Super Smash Bros. 3DS

I have always loved Super Smash Bros. From the first time my babysitter brought the game over to keep us quiet, I dreamed of the day that I myself would own this glorious tribute to mascots pummeling each other.

That day has long since passed, from buying my own Gamecube with Melee to this very day picking up the new game for the 3DS. Though I have not gotten a chance to really delve into each individual character, I think I've played it enough at this point to give you all a general feel for the game's functionality.

First off, there are a TON of characters and settings unlocked right of the bat. Worried that you'll have to spend hours of play time to unlock Little Mac or Mega Man? Worry no more, because they're all there right from the start. Final Destination is also an option right from the get-go, and I can see a lot of people feeling that this removes the incentive to play the single-player game.

Darn.

Super Smash Bros is not meant to be single player. Half the reason I got this version was because of the online capacity to play friends. Let's be honest, making the most desirable characters and maps in this instance, that is to say for a party game, is actively detrimental to the cause. Nintendo, as one of the few game companies that remembers video games are about FUN, realized this and gave the people the capacity to enjoy the game how they choose right from the get-go.

That's not to say there aren't unlockables, because boy are there. Challenges, Mii accessories, trophies, a few special characters, but nothing that would feel like you have an incomplete game without.

The single player functions that do exist are mainly series of challenge modes. The classic single-player campaign from the N64 days is there, though it's updated, as well as multi-enemy challenge modes. They're all decent and pretty standard fun-wise for what we've come to expect from the series.

As far as the feel of the controls go, I'm certainly impressed. While this is a game that would be easier to player with a 3DS XL, it's certainly approachable. It's clear that they went for emulating the console controls as closely as possible, but there is the option to switch the buttons around. This is good, because, at least in my experience, there are more comfortable configurations than the default. That said, however, the controls are responsive, and it really does feel as though you're playing a Smash Bros. game.

As far as downsides go, the biggest complaint I have are some of the larger maps. The limited size of a 3DS screen means that when the camera zooms out too much, it becomes hard to follow where you are. Second, while it does feel like a Smash Bros. game, so far in my experience it's not quite different enough from Brawl to feel like a new version, new characters aside.

But, this is just a very first impression. I'm sure there will be plenty more ups and downs to figure out as I keep trying out new characters and getting more unlockables.

For now though, good job on Little Mac, guys. You did not disappoint there.

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Nintendo vs. X-Box vs. Sony

There are a few terms attributed to video game culture that leave a bad taste in my mouth. First and foremost is just the word “gamer”. In a world where more and more people play video games, I find it hard to believe that we need a specialized term for that. Of course, “hardcore” gamers are a thing, but so are “casual” and “mid level” ones. Moreover, I feel like its just overused by media and especially marketing establishments. This leads me into today's topic: Console Wars.

Console Wars is another term I'm pretty sure was conceived in a board room with a long table surrounded by soulless marketing experts. Creating rivalry is a great way to promote a product, and cultivate followers so fanatically loyal that there would be cults telling them to tone it down. However, I don't think the term is that legitimate. After all people are probably going to systems not based on the specs or features, but on the games that will be available.

That said, I do have a preference for consoles and games. Starting with the worst of the bunch (in my opinion) we have the X-Box One. Yes, yes, insert your “beating a dead horse” joke here.

We all know the stellar reception that the console got on the day its features were announced, so I won't go into too much detail on what they were. If you don't already know, lets just say “ridiculous amounts of DRM BS” and leave it at that. I'm told that a lot of “really cool features” could have been introduced through this, and that X-Box just did a terrible job of marketing the plus sides, but here's the thing:

I neither want nor need to make video games and the playing thereof more complicated than it already is.

I know that change is inevitable, and evolution will always take hold sooner or later, but what X-Box seemed to have forgotten is that not all (in fact I'd go as far as to say “most”) people who play games aren't looking for the “definitive gaming experience” or an “all in one entertainment system”. Let me explain this in the simplest terms that I can:

We want to play games.

That's it. That is literally the starting and ending goal for most people who turn on a console. People got so offended by the concepts the X-Box One originally introduced because it seemed to further follow the path started by things like extreme DLC. The game itself seems to become secondary to the “gaming experience” and more importantly the revenue creative from it. 

So at this point it should come as a surprise to few when I say that if I bought a next-gen console it would almost certainly be the Wii-U. I used to sign up for the Nintendo hate in favor of the better graphics and more realistic, grittier games, but in recent years I've realized what's been keeping Nintendo afloat long after all its original competitors bit the dust: it understands why it exists.

Nintendo understands that games need to be fun. They seem to understand more than any of their competitors that the highest resolution graphics and most detail oriented sub-machines are meaningless if the player isn't enjoying what they're doing. They don't innovate new ways of keeping their consumers on a leash, or letting developers come out with half-finished products to be completed for an additional fee with DLC, they innovate new ways of having fun. That's what the Wii-mote was all about, and that's what the new touch-pad interface is for, unlike the Sony or X-Box motion sensing clones.

Now, Nintendo's weakness is that few developers seem to share this notion, and that for the most part just want to make the same kind of “successful” games that Sony and Microsoft produce. But its always worth it you find those few games that weren't about making a surefire investment, and make you lose track of time because you're enjoying yourself. So rock on Nintendo, and may I not doubt you again.

Oh, and PS4 will probably be okay. I guess.

Super Smash Bros 4

For those of you unfamiliar with the term, a “nerdgasm” is a phenomenon in which the sight of something closely linked to something a person is very passionate about lights up so many positive emotion neurons that it evokes a sensation not dissimilar to nirvana with lightsabers.

Example: You're a huge comic fan, and in the post-credit scene of Iron Man 1, you see Nick Fury give the first plug that there's going to be an Avengers move. The reaction you had to that was probably a nerdgasm.

With that in mind, the next Super Smash Bros.

Despite the fact that I own neither a 3DS or a WII-U (a fact which may change around the release of Pokemon X and Y) I experienced a nerdgasm seeing this trailer. This is largely due to the fact that Super Smash Bros has been hands-down, no-contest my favorite multiplayer game in the history of anything ever. Its a simple concept that you can pick up in about no time: almost every button does damage, do damage to your opponents. Stay on the platform. But there's a technique and finesse to it that takes a lot of practice to master, such as sidestepping, the Zelda boot and my personal favorite: the spike, in which you throw an opponent off the edge, the jump out and do a downward smash to slam them off the screen.

Magical.

Now to be fair, this new trailer doesn't show us a whole lot about the new game, save a few new maps and characters, but that's really all that's ever new. The biggest change that came from brawl was the addition of the smash balls, and I've met people who love and people who hate that.

I did not recognize the new locations, and they probably will make very little difference to someone who prefers to just play on Final Destination, so I have little to say about that. As embarrassing as it is to admit, I've also never played Animal Crossing, so when the trailer looked like it was about over, I was left feeling kind of disappointed.

Then, he arrived.

I have been questioning the absence of MegaMan since Melee. Surely you could get the iconic character that nintendo is actually known for before you put in, oh I don't know, Solid Snake? Sonic? And now, finally, MegaMan has come to join the party.

I don't have much more to say about this game, due to the amount of information that hasn't been released, but I'm always psyched for a new Smash Bros game, and I hope many of you are too.

Just so long as they haven't added more Starfox characters, because seriously, screw those guys.

Mike Overthinks: Super Mario

Beloved video game franchise, or total mindscrew? Let's find out!