Short answer: May I respectfully disagree, since I am everything you aren't, Teev.
EDIT - Long version answer is waaaaaay too long. Sorry I went overboard. But yeah, you asked for opinions, so here's mine.
Longer answer:
First, allow me to reply to your post in smaller parts.
Personally, I think it's a good game. It's not perfect at all though. I understand that a lot of work went into making it, and I appreciate some of the additions, but I'm extremely obsessive compulsive and too much just bothers me on a cosmetic scale.
Smash is never going to be perfect for everyone. Its audience range is way too wide.
I'm not even gonna bring up Dark Pit, Lucina, and Dr Mario being in because we've mentioned them enough already. However, I do have to say...why the fuck were they separated from their franchises?
I do like the clones (more than their source characters too), but I agree that they shouldn't have been separated. See an earlier image I made.
(Speaking retrospectively, I should have moved Ness back, but you get the idea.)
I've seen worse characte screens though, and I'm not too bothered by this one.
All the menus are a clusterfuck. Options is in "Games and More"? Smash isn't in Solo or Group? Why are their two buttons that take you to "My Music"? Jesus. It's a nightmare navigating the menu and I'm surprised more people don't complain about it.
My Music appeared in two places in Brawl (Vault and Sound option), and three in Wii U (Vault, Sound and Stage Select).
I can kind of see why is the menu made this way. There are differences in solo and group games for the most part, but this is not the case in Smash. Group is also a pretty bad descriptor for Smash and Smash Tour, since they can be played alone. Though on the other hand, they don't need Solo and Group options for the other modes either -- just determine the number of players with the character selection screen itself. It would single out rotation or simultaneous Stadium though, which is also weird.
What I don't understand here is that the menu structure, clearly designed for Wii U, is directly ported to 3DS. So suppose you're playing with friends and want to switch from Multi-Man to Smash, you'll have to disconnect and reconnect because they're under different menu items. Now that's weird -- the 3DS version is where Solo and Group sould have been top-level menu items.
Classic mode is another thing I'm unhappy with. The Master forms are way too strong. I haven't made it to Master Fortress yet because that damn sword always kills me. It's not fun and I'd have preferred the old way of just fighting the Hands. Also, choosing who you fight is just...random. I don't like that.
All-Star is a better mode, though there's really only so much they can do with it.
I do like the new Classic. This is a crossover game, so worlds should cross each other as much as possible. I like how Wii U's Classic finally stops linking fighters to stages.
I'm okay with All-Star. I like how they're in chronological order, though I like Wii U's one better. To me, veterans like Mario and Pac-Man have a grand feel that it's more appropriate to present them as final opponents. I'd have preferred complete randomness, though. Or even better, all 48 opponents in one sitting.
After all my complaints, I do have to say that the Online is fantastic.
Not a fan of online games. Not gonna play online. All those Brawl and PuyoTeto play make me feel so alienated because I can't play well.
The new stages are good though! All four of them! Okay, okay. I know there's more than that, but honestly. Why are there so many recycled stages? Why couldn't I play on the stages from the 3DS? I want to try the Pac Man stage! Pac Land suuuucks! I want to play Gerudo Valley! I want to try the Spirit Tracks stage and Magicant!
After all those disagreements before, this is the one thing that I completely agree with you.
In conclusion, my main complaint is that there was a 3DS version. Biggest mistake ever. It was a demo that took too much time and too many resources to make.
I partially agree, although I wouldn't say 3DS shouldn't exist. I want it to be there, but as a proper subset of the Wii U version. Less stages, less trophies, and make it so that those half-fans of Nintendo would still buy it while the ones with Wii U can get a better, more complete version, complete with 3DS stages and trophies.
I give Smash 4 a 3/5. It's not great, but I still have a few hours worth of fun. Maybe if my friends didn't all play Battlefield and shit, then I'd have more enjoyment out of Smash, but as a single player experience (with the occasional LIMITED online experience) I would not have payed $60 for it.
