Smash 3DS Smash Bros 3DS Satisfaction-Are we comparing Apples to Oranges?

[Chakra-X]

As of late I have seen some proclamations that Super Smash Bros 3DS is a bare bones, lackluster or disappointing addition to the franchise. To each is own . I myself am still having a blast in this game 80 hours later, I haven't even begun to learn how Rosalina works, but I work a lot so perhaps I haven't had the chance to totally binge and make the game stale.

What I do not understand is the claim that this portable version of Super Smash Bros is lacking, or even worse, that the developers who worked very hard on this are lazy.

Is it the Roster?

Smash 3DS has a roster of 49 characters over Brawl's 39, meaning a ~20% larger cast crammed in to a portable. Clones like Dark Pit and Lucina are literally freebies. They did not stop your favorite character from joining because it required relatively little work to spin them off from their sources. Clearly it meant something because I see a lot more Lucina's online than Marths. We got quirky picks like Wii Fit Trainer and Duck Hunt, and we got some fan favorites like Greninja and Rosalina.

They also more or less buffed a lot of characters to be a lot more fun to play as (Hello Bowser and Yoshi), and revamped characters to feel fresh (Sheik and Zero Suit how you doing). We were also granted with more colors (Black Yoshi FINALLY) and more alternate models (ZSS, Olimar, Little Mac just to name a few).

Also, one of the most underrated features IMO, is making your own custom character/Mii, something that was not even present in Brawl, on a system that birthed the Mii. It being absent from non-friend online mode doesn't completely take away from that either. So I would think, personal grudges aside from Ridley your favorite characters aside, this would mean the roster is top notch, or at least an improvement from the previous installment (which was, again, a console game).

Is it the Content?

While it is unfair in my opinion to compare a handheld device with less capabilities than the majority of smart phones to the console game of Brawl, I am not sure the "lack of content" is as severe as people are making it to be.


A list of the menus/modes of the two games because I hate myself:

Spoiler

Green dignifies a unique mode of the respective Game, Blue is kind of a half truths

1. Brawl Modes
   1. Solo
      1. Classic
      2. Subspace Emissary
      3. Events***
      4. Boss mode
      5. Training
      6. Stadium
         1. Target Smash
         2. Homerun Contest
         3. Multi-Man
   2. Group
      1. Brawl
      2. Rules
      3. Special Brawl
      4. Rotation* (Only relevant in a console atmosphere)
      5. Tourney* (Only relevant in a console atmosphere)
      6. Names* (Only Relevant in a console atmosphere)
   3. Wifi
      1. Spectate
      2. Anyone
      3. With Friends
   4. Vault
      1. Trophies and Stickers (stickers removed in smash 3ds, I do miss being able to pose trophies though)
      2. Stage Builder (in Wii U version, assumed to be hardware limitation)
      3. Album
      4. Challenges
      5. Replays
      6. Masterpieces(Smash already takes up enough resources, emulating games within it is not happening)
      7. Chronicle (Just a list but still something I guess)

1. Smash 3DS Modes
   1. Solo
      1. Classic (More rewards for difficulty than previous title, lack of break the targets)
      2. All-Star (still 1p or multiplayer)
      3. Stadium
         1. Multi-Man Smash (now multiplayer, not sure if Brawl was, Rival Smash is new)
         2. Target Blast***
         3. Home-Run Contest
      4. Challenge
   2. Smash
      1. Solo (Brawl mode but with 1 human)
      2. Group (Brawl mode but with friends locally)
      3. Rules
   3. Custom
      1. Mii Fighters
      2. Characters
         1. Equipment
         2. Moves
   4. Vault
      1. Trophies
      2. Album*(more easily shared to facebook/internet than Brawl. Immensely)
      3. Replays
      4. Sounds
      5. Records
      6. Tips
   5. Smash Run (Essentially smaller SSE without the story and more Replayability/rewarding)
   6. Online (In my experience, runs CIRCLES around Brawl's online performance)
      1. With Friends
      2. With Anyone
         1. For Glory
         2. Online Records
      3. Conquest
      4. Spectate
   7. Streetpass
   8. Wii U connectivity/Amiibo

TL:DR So after my jackass self kept coming back to the list, the only major pluses Brawl had in terms of modes were Subspace Emissionary, Event Mode, and Special Melee. I personally played SSE ONCE and never went back because it was tedious by yourself and the abilities you unlocked were only useful...in SSE, and while a creative idea using stickers, wasn't the most intuitive way.

Smash 3DS gave us Smash Run, For Glory 1 vs.1 and team battles, Street Pass, Customization, and Amiibo transfer

Do I miss Event mode? You bet. IMO Melee had the best target smash since it was character-specific. But unless Subspace Emissionary was REALLY important to you, I do not see a step backwards in content for a handheld game.

Is it the Multiplayer?

Considering you can now play with friends in any environment when you are together, this should be a natural plus. While online can get laggy in a 4 player match, it is much more viable than Brawl's online. They could have improved the social aspects of Smash 3DS online IMO however, even Pokemon X and Y did it better.

Smash Run is a lot more practical to play at a friend's house/at work than SSE (which can only be played at home anyway, it being a console game)

You can also now play in teams without requiring a color swap. That means no ugly Green Captain Falcon just to fight with a partner.

Is it the Unlockables?

