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[Deleted member]

Roster: 30% Each one is a 10%. Increase my satisfaction with the get a reveal.

That would be 40%. PT wasn't truly playable, just Squirtle, Charizard and Ivysaur

 

[Sonic Poke]

That would be 40%. PT wasn't truly playable, just Squirtle, Charizard and Ivysaur

No, I like the Pokemon Trainer mechanic. It's enough a 10% to me. It's a personal rate at first...

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Roster: 60%
Ok, so this involves mention of the various leaks. First of all, I am annoyed with the cloneyness. Why is Toon Link still Link, instead if having his own specials? Why do Dark Pit and Dr Mario get their own slots when Fierce Deity Link, Alph, and the Koopalings don't? It's a bit annoying that the #1 most requested character isn't reappearing (so far, at least). That being said, if Mewtwo and/or Ridley pop by, i'm at a solid 85%. Give me both and we're at 100, even with DP.

Direction: abstain
Can't say too much here, since I haven't seen it. I like a lot they did (Fierce Deity Link costume FTW!) and there's a lot I don't (see above). I need to get some playtime in before I can input here.

 

[Toxicroaker]

Roster Satisfaction: 25% I'm disappointed in this roster. The only character in my top 10 that got in was Bowser Jr. They didn't even put Mewtwo of all characters in. I like Shulk and Little Mac, but I wasn't really supporting them. I hate that Chrom was kicked out for not being unique and then they put Lucina, a clone, in instead. What? Also, those numbers. For Mario we have 7, DK 2, Pokemon 5, Fire Emblem 4, Zelda 5, Kirby 3, Metroid 2, Kid Icarus 3, and so on. I am one of the people that care about series representation, and this is just not right. All-in-all, a disappointing roster in my eyes.

Game Direction: 50% It looks like it can be played competitively, but I don't like all of the niche movesets and just the characters in general. I like the art style tho.

 

[Leafeon523]

Roster: 99%
Honestly, I'm really satisfied. I like almost all of the characters we've seen so far (with the exception of Robin) even though I didn't support most of them before their inclusion, and I'm not terribly upset abut the cuts we are getting. Out of the characters I wanted most: Megaman is in, Saki and Ray didn't have much of a chance to begin with, and Isaac will be in ssf2 and most likely Project M.

Direction: South
I'm only getting the Wii u version, so I can't give this a decent rating. Literally the only notable Wii u exclusive feature at the moment is additional music.

 

[Sid-cada]

Roster - 60% - Honestly? While I am exited about the roster somewhat, I can't help but feel slightly disappointed None of the big three made it, who were some of my most wanted, and overall there are some questionable choices here and there. While I can understand and appreciate some characters the fact that some characters made it over others just makes me scratch my head. I'm not taking leaks into account with this, by the way. We'll see what the full roster is then...

Game Direction - 90% - I'm fairly satisfied what with allowing the game to try and appeal to both sides, but I honestly can't think of more to say. Oh well!

 

[Deleted member]

Roster - 100%: It has Shulk, Ness, Mr. Game & Watch, and a (seemingly) unchanged Wario. I could care less about the clones being there, they make sense from a developmental standpoint. If they weren't there, people would complain that the roster was too small. It is kind of sad to lose some characters, but the ones that were cut I didn't use too much, and if I really want to play them, I can just play Brawl. [KERMIT SEAL OF APPROVAL]

Game Direction - 90%: I like where this game is going. The engine looks better than Brawl, and it looks like it can be played offensively. Characters have been diversified, and the stages and characters as a whole look great. Only reason I can't give a 100% is I'm slightly bothered by the Koopaling/Alph costumes. I'll probably get over it, but for now, it bothers me.

 

[Pacack]

Roster: 100%

Direction: 100%

 

[TheZombiePig]

Roster: 98%
While I could complain about certain characters not making it in, and certain characters getting cut, it's incredibly difficult for me to complain about the roster. There are so many outstanding Characters on the roster, and with the newcomers coming in, the diversity in playstyles has never been so large.

Direction: 100%
The stages seem to be the only thing I can pick at, but aside from that, character choice is great, custom movesets look really awesome, there are some really cool alternate costumes for characters, the single player modes and ways to collect trophies look fantastic, and Smash Run is simply outstanding. It's all incredibly exciting.

 

[Opossum]

Roster: 80%

Ice Climbers and Chrom bumped it a bit. :/

Game Direction: 95%

I like the mechanics changes made so far for the most part.

 

[cephalopod17]

Final Roster Satisfaction: 75%

I like almost all of the newcomer edition. The returning veterans all look amazing. The problem is that Sakurai cut Wolf and Lucas and added Dr. Mario and Dark Pit. All four probably took the same amount of development time, but yet we know which ones will get in. Then of course the fact that Ice Climbers were cut, presumably because of the 3DS's limitations. Ice Climbers should not be cut. The stages for the 3DS version have too many Brawl stages. That's it. Aside from these nitpicks, this roster is good. It's a shame K. Rool, Ridley and Mewtwo won't get in, but there is always DLC and the next game.

Game Direction Satisfaction: 99%
The game itself looks amazing. I like how they appealed to the competitive fans and Smash Run looks fun. Only reason for the -1% is because of the way some newcomer trailers were shown. Pac-Man getting out over media and not the end of the tournament with 30,000 hyped up Smash fans watching? Shulk being shown in a Japanese only Direct which most of us were not expecting a newcomer? Aside from these very minor things, this game looks amazing.

 

[PlTe]

Roster: 95%
Ice Climbers would make it better.

Game Direction: 98%
I've heard good things about the characters I liked or wanted, so that's good. About other characters...eeehhh maybe they're a lil' short. But hey, my characters. That's all that matters.

 

[Starbound]

Double hundreds.

 

[colder_than_ice]

Game Direction: 80% - This is mostly just for the 3ds version of the as we don't know very much about the Wii U version. I'm loving the enthuses on customization in this game, with the alternate special moves, upgrades, and Miis. Despite all the focus put in customization this time it's kind of unfortunate that we haven't heard anything about Stage Builder yet, we don't even know if it's returning. I also love the KIU style difficulty system. Random tripping is removed and the game is faster. Smash Run looks like a lot of fun but Target Blast looks like a chore to play. Lastly, I'm happy that online has been improved.

