Starting from E3 2013, Masahiro Sakurai began posting one new screenshot from the upcoming Super Smash Bros. 4 every weekday in the Miiverse community known as the Director's Room, as well as on the official website for the games. Known as the "pic of the day" series, it was initially just a posting of a screenshot with no information or comment about it provided, but after the start of July he also began adding comments, that were a remark about the screenshot or information about what the screenshot was portraying. In the beginning, the pic of the day series mostly consisted of random screenshots with Sakurai giving no real information about the game, with few being updates of actual information, and barely any of them being something significant. As the series went on however, the proportion of them being updates with actual information gradually increased, and since the start of 2014, nearly all of them have been some sort of informative update, with each week having multiple significant updates. This is an archive of these posts.
Legend
In order to highlight important posts from the list, each entry is given a background colour that denotes that something new or otherwise important has been revealed. Should multiple reveals be part of one post, the one higher on this list will take precedence.
| Type | Color |
|---|---|
| Newcomer | Red |
| Veteran | Orange |
| Stage | Green |
| Assist character | Blue |
| Item | Yellow |
| Move | Magenta |
| Other | Cyan |
Previous months
February 2014
| Date | Image | Comment | Notes | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| February 3, 2014 |  |
Pic of the day. A size comparison of Lucario's standard special attack, Aura Sphere, in its weakest and strongest states. The attack is faster and more powerful when the Aura Sphere is bigger. | Confirms Aura Sphere will be able to achieve larger sizes than it did in Brawl. |  |
| February 4, 2014 |  |
Pic of the day. When Lucario shoots out Aura from its hands to fly with ExtremeSpeed, you can control its flight direction. If Lucario's Aura is fully charged, it can fly extremely far, so be careful not to accidentally launch out of the area. | Confirms that ExtremeSpeed's distance is now determined by Aura, with it gaining drastically more distance at high damages. Sakurai did not state how its distance will be at low damages however. ExtremeSpeed is also shown to now generate visible aura streams out of Lucario's hands, though Sakurai did not state if this is indicative of gained hitboxes. | |
| February 5, 2014 |  |
Pic of the day. Palkia appeared in the Spear Pillar stage of the previous game…but now it's coming out of a Poké Ball?! Here's Palkia's signature move, Spacial Rend! | Confirms Palkia will be spawnable from a Poké Ball, instead of being a stage element. Its move is stated to be Spacial Rend, though how the move will actually function in the game has not been stated nor hinted to. This also seemingly disconfirms the return of the Spear Pillar stage. | |
| February 6, 2014 |  |
Pic of the day. It is said that the cosmos is beneath Rosalina's gown. This was actually featured briefly in her debut video. | An image showing off the unique attack trails of Rosalina's galaxy-based attacks. | |
| February 7, 2014 |  |
Pic of the day. Housed within the Control Capsule! Protected by Rinkas! Eyeball armed with a Laser Brain Attack!! The massive Assist Trophy Mother Brain joins the collection!! | Confirms Mother Brain, a recurring primary antagonist from the Metroid series, as a new Assist Trophy. It is additionally shown attacking with its trademark laser attack. | |
| February 10, 2014 |  |
Pic of the day. A bored-looking dog staring at the TV… Occasionally, the Super Smash Bros. series really makes me confused about what I'm creating. | — | |
| February 11, 2014 |  |
Pic of the day. You missed me, because you attacked my illusory copy from my Double Team move! | This image shows off a new aesthetic effect of Double Team, where Lucario's eyes glow upon successful activation. No functional gameplay differences are mentioned though. | |
| February 12, 2014 |  |
Pic of the day. The Home-run Bat in this game is black! And it's so powerful that your eyes might bug out!! | Confirms the return of the Home-Run Bat, with a redesign in its appearance. Donkey Kong is also shown with a new, more comical pain face. | |
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And here's a look at a home run exiting the arena. | |||
| February 13, 2014 |  |
Pic of the day. Tomorrow is Valentine's Day...and the day the new Nintendo Direct airs! It will stream in Japan at 7 AM so it's going to be a very early morning for us...! | Peach shown generating a rainbow, though Sakurai did not say anything about it, making it unclear if it's a new attack or taunt (and which attack/taunt it is). Of particular note, Sakurai explicitly remarked at Peach's reveal that she could have some of her old moves changed, and this is the first time Peach has been seen with some sort of new move. | |
| February 14, 2014 |  |
Pic of the day. From Punch-out!!, our boxing challenger Little Mac joins the battle!! To get a glimpse of his fearsome punches, check out the newest video or visit the official web site. | The pic of the day following Little Mac's reveal in the aforementioned Nintendo Direct, with Sakurai confirming some information about Little Mac's Power Meter seen in the trailer. This was posted late on the 13th in the Americas and Europe, but counts as the post for the 14th due to it being the 14th according to the Japanese timezone. | |
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His biggest feature is his Power Meter. When this gets charged up, his standard special move changes! It turns into a one-hit-K.O. uppercut. | |||
| February 17, 2014 |  |
Pic of the day. Little Mac can deliver some solid punches while fighting on the ground. | Sakurai alludes that Little Mac will be an exceptionally strong ground fighter, with a significant weakness in his aerial combat abilities, similar to Snake and Olimar in Brawl. | |
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...However, he's not the strongest fighter while airborne. Try keeping his feet on the ground and avoid being blasted into the air when you use him in battles. | |||
| February 18, 2014 |  |
Pic of the day. Hey look, a bottle!! This is a special item that can even heal fighters who have accumulated over 100% damage. | Confirms a new healing item, the Bottled Fairy from the Legend of Zelda series. It is currently unclear if Sakurai's statement means it can heal more than 100% damage. | |
| February 19, 2014 |  |
Pic of the day. This dog is huge… Wait, no, the playable characters are small. The Smash Bros. series doesn't always stay true to scale. | Sakurai's enigmatic statement about the series not staying true to scale led to renewed speculation as to whether he was hinting towards a thought-to-be unplayably-large character, specifically Ridley, being downsized and making the roster. | |
| February 20, 2014 |  |
Pic of the day. As shown in Little Mac's debut video, here is the height difference between Samus and Little Mac. He's used those mighty green gloves to punch out many challengers bigger than himself. | This image plays off an image shown on the Dojo!! comparing Little Mac's height to Samus's. | |
| February 21, 2014 |  |
Pic of the day. Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze is out now in Europe and North America! ...And to celebrate, Diddy Kong joins the battle!! | Confirming Diddy Kong's return as a playable character, along with more elastic limbs that stretch out farther in his attacks, buffing the reach in his attacks. | |
| We've increased Diddy Kong's flexibility this time. This picture shows how far his punches stretch during his strong side attack. | ||||
| February 24, 2014 |  |
The twin rocketbarrels are back, now with the ability to launch along more horizontal trajectories. They can also come off when opponents hit them mid-boost. | Sakurai confirms a flexibility buff in Diddy Kong's Rocketbarrel Boost, though the extent of its greater horizontal coverage is not shown nor explicitly referred to. This also confirms that the rocketbarrels will maintain their projectile property when Diddy is hit while using the move. | |
| February 25, 2014 |  |
Pic of the day. There are actually two versions of the boxing ring stage! This ring is the Smash Bros. version… | Confirms that the prior seen Smash version of the Boxing Ring stage will be another version of the stage, rather than just being a placeholder to hide it being a Punch Out!! stage before Little Mac's reveal. Sakurai also makes a remark referencing how King Dedede is often fought in rings in the Kirby games. | |
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…and this one is the Punch Out!! W.V.B.A. design. King Dedede really likes fighting in the ring, doesn't he? | |||
| February 26, 2014 |  |
Pic of the day. Now consecutive standard attacks will always transition into a finishing move. This is Fox's finishing kick after his standard combo attack. | It's not clear what Sakurai is exactly stating in this update, though this is believed to mean "all infinite jabs will have a final hit of decent power when released". | |
| February 27, 2014 |  |
Pic of the day. Once again, Waluigi's Assist Trophy joins the collection!! …Which also means he's not a playable character. Just because you try hard doesn't mean you'll make it into the battle. | Confirms Waluigi's return as an Assist Trophy, while also disconfirming him being a playable character. | |
| February 28, 2014 |  |
