SSB4 vs Brawl graphics comparison

[Artsy Omni]

As nice as it looks, it's kinda funny to say we're impressed by graphics on par with those that came out seven years ago on PS3.

As much of a Nintendo fanboy I am, I kinda fear Wii U may be Nintendo's last home console. I do understand the Dreamcast comparisons people are making.

Every Nintendo console is their last console, according to the industry. Nintendo has ALWAYS had people saying they're doomed. The Wii U isn't performing any worse than the GameCube, and Nintendo was fine after that.

 

[TheTuninator]

Every Nintendo console is their last console, according to the industry. Nintendo has ALWAYS had people saying they're doomed. The Wii U isn't performing any worse than the GameCube, and Nintendo was fine after that.

In fact, Nintendo had their best home console showing ever after that.

Even if WiiU limps along a bit by comparison to the other consoles, it will still turn a profit, and 3DS is doing more than well enough to keep Nintendo well in the black.

 

[Vann Accessible]

Not at all. Even if we ignore the recently shown library of games coming and assume that the console will flop(Lets say less than 10 million sold), Nintendo would still have so much ****ing money that they could afford to flop five more times.

Lets not forget that the 3DS is selling like hotcakes atm(Over 30 mill sold during Q1 of this year) and that they made so much bank with the DS and Wii.

I didn't mean to suggest they aren't absolutely dominating in the handheld market. There's no way Nintendo will ever stop making handheld consoles.

After Nintendo's showing at this year's E3, I don't know how anyone could say that. Super Mario 3D World, Mario Kart 8, Sonic Lost World, Wind Waker HD, Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze, Super Smash Bros. These are some huge system seller games. Smash Bros. was even the most popular game at E3, rivaled only by Kingdom Hearts 3.

The only one of these games that is a system seller to me is Smash Bros. I still haven't gotten around to buying a Wii U, and I may wait awhile, honestly.

I don't really understand this kind of doomsaying given that the Wii itself was an absolutely massive success and, if I recall correctly, sold the most consoles out of all 3 last gen.

Nintendo can still turn the WiiU around quite easily, and even if it performs poorly it's hardly like they will simply abandon the console hardware business.

You have to admit it is mildly disturbing the massive technology gap between the Wii U and the PS4. Yes, this was also true of last gen, but the Wii also had an innovative gimmick in motion control. Nintendo doesn't have that benefit this gen. A touch pad is hardly innovative. Beside, the PS4 already copied it, and only will cost $50 more than the Wii U, at least at this point. :/

And Sonic and Bayonetta aside, the lack of 3rd party support is also underwhelming, when you compare it to that of the PS4 and Xbox One.

I'm not trying to be all doom and gloom. I'm glad you guys are optimistic. :D

Back to topic though!

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The close up pic of Link really lets you see the detail of his tunic and chain mail. His clothes look like they're made from fabric now. The chain mail has really nice detail too. His hair has great detail too. It makes me excited to see what Peach, Zelda, ZSS, and maybe Palutena's hair will look like.

While I didn't really enjoy Other M, the more I look as Samus's new model, the more I like it. She's a little more svelte this time around. She was one of my mains back in Melee, but they just ruined her in Brawl. I hope they increase her mobility somewhat to match.

 

[Donghae]

I didn't mean to suggest they aren't absolutely dominating in the handheld market. There's no way Nintendo will ever stop making handheld consoles.



The only one of these games that is a system seller to me is Smash Bros. I still haven't gotten around to buying a Wii U, and I may wait awhile, honestly.



You have to admit it is mildly disturbing the massive technology gap between the Wii U and the PS4. Yes, this was also true of last gen, but the Wii also had an innovative gimmick in motion control. Nintendo doesn't have that benefit this gen. A touch pad is hardly innovative. Beside, the PS4 already copied it, and only will cost $50 more than the Wii U, at least at this point. :/

And Sonic and Bayonetta aside, the lack of 3rd party support is also underwhelming, when you compare it to that of the PS4 and Xbox One.

I'm not trying to be all doom and gloom. I'm glad you guys are optimistic. :D

Back to topic though!