Unless my math is wrong, Brawl had 14 characters to unlock and Smash 3DS gave you 12. Smash 3DS was a bit more forgiving on how the character were unlocked. No need to play an extensive story mode, so maybe for some, that lack of an "adventure" to obtain characters was a loss of novelty. But if Sakurai were to change the code for you to beat 1 player mode 50 times instead of 5 to unlock Ganondorf, does that really bring you satisfaction? I would have love more clever ways to unlock characters, but it's a small minus in my book.

The appearance of many old stages could also be a hardware limitation. I too wanted another Sonic stage other than the awkward Green Hill Zone.

But in what we lost in character and stage unlocks, we got in the form of equipment and custom moves, loot granted to you in multiple modes. You are even encouraged to get better to play at higher difficulties to reap more rewards (it's addictive in Kid Icarus: Uprising and it works almost as well here).

If you have 5 favorite characters, and there are 6 new moves per character you have to unlock 30 to see if it fits your play style more. I am so happy to have a safer spike for Sonic, my only issue is not being able to use it in For Glory.

Equipment, while unbalanced in competitive play, is fun as hell for someone who played/plays Kid Icarus: Uprising. Zipping my Mii across the stage with super speed, improved jump and explosive power shields is our new version of special melee. There is even a an ability that reduces landing lag.

Is it the Controls?

This is subjective, because this was the game that finally weened me away from "tap to jump" to pressing X/Y to jump, simply because jumping with the circle pad was not good enough. I feel many of the criticism comes from Gamecube purists, but I understand some frustrations. I had to get used to not using "Z" to grab and I do flub a Up B that becomes a Side B, but I have had no complaints with the controls, even without the C-Stick. I do plan to hopefully purchase the New 3DS XL for the new C-stick, and overall improved experience, though :D

...Or is it because we are setting console-level expectations for a handheld?

We have all been Smash-hungry since Smash 4 was announced. Project M helped me..a LOT, but at the end of the day it was still an unofficial mod, however fun it may be. Then we come to learn that the 3DS one comes out first before the Wii U version and is our first experience of the next generation Smash....But those of us with, in my opinion, picky tastes, may have gotten a lukewarm taste of the new smash from the low res, tiny screen, barely-able-to-run-fully-on-current-hardware experience. I feel like we all knew what to expect from a mobile Smash on current hardware, I just don't think it's getting a fair treatment from some of those who are thinking "well, I am done with this lackluster game. Time to wait for Wii U one"

What did you expect to experience if you were planning to get the Wii U one anyway? Was it just a place holder?

Oh my god what did I type I need to go back to work

 

[pikafire]

Nice post. I literally can't think of anything I don't like about the game (besides how bad I am), so I agree with you.

 

[SevenYearItch]

Great piece of writing here. Everyone should read it whether you agree or disagree

 

[Luggy]

​

This post is just perfect !
I love the game on the 3DS, it's not a place holder at all in my eyes.

 

[XxBHunterxX]

I understand your point, but I think you need to understand that this is a portable game which means that you won't always have access to friends who also have the game and you won't always be connected to wifi so you're left with the single player modes which there aren't that many of.

There's nothing really there to break up the monotony of playing basic smash bros, people love to trivialize the inclusion of event mode or adventure mode, but they were the modes that really helped teach the player how to think outside of the box by throwing very unique scenario's at them and those modes seem like a no brainer for the 3ds version.

All in all I think smash for 3ds is great entry to the franchise but you can't deny that they took out things that's been a staple at this point and wether or not you liked them doesn't excuse the fact that they're gone

 

[SevenYearItch]

I understand your point, but I think you need to understand that this is a portable game which means that you won't always have access to friends who also have the game and you won't always be connected to wifi so you're left with the single player modes which there aren't that many of.

There's nothing really there to break up the monotony of playing basic smash bros, people love to trivialize the inclusion of event mode or adventure mode, but they were the modes that really helped teach the player how to think outside of the box by throwing very unique scenario's at them and those modes seem like a no brainer for the 3ds version.

All in all I think smash for 3ds is great entry to the franchise but you can't deny that they took out things that's been a staple at this point and wether or not you liked them doesn't excuse the fact that they're gone

With a home console you don't always have access to friends who also have the game or wifi? At least with 3DS you have the option to play with randoms online in 1v1 and play typical Smash modes

 

[XxBHunterxX]

With a home console you don't always have access to friends who also have the game or wifi? At least with 3DS you have the option to play with randoms online in 1v1 and play typical Smash modes

Exactly and usually you would have those missing modes I mentioned, all of the things good with smash 4 aren't an advantage of it being on a handheld

 

[SevenYearItch]

Exactly and usually you would have those missing modes I mentioned, all of the things good with smash 4 aren't an advantage of it being on a handheld

But the fact that you have modes AT ALL when you're not directly in front of your home TV is a positive big time. The fact that I can play Smash before I got to work in any capacity in a coffee shop is pretty impressive over the fact that "Well, I don't have events for when I'm at home and have Wifi where I'll be playing against others anyways".

 

[XxBHunterxX]

But the fact that you have modes AT ALL when you're not directly in front of your home TV is a positive big time. The fact that I can play Smash before I got to work in any capacity in a coffee shop is pretty impressive over the fact that "Well, I don't have events for when I'm at home and have Wifi where I'll be playing against others anyways".

You're missing the point though, usually when you would want to play your 3ds it would most likely be some where like a bus, train, plane or any other place where wifi isn't available.

