Super Smash Bros For Wii U has been a somewhat mysterious game, up until recently we didn’t even have so much as a release date and a lot of folks speculated that the game wouldn’t actually make it to the streets before the year was up.
Today Nintendo has released a 35 minute Nintendo Direct outlining 50 talking points and features related to the Wii U edition’s release. If you were expecting a lazy duplicate of what you already got on the 3DS think again. Nintendo is going out of their way to make sure players see the value in purchasing this game twice. Here’s some of the biggest highlights from the video:
You can now play with 8 players! For the first time ever Smash Bros is exceeding its 4 player limit. Not every stage will support 8 players, and in fact some stages have been specially designed or expanded to accommodate the chaos.
Smash Run is gone, but the Wii U gets its own unique mode in the form of Smash Tour. This mode plays like a boardgame where players spin a wheel to advance. Up to four players can play at once. As you advance across the board you’ll collect more fighters to use in battle. Fighters are used in the order you acquire them, and if you defeat someone you have a chance to steal a fighter in their lineup.
Classic mode has changed substantially from the mode found in the 3DS. The mode can now be played with two players
It looks like some data can be carried over from the 3DS. Custom characters, equipment, and costumes can all be brought over. Super Smash Bros. for Wii U features 40 playable characters on the roster right out of the gate, but that still leaves some that have to be unlocked. There’s no word yet on whether or not your unlocks on the 3DS version will carry over, right now it doesn’t look like it.
A new mode scheduled to arrive after release will allow you to create and setup your own tournaments with up to 64 players.
You can once again design your own stages. The Wii U gamepad makes the process much more customizable than ever before.
Players who purchase and register both the 3DS and Wii U versions of the game with Club Nintendo will get a free 2 disc soundtrack and the ability to play as Mewtwo, who is slated to hit the battlefield in spring of 2015.
You can watch the full Nintendo Direct in all its splendor here:
