brawls with your friends, but they all need to bring a 3DS with a copy of the game-- no more pick up and play. My final quibble addresses the underwhelming 3D effects. The game looks smoother in 3D, but I was expecting my rival's faces to pop out when they were sent hurtling into the front of the screen by a Bob-Omb. The flaws keep this game from being perfect like Brawl, Super Smash Bros. is still an incredible game that any 3DS owner or Nintendo fan should add to their library, no questions asked.

Ups
Tons of new characters and stages
New Smash Run mode
Fighters can be customized with new moves and badges
Finally, Mii Fighters, and you can dress them up!
Trophies can be purchased
More diverse online options
It's Super Smash Bros. What do you expect?

Downs
No Adventure mode or animated intro
Occasional online lag
Lack of major additions
Less accessible local play
Underwhelming 3D effects

ESRB: E 10+ Content: Cartoon Violence, Comic Mischief, and Mild Suggestive Themes Price: $39.99 (Retail / Download)