I Also I see you're trying to make light of my complaint about event mode being gone, I'm not saying event is the end all be all mode nor am I saying I would play it over playing wifi, but if wifi isn't at my disposal guess what I would have to play instead?

 

[Ryuji]

I'd say people are calling it lackluster because Event Mode and Adventure Mode don't exist(which I agree with and miss dearly). I loved doing events with a certain character that had to be beaten in x amount of time, and Adventure Mode...what's more to say? I love the adventure in Adventure Mode. Smash Run just doesn't quite compare.
Then there's the fact there are very few unlockable characters, which is quite odd in my opinion seeing as how this game has the biggest roster of characters of any Smash game. You can almost just jump right into the game and play whichever character you're most fond of. Some might see this as a good thing, but I don't. I don't understand the logic behind the vast majority of the roster being already playable, even characters which had to be unlocked in previous entries of the franchise. I also think all the newcomers to the game should've had to be unlocked.
Then there's the loss of Special Melee/Brawl. Why is this gone? This is one of the features of the game that was most fun. Smashing it up being all metal, lightning quick, giant, tiny, invisible, etc made for some interesting and quite hilarious matches. I guess Sakurai didn't think anyone would miss it.
One last but very minor nitpick is the inability to change item frequency. There's no reason for this to have been removed. Some items you liked better than others and wanted those to appear more often(or less often). But this isn't really major, so I'll just leave it at that.
Overall, I think Smash 3DS is a great game, but like all games it will never be perfect in every way imaginable. The best thing about the game I'd have to say is the online aspect; playing 1v1 against players from all over the world. It's an excellent way to gauge how good or bad you are in comparison to everyone else.

 

[Chakra-X]

One last but very minor nitpick is the inability to change item frequency. There's no reason for this to have been removed. Some items you liked better than others and wanted those to appear more often(or less often). But this isn't really major, so I'll just leave it at that.

No actually that bothered me too haha. That really made no sense to me. When I play with items I usually like low-mid (though I wonder if they disabled it in 3DS version so there would not be too many items to process on screen at once?)

Don't get me wrong, I miss the hell out of event mode and Adventure mode is still my favorite 1 player mode, Smash Run comes close to that for me, if only the environments were inspired by the IPs. I am just surprised those two modes, one which can be completed in a week or so, is enough to consider the game "lackluster". I can't and won't attempt to cheapen your value of these modes though, because I too would not have minded just one more single-player experience in the 3DS version.

 

[XxBHunterxX]

I don't think it makes the game itself lackluster but I do think it that not having those modes for a handheld version doesn't make much sense considering all the other modes that people enjoy need more than one 3ds to fully enjoy,

think if you were a kid who bought smash bros, their friends didn't have a 3ds, their internet wasn't the best making online a chore, and they say "the game isn't as fun as I thought it would be" what would you tell him to do? Suck it up because you're lucky it got made? You guys need to understand that just because something doesn't affect you doesn't mean it's not a problem that needs to be solved

Also this isn't even really in response to what anyone has said I'm just trying to see both sides and that helps me appreciate the things I enjoy about the game more knowing that that someone else might not be as fortunate as I am with their living situation

 

[SevenYearItch]

You're missing the point though, usually when you would want to play your 3ds it would most likely be some where like a bus, train, plane or any other place where wifi isn't available.

I Also I see you're trying to make light of my complaint about event mode being gone, I'm not saying event is the end all be all mode nor am I saying I would play it over playing wifi, but if wifi isn't at my disposal guess what I would have to play instead?

I get it, but i'm saying that you can't play ANY other console smash on the bus or train in the first place. So for them to port the game over so beautifully to even give you said option to play on the road trumps the complaints in my opinion. Smash with a few missing options>>>No Smash

 

[AlexAnthonyD]

Honestly I consider smash 3ds a brand new standalone title as it is truly the first of its class being a portable game, which is something overlooked by the weight the title of this franchise carries.

The Wii U Version is truly Smash 4, as this is the product that you will be correct to compare to previous smash iterations.

 

[Professor Pumpkaboo]

I am extremely satisfied because I can play smash while at College. Thats a win for me. Even If I got the Wiiu game, people always hog the Wii us at my college playing Project M...Always project M.

 

[Tino]

You should be a journalist or something for laying down this nice post on the table. I mean, really that was a great read.

 

[Zero Suit Roxas]

I understand your point, but I think you need to understand that this is a portable game which means that you won't always have access to friends who also have the game and you won't always be connected to wifi so you're left with the single player modes which there aren't that many of.

There's nothing really there to break up the monotony of playing basic smash bros, people love to trivialize the inclusion of event mode or adventure mode, but they were the modes that really helped teach the player how to think outside of the box by throwing very unique scenario's at them and those modes seem like a no brainer for the 3ds version.

All in all I think smash for 3ds is great entry to the franchise but you can't deny that they took out things that's been a staple at this point and wether or not you liked them doesn't excuse the fact that they're gone

It's not Sakurai's fault for not including those things. Once again, the 3DS isn't very powerful and shouldn't be compared to the previous games like that. They even have to disable the Internet browser and Miiverse to get it to run properly. I feel like they did as good as they could given the hardware limitations. Of course you're not always going to be connected to wifi, but you wouldn't be playing it at all on a console if you weren't home.

 

[XxBHunterxX]

It's not Sakurai's fault for not including those things. Once again, the 3DS isn't very powerful and shouldn't be compared to the previous games like that. They even have to disable the Internet browser and Miiverse to get it to run properly. I feel like they did as good as they could given the hardware limitations. Of course you're not always going to be connected to wifi, but you wouldn't be playing it at all on a console if you weren't home.

It's the fourth game is the franchise that's the reason most of us bought it because we're fans of the last three, how do you you expect me not to compare it to them? It's human nature to compare old experiences to new ones. I don't think telling people to not compare solves any of the problems people might be experiencing, it's more of you just sweeping it under the rug.

Yes I am well aware of the technical limitations that the 3ds has and how hard it was for them to get it running on the 3ds, does that some how invalidate the problems I have with the single player modes? No it doesn't, is it still a great game? Of course it's smash bros

 

[Dsull]

Meh people find reasons to complain about anything and everything.
No matter how good the game is, theres always going to me a mechanic, no matter how tiny, that ticks you off.
In the case of smash bros, there will always be "Why didnt they add this character????" whining.
And of course, online will always have complaints of lag, since god forbid MY internet is the problem.

Well thought out post, btw

 

[ItsMeBrandon]

It's hard to say what I really think about Smash Bros. for 3DS right now. I do enjoy it, and to be honest I did feel an initial wave of disappointment with a lack of Target Smash (and partly Event Match). But I got over it.

For some reason I'm in a place where I don't really feel like playing the game a lot now. Not for any reason that I'm disappointed. Smash Run, Target Blast, and Trophy Rush are pretty darn fun. And all the other modes that returned are still just as fun to play if not more fun. I'm going to guess it's because I find myself pretty bad at the game, because I'm really not that good.

If you asked me what I thought about the game as a whole, I'd tell you I like it. Frankly, my desire to see older modes return has died down (a slight bit) with me being content with the game as it is, not to mention has probably gotten overshadowed by hype for the Wii U version. Though maybe that's because I also want to see the stage builder return and the Amazon leak suggested it's coming back for this one.

After some consideration I'm too tired to contribute much more than this. Apologies.

 

[XxBHunterxX]

Meh people find reasons to complain about anything and everything.
No matter how good the game is, theres always going to me a mechanic, no matter how tiny, that ticks you off.
In the case of smash bros, there will always be "Why didnt they add this character????" whining.
And of course, online will always have complaints of lag, since god forbid MY internet is the problem.

Well thought out post, btw

So are you saying the lag isn't a problem? Because last time I checked for 1v1 has the least amount of lag and I have times where the connection goes nuts. Plus the online features are lacking compared to other games on the same system

 

[Dsull]

Nintendo has always had really crap online features, my expectations of them for online play are lower than we got for sm4sh.
And i only have a severe lag problem like 1 in 10 players. Like i mentioned in my post you quoted: "God forbid MY internet is the problem" - people that complain of constant, every game unplayable lag probably either have junk internet to begin with or have a proxy/firewall issue they dont know how to fix.

 

[XxBHunterxX]

So your solution to the problem is to expect something to be terrible so when it just turns out to only be bad, it makes it good by default?

It can't only be the players because I've never heard people complain about lag as much in other games like Street Fighter, MvC3 or Killer Instinct. so the root problem must lie with Nintendo, playing for fun mode is an extreme lag fest and if one persons connection can just ruin it for everyone what's the incentive to keep playing online if the only thing I can do is 1v1's? This is important because it's problems like this that really have people disappointed with the single player because you can only play against lvl 9 cpu's so many times before it becomes boring and without any special brawl to slice things up there's really nothing else to do

 

[Chakra-X]

So your solution to the problem is to expect something to be terrible so when it just turns out to only be bad, it makes it good by default?

It can't only be the players because I've never heard people complain about lag as much in other games like Street Fighter, MvC3 or Killer Instinct. so the root problem must lie with Nintendo, playing for fun mode is an extreme lag fest and if one persons connection can just ruin it for everyone what's the incentive to keep playing online if the only thing I can do is 1v1's? This is important because it's problems like this that really have people disappointed with the single player because you can only play against lvl 9 cpu's so many times before it becomes boring and without any special brawl to slice things up there's really nothing else to do

You make many valid points Hunter. You definitely enjoy the game but simply were looking for more a of a grander single player experience, which is fine.

The problems you state would be inherent in any Smash, however. If Super Smash Bros Brawl was a handheld, you would have tremendously worse internet connections, but still stuck with an average single player experience. Event mode would be gone quickly and I personally did not really mess with Special Melee outside of Stamina Mode. I will tell you one thing I missed.

BONUS MELEE
Ever since Brawl I had hoped they would bring match-focused accolades like they did in Melee. How many meteor smashes did I get? Did I get the "World Traveler" bonus for being knocked off the screen every direction? Did I get points for breaking a shield? It was like Smash's versionof Halo's "Double Kill..."-like rewards.


....But I digress. If you want to spice things up a little, why not play with equipment? More unique effects than special melee and customizable to your preference. You can even give computers random equipment. Maybe they'll have super jump and fast smashes, making it especially difficult.

 

[Raijinken]

...Or is it because we are setting console-level expectations for a handheld?

This is exactly what I've felt people have been doing. Smash is easily already my favorite non-Fire Emblem handheld game. And it is completely reasonable (indeed, has been since handhelds existed) to expect less from a handheld.