-----------------------------

The close up pic of Link really lets you see the detail of his tunic and chain mail. His clothes look like they're made from fabric now. The chain mail has really nice detail too. His hair has great detail too. It makes me excited to see what Peach, Zelda, ZSS, and maybe Palutena's hair will look like.

While I didn't really enjoy Other M, the more I look as Samus's new model, the more I like it. She's a little more svelte this time around. She was one of my mains back in Melee, but they just ruined her in Brawl. I hope they increase her mobility somewhat to match.

im excited to see Peach, Zelda, ZSS hair tew : 3 i hope they make it flowy and less chunky .......and layered

 

[theeboredone]

@ theboredone — pretty sure the Wii was a step-up from the Xbox, because the Wii U is definitely better than the 360. It's on par, if not slightly better than the PS3 even.

Look at this:


While from afar, Link looks less "detailed" that's because detail is something you appreciate when you get close to something. Look at his hair. Look at the texture of his fabric. Look how many individual links are in his chainmail. Look at the curvature of the scabbard's metal. Now, look way off in the distance at the floating islands and the clouds among them. Pretty sure SSB4 surpasses the Xbox 360 and Brawl by far.

Now at the same time, there are some "really?" moments. Let's look at Samus:

Her pauldrons look a little stretched, maybe its the ovular insets. Along with clipping through her right upper arm, the black trim is looking 'wobbly' for lack of a better term on that same arm. Makes the metal look less like it was built with those shapes, and instead has black lines painted on—which is a super outdated technique. I dig her design overall, but if when you examine closely you see some major flaws like that, it looks amateur.

I think you missed my point. Yes the Wii is a step up from the Xbox, but you would call it a Xbox 1.2 at best graphically. The Wii from the Wii U is a genuine upgrade compared to GC to Wii. In fact, we had people saying pre-release it's more powerful than the PS3 and 360. With that being said, we know the Wii U is capable of what the PS3 and 360 have shown. I know the Wii U is still early in its cycle, so I'm not asking for Uncharted 3 or something crazy like that. What I am asking for is that I know the Wii U is capable of more than what has been shown.

I think this might just come down to if Nintendo has been using the same old "engine". Something tells me they just "updated" it rather than starting from the ground up to make it for the Wii U.

 

[greenluigiman2]

The only one of these games that is a system seller to me is Smash Bros. I still haven't gotten around to buying a Wii U, and I may wait awhile, honestly.

It doesn't matter what is a system seller TO YOU, what matters is what's a system seller to the masses. All of those games I listed are part of some of the best selling franchises of all-time. There are some that I didn't even list there like Wii Fit U.

 

[DakotaBonez]

It's like the argument between Skyward Sword and Twilight Princess. The graphics in Skyward Sword were better in that there was a lot more dimension to the character models and it was brighter, but Twilight Princess had much higher detail put into every texture. In the case between SSB4 and Brawl, they removed alot of detail on characters to make them truer to their games in SSB4, for example they removed the photo realistic textures on Mario's pants and replaced Samus much more detailed and bulkier Super Metroid suit for the smooth Other M Varia suit. SSB4 is in HD though and doesn't have all the jagged pixels from Brawl. If Brawl was in HD it would definitely look better in many aspects texture wise if your into gritty looking realistic nintendo characters.
The Fur on characters on the Wii U is a huge step up.

 

[Hello.]

The graphics do look a lot better. The textures are most peoples' complaints, the easiest difference being Mario's overalls in Brawl to SSB4. But SSB4's textures are pretty good, too. They show of the fabric much more.

Not to mention, the game is a whole year away and Sakurai noted that it's not even completed yet. I just hope they try to fix the clipping.

 

[SKM_NeoN]

The game visuals themselves, being in HD, is obviously of higher quality. However, it could be much better. Instead of building the game from the ground up to take advantage of the new hardware, it seems like they're content with using an old and outdated engine in order to get the game out faster, at less cost. Though some of the visual problems is with the character designs themselves.

Donkey Kong, Link, and Kirby look fantastic. No complaints there.

Bowser looks good I guess, his design was just so intimidating in Melee. Melee Bowser > Brawl Bowser > SSB4 Bowser > Mario game Bowsers.

