Am I the only one who thinks the menus are bad?

[Calibrate]

I am talking about the art style. It looks so... clinical. So simplistic and lifeless.

For such a colorful game, the menus are really bland!

These is a 3DS picture, but I doubt the Wii U version will be any different.

http://images.nintendolife.com/news...ws_off_a_wii_u_menu/attachment/0/original.jpg

(Embedding doesn't work, tried uploading it to imgur and all..)

 

[Kirbilord]

I've actually always really loved the menu style of games associated with Masahiro Sakurai. I think its simplicity is a plus, since it clearly communicates the function of every selection through use of a single symbol. As for color, Sakurai has a tendency of categorizing different menus and submenus through specific colors to aid navigation. And this is the top screen, I believe, so the 3D effect needs to be taken into consideration.

 

[AncientArk]

I have no problem with them, they look simple to navigate, easy to read.
The fact they are part icon helps readability.

Makes sense for it to look clinical, it's a fighting game, someone is going to hospital.

 

[Vintage Creep]

I love the menus by Miss Sakurai.

 

[Ryuutakeshi]

They look fine to me.

 

[Superyoshiom]

 

[Renji64]

I was hoping for a fresh style or a better menu. It is more of the same it gets the job done.

 

[wizardto1]

I think it looks fine and good. If anything, assuming if the leaks are true, CSS and Stage selection looks unSakurai.

 

[Fishbowl]

I just miss the checklist style menu's from 64 and Melee. I didn't like Brawl's (or the 3ds' for that matter) as much, but clearly it's because I'm biased towards the games I grew up with.

 

[Beatness]

I think the menu is nice, I just hate how bland the character select screen is for the 3ds version. I mean, it get it that they're packing in a lot of characters on a handheld screen, but it is just so uninteresting to look at. The boxes hardly even have borders anymore.

 

[KaZe_DaRKWIND]

I think the menu is nice, I just hate how bland the character select screen is for the 3ds version. I mean, it get it that they're packing in a lot of characters on a handheld screen, but it is just so uninteresting to look at. The boxes hardly even have borders anymore.

Agreed. It's not the menus that look bad. It's the selection screens.

 

[Raijinken]

Standard and acceptable. No reason to fix what isn't broken.

 

[Deleted member 245254]

Personally, I would think it foolish to believe you are the only, single individual in the world to like or dislike any one thing.

 

[Hero of the Winds]

I love Sakurai's menus. They're simple yet colorful and welcoming. Very friendly.

 

[Gunla]

@ Calibrate
This thread has been moved to the 3DS boards given it is the main focus of the thread.

Carry on.

 

[Texas Toast]

I don't like the menus in particular, but to be brutally honest I've never found them that important as long as they serve their function.

 

[Neanderthal]

I don't like the menus either. The white background feels too plastic to me.
Didn't like brawls either.
Preferred the feel of Melee and 64's.

 

[DakotaBonez]

For such a colorful game, the menus are really bland!

So, like. Post an image of a menu that ya do like?
I mean, the icons probably have little animations as you go over them, and who knows whats going on in the background. We'll have to see footage of the menu's in action.

In my opinion though, the smash button should be in the middle.unless of course pressing left takes ya to the challenge button. I wonder if you press down from the smash button, whether it places the selection over the steetpass button or the wii u button...
Also, will I have to press down, then right to go to smash run?

 

[CatRaccoonBL]

First, I'm going to wait to see how they look on the 3ds screen to have my final thoughts on it.

With that said, I'm personally fine with them so far. They are simple enough. They don't really bother me at all. Maybe they could be prettier, but overall, I like it.

 

[radio silent]

I really like the art style, it's just the layout that bothers me. Looks so messy.

 

[infomon]

I love the menus and especially the character select screen. Brilliance IMO.

 

[Fire Tactician]

First, I'm going to wait to see how they look on the 3ds screen to have my final thoughts on it.

With that said, I'm personally fine with them so far. They are simple enough. They don't really bother me at all. Maybe they could be prettier, but overall, I like it.