Pic of the day. Dedenne's hard at work too. | Confirms Dedenne will appear, presumably as a Poké Ball summon. While not outright confirmed as such, its lack of a character page on the official site strongly implies it. | |
March 2014
| Date | Image | Comment | Notes | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 03, 2014 |  |
Pic of the day. The twin grannies, Kotake and Koume, appear in Gerudo Valley! They're definitely up to no good. | Confirms that the twin witches, Kotake and Koume, from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, will appear on the 3DS's Gerudo Valley stage in some capacity, with Sakurai's commentary implying they will be some sort of stage hazard. | |
| March 04, 2014 |  |
Pic of the day. The Bumper is back with a detailed new design. This also means there will be no Flippers. | Confirms the return of the Bumper, with a new more colorful redesign, and a more detailed back. Sakurai also explicitly disconfirms the return of the Flipper, making it the second straight Smash game the Flipper did not return in. | |
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Here's the back side of the Bumper. There's way too much detail put into the side you can't really see. The designers really went overboard. | |||
| March 05, 2014 |  |
Pic of the day. So far, which attack can blast away enemies the most dynamically… Is it King Dedede's fully charged Jet Hammer? Nah, it can't beat the K.O. uppercut. You can damage yourself by overcharging this attack, so watch out. | Confirms Jet Hammer still causes damage to King Dedede if overcharged. | |
| March 06, 2014 |  |
Pic of the day. Little Mac's side smash attack is his straight right punch...but it can transform into an uppercut if you tilt diagonally upward, or a body hook if you tilt diagonally downward. The body hook is the most devastating of these moves and it doesn't blast the opponents away. | Sakurai confirms that Little Mac's forward smash will become different attacks when angled, instead of the attack simply just being aimed up or down. This is also the first time in the series where angling will alter an attack's properties beyond just changing the general direction it's aimed in and slight damage/knockback modifications. Sakurai's comment about the body hook's properties is unclear, but it seems to imply it'll deal the most damage out of the three punches, while dealing the least knockback. Sakurai also confirms that forward smashes will still be able to be angled by aiming the control stick up/down after initiating it as it could be done in Brawl, instead of having to aim the control stick diagonally when initiating. | |
| The trick in activating these punches is to avoid tilting the controls diagonally from the get go--instead, tilt up or down right after the smash attack starts kicking in. You can also tilt up or down while you're powering up. | ||||
| March 07, 2014 |  |
Pic of the day. Here's a new stage for the 3DS version: Tortimer Island! I've been here countless times to catch bugs. | Confirms the earlier seen unnamed Animal Crossing: New Leaf stage as being Tortimer Island, along with confirming that it'll have a randomly generated layout each time a match is played on the stage (which is a series first). No farther information was given though on the extent of this layout randomisation. | |
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What a beautiful day. On this stage, fighters are randomly placed on a different island layout every time they visit. Yar, come back anytime, will ye? | |||
| March 10, 2014 |  |
Pic of the day. This chubby guy is also Little Mac. Burn that fat! | Depicts a trophy of Little Mac in his design from Captain Rainbow. This screenshot is also the first to depict trophies in the Wii U version, though they were confirmed on January 6th alongside a trophy screenshot from the 3DS version. | |
| March 11, 2014 |  |
Pic of the day. The Prism Tower rises above Lumiose City. Up until a few seconds ago, the fighters were brawling on top of that tower. No, really. | Confirms a new stage based on Lumiose City from Pokémon X and Y for the 3DS version. Sakurai gives no information about the stage beyond an unclear screenshot, other than stating that some portion of the stage will involve fighting on Prism Tower. | |
| March 12, 2014 |  |
Pic of the day. Zelda's Din's Fire is now stronger in its core. The farther it's projected, the bigger and more powerful it will be, but you need to hit foes with the core if you want to make them fall. | Confirms Zelda retains Din's Fire as a special move. Sakurai additionally confirms Din's Fire, after its Brawl buffs proved not enough, will be buffed farther, with Sakurai stating it will now have a more powerful sweetspot in the center of the move, and that the explosion will grow bigger the farther it travels. | |
| March 13, 2014 |  |