Roster: 74% - It's definitely exceeded my expectations. First we've got the incredible Robin who will be my main. Then we have the extremely iconic third parties Megaman and Pacman. I'm also happy that we've got out token gimmick character Rosalina. Of course we can't forget the huge fan favourites Palutena, Little Mac, and Shulk. Bowser Jr in his Clown Kart is a very creative edition. Mii Fighters with all their special moves and costumes will be a lot of fun. As for veterans, I'm loving the changes made to Zelda with her new Phantom attack and improved Din's Fire, I'm still very relieved we have her Twilight Princess look returning. Alph and Fierce Deity Link costumes are also exciting.

As for minor disappointments the Ice Climbers, one of my favourite characters, are likely cut. Lucas and Mewtwo are also in danger. Golden Sun and Sin & Punishment not getting any reps again. Greninja chosen over several other Pokemon I'd rather see, but that's just a personal nitpick. Toad and Takamaru being deconfirmed and Layton no longer having a chance.

Overall I'm very happy with the 49 character roster we have even if it turns out to be the final one with no more newcomers.

 

[Kenith]

Roster Satisfaction: 95%.

Was going to abstain since we technically don't know the whole roster, but then I remembered

/ 10.
-5% on account of no Ghirahim.

Game Direction Satisfaction: 100%.

I think this game is going to be far and away the best Smash installment.
+ Beautiful graphics
+ Brawl styled music, BUT WAY BETTER.
+ Blend of the playstyle of Melee and Brawl
+ Fixing all the issues of previous games
+ No tacked on story mode
+ Lucina / 10

Tl;Dr BBBFNL. That is how I feel about this game.

 

[LoneKonWolf]

Roster satisfaction - 90%
Like I said before the roster is great, we got more gimmicks and playstyles, making for an more gameplay type roster than representation. Though their are some personal bumbs such as some of my most wanted been denied, and the big one my brawl main wolf may be cut, the roster is still nice to look at and is still satisfying
(And their is bowser Jr. Who at this moment I'm unsure about)
Game direction - 100%
Engine is faster and more technical than brawl,
Yet is still more accessible than melee,
No big time consuming thing having everything focused on it,
Game mechanics and balance have been focused on heavily,
Characters have been diversified with custom moveset and alternet costumes,
Game modes seem to have a lot more replayability,
A great accomplishment in bringing casuals a competitive players together (most notable is online),
No more tripping or random events.
Seriously sakurai an his team has listen and worked off every complaint in previous games, sure if the roster isn't perfect or the stage list isn't top notch, or if I'm never going to turn on the s flag,
This game is an monument to those before, and instead of just bringing family and friends together, its going build an bridge to players on all sides and fulfil this series purpose,
Having fun while bashing each others heads in with Nintendo's famous mascots.

 

[KingofPhantoms]

Roster Satisfaction - 95%

There are a lot of characters I expected or at least strongly hoped for that have little more than even a fraction of a chance at this point, mainly including K. Rool (and Ridley if what seems to be a separate part of a certain leak turns out to be false) and Tetra (who is the one character that ever that ever stood much of a chance that I have any sort of personal connection to). But at the same time a lot of characters that I did highly expect (as well as want) got in, including the Villager, Mega Man, Little Mac, Palutena and perhaps the biggest shocker of all (after Wii Fit Trainer at least) Greninja. Speaking of WFT, I was quite salty about her at first but I don't really hate her anymore. She's just sort of....there now. I don't hate his presence on the roster but I don't like it either.
Other than that, the Miis also kind of brought things down for me, as they were one of my least wanted characters and I did not like most of the direction they went with them, for reasons I've explained in detailed and lengthy rants a few times before, I've nothing else to say about them.
A few certain clones also bring it down for me, but characters like Villager, Greninja, Bowser Jr. (who has, from start to finish, been my top favorite candidate for a Mario newcomer) and many others that I'm less familiar with but wanted for varying reasons all make it up considerably. For me they even make up for the cuts of Ivy, Squirtle and the likely cuts that would be Wolf, Snake, Lucas and the Ice Climbers (though Lucas I don't care about as much as the others). So yeah, the newcomers that I wanted, in total, pretty much obliterate the salt that I had with a few other certain characters. Regardless I never expected a "perfect" roster and I don't feel it is one, there are definitely a lot of characters I feel they really missed out on this time, including newcomers and some veterans that were cut. So I won't be giving this a solid 100%, but it comes pretty darn close.

With all this in mind I don't think we know the full roster for certain just yet, so perhaps it may turn out much better or a small bit worse for me in the very end.

Game Direction Satisfaction - 100%

I love Brawl and Melee's different styles of gameplay equally, and I was more than happy with the mixed style of gameplay aspects they went with this one, as not only do I really like it myself but it also shows the fans are definitely being heard in regards to gameplay as well. I guess it might be a little too early for me to give it solid 100% seeing as it's not out yet and I wasn't even able to play a demo of it, to get a feel of how the final product would be, but I've always been optimistic about the direction they'd take gameplay with. Perhaps that's just because I loved Brawl so much so I would've been fine if it hadn't changed much anyway. I'm sure I'll end up loving this game just as much as past installments if not far more.

 

[LeeYawshee]

Roster Satisfaction - 80%Honestly, I can't even complain too much. It's a bigger roster than Brawl with some awesome surprises still waiting for us.

Game Direction Satisfaction - 100%
It's Smash between Melee and Brawl. I'm ready. My body is ready.

 

[Thereallucario]

Abstain from direction.

Roster satisfaction: 85%
Its a really good roster so far with who they have added, its just who they haven't that kills them. Cut in half what I would put in as the satisfaction I they only had this on account of there still being hope left alive.

 

[Smasher 101]

Roster Satisfaction: Abstain

It would be in the 80% range at the lowest, but until we know for sure what the final roster is I'm afraid I just can't give this a definite score.

Game Direction: 100%

Have never been more excited for a game than I am for 3DS/Wii U. I really don't have much to say here, I just think the games are looking fantastic. Hoping to buy each version the first day.

 

[andimidna]

Double 100s
Just gonna put my mains here:
I don't have time to be picky

But... can we please stop blaming Chrom not being in the game on a last-minute upgrade from alt to clone- Lucina? That was confirmed wrong a long time ago, I don't want to argue though. You know who you are. >:|

 

[mini paincakes]

Roster: 85%- Best roster yet, but certain cuts and a lot of my most wanted not making it prevent it from getting a 100%. It's amazing, but still lacking something. We'll see what happens once we learn the full roster.

