The recent Nintendo Direct was dedicated to the newest installment of the Super Smash Bros. series. They packed 39 minutes full of details and the revealed changes to multiplayer were especially plentiful.Let’s jump into it shall we?
Beginning the Direct was Nintendo’s very own Masahiro Sakurai announcing that both the Wii U and 3DS versions of Super Smash Bros. would support online multiplayer. The prominence of the feature throughout the Nintendo Direct seems to point to the idea that Nintendo has fully come to terms with online play being not only important, but a necessity.
Three online modes were shown with much confidence and the new ‘For Fun’, ‘For Glory’ and ‘Smash Run’ facets look promising.
‘For Fun’ is the regular Super Smash Bros. experience. It’s comprised of your typical battles with all items set to random stages, though not Final Destination, and should speak more to the more common players.
‘For Glory’ is set exclusively on the flat, platform-less Final Destination stage –of which every stage in the game now has a version of– and there are no items allowed. The latter is also capable of a one on one battles.
‘Smash Run’ will find be found only on the 3DS and is a new mode inspired by Kirby’s Air Ride. Four players have 5 minutes to defeats enemies for items and scavenge for power-ups on a rather large map so that they may apply their found upgrades and face each other in the free-for-all battle.
While fancy new modes may be at the front of a gamers mind when thinking of an upcoming release, the technical side provides the ground in which it will stand. Sprinkled throughout the presentation were near-apologetic assurances that the problems from Super Smash Bros. Brawl’s online experience would be fixed and improved upon.
No longer are players hidden behind a veil of anonymity. Every player will be represented by their Nintendo Network ID and cheaters, abusers and other unkind folk will be met with punishment for breaking Nintendo’s new rules of conduct. Crossing these lines can lead to temporary banishment that vary on severity and frequency. There was no mention of permanent bans and Nintendo has yet to comment on the subject.
On a lighter note, the ranking system has been dismantled and replaced in favor of “Global Smash Power”. The new system allows players to take points achieved in solo play and compare them to fellow gamers, for instance a player with a score of 50,000 is better than 50,000 players.
Global Smash Power is certainly an unusual take on the otherwise established player hierarchy process. Comparing yourself to players you’ll be battling with numbers gained outside of the community is indeed different, but it does provide a standard as players, albeit presumably, are facing Nintendo’s challenges and CPU.
If you’ve got a hankering for more Super Smash Bros. we’ve given a rundown of the game’s details given during the Nintendo Direct, the differences between the two versions and why it’s okay that they’re being released separately, and more!