I'd pay double that! ...But not on the 3DS version. If Wii U costs $70 and 3DS costs $30 instead, I'd be more willing to get both.
Also, the fact that the only Golden Sun reference is a recycled song from Brawl is just too cruel. Not even a trophy. Jesus. Spit in my face, why don't you. Even K Rool got a trophy and he hasn't been relevant in over a decade.
There are actually 2 Golden Sun songs.
Do note, that other song is just a directport from GS3's world map theme.
Now, a more proper opinion listing. I really have a lot to say about this game. I've said some of these before elsewhere, but let this post be a conclusion.
DisclaimerI do not have Smash 3DS and Wii U. Between the 20% tax (my biggest gripe about the UK, though I guess this kind of tax is also why this country is so wonderful) and the fact that I'll be leaving for home soon (
I'll be back... hopefully), I am delaying my purchase of Smash/Captain Toad/whatever for later.
Overall concerns- I like the graphics for the most parts. Except the 8-bit pixel graphics. No point in doing this on an HD screen.
- The music is great. Smash 3DS's handling of said music isn't.
- Why can't I remove those annoying player number indicator and damage HUD? They just get in the way in wide stages, and we've got the GamePad for damage display.
Modes
Smash
Well, it's Smash. Excellent as always. Though I'd have wanted to see this and 8-Player Smash grouped together in terms of UI. Made another switch next to the team toggle to flip between 4-Player and 8-Player so that I don't have to re-pick characters for players 1 to 4.
8-Player Smash
This is the best thing to have happened to this game's mode selection. The stage selection is a bit questionable, though, and too bad about that -- Mario versus Koopalings in normal Mushroom Kingdom U would have been a blast.
Special Smash
The options are expanded a bit to accomodate the changed item availability. I have a little complaint about Stamina mode, which still not flexible enough. And there's still no way to have each player play by different rules. Oh well.
Rules
Still not evolved compared to Melee and Brawl? Feh. I wanted to see a switch for Assist Trophy and Poké Ball. I'd have wanted to see Bonus back too. Still not too big of a loss, though.
Smash Run
I haven't seen enough of it to really comment. I would have loved it more if the enemies aren't as intrusive. They remind me of the annoying enemies in Subspace; though I guess it has more to do with my aversion to beat-'em-up games.
Smash Tour
I actually like it quite a bit after seeing it in action a few times. I wish the dice-rolling is more random, and I wish the maps aren't just static symbols, but it looks good otherwise. I also like the stock/time mixed match at the end (plays like stock but scored with KOs minus falls). Probably won't play it too often though.
Classic (3DS)
I like how the player can choose the path to go for. If the player feels like fighting characters from a certain series, they now have a better chance for it. I don't like how each level is still themed after a series, though. I want to see Melee's more interesting combinations (Zelda and Marth, Link and Peach...) than a generic "LOL they're from the same world so they must fight together".
Classic (Wii U)
The best I've seen, due to the fact that it's more chaotic and random now. There's a reason it's called Dai
rantou Smash Brothers. I also like the tournament elimination format, it makes me feel that they aren't just sitting there waiting to destroy my character. The lack of option to fight non-Mii teams is disappointing, though.
Master Order
The "lite" version of Classic, I suppose. You still pay gold to play and win prizes, but you do it in a per-match manner. No risking losing prizes with Master Core too. I'll probably play this after I'm done with Classic (but will I? Smash Wii U asks the player to clear classic with everyone at 7.0).
Crazy Order
Now that's a fun mode. Of particular note is the final Crazy Hand battle, which involves the stamina-based player and Crazy Hand fighting, with two opponents with normal damage meters getting in the way. I wish Special Smash allows this.
Event
I like all those references here and there, though
I find some jokes repetitive. On par with Melee, and I can make better events myself. I hope they have an event editor if they don't allow
special Special Smash.
All-Star (3DS)
Better than Brawl's, but not good enough. I like how they're based on personal debut now, but I still think random order is better.