Game Direction: Abstain. I cant give it a proper score without actually having played the game for myself. Too many unknows to rate it fairly. I also really don't care much for the 3ds version either so theres that.

 

[Delzethin]

Roster Satisfaction: 65%

I can't hate this roster. My two most wanted newcomers are in, two veterans I was worried would get cut (Ike and Lucario) are in, and we're looking at a roster of 49 strong with a chance for there to be more. As is, it's pretty damn good.

But...some of it still feels hollow and bittersweet. If the leaked roster is the final one, then we're getting no newcomers from Donkey Kong or Metroid, while Mario gets two (2 1/2, if you include Doc)? Knowing how Brawl's hidden newcomers left some to be desired--with Lucario the only one that turned heads in a good way--are we really stuck with three (or four) that generate low-to-moderate hype at best, and even possibly some backlash regarding the clones? If Doc and Pittoo were added mid-development like Lucina, were the really only originally planning on leaving two newcomers secret? I guess this is more the leak's fault than anything, but it feels like there's not quite as much to look forward to.

If there're still more characters, though, of if we get DLC newcomers? This'll go up easily.


Game Direction Satisfaction: 90%

Even with all the hype going around, there've still been times I've been worried about how SSB4 would end up. Would it be viable enough? Would issues the previous games had be fixed, or just covered up? Would there be so many mistakes and holes in the balance that the competitive community never gave it a chance?

But from little detials in the Pics of the Day, from the demos and the feedback we've heard...I have little reason to be worried any more. Every character has been looked over and revamped when seen as necessary for balance. The demo plays like a mix of Melee and Brawl, and aggressive and defensive playstyles are both viable. Chaingrabs and ledge stalling are gone, and shielding and air dodging have caveats while still being usable. Sakurai himself has said he wants SSB4 to have "both breadth and depth", a game that'll truly appeal to the casual and competitive players.

And that's not even getting into the new stuff! Visual flair on most attacks that doubles as showing where the hitboxes are! Three versions of every special move! Equipment that alters characters' stats! A built in music player! Freaking City Trial in a Smash game!

The only gripes I have with it are minor and nitpicky. The stagelist seems lackluster, with too many returning ones and not enough that seem neutral. Omega-form stages were a great idea, but it would've been better if some of them had platforms that made them unique neutral stages instead of them all being FD clones. I'm worried about there not being enough modes in the 3DS version. And like I said before, the roster--if the leaked one is final--feels a little bittersweet.

Overall, though? Bring on the hype!

 

[CanadianSmasher1992]

My first post on Smashboards was on this thread, my last post (before the game releases) will also be on this thread

Roster Satisfaction:

95%

Sure, it'd be great if I could play as characters like Isaac or King K. Rool, but I think playing Smash Brothers for me is more about the experience, the gameplay, learning about new characters and series that I've never heard of. I was 8 years old when I first got Smash 64 as a birthday gift. I knew nothing about the game, but the second I started playing it, I loved it. I've never heard of Samus, Link, Kirby, Fox, Captain Falcon, or Ness before, but regardless I learned to love the characters because I chose to embrace them as a part of Smash. I do admit it is slightly disheartening that Ice Climbers and Wolf may end up not being on the initial roster, but cuts happen in almost every fighting game and I'll get over it. I can't wait to try the game out and play as each character, even the ones who I'm iffy about (Dark Pit, Mii). I'm buying Smash 4 because it's Smash.

Game Direction:

95%

The selection of 3DS stages are kind of underwhelming, but there is so much content that has been revealed for both iterations of Smash 4 that I can only be extremely satisfied with the game. There is little to complain about, especially if you look at what this new Smash offers as opposed to what it doesn't offer. Additionally, we haven't even learned about what will qualify as Adventure mode on the Wii U version and I'm positive that it will be just as fun to play as SSE. Long story short, I can't wait to play Smash on my morning commute.

Cheers, everyone!

 

[a Link to the Forums]

Roster Satisfaction: 90%
Really unique newcomers, few (semi)clones, it's huge compared to previous games, so many iconic guest characters, and many veterans.

Unfortunately there's still Falcondorf, and some veterans I liked. Most notably, Ice Climbers. WHy Ice Climbers of all people?

Game Satisfaction: 85%
Great new game modes, amazing graphics and aesthetics, many AT's and items, awesome music, good looking stages, and lot;s of attention to the competitive community.

Though there's also lack of understanding with the competitive community (FD isn't the only competitive stage Sakurai) and the bias is strong with this one. I really think Kid Icarus is getting too much love. I'm fine with Palutena but this is too much for such a small franchise. Plus, DK gets shafted again? Why?

 

[jaytalks]

Roster so far satisfaction: Let's break the walls down:
New Franchise with new Characters: The Villager was from one of the best selling unrepresented franchises. The characters inclusion has led to a wonderful amount of memes and jokes. Little Mac is a legend and earned this honor by punching back into the current generation successfully with Punch Out!! for the Wii. Wii Fit Trainer is a fitting WTF character that will make sure the roster stays lean. Shulk comes from the greatest RPG in the last generation, so no complaints.Mii Fighters is a great way to let this groundbreaking Wii feature make it into the game. Sure, they took the time to develop three characters, but its worth it to have yourself or your friends battle Mario. If you have never wanted to do that, I don't know what to tell you.

Returning Franchises' New Characters: Robin is the best designed characters in the game in how the character reference key elements in Fire Emblem. Greninja is the most obvious and worthy choice to represent the smash hit Pokemon X game. Palutena seems like a lot of fun and will hopeful get us some conversations from gods and goddesses. Lucina is my favorite character from my favorite franchise, and gives us our first female swordfighter (along with Robin and the Mii Fighter). And Rosalina does well to represent the heights EAD Tokyo took the greatest franchise in gaming with Super Mario Galaxy.

Third party choices: Cutting Snake made sense as he didnt belong in the game in the first place. Pac-Man's iconic nature makes him fit perfectly. Sonic vs Mario is money (make the platformer already Nintendo). And Mega Man as his NES form is amazing. I find myself going back to youtube and watch his Final Smash. In fact, I'm doing so right now. Fighting to save the world!

Changes to veterans: 5 points off for no meaningful changes to Ganondorf (based on leak, will change score according based on final product). Great changes to Yoshi, Bowser. Charizard was the right gen 1 starter to keep. Ike looks awesome in his Radiant Dawn outfit. Lots of great final Smash changes like Mega Lucario, and Kirby's Ultra Sword.

Cuts: I had to take one point of for the cut of squirtle (should it not be in the game). Although the cut is necessary and the right choice, it sucks to see your first pokemon not make it into the game. Other than that, no other complaints.

Final score: 94%

Game Direction: Let's break this down:
Graphics: Game is very beautiful. Great choice of colors with the bright palette. Unfortunately, some awkwardness with Palutena in the Wii U version (along with other characters) bring this down a tad. 95%

Sound: From what I hear and have read, beautiful and moving. Also, a rush of classic gaming and the best of the modern generation. 100%

Roster: See above. 94%

Gameplay: From the demo I played, the pace is just about right. Not too fast or too slow. Very fun and I can't wait to master some of the really unique playstyles. 99%

Items: The assist trophies are great selections and I like the variation in abilities. The items are still too much of the main Nintendo franchise. More items from unrepped franchises and Smash staples like Fire Emblem please. 90%

Story: No story in sight. Just the way Smash should be. 100%

Score: 96.3%

 

[Glaciacott]

Ok, essay time. I'll try to be as elaborate as possible, since this is as close as I get to review one of the most beloved series in gaming history for me. Gotta do it justice.


Naturally, I consider the leak to be true, but will still assume no more newcomers from those shown. So while I do hope for Mewtwo, Ridley, Dixie and Rhythm Heaven Rep, I don't want to apply them to this rating since they're not in the game as far as we know.

I will, however, consider the element of surprise and the fact we still don't know everything.


Roster

90%

Spoiler

I'll go ahead and say that when it comes to fighting games, even of the Smash type, this game has one of the most phenomenal rosters we could possibly ask for.

For one, it's freaking gigantic. It seems we actually wound up having over 50 characters, if I counted correctly, even though we were all warned to beware a smaller roster. This is certainly no small feat considering the efforts of balancing such a cast of characters, and having to devote resources to every single one of them.

To further add to the madness, we actually got fantastic, newcomer-unique trailers for each newcomer, at least each starter newcomer. This can't have been a simple undertaking, and it shows just the amount of devotion that was given to the roster.

The other thing that makes it a phenomenal roster is how tremendously unique it happens to be this time around. I have nothing against Brawl's roster, and at the time it was fantastic as well, but most characters played in a very straightforward way. And while that worked in terms of where they came from, it wasn't exactly exciting, in retrospect. Comparatively, almost every newcomer in this roster has something completely new and unique going for them, and while some people consider it gimmicky, to me it's a breath of fresh air. It's exciting to see what people will do with the likes of Shulk and RosaLuma. It's fun to imagine all the possible Palutena movesets and how she'll adjust to opponents. Robin has a unique trait that makes sense for his game and makes him interesting in Smash. Villager has the tree and pocket, mega man revolves around projectiles, little mac is ground based, greninja requires mobility. Even Wii Fit Trainer, arguably the most boring inclusion, has something completely unique in deep breath and focus on balance.

Now, with that in mind let me talk about the games represented. We got new representation in Villager, Mega Man, WFT, Pac-Man, Shulk and Duck Hunt. The newcomers for previous series (RosaLuma, Bowser Jr, Greninja, Robin, Lucina, Palutena, Dark Pit) are all rather new characters that compliment original mainstays from their series and appeal to newer generations, which makes a ton of sense. Yes, we still have series that are notable to Nintendo and still conspicuously missing, like Wars and Rhythm Heaven (from what we know ... ), but I still feel the balance of old and new in the newcomers is pretty solid, and it's always great to see new series belong to this collection of Nintendo lore.


And yes, a huge part of my satisfaction is centered around Palutena and Robin. Palutena due to being my most wanted, most loved Nintendo character and overall favorite video game character. Never before in Smash have I gotten to play as a character I was a genuine fan of (Lyn got stuck as an assist, you see ...) so this time it is exciting to see a character I love go from nothing to playable in none other than Smash Bros.

As for Robin, because it was genuinely the most pleasant surprise. Greninja did get pretty close to topping the charts in surprise since it came out of nowhere and was an extremely pleasant addition. But the Robin one ... my God, I was in disbelief weeks after the reveal. It's still weird to think it actually happened. And just that one character addition is a testament to this game's charm in terms of uniqueness of the characters and proper representation of the series they're from.


But, as you see, it's not a 100%, and that's because of a few minor qualms

1. A lot of what the recent video game industry has been about is recycling of ideas over and over again and somehow people making millions from that. Meanwhile, novelty and innovation goes to the wayside and erodes and fails to sell as much. This whole situation is what makes me so attached to Nintendo since they're the company that, along with some indies, is the most encouraging of diversity in their franchises. And they're not making ANOTHER shooting game. The franchises are old and lovable, but ideas genuinely feel fun and enticing.

However, while certain newcomers reflect this reality of Nintendo, the roster having so much Mario is kind of a bit disheartening since it reinforces the idea that Mario really is all Nintendo is willing to constantly gamble on. I'll talk more about this when dealing with game direction though, since it also considers stages and other content.

In the opposite end, some of the more beloved small series of Nintendo are getting screwed, notably Star Fox and Mother this time around. And here's where bias comes in: even if these series are small in sales, even if they've been absent for some time, denying their meaning is simply criminal. Star Fox 64 is an iconic game of our generation, and as much as I hate what came after, and as much as I hate the idea of Krystal (sorry) it's kind of criminal that the series only gets Fox and bird Fox. Yes, I'm biased towards Wolf, since he was considerably more unique than Falco, but the point stands that there was no reason to cut a star fox character.

Same with Mother. It's a very small series, but Nintendo should know better about its impact. Reggie knows first-hand how rampant the love for Mother 3 is, and they know how much fans love this series considering that after so much hurdles they actually released Earthbound in the VC, publicized it, and used it as a reason to pick up a Wii U before the string of new games began with Pikmin 3. Lucas may have been similar to Ness, but it was a combination that effectively represented one of the most fantastic RPG series of our times and one of the most unique and deep product Nintendo has provided us. Balance an issue? Lucas is too similar to Ness? Well, then why is Toon Link still there and why is Falco there and not Wolf. For that matter, why Dr. Mario? Lucas could easily have been a promoted alt costume. Point is, I find his exclusion a bit poorly thought out, and I would have at the least expected Sakurai to make up for it with a more unique mother character like Duster or Porky. But the series being only represented by Ness feels like selling it short in the same way Fire Emblem was sold short with just blue haired dudes with swords.


2.A similar issue has to do with the fact characters from certain franchises are still, imo, terribly handled. Namely, metroid and zelda. Metroid having only two playable characters, and both being the same character essentially, is a very grating issue considering how incessantly fans ask for more. Yes, Ridley could still happen ... but we shouldn't even be at that point anymore, and the fact he could be in the game as a boss on the Wii U version would be extremely unpleasant given Sakurai's knowledge of how much people want him and Nintendo's knowledge of how much people love Metroid. As for Zelda, it was nice to see Sheik go alone with new moves, and Link was handled a lot more justly this time imo. Nevertheless, I still feel Zelda seems very likely to remain as difficult to use. And then there's Toon Link and Ganondorf. There's absolutely no reason why these two characters should be such carbon copies of their original, cloney selves. I do like Toon Link, and I do enjoy the toon side of Zelda. In fact, Tetra is in my top ten most beloved characters list, easily. But instead Toon Link just winds up being as much a clone of Link as Lucina is of Marth, and that bothers me a lot given how much they could do. Same with Ganondorf, we should be able to expect changes considering even Dedede got a lot of changes, but from gameplay we only see the same exact fighting style. Even if a move was altered a bit, it's the same exact fighting style. And seriously, that just makes me feel like two large series, Zelda and Metroid, series that are particularly gigantic to the more mature Nintendo crowd, get the short end of the stick.


3. Dr. Mario and Mii fighters. These two, to me, make the roster go from perfection to "wtf is that."

- The Mii idea is one I welcomed, it's one I was actually eager to see after things like streetpass and tomodachi life. But the fact we got a template instead kind of killed the experience, and what made it all worse is the fact it was three templates instead of one. We're talking about a character that must have been a huge undertake given all the variables, given the customized clothing pieces, and given the different weight classes. That's too much, Sakurai, and while I understand too much content is your thing, here it's a case of focusing on something more than you should have, imo. As someone who works in the industry, I cannot even being to imagine the debugging process for the Miis alone. I would not even be a little bit surprised if that kept the game from summer release and set it back to October. Because seriously, it's a **** ton of variables. And then what makes it sad is that it's smash ... most people will just play as the characters who are even customizable now. Why not give characters more costume alternatives instead of giving miis a ton? Why not add extra final smashes for each character instead of having 30 something possible mii moves? There's some weird prioritizing here that I don't understand and I don't think works for Smash. For Mario Tennis? Sure, why not. But it has no place in Smash.

- Now, Dr. Mario. I can't hate him too much, because the possibility of a melee type mario would be cool and also my boyfriend happens to like using him. Nevertheless, his inclusion makes me further question priorities. Now, usually people couple Lucina and Dark Pit into this discussion, but I can't complain about them for simple reasons: they're actual characters in the game. Lucina looking like Marth was a part of the game, and while she should have a different moveset to mirror chrom's style, her being promoted from alt to character makes sense. Same goes for Dark Pit. In his game he is literally a clone of Pit, but carries his own fighting style and his own weapons, so him being a clone in Smash makes sense and can lead to unique playstyle. And more importantly, they're both new additions, new characters to appeal to new fans.

But Dr. Mario is hard to excuse given the absurd amount of Mario characters, the fact Luigi is already pretty similar to Mario in style, and the fact that there could be many other characters who would deserve the promotion from alt. to playable character much much sooner. For one, we know Alph is an alt costume ... why couldn't he be his own character with something from his game like spicy juice or rock pikmin that Olimar didn't have? And again, why couldn't Lucas have been considered an alt of Lucas and then given promotion to character to make his movement more like Brawl's? Why couldn't Samus have a dark samus alt become playable? But no, instead Dr. Mario ... why? I personally don't feel I will ever understand.


Granted, these three things bother me, but again, the overall diversity of the cast, and the fact that even while I hate these things they will still appeal to others (I can imagine Miis becoming a thing to do for a lot of people) ... it all makes me round up satisfaction to a 90%

Direction of the game and the series

75%

Spoiler

Again, I'll start with pluses, because overall those are the most common/obvious

I'm really happy that the focus of the game is considerably less divided this time than it was in Brawl. The split between main game and SSE in Brawl was a bit bothersome and it was hard for me to understand what Sakurai intended with the SSE level designs and purpose. It wasn't awful, it just didn't feel like Smash, especially after Melee nailed the single player so effectively just by adding new solo modes and event challenges. Seeing that these versions are straying from that "story" mode was fantastic news to me, because in the end Smash focuses on the characters and how they fight: single player modes should be about promoting those skills, creating incentives to be better, and not about running around and putting stickers on a circle.

Also remarkable is the effort they went through to appeal and please to the Smash fanbase. The invitational, the trailer revealing the GC controller adapter and competitors, the constant presence of competitive players in Smash media events like at Comic Con ... this is all stuff that two years ago would have sounded like a fan's dream that would never happen. But it did, and it's refreshing to see Nintendo support the fans that have kept the series alive and relevant for so long, particularly Melee.

Lastly, I really like that the aim isn't to appeal to super casual crowds but to appeal to everyone, and it is evident that a lot of care has been put on balancing. Things like no gliding, no tripping, new ledge mechanics, no transforming characters ... it all screams of balance and I know it will make this game handle completely different from the rest. And then there's customizable moves. This is a bit I'm sure has potential to add an entirely new layer to Smash that wasn't there before and I am eager to see how well it works. I hope the fanbase is ready to embrace it if it works.

Oh yea, and I freaking love the idea of amiibos because of both how loyal it is to the core idea of Smash (trophies fighting) and because for the longest time I have been waiting for official collectibles that uniformly represent the Nintendo experience.

