A definite improvement over the massacre that was "Brawl" but still a way away from the expectations set by the original and Melee.There are many great "Pros" to this game but some are met with some blaring "Cons"Pros:Huge character list: more fighting styles to choose from for a greater diversification of play styles.Customizable characters: this allows you to make each character your own and to experiment with combinations.Smash run: the fact that the final challenge is randomized and the time limit creates that sense of urgency to beef up your character in all directions makes for an interesting effect. Even though a bit of skill is taken away and replaced with luck it is balanced by the huge satisfaction of when you grinded a bit too much on speed and you see ... MoreA definite improvement over the massacre that was "Brawl" but still a way away from the expectations set by the original and Melee.There are many great "Pros" to this game but some are met with some blaring "Cons"Pros:Huge character list: more fighting styles to choose from for a greater diversification of play styles.Customizable characters: this allows you to make each character your own and to experiment with combinations.Smash run: the fact that the final challenge is randomized and the time limit creates that sense of urgency to beef up your character in all directions makes for an interesting effect. Even though a bit of skill is taken away and replaced with luck it is balanced by the huge satisfaction of when you grinded a bit too much on speed and you see "Race" pop up as the final.No tripping: speaks for itself.Mii Brawlers: you can get really creative with these little buggersCons:Clones: they are back and they are just as minorly different as they were before (I'm looking at you Marth-Roy, Marth-Lucina)Customizable Move-sets: You get a counter! You get a counter! Everybody gets a counter! The concept is great but the application was weak. Too many recycled moves actually served to create more similar movesets for characters. Whee! Now my non-clones can have clone moves of clones... No. If there isn't enough room for a diverse custom move-set then either remove some characters to make more diverse abilities or keep the characters diverse and remove custom moves enti.

For a 3DS game, smash brings to the table so many great things that anyone who's played the previous games will enjoy, whether they're looking for a party or to smash some heads competitively.Seriously, this thing's got tons of modes. There's the big 'Smash' button with single player or multiplayer battle, The Smash Run, which is like the adventure mode from brawl, but it only gives you 5 minutes. You get powerups from the monsters you beat then you use those in a final competition against 3 other players. Then there's the solo mode, with classic mode, smash run (beating every character on 1 life with finite recovery), the home run derby, the target break mode that's kind of fused with the home run derby, and don't forget trophy rush, which is a great way to earn ... MoreFor a 3DS game, smash brings to the table so many great things that anyone who's played the previous games will enjoy, whether they're looking for a party or to smash some heads competitively.Seriously, this thing's got tons of modes. There's the big 'Smash' button with single player or multiplayer battle, The Smash Run, which is like the adventure mode from brawl, but it only gives you 5 minutes. You get powerups from the monsters you beat then you use those in a final competition against 3 other players. Then there's the solo mode, with classic mode, smash run (beating every character on 1 life with finite recovery), the home run derby, the target break mode that's kind of fused with the home run derby, and don't forget trophy rush, which is a great way to earn more of the over 500 trophies in the game.Online has some good workings with for glory and for fun. I like a little bit of both, personally, and each delivers spectacularly. There's a little lag...but not much, most of the time.I also like the character roster. Sure, there are lots of carbon copies... But just think of them as extra alternate skins. I also like the mii fighter when playing for fun. My competitive friends always complain how it's so broken, but my for-fun friends just love making John Goodman fight Iron Man.In all, great game, fantastic game. And the WiiU version has even more, so I'll probably get that too. But that's another story....