All-Star (Wii U)
I like Wii U's one better than 3DS's too, since fighting the older, arguably more well-known characters towards the end gives the battle more weight. Still not better than random order, though.
Target
Blarrrgh Blast
I can never comprehend this mode. I'm giving up. Damage the bomb, but not too much that it flies too high? Control not only the power but also the angle? Also, this looking like Crush the Castle makes me wish there's a level editor. It's what makes that game so fun. (Well, that, and murdering royalty with absurd black hole potions.)
Home Run Contest
Please go away. I'm sick of you. When can I go back to breaking targets and boarding platforms?
Multi-Man Smash
Rival Smash seems like a nice addition. And good riddance, 15-Minute Smash. On an unrelated note, 100-Man Smash actually reminds me of an old
Japanese war crime, and the addition of Rival Smash doesn't help.
Training
Apparently, the Wii U version doesn't use the GamePad for changing options. What a waste.
Trophies
Trophy descriptions are generally more accurate (talking a less serious, encyclopædic approach helps). The "Appears in" field is sometimes left empty, and it doesn't always show two games whenever possible (apparently, Smash 3DS doesn't exist there). And I hope people would stop believing that they always show debut games.
Replays
Haven't used this feature. I heard that this game supports 8 minutes of replay instead of 3, which is great news. I've got my recording device ready, so when I do get the game I can start polluting the Internet with my medicore gameplay videos.
Album
I don't think I'll make much use of this feature. Well, I suppose that saves me an SD card.
Movies
Apparently, those movies are still 30fps when viewed from the actual console. There's one thing I do like there: the game clear short clips are now available for viewing anytime.
Sounds
Where are the sound effects? Why are some voice clips absent?
Records
Never use that. I don't like how Smash records everything you do, either. Like I said before, it's utterly offensive for my game, my asset and slave, to talk back to me and say I suck at gaming.
Tips
This is a better place to read tips than the loading screens. Things load fast enough to render the tips obsolete -- and that's a good thing.
Masterpieces
No no, Smash Bros, I want to play Crazypieces.
Stage Builder
I like how the new Stage Builder is more flexible in the sense that it allows for freeform drawing. That outweighs its shortcomings for me.
Options
They managed to give this game less options than Brawl. Bravo. Unrelated: "Internet Options" reminds me of a certain awful web browser.
My Music
Finally, a default button! I didn't like how I can't go back to the default values at all in Brawl's version (the sliders are analog, so you can't go back to the initial value once you stray away).
Challenges
Why is it a top-level menu item again? I actually want to complain about it having only 140 challenges as opposed to Air Ride's 360, but some of those challenges are so nasty that they're equivalent to several dozens of smaller challenges.
CharactersSmash Wii U has the best character selection I've had. In Brawl, I didn't have anyone in mind when it comes to characters, but I do this time -- and I got most of them. Yaaaah. My top most wanted characters this time are:
1. Lucina
2. Robin
3. Some Golden Sun character
4. Bowser Jr.
5. There's no number five
Needless to say, 14 July was one heck of an awesome day for me. If they're planning to bring in more characters, my new wishlist would consist of the three Nintendo-published/distributed Brawl cuts.
I'm also a fan of having appropriate depiction of characters, which I think Smash 3DS/Wii U nailed for the most part (except Falco's Final Smash and Ganondorf's everything). There are smaller flaws here and there, but it's fine overall.
Mario
I'm not very satisfied with him. Come on, he's Nintendo's freaking mascot. Why make him so serious? And where're his Galaxy-based moves? Rosalina's inclusion shouldn't justify everything.
Luigi
Now this other plumber is showing what Smash should do with old characters. Doing away from weird, unsuitable portrayals (Luigi has never been "negative" at all outside of Paper Mario, people), and instead going for something that actually screams Luigi. His other changes (flutter jump, new down throw) are nice too.
Peach
...Nothing too new about her, unfortunately. Personally, I think she should change her Final Smash. Having a signature move based on a pun of her name looks like they're our of ideas.