On a more controversial note, I want to praise the Wii Fit Trainer's inclusion. I think it was overall a pretty gutsy and important move to make, because after Mega Man and Villager, characters from series which people highly sought in Smash, it is reasonable to think people would have come to expect more of the same: characters with fan demand getting in because of the fans. Instead, it became clear the developers and Sakurai were the ones in control of the decisions, and because of that we got unique additions we would not have otherwise. Much like their randomness led to the brilliance of Mr. Game and Watch, I'm glad this time it led to something as off as WFT because, really, that sort of surprise is necessary in Smash and should be welcomed as part of the series.


Now, for my problems

The first one that kind of surprises even me is the whole division between 3DS and Wii U. I never saw much of a problem in this, but now I've come to see it as detrimental. I cannot see how end-game rush would drive focus from one version to the other, nor can I fail to see that the promise of a variety of handheld stages fell short on the 3DS version and instead we have a lot of re-visited stages. And stages that are in both versions (Wily's Castle, Boxing Ring, Gaur Plains, don't know if I'm forgetting more)

Then there's also the element of doubt and mystery that now surrounds the Wii U version after the last month's focus on the 3DS. I feel like it's a dangerous thing considering Smash insanity will probably be appeased with the 3DS version, and I don't know how they'll recapture the immense hype for the Wii U. Which leads to my other speculation, which is that they're holding back characters for inclusion in the Wii U version and free DLC for the 3DS version, and I'm not sure if I like that kind of twist. Otherwise, I don't know how they'll manage to make as solid an effort in hyping up the Wii U version since for most, once the characters are settled the speculation and hype periods are over and it's all about playing.


And into this plays the fact that I'm overall not impressed with the 3DS version's modes that much. A portable requires much more solid single player content since it's on the go and not always will there be someone else with the system to play with. And yet, the thing they chose to hype up the most was Smash Run, which frankly begs for multiplayer. And while it looks fun and adds enemies, it feels kind of weird that this was a selling point for the 3DS ... "you can have a five minute match, enough to enjoy in the bus to work!" well yea, but I can also just play a couple of matches, so that's not a selling point. Also, let me tell you about city trial: I rarely ever played it, because I rarely ever had the chance to go multiplayer in that game. So in a system that lends itself to solo mode, why didn't we see more focus on that? And why does it seem so bare, with classic mode, looking at trophies, break the glass boxes by doing stuff, and stadium types of things including angry birds. Oh, and you can look at trophies, but couldn't you always.

And then to get trophies it seems like it's just constant repetition of smash run and classic mode, with some probably behind the glass. It just feels like artificial lengthening of the game for them to have added more trophies to increase the amount of times you replay things.

Also, I'm sorry, but a handheld begged for break the targets for every character. Board the platforms for every character. Event matches, ffs. Why are there no event matches?? That was like the one thing that needed to be in the 3DS version more than anything. Wtf happened there. Come on, Playstation all-stars was so much less and they had character-specific challenges to help you learn the character better. By couldn't we get that? With so many characters just doing that would have made the game super long and durable.


Of course, a lot of it is moot since I will be playing normal smash matches pretty much 90% of the time ... but then you go and attach global smash power to solo mode. Why do this? To encourage people to play everything in the game? Ok, I get that, but ... doesn't that also encourage everyone to find that one trick to get the optimal ganondorf home run contest score? Won't everyone just find the optimal cheap character for every stadium event at some point? I don't feel like those ancillary modes should have an effect on how you're perceived online as a player, much less who you get to face when the matches are randomized. Further going into this ... why haven't we seen modes that allow you to play around with how you want to fight? Remember when Melee had coins and bonus mode? It wasn't the most popular thing, but it was a twist and definitely was enjoyable. It's weird to see that since then they haven't had the guts to introduce some other twists to the system. We discussed tag team battles here ... why not do that? It's relatively simple to do and allows for new strategies, planning, crew battles of sorts, etc. In fact, with this version it feels like it's just straight out Smash matches over and over, which is nice, but still a bit disappointing that they just stuck with that and there's no options to play further with the formula, things that existed in previous games of the series.


And lastly, I do have an issue with stages. Long ago Sakurai said he wasn't going to have hazards as things you can turn on and off because this isn't "playstation all-stars" and, haha, cute, hilarious, and true. But then certain actions took place that made this not sound as stupid and cute anymore.

The first is stage bosses. I was completely cool with this idea at first, but then I played the demo and holy flying ****, I don't even understand what happened. To say the Yellow Devil is an interruption to the match is an understatement, and a stage that in initial build seemed exciting and enjoyable(platforms like in Mega Man where the path changes and sometimes drops you? yes please!) instead became a mess of a stage. Oh, and then we get this stage in both version, both with the yellow devil. Also, on that note, they made this seem like a cool new thing that would allow us to experience even more characters, but only yellow devil was ever shown in a year and a half of hype. Yes, Roidley and Metal Face were teased, but no confirmation at all on those, and lets not even mention the situation with the Ridley boss. So why point out all of this and only the yellow devil, the worst experience in stage hazards since 75mm and Mario Bros, is the one fully featured?

The second thing is how most stages are so quirky as to be either visually messy or complicated, and their solution to this is to Final Destination everything. You know, like it isn't possible to have brilliant stages with quirks and personality while also being viable and fair *cough*ARENA FEROX*cough.* Yes, we don't know all the stages and how they work, but so many of them have walk-offs, so many of them are scrolling and moving, and even comeback stages like Wario Ware, Pictochat, Brinstar and Jungle Japes aren't exactly brimming with comfort. And to come back to a rant ... why is there a stage for Super Mario Land that's scrolling, a stage for NSMB2 that's scrolling, and a stage from classic Mario that will probably be scrolling? Meanwhile, Metroid, a series with a solid handheld history, has no original stage that we know of. Wario Ware, a series known to thrive in handheld territory with microgame$, Twisted! and Touched!, has no new stage. And let's not even talk of all the stages that could have honored games that were in handhelds that got no character, like Golden Sun, Advance Wars, Elite Beat Agents (forgot the name of the japanese counterpart which also had a sequel), and Starfy. But nope, let's have three scrolling mario stages.


Lastly, I want to end by commending the fantastic job the team did in preserving hype for such a long time, but at the same time condemn how all of that was ****ed up last minute by the sudden 2-3 week focus on menu screens and Japan-only.