Pic of the day. The tiny Motion-Sensor Bomb is hard to see. If you get any closer, it's dangerous. I warned you. | Confirms the return of the Motion-Sensor Bomb, with a new visual design. | |
| March 14, 2014 |  |
Pic of the day. Looks like someone's enjoying the bachelor life in this pad. | Confirms a new stage based on the Tomodachi Collection series. | |
| March 17, 2014 |  |
Pic of the day. That item that brings victory one step closer...the Smash Ball! Of course everyone wants it! Come to think of it, I haven't introduced any of the Final Smashes yet... Then again, if I introduced every single one, it'd take over a month's worth of posts. | This is the first time the Smash Ball has been seen ingame, though the item itself was confirmed previously by Sakurai to return as the activating mechanism for Final Smashes. This screenshot also indirectly confirms Luigi will retain the Green Missile. | |
| March 18, 2014 |  |
Pic of the day. Here's some info on the Nintendo 3DS stage called Super Mario 3D Land! First, it advances by side-scrolling... | Confirms the name and more of the layout of the previously revealed stage based on the game of the same name, Super Mario 3D Land. | |
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Then you continue into the valley--it's in 3D Land, after all. The protruding stone blocks change the angles of the platforms. | |||
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After that, back to side-scrolling. Now it gets you moving--you'll have to trot downhill here. | |||
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And finally, you get back on rails to go farther into the stage. It takes roughly two minutes to complete a lap, and at the end you go into a giant pipe that takes you back to the beginning. ...I know this sequence goes above and beyond a traditional Pic of the Day, so consider this a little something extra on the side from me. | |||
| March 19, 2014 |  |
Pic of the day. Fallen Rosalina. Strange how calm and nonchalant she looks even when she takes damage. Is it because she's from outer space? | — | |
| March 20, 2014 |  |
Pic of the day. The Peanut Popgun now deals a powerful attack when it explodes. It'll be difficult to hit your target, but when you succeed, the explosion will really blow your enemies away. Give it a shot when you break someone's shield. | Confirms a new feature for Diddy's neutral special when it overcharges, where its explosion will now have a very powerful hitbox. Interestingly, this is a feature the Balanced Brawl and Brawl Minus mods gave Peanut Popgun. | |
| March 21, 2014 |  |
Pic of the day. The most powerful commander of the Forces of Nature, Lightning Flash Phosphora!! | Confirms Phosphora from Kid Icarus: Uprising will appear as a trophy in the Wii U version of the game. | |
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…is a Trophy. The detail in her scarf is amazing. | |||
| March 24, 2014 |  |
Pic of the day. Never bully Cuccos. Seriously, attacking them is out of the question! This has always been a cardinal rule of The Legend of Zelda series. | Confirms the Cucco will appear in a non-playable role, though in what capacity (item, Assist Trophy, or something else) is not specified. It is also implied to, like in the Zelda games, to attack players who harm it. | |
| March 25, 2014 |  |
Pic of the day. Here's a comparison of characters with and without their outlines on the 3DS version. They also give off a different impression in 3D, so customize the look however you like. | — | |
| March 26, 2014 |  |
Pic of the day. Here's a giant attack item, the Ore Club! It's made of minerals mined on the mountain of the gods. This bulky weapon can even unleash tornadoes. | Confirms a new item from Kid Icarus: Uprising, the Ore Club. The Palutena's Temple arena is shown for the second time, with the actual battle grounds being shown for the first time. | |
| March 27, 2014 |  |
Pic of the day. Oh, Uncle Andross. He really isn't very considerate. | Confirms the return of Andross, later confirmed to be retaining his status as assist trophy. | |
| March 28, 2014 |  |
Pic of the day. Here's the Prism Tower stage for the 3DS version! The battle begins on ground level right in front of the tower. | Reveals that the Prism Tower stage focuses on platforms going up and down along the tower. | |
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You'll have to climb the tower by securing footholds like these moving platforms! | |||
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By the time you reach the top, the sun is already setting. The view from up there is quite a treat. | |||
| March 31, 2014 |  |
Pic of the day. Luigi might be thinking, "Who would've thought I'd get to show off the Poltergust in Super Smash Bros.?!" Wondering if it's going to suck something in? Yeah, it probably will. | Reveals that Luigi will have the Poltergust 5000 in Smash 4. Though it's not stated what move it is, it is very strongly implied to be a new Final Smash, given that to date the Final Smash aura has never been shown without the accompanying attack. | |