Bowser
Now that's some awesome change. My favourite change is that Bowsercide no longer works. That's too easy to pull in Brawl.
Dr
Lucario Mario
Look at his stage entrance! Finally, something that's actually from Dr Mario. Seeing him wearing the colour of actual doctors and surgeons make me chuckle a bit.
Yoshi
Yoshi gets a proper third jump custom move. Yaaaay. He looks great under the new lighting in Smash Wii U. Oh, I'd have preferred white Yoshi over purple.
Bowser Jr.
I've always thought Bowser should be given a partner in crime. He gets 8 in this game, and I'm overjoyed. Junior and the Koopalings open up to so many imaginary matches -- Plumbers versus Koopas 2-on-2, all seven Koopalings ganging up on Mario, and those (though cruel) "
Roy and
Wendy are in the game" jokes.
Rosalina & Luma
Even now, I find it weird to see Rosalina, a peaceful-looking overseer of the universe, to join in the action of Mario and company. This also makes it possible to defeat her, whereas she's invincible before Super Mario 3D World. This is one of the characters I look forward to play as; I'm interested in the Luma mechanic.
Wario
Or, as the Germans say it, Vario. His animation being no longer choppy is a nice improvement. I'm not sure what to make of Smash's depiction of him, though. Did the Smash team run out of idea and simply took the garlic thing from WarioWare Touched! and elaborate upon it? (Well, he's got Wario World moves too, so that's something, I guess...)
Donkey Kong
I like how his Final Smash's Donkey Konga reference is made apparent. Thank you, Namco.
Diddy Kong
So apparently this guy is claimed to be the best character this time. Did the Smash team overlook his already-superb performance in Brawl?
Link
Same weapons this time!?
Zelda
Ah, that Phantom. Another new addition I like. And it's actually Zelda-related (as opposed to Link) too.
Sheik
Bouncing Fish sounds like Zero Suit Samus to me. So apparently, she's better at recovery now. This is one of those characters that I won't complain about Smash depiction, since she isn't a combat character in her own game.
Ganondorf
I don't know whether I should laugh or cry at Warlock Blade. It's an obvious attempt to say "You want a sword? Here's a sword" without making much change. I'd say a better way is to just give him a proper sword move, but then again, a clone of Brawl Ganondorf would be easier to make, and since the most resource-consuming part of a character is the motion...
Toon Link
Still the same weapons!?
Samus
I wish they didn't go with the Other M design. If they choose not to blindly go for the latest design for everyone else (thanks for sparing us from having to see modern Pac-Man or DLC Ike), why not Samus too?
Zero Suit Samus
Same as above. Why Other M? That aside, I like how Zero Suit Samus is a full-fledged character now.
Pit
I thought his Guardian Orbitar was a shield at first. I'd have loved to see that being the case, since we haven't seen seen a unique shield for 15 years.
Palutena
Why does Palutena and Palutena alone have unique custom special moves? Sounds to me that they wanted to have this for Palutena, but didn't have enough resources to do the same for everyone else, so they get variations instead. I'd also imagine that it would take a while to learn using her.
Dark Pit
There are so many electric moves this time. I wonder if he and Robin will have advantage in the Wily Castle stage because of this. And I wish he has a custom vicory quote against Palutena as well -- they can't just leave it as "Poor little Pittoo".
Marth
I like the fact that he gets an updated look. And more importantly, I'm so thankful that FE12 came out. I was horrified when Sakurai said he'd have used FE11 Marth if he knew about the game before Brawl. No. Just no. Let's pretend FE11 never existed.
Ike
And another update that I like. Ike is a bit faster, changed to his Radiant Dawn look, and now has blue flame effects. In other words, everything that made his Brawl appearance look weird is gone. Still doesn't have the entire Aether, though; I think that'd make for a good custom. His return was one of my favourite news over the course of Smash-related announcements.