All in all, I'm the sort of person that plays Smash for precisely that, Smash. I want to play matches over and over again to get better and better and better, then I can compete or play with friends and have a good time and perform well with characters I like. If anything, it's because of that that my rating didn't go much lower, because I feel objectively, were I reviewing this game professionally, it would have gotten a much lower score. But on the other hand, going fangirl and giving this game a 10/10 or stuff like that is turning a blind eye to many things that should not have happened as well as those that could have been better, so I did have to discount accordingly

Whoever read all of this, props. Certainly took me a long time to write.

 

[YoshiandToad]

Roster Satisfaction
65%

Note below is all subjective. Do not flip out when I inevitably have a differing opinion, I will merely laugh at you.

Positives:
+ Pac-Man
+ MegamanNo qualms at all with the third parties. Honestly with this newcomer duo plus Sonic, you really couldn't get much high quality.
+ Snake cut
Never been a fan, never will be. Not in Smash.

+ Luigi gets his Poltergust finally!
+ Yoshi buffed!
+ Bowser buffed!
+ Sonic buffed!
+ Link buffed!
+ DUCK HUNT DOG
Literally one of the best choices for a retro rep available. So glad he went with this one.
+ Little Mac
+ Villager
+ All the cut characters make some sense...although I'm going to miss Wolf with Falco still there. Also Squirtle and Ivysaur.
+ Ike and Lucario return
+ ROBIN is the biggest good surprise addition!
+ No Chrom!
+ Alph alt is great
+ Koopaling alts? Go teamLudwig!
+ Mii custom create a fighter actually pretty cool. Didn't see if coming.

Negatives:
- Three Mario newcomers and not one of em Toad. Thank goodness for Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker coming out.
- Doctor Mario in general over ANYONE. BLURGH.
- No DK newcomer. Like at all.
- Isaac misses out again. Probably too late for him from here on.
- Mewtwo is missing? Fan demand clearly not as important as first thought(in b4 DLC)
- Toon Link confirmed to be MORE Cloney.
- Kirby didn't require a less unique Final Smash. Personally prefer cook to the Hyper Cutter thing from RtD.
- Mario and Peach could of done with less terrible Final Smashes.
- Dark Pit over Medusa. What the dickens?
- Wii Fit Trainer is a...well it's a 'character' no one wanted. No-one. I've seen Chancellor Cole get more support for crying out loud, sorry but I still find it questionable as a roster choice over her being an AT or a background element.


Game Direction satisfaction: 95%
Positives:
+ Great selection of items. Blown away with some of the ideas like the Fire Bar.
+ Smash Run looks like it has a lot of replay value unlike the SSE.
+ Designs are bright, colourful and fun. No grimey colours unlike in Brawl(although I will miss Mario and Luigi's stitching in their dungarees. Always liked that)
+ Characters appear at first glance to be more balanced than previous games. I'm sure this will change over time, but for now it's a good thing.
+ Amiibos! As someone who gets the collecting buzz, I'm looking forward to this.
+ Omega versions allow for simpler stages...which is good because a lot of the stages appear to be a little too chaotic and gimmicky even for a non competitive like me.
+ Reveal trailers have been the most hype way of revealing newcomers. I hope future Smashes adapt this too!
+ Potential DLC to extend Smashes shelf life yet further!
+ No tripping.

Negatives:
- Some of the musical remixes aren't quite as good as the originals.
- Too much Kid Icarus: Uprising content(items, stages, Smash Run elements...arguably playables) for the overall impact that game's had.
- Too little Donkey Kong Country content(basically anything) for the overall impact that game series has had.
- Even as a huge Mario fan I think we may have overdone it on Mario stages and items.
Maybe newcomers too; Rosalina, Luma, Bowser Jr., Ludwig, Wendy, Larry, Roy, Morton Jr., Iggy, Lemmy(counting Bowser Jr's alts) and Doc Mario returning. Still wouldn't be against more though ;D
- Too big a gap at some points between character reveals. Doesn't really matter now, but it was annoying during speculation.

Neutrals:

• Pic of the Day. Double edged sword. On the one hand; it can induce a lot of hype. On the other; some things have been misleading. An enemy from Samus' past could appear at any moment, anyone?
  
  That and menus. And Luigi's nose. Sigh.
  

 

[TitanTeaTime]

Robin satisfaction: 100%
...waaait I mean roster satisfaction: 100%. Robin being in still feels kind of surreal.

 

[Cutie Gwen]

Roster satisfaction 90% VERY nice roster, only needs Bandana Dee and/or Ridley for being my favorite, even if Wolf ends up being cut after all!

Game direction 85% Balancing, good tracks, nice stages, good items, good everything realy, except for the bosses. I don't know what others think but when I see a bad boss in my games, I'm not happy. It's a shame the Yellow Devil isn't threatening, it's a shame that the Dark Emperor only roars in place, and if Ridley truely is a boss, it's a shame he justs slowly moves to hug enemies, which is inaccurate to his fights unlike the other two, and I hope Metal Face will be pretty fun at least

 

[FalKoopa]

Roster Satisfaction: 82%
The roster really put me in a weird situation:
> None of my top wants - Isaac and K. Rool - got in.
> A good number of my minor wants are in - Rosalina, Bowser Jr., Little Mac, Robin, Palutena, Villager and Mega Man are in.
> My favourite veterans - Lucario, Toon Link and Ike remained.
> A number of veterans were cut, but I didn't have that much attachment to them, although I'm strongly anti-cut.
> Pleasant surprises in Dr. Mario and Duck Hunt Dog.

So, I think 75% is appropriate. However, if DLC can bring back the lost vets (Lucas and Wolf in particular), my satisfaction will be 95%.

Game Direction: 100%
Yes. Non-roster wise, everything in this game is good - the art direction, the balancing, the stages, the music, Smash Run and all. That's why it's a shame that I won't be able to see all the veterans in this new setting, I feel sorry for them, and their fans.

