Super Smash Bros. 4

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Super Smash Bros. 4 (conjectural title)
Collective logo for the game.
Developer(s)	Namco Bandai Sora Ltd.
Publisher(s)	Nintendo
Designer(s)	Masahiro Sakurai
Projected release date	2014
Genre(s)	Fighting
Mode(s)	Multiplayer
Ratings	PEGI: 12+ (provisional)

Two games in the Super Smash Bros. series, currently collectively referred to as Super Smash Bros. 4, Smash 4, or SSB4 and individually entitled Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, are currently in development for the Nintendo 3DS and Wii U respectively by Namco Bandai and Sora Ltd. The 3DS version is the first game of the series to be released on a handheld.

When originally announced in passing at E3 2011, the game's development was slated to begin sometime after October 2011, once development on Kid Icarus: Uprising had completed. In February 2012, it was then confirmed that development on the fourth game had begun. The game was unmentioned during E3 2012, something which many fans were disappointed about despite the known extremely early state of the game; the "first step of the process" was taken shortly after in mid-June. Masahiro Sakurai has expressed disappointment that fans will be waiting for longer than expected for the game to be released due to the earliness of the initial announcement. Shortly afterward, it was revealed during a Nintendo Direct that Namco Bandai was the primary developer alongside Sora Ltd., and had already completed a working prototype.

The paired versions of the game were officially revealed at E3 2013 in the form of a trailer on June 11, 2013.

Pre-trailer information

Sakurai has stated, in response to a fan asking him about whether a "child Link" would appear in the game, that he had not at the time decided on who would appear in the game. However, he had also said that he "can't say that it's entirely out of the realm of possibility that some Capcom character could appear in the next Smash Bros." Indeed, Capcom's Mega Man was ultimately confirmed as playable.

Sakurai has revealed that one feature of the 3DS Smash Bros. title will be that players can improve their character through battles and rewards, then transfer them to the Wii U Smash title to play against friends. He said the 3DS title is intended to offer a new experience for veteran Smash Bros. fans, and that neither the 3DS game nor the Wii U game would simply be sequels like Melee and Brawl were, and that they'd do more than just add characters and stages. It has also been revealed that they are looking towards co-operative play for the Wii U title. Official Nintendo Magazine said "there is merit in having skilled and unskilled players play together, so one emphasis will be on elements of players helping one-another". They also stated that the graphics would be significantly stepped up, as the Wii U can handle high quality graphics, dynamic effects and smooth character movements in HD at 60 frames per second. Sakurai is also quoted as claiming that the new game is unlikely to emphasize new playable characters, focusing instead on gameplay balance and distinctiveness of its characters.

The whiteboard drawing posted by Sakurai.

On July 2nd, 2012, Sakurai posted a whiteboard drawing on Twitter which was drawn by the game's staff. It depicts Donkey Kong, Fox, a Heart Container, Kirby, Link, Luigi, Mario, Marth, Meta Knight, Mr. Game & Watch, a Mr. Saturn, Pikachu, a Pikmin, Pit, Sandbag, Wario, and Zero Suit Samus; some argue that the curved lines in the background form the shape of Master Hand. While it came with no explicit confirmation of any of these characters or elements as reappearing, it does show they are in some sense acknowledged by the staff working on the game. The image itself was later removed from the original Twitter post. The sketch also has what appears to be large block letters hidden below the visible area.

Confirmed content

The first three confirmed newcomers

The trailer shown at the E3 2013 Nintendo Direct confirmed several characters, both returning characters and new characters. Since that time, other veterans have been revealed on the website.

Characters

Veterans

	Mario, Luigi, Donkey Kong, Link, Samus, Kirby, Fox, Pikachu
	Bowser, Peach
	Pit, Olimar, Toon Link, Sonic

Newcomers

• Villager, from the Animal Crossing series.
• Mega Man, a new third-party character from Capcom's eponymous Mega Man series.
• Wii Fit Trainer, from Wii Fit, revealed during E3 after the initial trailer.

Confirmed stages

Stages in both games	Stages in the 3DS version	Stages in the Wii U version
Battlefield	Arena Ferox Gerudo Valley Spirit Train Kid Icarus: Uprising stage Nintendogs stage Super Mario 3D Land stage Unidentified stage	Dr. Wily's Castle Garden of Hope Pyrosphere Skyloft Windy Hill Zone Animal Crossing stage Pilotwings stage Wii Fit stage Unidentified stadium

Console differences

The Wii U and 3DS versions of the game were shown to have distinct art styles from one another in that the 3DS version uses flatter shading and optional black outlines to make characters easier to see at a distance. It is also known that several if not most stages will be version-specific, with the Wii U version's stages being based on console games, while the 3DS version's stages being based on handheld games. It is confirmed that there will be no cross-platform gameplay between the Wii U and 3DS versions due to the exclusive stages to each version, but it has been mentioned that "customized characters" from the 3DS version can be imported into the Wii U version. Very little detail has been given as to what "character customization" entails; it has only been revealed that customizations will not be different costumes and will not have to be unlocked through repetitive tasks.

Sakurai has stated that there are currently no plans to implement downloadable content or touch screen controls of any variety.

Other apparent changes

• Many characters have different movement and attack animations when facing either direction, so they face the screen more often. Depending on exact animation details, this may mean that some attacks may behave slightly differently when they interact with each other from different directions. Oddly, this only seems to appear in the Wii U version of the game; the 3DS version maintains the series standard.
• Damage percentage numbers are no longer a solid colour, instead appearing as a metallic gradient, and pass through green and yellow colours instead of fading straight from white to red as damage increases.
• Attacks' visual effects are in general more pronounced, with bright saturated blurs replacing the previous game's subtle ones.
• The design of KOs in this game closely resembles Brawl's KO design, but the soundbyte for it sounds much more like an actual explosion compared with the previous three games.
• The smoke trail effect produced by characters taking high knockback seems to have been replaced by a coloured trail of light representing which player will get the KO should the target not recover.
• In an interview with Kotaku, Sakurai confirmed that tripping would not return. However, it is unclear whether this refers to random tripping, forced tripping, or both.
• To appeal to both casual and hardcore gamers, Sakurai said the game's speed will be between that of Melee and Brawl. In support of this, in the gameplay footage shown so far, characters seem to be falling faster than they do in Brawl.
• In a demo match between Mario and Mega Man, there appears to be no stale-move negation . It is unknown whether it has been explicitly removed, yet to be programmed, or temporarily disabled for the demo.
• Though Sakurai had once stated there would be a single player story mode , he later went on to say he had changed his mind. There now will no longer be a story mode, nor cut scenes involving the games available single player mode . He did not provide any other details as to what the single-player mode will consist of.
• Sakurai also stated that the short movies for introducing new characters, including Mega Man, Villager, and Wii Fit Trainer, will be viewable without having to be unlocked.

Gallery

• 

  3DS version logo.

• 

  Wii U version logo.

• 

  New KO ownership trails.

External Links

• Official site
• The "Director's Room", Sakurai's Miiverse community (requires Nintendo Network ID)