Lucina
Her version of the Shield Breaker reminds me of Ike. Who'd hold a sword like that? ...Oh, right, Ganondorf's worse. Anyway, this is going to be my absolute favourite character in Smash. I could have spent forever to talk on this, but I'll spare you from it. She's not my favourite character in her source game, but she's the only one that makes sense to appear in Smash, due to her position as the third main character and compatibility with Marth's moves.
Robin
Thoron feels so great. Also, here we finally have a character that's descriptive of what Fire Emblem is actually about. I've always had wanted a weapon durability system ever since Melee (though I said it jokingly at the time: "Roy can only use his sword 20 times, after which the only thing he can do is to get killed"), and on top of that, the use of non-sword weapons, multiple weapons, and to be able to reflect the teamwork aspect of the series (Marth, Roy and Ike are all sole characters from their own world, which kind of feels weird). Robin does it all.
Kirby
Hammer Flip! Finally, one of Kirby's most well-known moves (due to being a high-damage move that doesn't have limited uses) made it in the game! There's also the Ultra Sword -- I didn't like Cook, because that isn't even a finisher in Kirby Super Star. He could have used different custom moves like Palutena's, though. Well, this applies to most characters, actually.
King Dedede
Most people would complain about his lack of masks. My biggest gripe with him, though, is his lessened relation with the Waddle Dees. I wanted him to throw more Waddle Dee varieties (and throw in the Bandanna Waddle Dee too), not to remove them entirely. Arrrgh.
Meta Knight
I miss his glide. Also, I wish he (and Dedede) has a design that fits the Kirby series better.
Fox
Not much to say about Fox in battle, but his depiction in Orbital Gate is rather cute. He even carries a tsundere tone in the hitchhiking fighters variant of the dialog.
Falco
Yes Falco, you prefer the air. Now do all of us a favour and get an Arwing, can you?
Pikachu
I'm not sure if I like the new design. It looks to me that Pikachu is trying too hard to look cute. I like that enhanced Thunderbolt, though.
Charizard
I thought Charizard is a mighty creature that's good at using fire
and flying. Why does Charizard still have only three jumps?
Jigglypuff
Now why are you absent from those event matches? Aren't you a starter? And speaking of event matches, what's with that absurd difficulty of It's Past Your Bedtime?
Lucario
I like how ExtremeSpeed is now linked to the Aura's power. Having better recovery upon taking more damage sounds interesting to me.
Greninja
That's the one character reveal that took me off-guard. Actually, Lucario and Lucina/Robin are the only trailers that actually surprised me. Greninja falls flat to the "I don't know much about this character, but I'm going to use them a lot because they look so cool" territory for me.
Mr Game & Watch
I wish he has a "backlight" alternate colour. That would remind me of my old Palm V. Though not directly related to him as a fighter, I like how the Smash team made use of his Parachute form in the two Pleiades defence mission.
PAC-MAN
Least favourite character there, although I'll still use him occasionally. There's no character that I really dislike this time (stages, on the other hand...). Anyway, props to the Smash team for using his classic design, if anything. I wish those ghosts are 3D, though.
Little Mac
I don't care about him (in the "I'm neutral" sense), though I guess he fills the "traditional fighter in non-traditional fighting game" vacancy. I wish Doc Louis would do more than shouting off-screen comments. He could have appeared in the Boxing Ring stage to cheer him (while still saying his various lines).
Duck Hunt
Second least favourite character, but they do interest me as fighters. They look pretty tricky to play against.
Mega Man
Though not a Mega Man fan myself, I've seen enough about the (classic) series to see the appeal in him. I'm glad that he's in the game, and in a form that's faithful to the original games at that. Though like Kirby, I wish he could have more variations in his custom moves.
Captain Falcon
Not much to say here, since he didn't change. Blood Falcon should have been a full-fledged alt and called that.
Sonic
I'm not surprised that he's back. It's be weird to have Pac-Man and Mega Man without him. I wished he'd get more moves (instead of "Spin Dash and variants"), but alas.
Ness
Ness himself is fine, but he reminds me of MOTHER in general. This series gets quite a few references and fanservice ("SMAAAASH!!", the scenes in Magicant, Smash run enemies...), though Lucas is gone. I hope he isn't; though I know little about the MOTHER series, I liked Lucas as a Smash fighter.
Villager
People call him unexpected. I don't think so. I've always found Animal Crossing one of the more glaring omissions in the Brawl character lineup, even after hearing Sakurai's explanation. Animal Crossing is nonviolent? Princess Zelda is nonviolent too. And Smash is always seen more as a sport than serious fighting between the characters.
Pikmin & Olimar
Hello, Smash 3DS 15fps Pikmin! You guys look really choppy. Also, where are the Rock Pikmin? And why doesn't Alph have different moves, when those Rock Pikmin can be used to differentiate between them?
Wii Fit Trainer
I just find the Trainer hilarious. Some people say that's a wasted character spot, but how much effort is there to make a fighter based on standard exercise moves and simple projectiles?
Shulk
Not knowing the Xenoblade world, I don't have much to say about Shulk. One thing I do like is how they adopted this new series to a character-based series. No character-based IPs in recent years? What's that now?
StagesWhy are the 3DS and Wii U stages different? I don't like some of the 3DS stages, but there are also a few good ones. Now we get two very much improvable lineups.
And there's the way they want to have 1 new and 1 old stage in Wii U for bigger series, while most series would get one stage in 3DS, old or new. This is going to be problematic: If a player thinks the only stage of a series is subpar, that series might as well have no stages for that player. And it looks like they're also going to make some series have better 3DS stages, and vice versa. Star Fox and Metroid see no new 3DS stages, while EarthBound and F-ZERO see no new Wii U stages.
They should have had 2 stages per series for both systems, and prioritize giving Wii U new stages. And don't be afraid of repeating stages. Smash 3DS's selling points are portability and Smash Run, and stages, and thus standard Smash, should not be compromised.
I'll talk about new stages. Stage distribution will come later.
Flat Zone X
I've always like Flat Zone 1 better. Guess this is a good compromise.
PAC-MAZE
I've wondered if they could turn Pac-Man into a stage, and they did it: make a few platforms using the arcade game as the motif, and that's it! I wish this is in the Wii U version.
PAC-LAND
Meh. I can see why the original game was popular, being a pre-SMB1 platformer with (albeit weird) parallax scrolling. But its awful visuals doesn't work at all, let alone in Smash. Banned.
3D Land
Standard Mario scrolling stage that looks and feels like Mario, and make good use of the Z-axis. Great stage.
Golden Plains
Meeeeh. Get that 2D nonsense away from Smash. As if having NSMB in glorious 2D on 3DS isn't awful enough. Banned.
Mario Galaxy
I was surprised that they'd actually make a gravity-oriented stage. This is well-executed. Also, I thought they'd use a more well-known galaxy like Good Egg, instead of Gateway.
Mushroom Kingdom U
Now that's a good example of a New Super Mario Bros stage in Smash. The transformations look weird, but the fighters can adapt quite easily. Nabbit is a good addition too, although I find him too powerful.
Rainbow Road
Not much to say about this one. Can't say I didn't expect it, either.
Mario Circuit (MK8)
Nice use of the gravity gimmick, though I'll never comprehend the partial gravity (affecting either the Shy Guys or the fighters). The fighters must look weird for the Shy Guys.
Paper Mario
Paper Mario stage? Great! SS Flavion? Cool, I guess. Bowser's spinning head that cannot be stood on at slanted angles and ungrabbable? Ugh...
Jungle Hijinx
The idea of being able to go between two planes is great. But why is this stage 4-player only? I know either side will occasionally become unavailable, but that's too large of a stage for just 4 players. It can easily become a game of hide-and-seek.
Boxing Ring
A standard boxing ring. As remarkable as Battlefield and Final Destination. I'm not that big on the character alias thing either. Move on.