Samus is a downright devolution from Brawl. And I was disappointed with THAT model. I know Japan has a thing against Metroid Prime, but I'm sorry, Samus has never looked as good as she does in Retro's trilogy.

Everyone else is meh.

 

[PreacherDudeRox]

I do appreciate the jump in color saturation. It's not TOO graphically appealing to me, nice nonetheless, since it's like looking at the same photos you've seen before for the first time on a retina display. You know, how iPhone 5's and Galaxy S4's have really nice colors?

That doesn't mean pictures themselves are nicer. SSB4 looks much more clean than Brawl, but I really would like the textures to be more visible. They now have the power to make the colors pop, so why not mix Brawl's textures with Melee's vibrancy? It seems like they're aiming for Melee with more polygons.

 

[Mr.C]

Game is coming out in 2014 and the graphics already look outdated. They're definitely better than Brawls but that isn't really saying much. People are impressed by SSB4 graphics that are pretty much on par with games that came out nearly a decade ago on the PS3/Xbox360? Lol.

 

[number90901]

This is really all I would ever need from any game, ever. They're just as realistic as I ever want a game. It's not just the improved graphics, its the aesthetics, too, which are an improvement all around, even if Samus still looks a bit off.

 

[Groose]

Graphics do not a game make. This is especially true for Smash Bros., where the frantic action doesn't really leave time for analyzing artwork. These graphics are better than Brawl's in some regards, worse in others... but who really cares?

Sakurai and crew should focus on the physics engine, characters, music, and all the cool little extras (Trophies, etc.) that make Smash a long, lasting experience. Graphics can and will become obsolete, but great gameplay, catchy music, and replay value are eternal.

 

[Mr.C]

Graphics do not a game make. This is especially true for Smash Bros., where the frantic action doesn't really leave time for analyzing artwork. These graphics are better than Brawl's in some regards, worse in others... but who really cares?

Sakurai and crew should focus on the physics engine, characters, music, and all the cool little extras (Trophies, etc.) that make Smash a long, lasting experience. Graphics can and will become obsolete, but great gameplay, catchy music, and replay value are eternal.

Why not focus on everything? A game coming out in 2014, from a goliath company like Nintendo, have no excuse for having graphics that look like they came out in 2005. Especially on a brand new system that's supposed to be showcasing it's power.

 

[JV5Chris]

If people want, I could probably do a technical shader breakdown of what I see at play.

 

[greenluigiman2]

Bowser looks good I guess, his design was just so intimidating Melee. Melee Bowser > Brawl Bowser > SSB4 Bowser > Mario game Bowsers

The whole reason for a crossover is to take characters from different games and pit them against each other, but if they're too different from their actual game counterpart then it becomes less meaningful. Bowser should look like Bowser, not a teenager's wet dream of how Bowser should look. If he doesn't look that intimidating in Mario games then he shouldn't look that intimidating in Smash. In my opinion Melee Bowser looks absolutely atrocious and nothing like the character I've grown up with. Mario game Bowsers >/= SSB4 Bowser > Brawl Bowser >>> Melee Bowser.

 

[Groose]

Why not focus on everything? A game coming out in 2014, from a goliath company like Nintendo, have no excuse for having graphics that look like they came out in 2005. Especially on a brand new system that's supposed to be showcasing it's power.

Oh, trust me. I'd like the graphics to look good, but that's just not a necessity. Graphics won't change whether or not I'll play the game 5 or 10 years after the release.

Part of me likes the more cartoony look that they're going for (this is NINTENDO, so it definitely fits), but part of me yearns for the big bad Bowser and the detail on Mario's overalls. Either way, I'm sure I'll juat accept the graphics for what they are.

 

[SKM_NeoN]

Bowser should look like Bowser, not a teenager's wet dream of how Bowser should look.

 

[Groose]

^That picture...ugh. It made me crack up AND scarred me for life at the same time.[

 

[Artsy Omni]

The more I look at screenshots on the site, the more I'm noticing just how much work they have left to make things look right. DK's hands....

 

[Tweezer Salad]

Bowser should look like Bowser, not a teenager's wet dream of how Bowser should look. If he doesn't look that intimidating in Mario games then he shouldn't look that intimidating in Smash. In my opinion Melee Bowser looks absolutely atrocious and nothing like the character I've grown up with. Mario game Bowsers >/= SSB4 Bowser > Brawl Bowser >>> Melee Bowser.

Hey man, you gotta realize some of us grew up with Mario 64 and Bowser in that game was intimidating as all hell. That laugh and organ music really helps too.
I really respected Melee and Brawl's Bowser cause they finally did justice to the character, he was like Mario 64 Bowser reborn with awesome graphics, still had that menacing look to him.


Gamecube - Modern era Bowser is pretty much a reskin of Pete from the old Mickey Mouse cartoons, just some fat goofy guy. (SSB4 bowser looks better though, he's like somewhere in between)

 

[smashbro29]

.

Since Rare is gone everything DK related (characterlooks-wise) looks worse. I'm glad he looks more like himself in Smash at least.

They really should base DK's look and voice off DK64. They use the DK Rap afterall.

It's like the argument between Skyward Sword and Twilight Princess. The graphics in Skyward Sword were better in that there was a lot more dimension to the character models and it was brighter, but Twilight Princess had much higher detail put into every texture. In the case between SSB4 and Brawl, they removed alot of detail on characters to make them truer to their games in SSB4, for example they removed the photo realistic textures on Mario's pants and replaced Samus much more detailed and bulkier Super Metroid suit for the smooth Other M Varia suit. SSB4 is in HD though and doesn't have all the jagged pixels from Brawl. If Brawl was in HD it would definitely look better in many aspects texture wise if your into gritty looking realistic nintendo characters.
The Fur on characters on the Wii U is a huge step up.

Samus looks... awful in this game.

She looks like she's a princess walking to a freaking ball! And Other:M! Do I really need to be reminded of that game constantly?!

Give us badass Samus again! Literally any other version of the Varia suit would have been better.

 

[Swamp Sensei]

My gosh. People need to stop hating on Other M Samus.

It looks really nice. Just because it's from a questionable game doesn't mean the design is terrible.

And the pose is fine as well. It makes her look graceful and kind yet she still gives off that feeling of power that she's always had.

 

[SKM_NeoN]

And the pose is fine as well. It makes her look graceful and kind yet she still gives off that feeling of power that she's always had.

Looks to me like she's doing a sobriety test.

 

[Swamp Sensei]

Looks to me like she's doing a sobriety test.

You guys wanted a mature Metroid game?

There. Samus is a drunkard now.

But in all seriousness, it's just a dramatic walk.

 

[greenluigiman2]

Hey man, you gotta realize some of us grew up with Mario 64 and Bowser in that game was intimidating as all hell. That laugh and organ music really helps too.
I really respected Melee and Brawl's Bowser cause they finally did justice to the character, he was like Mario 64 Bowser reborn with awesome graphics, still had that menacing look to him.


Gamecube - Modern era Bowser is pretty much a reskin of Pete from the old Mickey Mouse cartoons, just some fat goofy guy. (SSB4 bowser looks better though, he's like somewhere in between)

I grew up with Mario 64 as well, but the thing is, Bowser has always been intimidating in mainline Mario games. Even today. I distinctly remember the final boss battles in New Super Mario Bros. Wii and Super Mario Galaxy and it was a sight to behold. It really has nothing to with is design. Just because his colors are more vibrant doesn't mean he's less intimidating.

 

[smashbro29]

My gosh. People need to stop hating on Other M Samus.

It looks really nice. Just because it's from a questionable game doesn't mean the design is terrible.

And the pose is fine as well. It makes her look graceful and kind yet she still gives off that feeling of power that she's always had.

It's not a bad look but Super Metroid and Metroid Prime look that much more striking that this one looks bad by comparison.

Also the pose sucks, no one ever saw Samus as "a graceful lady :3" she was a character with silent depth, awesome flips and the ability to kickass on alien planets.

 

[Swamp Sensei]

It's not a bad look but Super Metroid and Metroid Prime look that much more striking that this one looks bad by comparison.

Also the pose sucks, no one ever saw Samus as "a graceful lady :3" she was a character with silent depth, awesome flips and the ability to kickass on alien planets.

