I'll trust Sakurai's judgment on this one. All of the nerfs and buffs this installment have been fair and well explained. The glide change should reduce Meta Knight's excess power while preserving his play pattern and still allowing him to be a competitive fighter.
I'm excited to see what the rest of the roster contains.
This is what Europeans can get, and it comes with a pre-installed copy of Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS. I can't say I'm a fan of how it looks, so I'm not too fussed if it comes over here. What do you all think?
Along with Meta Knight's reveal today, the official site got some new pages. The first in on Solo Modes in the 3DS version, including Classic mode and Stadium. It seems that traditional Target Smash (also known as Break the Targets) will not be returning on 3DS. Target Blast is the new mode you all know of that involves smashing a bomb into many targets, and there are target segments included in Smash Run, however.
The second page is on Controls. I like how the diamond layout is, but L as Grab and R as Shield is bothersome to me. Here's hoping you can customise them.
The third page is on some known Stages. It's listed as "Stages 1" and there's only a select few present, so it's not hard to predict that more of these pages will come in the future.
I am 100% certain that the controls will be customizable. They were in Brawl (and I liked that a lot), so there is no reason it shouldn't return now. I myself would prefer L for Shield and R or X for Grab, so let's see.
Miis have many headwear accessories to choose from, including some based on playable characters. These are extremely similar to those in the Mii Plaza on 3DS, and it is likely many will be inspired by those.
Tuesday, 12th August
If you manage to raise this Special Flag for long enough, an additional KO count will be added to your score in a time match, or you'll get an extra stock for a stock match. When this appears on the stage, the fight for the flag becomes a fierce battle of tactics, which makes things pretty interesting.
A very powerful new item. Like many others, it first appeared in the batch of screenshots released around the time of the Smash Brothers Direct in April, but we did not know its use or purpose. Many speculated it to be related to the Enemy Galaga item or a part of Pac-Man's expansive moveset, due to originating from Namco like those, but this post clarifies it as otherwise.
Wednesday, 13th August
"Looks like there was an impostor in the earlier posts, so I introduced him to my sword!" ...I'll leave it up to your imagination if he really said that or not. The veteran hero, Meta Knight, returns to battle!! We didn't forget the Battleship Halberd either!!
Meta Knight's Up Special Move, Shuttle Loop, changed quite a bit in this game. The glide is gone, and the attack slashes opponents twice while spinning in a large loop. This has turned into a highly technical and effective move.
Meta Knight comes from the Kirby series, and is the third and final veteran revealed to be from there; the twenty-sixth veteran when including others. In total, he is the thirty-ninth character announced (when counting the three Mii Fighters classes as seperate), which is the exact amount of characters Brawl had. Meta Knight is infamous for his unparalleled abilities in the previous game, and the changing in the execution of his up special move is the first step towards greater balance. Like Pit (and presumably Charizard), he can no longer glide.
Thursday, 14th August
Pic of the day. Here's Beat! And Plant Barrier!! These are some of Mega Man's custom special moves. You might also be able to use some signature boss-like moves from the Mega Man series, too.
Customisable variants of Mega Man's up special and down special moves, respectively, replacing Leaf Shield and Rush Coil. Beat the Bird first appeared in Mega Man 5 and Plant Barrier comes from Mega Man 6, both on NES.
Friday, 15th August
Here's the place you equip powers for Smash Run. Pack a good mix of them like a lunch box, and off you go! You can change how your powers are set up by touching their icons and dragging them.
If you hit the X Button, it will randomly fill up the remaining weight allowance with powers. You can keep changing the line-up as many times as you please. The level of a power is proportional to its strength, number of uses, and weight. Organizing them might be easier if you label your favorite powers with a ★.
The system used here is comparable to the Powers in Kid Icarus: Uprising, down to the 'random' function. Instead of space on a board, it restricted to "weight". Larger and slower characters are at a disadvantage in Smash Run due to less mobility around the map, however this is made up for by being able to hold more powers.
In other news, Nintendo UK have made a short trailer for the Limited Edition 3DS XL that will be released there. It can be viewed here.
A new interview has been done with Sakurai, and he stated he's "aiming to make this the number one character game in the world." You can read about it and other reiterated information in the article here.
I'm wondering if custom moves are going to be allowed in competitive play. This is a question that has been brought up in the competitive scene before, even by D1, and it definitely seems like it would be a healthy addition to the metagame by adding in more depth & strategies. I can imagine some moves will be banned no matter what, but I'm pulling for them being allowed. It'll make watching pro matches a lot more interesting.
I'm wondering if custom moves are going to be allowed in competitive play. This is a question that has been brought up in the competitive scene before, even by D1, and it definitely seems like it would be a healthy addition to the metagame by adding in more depth & strategies. I can imagine some moves will be banned no matter what, but I'm pulling for them being allowed. It'll make watching pro matches a lot more interesting.
That would be decided between you and the friends you have registered on your 3DS or Wii U as you cannot use custom moves when battling a random person online.
I also hope customisable special moves are welcomed to the new metagame. Some default moves (such as those that absorb energy projectiles) have exactly zero uses against particular opponents who lack the source of their primary function. We've seen evidence of how great custom specials can be with Rosalina's Gravitational Pull, with two alternatives that don't involve defending from items. A new era of counterpicking would come into existence with the customisation system in place, and it's almost imperative for Palutena. I don't have much faith in competitive Miis being a thing, though.
There may be the rare special move that has absolutely no counter against it, and is then deemed overpowered and banned, but I really hope we don't get any of that. It's too easy to get ban-happy after, and the meta suffers as a result.
There may be the rare special move that has absolutely no counter against it, and is then deemed overpowered and banned, but I really hope we don't get any of that. It's too easy to get ban-happy after, and the meta suffers as a result.
That would be decided between you and the friends you have registered on your 3DS or Wii U as you cannot use custom moves when battling a random person online.