Very nearly a perfect 3DS game. Plenty of depth and nuance to sink your teeth into, and a lot of modes to keep it fresh. The "Smash Run" PVE mode's a decent way to grind for unlocks, though note that it's less of a complete experience than its Kirby equivalent in City Trail. The online mode, especially the spectator client, is usually pretty good -- though, as a player in Taiwan, I suffer more inherent ping than most trying to connect to opponents in either US or Japan. Sad.If I had one major complaint: the grind to unlock custom moves. Unlike trophies, you can't simply buy the abilities with the gold you accumulate throughout the rest of the game -- and you accumulate a LOT of gold. The trophies are largely just cosmetic, and it feels unfortunate that we can't ... MoreVery nearly a perfect 3DS game. Plenty of depth and nuance to sink your teeth into, and a lot of modes to keep it fresh. The "Smash Run" PVE mode's a decent way to grind for unlocks, though note that it's less of a complete experience than its Kirby equivalent in City Trail. The online mode, especially the spectator client, is usually pretty good -- though, as a player in Taiwan, I suffer more inherent ping than most trying to connect to opponents in either US or Japan. Sad.If I had one major complaint: the grind to unlock custom moves. Unlike trophies, you can't simply buy the abilities with the gold you accumulate throughout the rest of the game -- and you accumulate a LOT of gold. The trophies are largely just cosmetic, and it feels unfortunate that we can't unlock actual game features.Final note: poor Meta Knight got nerfed horribly. His melee animations don't line up with his hitboxes at all. You'll see a lot of Little Macs online, due to his ridiculously strong ground game, but the real threat's Rosalina & Luma.

One of the best fighting games to come out, and definitely the best fighting game to come out on the handheld. If you've ever played Smash before you know that it's about a bunch of Nintendo characters beating each other up. The character roster for this game is the biggest it's ever been, allowing you to enjoy learning and playing as many of Nintendo's characters and allow you to settle the question of who would win in a fight. The characters move at 60FPS (Frames-Per-Second) which means you can see very fluid and vibrant movement from each of the characters as they fight. The environment and items move at 30FPS to help achieve this feat, so while the characters move great everything else may seem sluggish. While this may sound like a negative, it's in fact a huge ... MoreOne of the best fighting games to come out, and definitely the best fighting game to come out on the handheld. If you've ever played Smash before you know that it's about a bunch of Nintendo characters beating each other up. The character roster for this game is the biggest it's ever been, allowing you to enjoy learning and playing as many of Nintendo's characters and allow you to settle the question of who would win in a fight. The characters move at 60FPS (Frames-Per-Second) which means you can see very fluid and vibrant movement from each of the characters as they fight. The environment and items move at 30FPS to help achieve this feat, so while the characters move great everything else may seem sluggish. While this may sound like a negative, it's in fact a huge positive as most handheld games only run at 30FPS for everything normally.It's constantly getting updates which help keep the game balanced properly over any found bugs that may ruin the gaming experience as well. The wireless play is possibly the best feature as you can play with friends locally or online and duke it out in various fighting modes. You can see some lag occur when playing either locally or via internet, but these are few in-between. If it's ever frequent it's due to you being too far from your friends while playing locally or your internet wireless connection may not be too great.Smash Run is the exclusive game mode for the handheld version of this game and it definitely serves as a great alternativ.

I was looking forward to this game a lot but not trying to get my expectations to high seeing as it is the first time for a smash game on the 3ds. Glad to say I was pretty accurate, but it was a little better than I thought. My only gripes are I cannot change the movement from the circle pad to the Dpad which I was really hoping for (if you know of a way to do this that I missed PLEASE let me know). My grips on the pad are worn down so my thumb slides off easily, so this may be a personal thing. My other issue is the lag of online play. My internet is pretty good and I generally have a low ping, with a high download and upload so I dont believe that to be the problem. Also, I had my phone turned off like some people recommend. Regular play felt quite smooth through ... MoreI was looking forward to this game a lot but not trying to get my expectations to high seeing as it is the first time for a smash game on the 3ds. Glad to say I was pretty accurate, but it was a little better than I thought. My only gripes are I cannot change the movement from the circle pad to the Dpad which I was really hoping for (if you know of a way to do this that I missed PLEASE let me know). My grips on the pad are worn down so my thumb slides off easily, so this may be a personal thing. My other issue is the lag of online play. My internet is pretty good and I generally have a low ping, with a high download and upload so I dont believe that to be the problem. Also, I had my phone turned off like some people recommend. Regular play felt quite smooth through every session. I had no issues with any setting, amount of players, or items that slowed down my system or felt out of place from my play so far.As for everything else I was very happy. There are a good amount of features and content especially for a 3ds game. Classic, all star, home run, and a few other game modes are back along with a few others. Smash run is a blast and I'm going to be playing a lot of it with my friends and family. I feel Nintendo is great at enhancing older ideas with new flare and this is no exception. Like I said, classic mode is back but you can choose between 3 paths... and you can change the difficulty based on how much gold you would like to spend. Not only that but at the end credit seq.

