Nintendo has finally unleashed the Super Smash Bros. 3DS demo upon the masses, giving anyone with one of the portable consoles in hand an opportunity to try out five of the game's legendary heroes on a single stage. I wasn't convinced going into the demo, but now Smash has found its way onto my “must buy” list.
When I first heard that Super Smash Bros would be coming to the 3DS, my initial reaction was somewhere along the lines of “Ha! Yeah, that's totally going to work. Nice try, crazy Uncle Ninty.” Even knowing that the 3DS was capable of some pretty impressive visual and technical feats, I had a hard time believing that the game would be feasible on the portable console. I have an OG 3DS, so of course I thought the screen would be too small. There's also a lot going on on the screen during your typical Smash match, which I figured would be above and beyond the computing power of Nintendo's handheld. I also wasn't sure how I felt about trying to control a legit fighting game on the console.
During E3 this year, I had an opportunity to play exactly two rounds of Smash Bros. on a 3DS XL, and even that wasn't enough to alter my reservations. I was in the midst of a long day of seeing literally dozens of games, and I just so happened to be passing one of the typically crowded demo units when there was nobody in line. I dove in for two super fast two-minute battles before a queue formed behind me, and thus had to stop hogging the machine. The level was Tortimer Island from Animal Crossing and I decided to use the newly revealed Mega Man as my combatant of choice.
Keep in mind that, while I've played quite a bit of every previous Smash game, I would never go so far as to say I'm any good at the series. I enjoy bashing friends around, picking up and using items and trying to knock folks off of the screen. I've taken the time to learn certain characters, but you'll never hear me talk about tiers, frame counts or any of that nonsense.
In other words, I wasn't under ideal circumstances to dive into a Smash demo cold and, other than thinking that it seemed to run just fine, I walked away from my time with the game at E3 more or less as lukewarm as I had walked in.
Now that the demo is out, however, I've dropped quite a bit of time into the limited offerings and have a very different song to sing. Aside from playing on my couch, I happened upon a group of randos at the local game store yesterday and got in a few matches with those nice gents. Later in the evening, I found myself at a fighting game event hosted by one of my friends. Along with rounds of various games in the Tekken, Street Fighter and BlazBlue, we also managed to sneak in quite a few rounds of four-player Smash, which proved to be loads of fun.
Only in one match did the game ever start to chug, during an especially chaotic situation where multiple items were being activated and a cloud of dust was violently zipping around the screen. Otherwise, and in all similarly busy moments of gameplay, Smash kept right on running smooth as can be.
It took me some time to get used to the fact that Y and X are used to jump, but I eventually got the hang of it and my thumb stopped reaching for A to dive into the air. My understanding is that the controls will actually be customizable in the final release (a mysteriously missing option in the demo), and you'll also be able to turn off tapping up as a third jump option. Can I get an amen?
I'm one of those people who will find a main character to fall back on in the event of more serious play but, otherwise, I prefer to bounce around from character to character and see what everyone has to offer. I enjoy variety in fighting games and, with the massive roster that Smash offers from day one, it looks like I'll be getting plenty of it. Otherwise, Link, Mario and Pikachu play exactly how I remember while Mega Man and the Villager bring something new to the party. Mega Man is, obviously, a projectile-based character while the Villager is an adorable little trickster, using flying gyroids, a handy net and even sprouting trees to mess with other players.
I'm sure that more core Smash fans can tell you what, exactly, has changed about those characters that have been in previous versions of the game, but so long as Mario still shoots fireballs and whacks people with his cape and Link spins around in a sword tornado and chucks bombs, I'm a happy camper.
With only five characters and a single, none-too-dynamic level to play on, I'm still not bored with the Smash demo yet. There's also going to be a single player campaign(ish) to work through, challenges to take on and more. Setting up and joining local games was a snap, and I'm also looking forward to diving into online battles with people I have no business stepping into the ring with. But even as a scrub, I have plenty of fun dashing around the screen and doing my best to land the finishing blow. I'm sure that all of the dept series vets crave is still on offer, but it's nice to know that goofing off and button mashing is still a viable option.
If you have a 3DS, head on over to the eShop and get to downloading the demo for yourself. I'd love to hear what everyone else thinks of the game, so be sure to hit up those comments. Otherwise, get ready for Super Smash Bros. to finally come to the 3DS on Oct. 3. Now that Nintendo has learned about the existence of DLC, I'm still holding out hope for some of my most wanted new characters post-launch.