 

[Rockaphin]

Finale Roster: 70%
I didn't get my most wanted(Paper Mario) or my third most wanted(King K. Rool), but I did get my second most wanted(Villager).
I just can't believe that NONE of the big three have been seen yet. If Sakurai and his team were sincerely listening to the fans for requests, we'd see at least one of them. Especially since one of them is a Melee veteran! Also, if Mewtwo isn't playable, this means that they considered him to be a playable character but then decided not to include him. Sakurai even confirmed that they were thinking about his inclusion. Anyway, I'm happy to see Robin over Chrom. I'm happy to see Pac-Man. I'm happy to see Greninja. I'm somewhat happy to see Rosalina. I am excited to see Lucina but I'm not too fond of newcomer clones. I don't care for Palutena, Megaman, Shulk, Miis, Little Mac, or Wii Fit Trainer. I don't think any of these characters are bad or anything, but I wouldn't mind their exclusion. As a Paper Mario supporter, I'm somewhat disgusted to see Doc back. I mained him in Melee, but I think Paper Mario would make for a more appealing alternate version of Mario. Young Link was replaced by Toon Link so I was hoping to see Dr. Mario replaced by Paper Mario. I'm VERY disappointed that Donkey isn't seeing a newcomer. K. Rool or Dixie would've been perfect. Kid Icarus having more characters than many represented series is also ridiculous. Kid Icarus has as many characters as it has games, and it contains more characters than DK, Wario, Star Fox, and Metroid. That is insane in my opinion, and the series already had a ton of representation in the game how it is. Oh, and my main was cut from Brawl... yay.

Direction: 75%
Pros:

• Removal of Tripping
• No Chain-Grabs
• Game Speed
• Final Destination Forms
• Balance Focus
• Customization
• Alt Costumes

Cons:

• Removal of transformations
• No swimming(this is a big one)
• Over or under representation for franchises
• Cut veteran clone characters for newcomer clone characters
• Some requested Final Smashes have yet to be changed, yet other's received changes
• Missing some extremely highly requested characters
• Dark Pit

 

[WeirdChillFever]

@ Rockaphin

I just can't believe that NONE of the big three have been seen yet. If Sakurai and his team were sincerely listening to the fans for requests, we'd see at least one of them.

Spoiler

 

[Zwzchow]

Roster: 100%
So many unique and interesting characters. Whine about the big three however you like cuz I don't care for them and I don't see them entering

Game Direction: 95%
I like the balance between competitive and casual gaming in this game. Sakurai also reworked and developed each character from the ground up and from what I have observed, each character seemed pretty balanced (aside from the terrible reports of ) Only thing I am irked about is the stage list (at least for 3DS really hoped for more unique stages :/ (minor complain though)

 

[Capybara Gaming]

This should be my last post as I said before. But I don't know.

Game Direction: 75% - Stages SUCK. Why is it littered with Brawl past stages? I wanted Fourside, Hyrule Temple (N64), and Saffron City! The rest of it looks good for the most part. I'm glad it won't just be Project M to play competitively.

Roster Satisfaction: 45% - Took away characters I really liked, and gave us a large selection of undeserving newcomers, and other newcomers that I don't really care for. Bowser Jr. isn't what I hoped he would be, and right now Ice Climbers, Wolf, and Mewtwo aren't coming back...... Yeah, I'm glad Palutena, Robin, and Lucina are in, or this score would be lower.

we have no guarantee that anyone is cut until Sakurai says so. Mewtwo, IC, and Wolf, and Lucas are still possible.

Game Direction: 85% - Brawl stages are fun but there are way too many of them; and most of them are the crappy ones. Otherwise is going good.

Roster Satisfaction: 97% - Considering we got so many great newcomers; I'll be content. The only thing that keeps it from being a 100% is possible loss of Ice Climber and Mewtwo possibly not getting in, That said; if they got in I'd be ecstatic.

...Takamaru and Rayman + the current and leaked rosters for next game please, and re-add Icies and Mewtwo if not in this one.

 

[Kokiris]

100% for both, I can't be objective about smash.

 

[Kenith]

100% for both, I can't be objective about smash.

You are the most well-spoken man I have ever seen.

 

[Rie Sonomura]

Roster: about 95%. I'm extremely happy about Shulk being in, and I like the other newcomers too (yes, I'm also getting used to Duck Hunt and Pittoo as well) but the fact that Wolf and Snake are most likely gone hurts the score. Maybe they'll come back as DLC? We could probably get some newcomers as DLC too. Fiora would be the cherry on top jus sayin

Direction: 98%. No random tripping, better engine, custom moves, and online looks to be a lot more stable too. There's probably more but I can't recall them right now.

 

[Paper Maribro]

Roster Satisfaction: 70%

For my analysis of the roster I'm just going to assume the leak is the real deal and we won't be getting anymore characters, DLC or otherwise because it kind of makes it an impossible task trying to analyse something you haven't seen all of. Anyway, I gave the roster a 70%. For me, after the reveal of Robin, I thought this roster was perfect. So many unique newcomers and all of them absolutely worthy. I assumed the only place this roster could go was up, however, I was wrong. the remaining newcomers lack imagination or just plain rub me up the wrong way for some reason. Doc and DP being examples of the former and Duck Hunt Dog and Bowser Jr. being examples of the latter. For Bowser Jr. some of that may come as him being a Mario newcomer instead of my own most wanted, Paper Mario. But who knows, I may end up enjoying many of the characters and I have to say, I'm very excited to play Shulk, Villager, Robin, Megaman, Pac-man and even Little Mac to some extent, plus the freshness of the veterans now that they seem to have completely rebuilt them from the ground up means I'm still excited for this roster.

Game Direction Satisfaction: 100%

I've played and loved every smash because they've all been their own game. Even Project: M has its own unique styles to it and that's what makes the series so fresh. There's no point stagnating and sticking with the same old *cough* COD *cough* formula time and time again. A series should develop and evolve and, despite the fact I am yet to play this edition of Smash, I'm just as excited to play as I have been for every other game in the series and I'm absolutely sure I'll love it just as much as the rest.

 

[Jae]

Roster Satisfication - 90%

The newcomers in Smash 4 definitely excites me more than Brawl's, from the choices of characters to the method of revealing them (Newcomer travels are so hype). I just love the emphasis on "uniqueness" with these characters, and I look forward to trying them all out. My prayers have been answered and we've been given Shulk in Smash Bros. along with both Robins, Lucina, Palutena, Little Mac, Mega Man and a whole bunch of other characters. I'm a little miffed about the return of Dr. Mario, despite using Doc a lot in Melee, but hey, the more the merrier! I just hope someone like Mewtwo can return if Dr. Mario can. I'm also looking forward to seeing the rest of the unrevealed characters. Without out doubt in my mind, this roster is the best one yet.

Game Direction Satisfication - Abstain