April 2014
| Date | Image | Comment | Notes | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 01, 2014 |  |
Pic of the day. This may look like a side-scrolling action game, but it's actually one of the stages. | The Miiverse post states the image is not from a single player mode, despite the great resemblance. Since what stage is was not stated nor hinted that, speculation arose, with people believing it to be a part of Palutena's Temple, or to be a custom stage built through a returning Stage Builder. The former speculation ended proving correct, with a later Nintendo Direct showing this to be a part of Paultena's Temple. | |
| April 02, 2014 |  |
Pic of the day. The Gust Bellows can blow opponents away with its powerful wind blasts. When someone drops it, though, the gusts run wild! Out of the new items, more than a few will be from The Legend of Zelda series. We'll take the most interesting and straightforward ones and reformulate them to match the Smash Bros. world. | Sakurai notes the plethora of new Zelda items being added to the game. Including this one, a total of 3 new Zelda items have been confirmed at the time, the other two being the Beetle and the Bottled Fairy, along with the Cucco being a potential item. | |
| April 03, 2014 |  |
Pic of the day. Pikachu's Thunder now starts off with a thundercloud that deals a Meteor Smash! From left to right, you can see this combo starting with Pikachu throwing the opponent upward, Meteor Smashing with the lightning strike, and then directly attacking. Foes can dodge, of course, so the attack won't hit consistently, but when it does, it sure feels good! | This post confirms that the cloud portion of Pikachu's Thunder now meteor smashes opponents, which Pikachu can combo from. Sakurai additionally vaguely states that foes can dodge the attack. The means of dodging that Sakurai referred to are unknown, as it could mean directional influence, but might refer to using hitstun canceling and an air dodge, or just a mention that airborne opponents can evade it in general. For another note, Thunder meteor smashing is another new move feature that was previously utilised in Brawl Minus (though there the whole thunderbolt meteor smashed instead of just the cloud). | |
| April 04, 2014 |  |
Pic of the day. Hello fighters! I'll assist you with fresh-picked fruit from my town!♪ | Isabelle from Animal Crossing is announced in a non-playable role, later confirmed in a Nintendo Direct to be an assist trophy. The wording implies she provides the players with food items, which was also later confirmed. In addition, an upcoming Smash-centric Nintendo Direct was announced. | |
| Congratulations on your appearance Isabelle! I also have another important announcement. On 4/8, at 3 PM PST (8/4 11 PM UK time), we'll be airing a Super Smash Bros. Direct!! There will be all kinds of info about the new Smash Bros. games on this simultaneous global stream that will be delivered "directly" to you, so don't miss it! You'll be able to watch the stream from the official site (www.smashbros.com). | ||||
| April 07, 2014 |  |
Pic of the day. An insatiable, unidentified extraterrestrial is targeting a certain peaceful town…! | Confirms the return of the Metroid, although whether or not it is still an assist trophy was not stated. | |
| April 08, 2014 |  |
Pic of the day, and a very important announcement. On 4/8, at 3 PM PST (8/4 11 PM UK time), we'll be airing a Super Smash Bros. Direct!! There will be all kinds of info about the new Smash Bros. games on this simultaneous global stream that will be delivered "directly" to you, so don't miss it! It's airing at a really late time for some of you, but it'll probably be worth the wait. You can watch the stream from the official site (www.smashbros.com). |
Shows the designs of the Crates in the Wii U version, including rolling crates. Makes an update regarding the upcoming Nintendo Direct. A link to the official site is included at the bottom of the post. | |
| April 08, 2014 |  |
[For North America] 4/8 3 PM PT!! We'll be airing Super Smash Bros. Direct!! There will be tons of new info in this one, so don't miss it! Click on the link below for the stream. |
Posted with a link to the Nintendo Direct page for North America. | |
| April 08, 2014 | |
[For Europe] 8/4 11 PM UK time!! We'll be airing Super Smash Bros. Direct!! There will be tons of new info in this one, so don't miss it! Click on the link below for the video. |
Posted with a link to the Nintendo Direct language selection page for Europe. | |
| April 08, 2014 | |
Pic of the day? No, it's an internet broadcast! The video of the Super Smash Bros. Direct can be seen right here!! There's quite a bit of new info in this one, so make sure to check it out! |