Balloon Fight
The side edge is ambiguously defined. Walk into it and you get wrapped, get hit into it and it's a KO. That's confusing.
Duck Hunt
This stage has a 3D voxel model with a little depth, with characters presented in 2D, and can be fell out of instead of being a faithful stage, walk-off and all. This stage doesn't know what it wants to be: faithful recreation or movie background prop, 2D or 3D. I'd say a better way to do it is to go fully 3D -- the trailer already has it. Banned.
Wrecking Crew
And here we have a much better display of how to deal with old games. Instead of recreating the original's graphics, Wrecking Crew shows a building in a modern industrial city, ready to be demolished. It both preserves the graphical style of the original and updates it to look gorgeous in a large HDTV.
Gerudo Valley
A rather standard stage. Well-executed.
Spirit Train
The way it changes cars look awkward. Can't they get detached without having the entire train going behind? Also, the Alfonso substitute feels unnecessary. Who'd mistake Conductor Link for the playable Toon Link?
Skyloft
I know this is a large place with a lot of sightseeing to do, but a cruise-type stage is the last thing I want to see. I'm sick of those.
Pyrosphere
Ridley and the enemies are the main attraction here. In that aspect, well done.
Reset Bomb Forest
It's a rather standard "lots of platforms everywhere" stage. Good. My only complaint is that Viridi looks creepy in that stage, in a huge contrast with her demeanour in Palutena's guidance. Maybe because she's in wrath mode.
Palutema's Temple
Too big even by HD screen / 8-player standard. It'd be great if it gets modified a bit and turned into a scrolling stage, though.
Wily Castle (3DS)
Wrong time of day!
Wily Castle (Wii U)
Here we have a Wily-style platform, with a few moving platforms occasionally showing up, and Dr Wily's lab is in the background. Perfect. Yellow Devil does feel unnecessary here, as explained by many others. May I also add that as a stage filled with Mega Man 2 nostalgia, a Mega Man 1 character like that shouldn't be crashing the scene here. Also, where's Dr Wily himself?
Arena Ferox
Awful music choice. Conquest (Ablaze) is available, and they went with a shortened version of Id (Purpose)? That's a great song, but it only works in context. And what's with those statues? Omega mode solves the terrain issue, though.
Coliseum
Plain stage with walk-offs, with rising platforms to make up for its flatness. Now that's what I call a good stage. And unlike castles, arenas are actually iconic facilities in its home series. I've waited for this for 13 years.
Woolly World
Easily one of my favourite. Its cute look screams Yoshi, and we finally get something that's not from Yoshi's Island, Yoshi's Story or the it's-not-even-Yoshi Super Mario World. Being from a future game is a plus too.
Mute City
Those F-ZERO machines look unnatural. I know it's a compromise for them to work as Smash platforms, but it's still jarring to see.
Windy Hill Zone
That's a rather simple stage, with the only noticeable thing being the wheel at the corner and having bended gravity like Mario Galaxy. I'm completely neutral about this.
Dream Land
It's a scrolling stage. With no fixed camera. It's a monochrome stage from a colourful series. It's an awful stage, and it's the only Kirby stage. I'm banning this. Smash 3DS has no Kirby stage. Now that's some terrible flaw Smash 3DS has...
The Great Cave Offensive
Looks gorgeous, but it could be scaled down a bit. It's too big even by HD screen / 8-player standard. Also, the 100% KO threshold is too harsh. If fighters on normal stages don't get KO'd until about 140%, why are they easier to KO in The Great Cave Offensive?
Gamer
Great. They successfully translated Gamer's gameplay to Smash. I hope no one will go back to play Gamer, only to forget that there's no delay between 5-Volt finding you out and you getting a game over.
Orbital Gate Assault
Here's a complete Star Fox action scene, with two scripts describing what's going on! We don't usually get action scenes like this as stages, and I'd say this stage is excellent.
Magicant
I was confused by this stage at first, but now I just find it beautiful, technicalities notwithstanding.