 

[XxBHunterxX]

This is exactly what I've felt people have been doing. Smash is easily already my favorite non-Fire Emblem handheld game. And it is completely reasonable (indeed, has been since handhelds existed) to expect less from a handheld.

It's not that people enjoy the game less than you do, they just want more variety, is that wrong of them?

 

[Lichi]

The roster sure is a huge plus. It is large, has been updated a lot, and it seems like Nintendo did in fact try to get it somewhat balanced. At least I think it is a big accomplishment to buff a ~40 character roster to a ~50 c. one and still make improvements to power balance. Though there were some disappointing nerfs (e.g. Falco), we also got rid of the silly Meta Knight Dominance over everyone else. Additional skins and color themes are nice, but nothing major.

The content should not be the problem as well. Let's be honest, all the Smash games are at best 'average' single player games.

Classic is just a string of fights with one end boss that is a little different. Something like this is the main single player mode in almost any fighting game. It is fine for some playthroughs, but it won't last through the ages. Smash 4 tries to give you more reason to play this mode by rewarding you with custom parts / trophies and such, which are semi randomized. This mode is no worse than in the previous games.

Adventure mode was classic mode with a bunch of more or less interesting walking sections in between. But let's be honest, if you race on Big Blue for the 25th time, it is just not exciting anymore. Same goes for stomping mushrooms and breaking blocks. It was a nice feature because it transfered more of the games' atmosphere and concepts to Melee, but ultimately, it would become dull quite as quick as classic. I don't think this mode is really missed.

Multi Man Smash is just X enemies which are easy to kill on their own on a small stage. I don't think this is what we call long lasting entertainment. Most people I know play these in order to unlock something and never touch it again.

Home Run Contest. Been the same all the time. Been not to exciting all the time.

Target Test / Jump on the Platforms - Now here I see some game mode lacking. The individual target tests were designed very well and allowed for a lot of experimentation, optimization and therefore speedrunning them. The new version simply lacks these aspects.
Jumping on the Platforms was basically the same principle. It was a nice race against the clock, but not as exciting as breaking the targets.
But here we have the first thing I think many people liked best in Melee that got lost in later versions.

Events may be the other thing. They were fun, some were very clever or just had a nice piece of fluff to them ('Save the last Yoshi Egg' e.g.).

Subspace Emissary... well. TBH I played this mode only a single time. For me it was a slight rework of Adventure Mode, which was just a slight rework of Classic, which is just a connection of normal battles. Meh. I certainly do not miss this one.

Special Brawl, Stage Building were little features that did not have the longevity they could have. Especially the custom stages lacked options. When I am able to build more detailed worlds in MineCraft using only squares... nah.

So we have some modes missing, but not all of them being a real reason to pick the game up every day keeping you entertained for months. To balance this out, we got other gimmicky game modes like Trophy Rush, or the real new addition in Smash Run. It is quite the innovation, though , personally, I have yet to play it and think "WOW this is great".

In summary, the content did not shrink all that much, in fact, it is somewhat the same as before, with little tweaks here and there. But let's be honest, the majority of us is in here because of the multiplayer, meaning the online one. And in multiplayer we got nothing but straight upgrades.

Next:
Unlockables are what they are. Once you unlocked them, they do not need to be unlocked again. So what matters is on the one hand, how fast can you unlock stuff, and on the other, how much is there to unlock. Smash 4 gives you a lot more stuff to unlock when you consider each special move and custom outfits. Most of those are unlocked faster than all the characters in older games though. So I'd count this as a draw coming from the "long term motivition" standpoint.

Now we get to the really interesting last bits.
So let's talk about the controls. They are as good as they could be on a 3DS. And they suck. Smash never was a button mashing game for no-brainers, but about precisely executing and preparing combos when attacking, and escaping and preventing those while defending. The circle pad though simply does not have the precision we are used from real 3D sticks. Too bad the stick is the key input for this game. At least if you try to play this game on a not-so-casual basis, you'll get frustrated by the wobbliness it delivers, no mechanical feedback on the direction you're pressing it and so on. The C-Stick missing does not help the problem at all, since it just makes us rely even more on the pad.
But we all knew this. At least I did. Even when playing Fire Emblem on my 3DS, in which I do not need precise directional input fast, I used the d-pad exclusively. It just had a more crisp feeling. There was tactile feedback in it when you pressed it, a clear indication that you pressed what you wanted to.
So it was clear that when not satisfied with the circle pad in round based rpgs, how could it be satisfying playing smash?
It works as good as it can, the game is playable, and you can have a lot of fun with it regardless of it's weaknesses, but it remains flawed. But if that really concerned me, I would not have spent the money on the 3DS version of Smash.

Did I set high expectations to this game because of wanting a console game on a handheld? Yes. And rightfully so. Smash is a console franchise, and one of the major ones for nintendo. Of course I wanted it to be just like a console version, even if that is utopic.
Yes, I was smash hungry. Brawl was a joke for me. Maybe once a month or so I visit my old friends in family in my home town, and we get to play Brawl at a friend's house. Everytime we do, everyone wishes it'd be faster, less random, less floaty. It only really works as a 'party' game for us. We fool around and stuff, but there's no real competition going on.
Project M never stuck me. I never wanted Brawl to emulate Melee physics by modding my Wii. I am sorry, but if I want to play Melee, I hook up Melee, and not some custom Mod for a sub-par game trying to pretend it's predecessor. The little extras just don't cut it for me.
So basically I was waiting for a new good Smash since Melee. And of course, though I really like this game, my expectations were not fully met. That's natural for a game you longed for for a decade, and the console version won't be able to do that much better. It'll be nice to play on a big screen and being able to play with my beloved NGC controller. It'll be even better to just get people to join me because they don't need to have a 3DS. If I own a Wii U, the game and enough controllers (which I do), I can get anyone to play me. Hurray.