Nintendo has not made a Smash bros. game since 2008, and it's about time they made one. Well, they did. They made one, alright. Fighting characters from different video game franchises has gone to the next level. Now you can play in 3D! Honestly, the 3D effect gives me a headache but still, you can play in 3D! Alright, alright, you came for a review. So, that's what I'll give you. The game introduced some new characters to the series. And a few new stages. The combat moves are incredible to use when controlling the fighter. The controls are perfect. The game controls like Super Smash bros. Brawl on the Wii. This makes it easier and more fun to play. Now, you may have realized I only gave this game 4 stars. Yes, I hate to break it to you, but the game, unlike its ... MoreNintendo has not made a Smash bros. game since 2008, and it's about time they made one. Well, they did. They made one, alright. Fighting characters from different video game franchises has gone to the next level. Now you can play in 3D! Honestly, the 3D effect gives me a headache but still, you can play in 3D! Alright, alright, you came for a review. So, that's what I'll give you. The game introduced some new characters to the series. And a few new stages. The combat moves are incredible to use when controlling the fighter. The controls are perfect. The game controls like Super Smash bros. Brawl on the Wii. This makes it easier and more fun to play. Now, you may have realized I only gave this game 4 stars. Yes, I hate to break it to you, but the game, unlike its controls, are not perfect. First off, Nintendo has removed the level editor, which means that you can't play custom levels that you made with your fighter. While you can unlock levels ( up to a certain amount) You are forced to play normal levels. Another problem is that it's very difficult to pick the CPU player you want to battle. A CPU character is a player that you can choose to fight against you. If you don't pick a CPU player yourself, the game will for you. The final problem I had with the game is the programing. Now, I'm not saying that it has lots of bugs, I'm just saying that at times, it feels that Nintendo was a bit, well, lazy. I came across several annoying glitches in the game at random moments..

Throughout its history, the smash franchise hasn't brought a game to the handheld platform until now. For being the pioneer in doing this, I can gladly say that SSB3DS is a fantastic game. Controls are tight, online play is usually low lag and the game modes are fun and worthwhile.Smash run has had a lot of people on the fence about this game; however, one could look to the likes of a game such as Kirby Air ride and its city trial to reveal the true nature of such a game mode. Though it may seem like a 5 minute grind, it's important to understand that it is by no means without strategy; it's a high paced search that requires you to look frantically for treasure, enemies and gates to challenge areas in order to get powerups. After the 5 minute search, there's a ... MoreThroughout its history, the smash franchise hasn't brought a game to the handheld platform until now. For being the pioneer in doing this, I can gladly say that SSB3DS is a fantastic game. Controls are tight, online play is usually low lag and the game modes are fun and worthwhile.Smash run has had a lot of people on the fence about this game; however, one could look to the likes of a game such as Kirby Air ride and its city trial to reveal the true nature of such a game mode. Though it may seem like a 5 minute grind, it's important to understand that it is by no means without strategy; it's a high paced search that requires you to look frantically for treasure, enemies and gates to challenge areas in order to get powerups. After the 5 minute search, there's a concluding 2 minute smash, race or some other form of battle to show your stuff. It's influenced by the power ups collected, but the winner isn't necessarily predetermined by powerups (as proof, I've defeated computers that had collected three times as many speed powerups as me in a race.) For that reason I find it to be an enjoyable game mode.Another complication with moving to the portable platform is the size of characters on the screen. Locating the characters isn't difficult at all; in fact, I found it pretty easy to keep track of things even without character outlines on. Another factor is that character models have been significantly simplified in order to operate smoothly. It's unnoticeable when in play, but at.