Eh. I like it more than Super Metroid's look. Prime ties.

You'd be surprised! Doing flips and kicking ass could be described as graceful, could it not? Graceful =/= wimpy. Sword fighting can be graceful for example.

 

[smashbro29]

Eh. I like it more than Super Metroid's look. Prime ties.

You'd be surprised! Doing flips and kicking *** could be described as graceful, could it not? Graceful =/= wimpy. Sword fighting can be graceful for example.

Emphasis on the lady and the emoticon.

 

[FalKoopa]

Has anyone spoken on Fox yet? I wasn't expecting them to keep the Brawl look. (Though it looks better with the vibrant colours, and the HD fur)

 

[smashbro29]

Has anyone spoken on Fox yet? I wasn't expecting them to keep the Brawl look. (Though it looks better with the vibrant colours, and the HD fur)

I was expecting StarFox 64 HD's look.

 

[Gardex]

Why not focus on everything? A game coming out in 2014, from a goliath company like Nintendo, have no excuse for having graphics that look like they came out in 2005. Especially on a brand new system that's supposed to be showcasing it's power.

I think this article is relevant: http://kotaku.com/the-ps3-had-12-games-at-launch-heres-what-they-looked-513396910

Yeah, SSB4 looks leagues ahead of anything from that time.
Not only are you downplaying the graphics more than you should, but you're also ignoring that the game seems to be running in 1080p at 60fps.

You wont find many retail games for the 360/PS3 running on the same resolution and fps unless they look considerably worse.

This game follows a stylized/cartoony artstyle, and they are really starting to hit the limit of areas to improve.
Game isn't even finished.

 

[Frostwraith]

The more I look at screenshots on the site, the more I'm noticing just how much work they have left to make things look right. DK's hands....

Well, it is a game in development after all. Surely we can't expect the game to look like this in the final version.

And what's with people whining about Samus's design? Just because it came from a poorly executed game, it doesn't make the design bad by itself.

 

[DakotaBonez]

How about a comparison between Soul Calibur 2 Link and the Link in SSB4?

It's amazing what Namco pulled off 2 console generations ago, it also helps that the character models were a lot bigger and moved realistically thanks to motion capture.

 

[The Real Gamer]

The character models are nice... But the stages, backgrounds, and lighting effects... Those are the things that really wowed me.

 

[PlayerOneTyler]

I think this article is relevant: http://kotaku.com/the-ps3-had-12-games-at-launch-heres-what-they-looked-513396910

Yeah, SSB4 looks leagues ahead of anything from that time.
Not only are you downplaying the graphics more than you should, but you're also ignoring that the game seems to be running in 1080p at 60fps.

You wont find many retail games for the 360/PS3 running on the same resolution and fps unless they look considerably worse.

This game follows a stylized/cartoony artstyle, and they are really starting to hit the limit of areas to improve.
Game isn't even finished.

THANK YOU.

Super Smash Bros is a franchise that brings all of Nintendo's allstars together. Take a look at Nintendo's allstars: Mario. Link. Donkey Kong. Kirby. Pikachu. Samus. Pit. Fox. The list goes on. These characters take on a cartoon/anime-style appearance (sans Samus, but that's arguable). Therefore, they are more vibrant, colorful, and have significantly less textures than, say, a Call of Duty or Madden game. Looking at the screens we have now, they're obviously not done with models. They're hardly halfway finished with development, if that.

 

[elatedshyguy]

Overall, the game looks amazing. @Spire I agree, we are in the new generation of gaming there reason they are painting on folds, it looks really lame. However remember this is only right now, they would probably fix that later on.

 

[SmashShadow]

I personally feel like everyone looks better although I have a slight preference for Melee Fox's facial structure over brawl/4's and the detail in Mario's overalls was better in brawl. Visually, this is the most appealing of all the Smashes.

 

[[Corn]]

Stages look extremely detailed, and thats what smash has done, make recognizable game stages.

They are going for a much brighter look then brawl obviously as well, so detailed shadows and such arent exactly thought as much of.

 

[Artsy Omni]

I'm probably in the minority in that I prefer Mario to have a less grungy look because its more true to the source design, so I like his Smash 4 look over Brawl.