What did I expect from the game? Well, first off, I did not know I'd buy the Wii U version. I do not own a Wii U yet, and would by it exclusively for Smash 4 (until maybe the next Zelda / Metroid game hits). A pretty risky investment, you might think. If I were to dislike the game after I paid ~300€ for the console, 60€ for the game and I think something like 20€ for the controller adapter, or something in between those lines if there are bundles, I just wasted a ton of money.
But I already owned a 3DS. So why not risk wasting 40€ and get an intensive look at the game. It may be low res, have flawed controls and such, but I wanted to know if the general direction the game took was right. Important to me was how it felt playing, if I could enjoy it despite being on a little piece of foldable plastic. And the demo from the eshop did not help here. Being limited to playing with items only on short time frames and with very narrow character choice I almost decided not to pay for the full game. But when I gave it a shot being able to play at my terms, my beloved characters, more tournament like settings and so on, I knew, this game was good enough for me to justify the console version later on. Mechanics may be not exactly what I would have liked, but in terms of character choice, presentation, aesthetics, features [...] this game nails it.
So this game was an experiment for me and a helping factor in deciding wether to buy a new console or not. It also is somewhat of a filler, but I do not really need it as such.

 

[GreenFlame]

Something I really hate is the lack of being able to have a friend as an ally in With Anyone battles. I could have SO much more fun if I could play online with my friend on a team without having to go on the internet and find people then have to use this stupid friend code system then organize everything. I've spent my money on this game, I don't know why this is something they couldn't have added, and it makes me very disappointed with the developers for not allowing it.

Sorry for the rant, lol. I just feel frustrated.

The game probably is the best it could be on a handheld, but there are these little things they neglected to put in that add up to make the whole experience less enjoyable. Like not being able to choose any music to play on any stage.

 

[guedes the brawler]

my only issue is the roster. i am greatly against some people there and don't enjoy most of them; added to the cut of my main and lakc of presence of my most wanted (Chrom), yeah.

not that i'm that dissatisfied. only mildly.

 

[Zero Suit Roxas]

my only issue is the roster. i am greatly against some people there and don't enjoy most of them; added to the cut of my main and lakc of presence of my most wanted (Chrom), yeah.

not that i'm that dissatisfied. only mildly.

Sakurai didn't put Chrom in because he's a swordsman, just like Marth, Ike, and Lucina. I don't think he wanted to have so many people with similar movesets.

 

[AlexAnthonyD]

With so many iconic players over the years added to the games I could never understand why players keep wanting more. Since Brawl when non Nintendo characters made their debut (it was Sonic right?) it seems like that opened the doors for endless complaining. I personally would love to play smash bros as Master Chief or Goku but trust me I will never ask for these things on a serious level. Considering that characters are only a skin for a polygon with a specific move set, and that each character/game changes with each new incarnation, the actual "character" always seemed relatively trivial. Fox, for example in each game has been relatively different, with his previous two (Sm4sh and Brawl) versions being the most similar is even someone who I would consider has 4 very different versions simply because of the mechanics of each game.

Case in point, if you arent happy with this roster you will never be happy with any roster.

 

[Raijinken]

It's not that people enjoy the game less than you do, they just want more variety, is that wrong of them?

I would say it is wrong of them to call a game incomplete that contains more content than virtually any other handheld game that exists, yes.

Everyone is welcome to want more variety. Honestly, I want more variety, too. But it is unreasonable to expect such from a handheld Smash game that already taxes the handheld system to its maximum. Except in rare cases, the majority of handheld games will not reach a comparable content level compared to their console counterparts (notable exceptions being Pokemon, since they can't be convinced to make a real Pokemon adventure for a non-handheld, Mario games, since platforming is largely the same regardless of platform, and Fire Emblem, which doesn't really benefit from the additional features offered by a console, since it is by and large a single-player story). And aside from the understandably (from a competitive standpoint) disappointing stage selection, the game offers in a very complete form what the vast majority of players choose Smash for: multiplayer battles of either 1v1, 2v2, FFA, items, no-items, or whatever other sort of battles people want. And, with the exception of the ability to choose your teammate, all of this applies to online play as well.

The Wii U version will have plenty of variety, of that I am sure. And I'm in the same boat as a lot of people, I'm going to have to save up and buy one, and just play the 3DS version to tide me over. Even then, I'll still enjoy Smash Run with friends, and will probably use the 3DS version to play on the go.

 

[XxBHunterxX]

I would say it is wrong of them to call a game incomplete that contains more content than virtually any other handheld game that exists, yes.

