Super Smash Bros. for Wii U - Review

Say hello to the series that has revolutionized the fighting game genre in video games: Super Smash Bros., first introduced in 1999 for the Nintendo 64, has become one of the most popular fighting games in the community today. The latest installment in the hit series, Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, improves and builds upon its predecessors in every way. With endless hours of smashing good fun, hundreds of collectables, and the largest roster yet, you'll have a hard time putting down this masterpiece of a game.

See if you can name all of the fighters in this picture.

Super Smash Bros. for Wii U maintains the unique fighting mechanics of the series, which centers around attacking your opponent to increase their damage, and then launching them off the screen to win a KO. The more damage your opponent has taken, the farther they'll fly when they get launched. This style has never been seen before in a fighting game, and has been met with critical acclaim. In addition to the game's standard "Smash" mode, there are several other modes that take you to all sorts of wacky places. For example, a mode exclusive to the Wii U version of the game, Smash Tour, is unique in that you play as Mii Characters and chase each other around a game board, battling each other as you go. Or you could go to the Vault and gaze upon your Trophy collection. Or you could look at some of the challenges you have yet to complete. There are 140 challenges in the game. Some of them will be a cakewalk, while others require an INSANE level of skill and strategy to beat. For example: Clear Classic on Intensity 9.0 without losing a single stock. Not just anyone is able to do that right off the bat. I only just managed to scrape by spamming Lucario's Double Team special move. The team really went all out when thinking up these challenges, and while some of them can be incredibly infuriating, they provide a lot of replay value.

This is the game's opening cinematic.

Another astounding feat is the all-new 8-Player Smash, which involves --you guessed it-- 8 players duking it out instead of the usual four. If you thought four players can get hectic, you haven't seen anything yet.With such a colourful cast of characters, having 8 of them going wild all at once is the most fun I've had in a long time; if I can manage to find one of the extremely elusive GameCube adapters for a fair price. With characters ranging from Nintendo's all-star Mario to lesser-known characters like Shulk from 2010's critically-acclaimed Xenoblade Chronicles. Even 3rd-Party characters join the fray in the form of newcomers Capcom's Mega Man, Namco Bandai's Pac-Man, and the return of Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog. There's plenty of stages and new items this time around, such as the visually impressive Orbital Gate Assault, to the dreaded Blue Shell that has been ruining friendships for years over in Mario Kart. Unfortunately, there aren't as many new stages than Super Smash Bros. Brawl had, and instead, we get many more returning stages from previous installments. It isn't really a bad thing, but I was expecting more. A new feature allows you to create fighters based on Miis, Nintendo's customizable avatars. These fighters come in three different classes; Brawler, Swordfighter and Gunner, and each one provides a different way to play. With 51 characters to choose from, there will never be a time where you get bored with everyone.

20 years ago, you'd get laughed out of the room if you ever said that these gaming icons would ever be in a game together. There's only one game where that's possible.

Unfortunately, Smash Wii U has a bit of a spotty online performance. While it's definitely a step up from it's 3DS counterpart's lagfest of a mode, more often than not, the button input lag and dropped frames severely hinders the fun. Even when playing with friends, the connection frequently starts lagging and can cause mistakes in battle. It definitely must be improved, and it's because of that that I've strayed away from online mode.

When playing with people around the world, online mode is split into two modes. For Fun offers 4-player action with all items on all stages. For Glory offers intense matches that are only played on Final Destination. So basically, you get more lag in For Fun, and slightly less in For Glory.

Another selling point for the game is that it's the first to be compatible with Nintendo's amiibo figures, little toys that you can scan in on the GamePad. You can then train them up to level 50, and while I still haven't done that yet, I've seen that they can be ferocious on the battlefield. Unfortunately, they don't do much else than look pretty, and that has become a problem when buying them. amiibo turned out to be wildly popular, which can make certain figures nearly impossible to find, usually because of greedy scalpers that buy them all up and sell them on eBay for five times their original price. The "Holy Trinity" of wave one, being Marth, Villager and Wii Fit Trainer, are some of the toughest ones to find. Luckily, Marth will be getting a restock later this year. amiibo is one of those "I-never-thought-that-I-would-get-this-far" projects, and I must say, I'm quite fed up that I haven't found a single Captain Falcon since the day of it's release. I can only hope that Nintendo learns from their mistakes.

Nintendo's most ambitious plan yet is more of a hassle than it is an enjoyment.

Overall, I think Smash Bros. for Wii U is a masterpiece in the gaming industry, and is one of the best, if not THE best game for Nintendo's struggling console that is out right now. With hours upon hours of replay value, incredibly fun gameplay, and gorgeous visuals, this is one game that you WILL not want to miss. Now, I'm off to eBay to cough up $80 for a Rosalina amiibo.

The good:

+Endless hours of replay value

+Undeniably fun gameplay

+Gorgeous visuals

+Lots of collectables

The Bad:

-Unsatisfactory online performance

-lackluster amiibo support

Final Rating: 9.5 out of 10