I'm sure it'll look at least a little better on the 3DS. Anyway, since the characters now have uniquely colored backgrounds, if the background of the character select screen was any more colorful, the screen would be too crowded and it'd clash with the characters. It's either leave the background black or make a second page of characters with a more colorful background.

 

[Superyoshiom]

I think the menu is nice, I just hate how bland the character select screen is for the 3ds version. I mean, it get it that they're packing in a lot of characters on a handheld screen, but it is just so uninteresting to look at. The boxes hardly even have borders anymore.

If you count up the number of potential characters and empty spaces, the entire screen is going to be filled with character slots anyways, so there's no point fussing over what's behind that.

 

[SmasherP83]

I like the menu screen it'll always remind me of Kirby Air Ride.

 

[Niala]

Maybe they're a bit lackluster, but I still like them enough.

 

[Dr.Rock]

I loved 64s and Melees, but brawl's menu just didn't resonate with the gameplay to be honest.

 

[Goten21]

The background should be black, imo

 

[SS-bros14]

Personally, I would think it foolish to believe you are the only, single individual in the world to like or dislike any one thing.

I'm pretty sure he knows he's the not the only one, since saying 'Am I the only one who thinks...' is just as expression.
Anyway, I actually like the menus, and think it's quite the opposite of 'bland' and 'colorful'.

 

[Calibrate]

Personally, I would think it foolish to believe you are the only, single individual in the world to like or dislike any one thing.

Personally, I think you must be pretty god damn stupid if you believe I think I'm the only one in the world to dislike this.

 

[Deleted member 245254]

Personally, I think you must be pretty god damn stupid if you believe I think I'm the only one in the world to dislike this.

Well you asked...

 

[Smash G]

As someone who makes UIs for a living (as well as other things) I can see why this was their only real option.

The main thing here is you're fitting roughly 50 characters in a freakin' TINY screen. It is TINY. So TINY! I played it on the 3DS and it's freakin' basically TOO TINY lol. So they work with what they've got.
Besides obviously fitting in all the relevant information the second most important thing is keeping it simple and easily understandable. Bad UIs are bad. This UI isn't bad. It's a bit plain but it's because there's so little room and they wanted to keep it simple (KIS or KISS for Keep It Simple Stupid). Usability and showing all the relevant and required information is more important than making it look pretty. Plus IMO it doesn't actually look bad, just plain. And again, it's because the resolution is so TINY. I mean it looks like they had to make some pretty big concessions already like the names disappearing. There was simply not enough room to make it look really fancy and I truly believe they did the best they could with what they had. Expect a prettier character select with the Wii U since it doesn't have such strict limitations.

When talking about stuff besides the roster... that's just a matter of taste. I think Smash Bros's menus is one of the best UIs out there. It's simple (which is freakin' important so people can navigate easily). It's stylish in my opinion too. Nobody ever has trouble navigating the UI. I like it.

 

[Tino]

The menu designs that's done by Masahiro Sakurai himself has always turned out to be the best of the best. Just saying.

 

[King Zekrom]

I also think the menus aren't the best. I would like it more if it was either

• On the touch screen
• The buttons interlocked with each other, giving a cleaner feel IMO

 

[Khao]

It's not ugly or anything, but super dull.

The selection screens is simply not interesting to look at.

Other menus are fine, though.

 

[infomon]

Could we be any more picky

It actually says a lot about how amazing Smash is, that we go onto forums to complain about the menu screens being slightly below our aesthetic ideals.

 

[LiamMail]

sakurai's wife does a awesome job on ui design
yes
yes
i did say
SAKURAI'S WIFE does the UI design
i betcha didnt know dat

 

[oscuras]

IMO, the menus look messy, and it looks like a total rip-off from KI:U, but worse. The colours look lifeless even though they are bright colours, IDK, maybe it'll look better during actual play.
The character and map selection screens are just awful, hoping the black spaces means more character slots.