Instead of an image, the post contains the Super Smash Bros. Direct video. | |
| April 08, 2014 | |
[For North America] There has been an internet broadcast for Super Smash Bros. Direct. Make sure you watch it all the way to the very end. |
Also posted with the Super Smash Bros. Direct video. | |
| April 08, 2014 | |
[For Europe] There has been an internet broadcast for Super Smash Bros. Direct. Make sure you watch it all the way to the very end. |
Posted with a link to the language selection for the Super Smash Bros. Direct on the European website for Nintendo. | |
| April 10, 2014 |  |
Pic of the day. Samus and Zero Suit Samus!! How will she match up with her new jet boots? | — | |
| April 11, 2014 |  |
Pic of the day. Your character starts a Smash Run as a relatively ordinary fighter. But before the game, you can outfit yourself with certain items that can help power you up early, which will give you a big advantage later on!! These items are much like the Powers you'd find in Kid Icarus: Uprising. | — | |
| For those who are wondering what Smash Run is, check out the Super Smash Bros. Direct. You can find the link on the post two days before this one. | ||||
| April 14, 2014 |  |
Pic of the day. Here's a very, very new fighter in the upcoming Smash games, Greninja. Greninja's sophisticated moves are extremely fun to use once you get used to how it controls! | We get an official name for Greninja's Side special, and a small description of how it works. | |
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The side special attack Shadow Sneak is a move that makes Greninja suddenly disappear and ambush opponents. If you press and hold the button, Greninja will move a greater distance. Another unique feature is you can move Greninja around freely while charging up. | |||
| April 15, 2014 | Pic of the day. This is the final destination version of Gerudo Valley. No more surprise visits from Koume and Kotake, and the bridge is gone. There are no distractions and there's nowhere to run. And the score that plays in the background is "Gerudo Valley." | Confirms that final destination variations of other stages exists on the 3DS version as well as the Wii U version. And that they exist for most, if not all, stages. | | |
| You can make most stages turn into a final destination. Depending on the stage, it might be floating in midair or perched on a cliff. | ||||
| April 16, 2014 |  |
Pic of the day. Ready now? Together with me! | Indirectly confirms Zero Suit Samus will retain Flip Jump, as well as shows off a new afterimage graphical effect the move has. | |
| April 17, 2014 |  |
Pic of the day. Tac (on the left) steals your charged power. If you've charged up a lot, he might steal a ton of it. Chase after him quickly to get it back!! | Explaining how the enemy Tac functions in Smash Run. | |
| April 18, 2014 |  |
Pic of the day. The 3DS version will have roughly the same types of Assist Trophies and Pokémon. Just roughly... | Sakurai confirms that the two versions will have mostly the same Assist Trophies and Pokémon, while implying there will be a few differences in the available assist characters, though he does not specify if there will be version exclusives or if the 3DS version will have a few cut out for space limitations. | |
| April 21, 2014 |  |
Pic of the day. For the first time in the Smash series, Beam Swords will feature graduated colors. The attack item on the left is the Fire Bar. This is a peculiar weapon that becomes shorter after each swing. | — | |
| April 22, 2014 |  |
Pic of the day. Here's a special stage exclusive to the 3DS version, Balloon Fight!! The stage loops on the left and right sides so you can walk off one side and appear on the other. | Confirms the Balloon Fight stage will have an entirely new mechanic, where players can move through one side of the stage to end up on the other. It's not stated though if players launched through the side will continue flying on the other side, or if the side blastlines will operate like the top blastline in this stage (i.e. players can safely move past them, but will get KO'd if they're hit past them). | |
| April 23, 2014 |  |
Pic of the day. Don't eat him. You can't eat him. | Confirms that enemies in Smash Run can be grabbed, though not whether they must be immediately thrown as in the Subspace Emissary. | |
| April 23, 2014 |  |
Pic of the day. Yoshi's Egg Throw now leaves a rainbow trail, and we've improved the pose Samus strikes when she fires the Paralyzer. Every staff member is working hard as we brush up whatever we can. | Confirms that Zero Suit Samus is retaining her Paralyzer special. | |
| April 25, 2014 |  |
Pic of the day. MegaMan.EXE! X! Mega Man! Mega Man Star Force! Mega Man Volnutt! The Mega Man legends, united. |
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