Everyone is welcome to want more variety. Honestly, I want more variety, too. But it is unreasonable to expect such from a handheld Smash game that already taxes the handheld system to its maximum. Except in rare cases, the majority of handheld games will not reach a comparable content level compared to their console counterparts (notable exceptions being Pokemon, since they can't be convinced to make a real Pokemon adventure for a non-handheld, Mario games, since platforming is largely the same regardless of platform, and Fire Emblem, which doesn't really benefit from the additional features offered by a console, since it is by and large a single-player story). And aside from the understandably (from a competitive standpoint) disappointing stage selection, the game offers in a very complete form what the vast majority of players choose Smash for: multiplayer battles of either 1v1, 2v2, FFA, items, no-items, or whatever other sort of battles people want. And, with the exception of the ability to choose your teammate, all of this applies to online play as well.

The Wii U version will have plenty of variety, of that I am sure. And I'm in the same boat as a lot of people, I'm going to have to save up and buy one, and just play the 3DS version to tide me over. Even then, I'll still enjoy Smash Run with friends, and will probably use the 3DS version to play on the go.

But it seems you're missing the point, the game is the most boring smash game offline and before you say "it's a multiplayer experience" think about where most people would take their 3ds, in places without wifi. Do you know how expensive it is for people to play smash 3ds with their friends? Wether it not they have it isn't the point you won't always be able to play with them so when you play the 3ds like nintendo advertised it the game becomes mediocre because it lacks the multiplayer components.

Also having low expectations of anything is extremely insulting, I would never want someone having low expections of my abilities, so that's why I feel it's okay for people to feel disappointed in this game as long as they understand the game is still good and I haven't heard anyone call this game bad. Of course the 3ds had technical limitations, but how does that make the problem any better than before?

Accepting flaws is fine, but trying to tell people their wrong for feeling a certain way for a game they paid money for is wrong

 

[sWiTcHeRoO [疾~斬]]

The game is obviously lackluster, but that's because it's a portable version. For what it's meant to be, it does a superb job.
I mean, online is way better than Brawl's, as well as being overall improved upon from Brawl's lackluster gameplay. Not only that, but you can play Smash Bros. ANYWHERE now, that enough is a good enough reason to get the game.

My only issue with this version is probably the lack of interesting enough single player modes, since the 3DS version is clearly more of a personal experience. Smash Run isn't that fun and feels pretty repetitive, and the lack of any real options within the mode don't help it at all, either. Then every other mode is just the same as before, and Angry Birds Target Blast feels uninspired and isn't that fun either.
Also the controls are actually good too, I was thinking it'd be terrible, but the game feels really responsive and it's a nice thing, even if the Up/Side B issue is annoying (I just make sure I have the pad tilting all the way in the direction I want before sliding it slightly to another direction to avoid this). GC controller purists need to get over it, especially those that are being all over the modded 3DS by some people to play on your 3DS with a GCC. Just play the game the way it was meant to be played and leave your precious controller choice to the console version and call it a day.

But yeah, for what it is, it's a tight game, but you can't disregard that it feels lacking in content and some other aspects.

 

[Raijinken]

But it seems you're missing the point, the game is the most boring smash game offline and before you say "it's a multiplayer experience" think about where most people would take their 3ds, in places without wifi. Do you know how expensive it is for people to play smash 3ds with their friends? Wether it not they have it isn't the point you won't always be able to play with them so when you play the 3ds like nintendo advertised it the game becomes mediocre because it lacks the multiplayer components.

Also having low expectations of anything is extremely insulting, I would never want someone having low expections of my abilities, so that's why I feel it's okay for people to feel disappointed in this game as long as they understand the game is still good and I haven't heard anyone call this game bad. Of course the 3ds had technical limitations, but how does that make the problem any better than before?

Accepting flaws is fine, but trying to tell people their wrong for feeling a certain way for a game they paid money for is wrong

I, at least, typically play my 3DS in the same sorts of places I play my consoles (I get motion sick so the car isn't a good idea), so perhaps for me that problem is alleviated. Same for the presence of local people. The vast majority of my friends already own a 3DS, only one owns a Wii U. Even disregarding that, once I clear all of a Smash game's single player content, it's very rare for me to go back and play alone - past a certain point, the only "single player" content I'm likely to use is playing against CPUs.

I'd also not call this the most limited Smash from a single-player perspective in any way (unless one really misses Board the Platforms), though I can understand disregarding Smash64 since it was the first.

It isn't that expectations should be low - quite the opposite. But, as the thread title terms it, a handheld and a console game are apples and, if not oranges, at least a different type of apples. Just like it's not fair to expect the same level of visual quality from a console game as a PC game (a gaming PC will invariably beat out a console, though not at the same price point), it's unreasonable to expect the 3DS version to offer everything the Wii U version did, or even Brawl. It's simply not as strong a system. One would say it's quite reasonable to expect better on the Wii U than the Super Nintendo, they're drastically different in hardware capabilities, online capabilities, and for that matter, I highly doubt Wii U games are all coded in Assembly like SNES games were. The same comparison works for a handheld. Expectations, at least for me, weren't lower - they were on another scale entirely. And for me personally, they were met and exceeded.

People are allowed and encouraged to feel any way they'd like about their purchases. But it is irrational to expect similar levels of quality and content for products on different platforms, when one was never marketed as a port of the other. If Sakurai had made the U version, and then said "We're bringing this to the 3DS!" (say, for instance, like Xenoblade Chronicles is getting for the N3DS), and the game had lost a great deal of content, then yes, there would be rational and reasonable justification to decry the 3DS version as an inferior port. Just like if Xenoblade cuts out features, graphics, locations, etc to make up for the difference in system specs while being marketed as a port. But Smash 4 3DS isn't a port. It's a unique game with an overlapping character roster and three common stages. Heck, with how it's being made, one could practically say the Wii U version is an enhanced remake of the 3DS version. If that makes the 3DS version obsolete or inferior in one's eyes, then they're entitled to that opinion. But saying the 3DS version is disappointing because it isn't as extensive as a version for a significantly stronger console (I believe that statement is true even relevant to the Gamecube, but I could be wrong), is more or less expressing disappointment over a misaimed hope.

 

[guedes the brawler]

Sakurai didn't put Chrom in because he's a swordsman, just like Marth, Ike, and Lucina. I don't think he wanted to have so many people with similar movesets.

could've just, i dunno, put Alph as the clone? not having a boring mii swordsman helps.

 

[XxBHunterxX]

I, at least, typically play my 3DS in the same sorts of places I play my consoles (I get motion sick so the car isn't a good idea), so perhaps for me that problem is alleviated. Same for the presence of local people. The vast majority of my friends already own a 3DS, only one owns a Wii U. Even disregarding that, once I clear all of a Smash game's single player content, it's very rare for me to go back and play alone - past a certain point, the only "single player" content I'm likely to use is playing against CPUs.

I'd also not call this the most limited Smash from a single-player perspective in any way (unless one really misses Board the Platforms), though I can understand disregarding Smash64 since it was the first.

It isn't that expectations should be low - quite the opposite. But, as the thread title terms it, a handheld and a console game are apples and, if not oranges, at least a different type of apples. Just like it's not fair to expect the same level of visual quality from a console game as a PC game (a gaming PC will invariably beat out a console, though not at the same price point), it's unreasonable to expect the 3DS version to offer everything the Wii U version did, or even Brawl. It's simply not as strong a system. One would say it's quite reasonable to expect better on the Wii U than the Super Nintendo, they're drastically different in hardware capabilities, online capabilities, and for that matter, I highly doubt Wii U games are all coded in Assembly like SNES games were. The same comparison works for a handheld. Expectations, at least for me, weren't lower - they were on another scale entirely. And for me personally, they were met and exceeded.

People are allowed and encouraged to feel any way they'd like about their purchases. But it is irrational to expect similar levels of quality and content for products on different platforms, when one was never marketed as a port of the other. If Sakurai had made the U version, and then said "We're bringing this to the 3DS!" (say, for instance, like Xenoblade Chronicles is getting for the N3DS), and the game had lost a great deal of content, then yes, there would be rational and reasonable justification to decry the 3DS version as an inferior port. Just like if Xenoblade cuts out features, graphics, locations, etc to make up for the difference in system specs while being marketed as a port. But Smash 4 3DS isn't a port. It's a unique game with an overlapping character roster and three common stages. Heck, with how it's being made, one could practically say the Wii U version is an enhanced remake of the 3DS version. If that makes the 3DS version obsolete or inferior in one's eyes, then they're entitled to that opinion. But saying the 3DS version is disappointing because it isn't as extensive as a version for a significantly stronger console (I believe that statement is true even relevant to the Gamecube, but I could be wrong), is more or less expressing disappointment over a misaimed hope.

The only problem I have with your point is that you're making excuses for the game by trivializing the problems that people have with it by saying they were just expecting a console experience, which isn't true they were expecting a smash experience which just so happened to be on consoles for the past 14 years.

Brawl had a lot of different modes to mess around in but the online was complete garbage, so if I say "you shouldn't expect the wii to have good online anyway because it's not a ps3 or 360" does that make the online better somehow? No, nor does the 3ds' tech limitations make the lack of content better. I'm sure the smash bros on Nintendo's next handheld will solve most if not all of the problems. I do agree with you the game is great regardless

 

[Zero Suit Roxas]

could've just, i dunno, put Alph as the clone? not having a boring mii swordsman helps.

Lucina not being in the game at all wouldn't have freed up a space for Chrom. She was just a skin for Marth until her stats were edited, and she had to have her own slot. She's more or less a bonus character to the ones we already have. Besides, it would have taken them more time while to figure out a new moveset and develop his coding than to reuse the same moves. Lucina being taken out wouldn't have done anything other than making the roster have a lower amount. Alph's stats weren't changed from Olimar's, so he's technically not a clone.

 

[ToxicWolf1132]

Minor nitpick, but i really hate how strict online play is (Keep in mind i never owned a wii, so I never played brawl online). I hate how it says you can't focus on just one player, because that rule in particular is pretty vague as far as the limits go on that rule

 

[guedes the brawler]

Lucina not being in the game at all wouldn't have freed up a space for Chrom. She was just a skin for Marth until her stats were edited, and she had to have her own slot. She's more or less a bonus character to the ones we already have. Besides, it would have taken them more time while to figure out a new moveset and develop his coding than to reuse the same moves. Lucina being taken out wouldn't have done anything other than making the roster have a lower amount. Alph's stats weren't changed from Olimar's, so he's technically not a clone.

i realize it, i was in rush so i didn't have time to point out Robin is the issue; although it isn't reasonable to think the 3 clones and alph were planned to be backup clones form the beginning.

and i don't get what you said about alph. i'm saying that him as a clone would be better. Olimar getting a "simple mode" makes more sense than Marth getting one; that and their roles in their respective games... one was the protagonist, and the other a tritagonist.