We have new details for the Villager’s moveset and some of the new stages in Super Smash Bros for Wii U and 3DS. There’s a lot to go through, so we’ll handpick notable details for you here.
First off, let’s look at the Villager, who has picked up some really intriguing specials. Unexpectedly, he may have aerial dominance in the game thanks to Lloid Rocket and Balloon Fight. Lloid is a gyroid, and Lloid Rocket has him blasting off towards one side of the screen towards the end. Lloid can function as a simple projectile, but Villager can also ride it, providing a safe way to clear the screen.
Balloon Fight, obviously an homage to the earlier 8-bit game, seems calculated to give Villager a control of the air unheard of in other fighters. He can basically stay aerial for an indefinite amount of time, hurting everyone else, unless they can take his balloons out, or at least that’s what it looks like.
Other powerful moves of note is the Slingshot blast, which seems capable of sending characters flying, the Turnips, whose power is randomized to reflect the unsteadiness of turnip prices in the daily market, the Shovel, which appears to be a Smash Attack that pins opponents to the ground instead of sending them flying, and the multi-strike Timber, which seems a pain to setup, but good to use if you’re above enemies to send something tumbling down.
Some other outlets may have noted this, but there seems to be a lot of hidden references in Final Destination. Seeing the floating stage overseeing views of Earth and the sun, the blue and yellow-red hues emanating from the two are present in the logos for the game, with red on the 3DS and blue on Wii U. Some even speculate this may have some significance to the lore of Soul Calibur, who uses the same colors in its iconography. We have yet to see how important it could possibly be, but there are a few SoulCal people working on this game.
Now, the Boxing Ring appears to have some interesting variation, with a Smash Bros and Punch-Out version. We’re not quite sure how it’s determined which ring comes out, but it is possible that this is selectable. The ropes can be jumped off of, but not in the way we are accustomed to seeing in pro wrestling. Instead, characters fly a very sharp horizontal angle and jump back in at or near the middle of the ring.
Sonic’s Windy Hill has some environmental hazards that could prove more dangerous than they are in the Sonic games. It seems the bumpers can be made to appear and disappear. In fact, we already know Villager can ‘Pocket’ them to place somewhere else, to tactically use to jump in another location. The windmill on the side goes offscreen, implying if you stick around one of its blades too long you could get eliminated. The windmill’s movement seems randomized, turning clockwise, counterclockwise, or completely still.
Mario Galaxy seems to have a powerful gravity effect that affects characters. Attacks that would send enemies flying in other stages might not be as effective here, as those attacked could get pulled back. Some flying attacks also seem to be grounded here, instead of giving characters the chance to soar.
Palutena’s Temple (from Kid Icarus Uprising) may be one of the largest stages in the game, but we’ll focus on one particular detail here: the giant disc platform in front of Palutena. It seems to be able to elevate, opening up access to a later part of the stage, with the demarcation point market by what could be the ladders next to it. The same disc platform seems to constitute the entirety of the Final Destination version of this stage. Notably, both Palutena’s Temple and the Garden of Hope from Pikmin seem to have rickety, easily breakable bridges.
The Pilotwings stage seems to be a wonderful ode to both the SNES original and the latest iteration, Pilotwings Resort. You start off lifting off on the wings of the original red plane, flying away from the original landing strip island, passing through the game’s requisite circles, towards the resort island of the new game, whereupon you’re flung down to the yellow plane. When you switch between, any holds you have on other characters seem to be automatically removed, and you get distance between each other. You are taken on a tour of the resort island, including entering a volcano, and it seems that you eventually go back on the red plane, and go on a loop.
The Pyrosphere (from Metroid Other M) may or may not have a stage hazard, in the form of the lava flowing at the left of the stage. This is hinted by the fact that the lava does not appear in its Final Destination version.
Wiley’s Castle has some nifty floating platforms moving around it, reminiscent of some insta-kill portions of some Mega Man levels. Much like in Mega Man, these platforms eventually stop and throw anyone on top of it downwards. You need to be on your guard using these platforms, since they could throw you towards waiting enemies, or worse, out of the ring.
Wii Fit Studio has some funny details that obviously could not have been in the original game. The floating platforms are actually Wii Balance Boards, and by chance, there seems to be a personified Balance Board that will follow you around the stage too. The Boards float up and go down in different configurations.
Finally, Greninja’s appearance in the last Smash Direct has outed the Pokemon League, home of the Kalos Elite Four, and the Champion, as his stage. We have only seen the Main Hall so far, but players of Pokemon X and Y know each of the four, as well as the Champion, have their own chambers where you can battle them. Could it be possible you face the Elite Four and / or the Champion as bosses in the Pokemon League stage, transition across each Chamber as you do so?
Smash, as always, is a labor of love and much fanservice, and so is the task of covering each and every little detail like this. We want to thank DrKendo and GamExplain for their hardwork, and if you want to see stuff we skipped here (including details we already covered before), you can check out our source videos.
Super Smash Bros is coming to 3DS Summer and Wii U Winter of this year.