Unova Pokémon League
The stage itself feels simple, but I'm glad that they're getting more proper Pokémon locales like this.
Prism Tower
Now this is a cruise stage that I don't dislike. It's a rather literal
tour (tour)
de la tour (tower). The stage itself feels rather plain, though. Why aren't there other people? Or rather, what's happened to the Pokémon humans in Smash?
Kalos Pokémon League
Fun stage. I like those gimmicks. Let's hope that if there's another Smash in the future, we aren't going back to having Pokémon Stadium 3.
Tortimer Island
What's happened to swimming? I'm neutral towards this stage, though I wish this and Smashville can switch place.
Town and City
Just what's the point in making this if Smashville is to return? I'd prefer yet another rooftop stage if the alternative is two Smashvilles.
Garden of Hope
Great. I didn't like Distant Planet because it was so hard to play in, with the rapid streams and the occasional accidents of getting eaten.
Living Room
I can't get myself to like non-traditional-game stages like this when there are 5 of these in a lineup of only 36 stages. That cute little Panepon block dice cushion isn't enough to appeal to me.
PictoChat 2
Nice stage ideas! It does help PictoChat's bad reputation a bit.
Wii Fit Studio
Way too colourless. Though I do admit it has its own appeal. The mirror at the back is helpful.
Pilotwings
It looks like a lot is going on, but in gameplay terms it's as exciting as Melee's Venom. Well, this is better than Venom -- it actually plays Pilotwings music. It seems that they have forgotten about a certain Pilotwings game there...
Wuhu Island
As a resort visited by the Miis hailing from a game that's not seen as one by some gamers, Wifitty Island is surprisingly full of different kinds of terrain. I like this stage.
Gaur Plain
I know next to nothing about this place or its source game, so I don't have much to say here. I do like its music, if anything.
Find Mii
I quit halfway playing StreetPass Quest II. Requiring the player to play it 10 times is just too much.
Tomodachi Life
One complaint I have for this stage is that its omega form looks too much like its normal variant. It can be confusing if you don't already know which version you're playing.
Oh, and about the stage distribution:
- The handheld/home console split wasn't a good one to begin with. Handheld games deserve to be showcased in HD too.
- Two Mario Circuits? Who'd want to keep Brawl's Mario Circuit? The Mario Kart series needs no old stage.
- Of course, between the two Metroid stages, they had to pick the one with lava and not from the Metroid Prime series.
- Smash 3DS really, really lack stages. Doesn't help that 5 of those stages are from characterless casual games/tools.
- They're sticking too hard to the rules they laid out. If they can't get a new stage in the Wii U version, they can clone the 3DS one. And sometimes breaking the handheld/home console split would make more sense than not doing so, as with the case of the Animal Crossing stages.
MusicMy favourite tune in Smash 3DS is N's Castle Medley, and for Wii U, it's Route 10. Congrats for winning twice, Pokémon Black/White. Even though I'm not into Pokémon.
Each series gets at least one remix (except Wario outside of Japan, Sonic and Game & Watch), and the remixes are generally very high in quality. The compression problem in Brawl is gone. I'm disappointed that some series didn't make it, but at the same time, I'm surprised about their reach this time. They've got remixes from Baten Kaitos II (from Motoi Sakuraba, no less) and Culdcept, and in the unmodified music department there's the DSiWare game everyone has heard of and immediately forgotten: X-Scape.
Personally, I'd have wanted to see some songs from Game & Watch Gallery (which would be more suitable than that pretentious, edgy Flat Zone 2), and generally from the games that otherwise have presence here (like Zangeki no REGINLEIV and The Last Story). I also wanted to see some Golden Sun music from Sakuraba, but we ended up with the unmodified world map theme form GS3 instead. Come on, why not some boss battle theme?
TrophiesThe overall trophy lineup is impressive. Split into two versions, not so. Even worse, Smash 3DS lacks the photo studio functionality present in the Wii U version, making it undesirable to have trophies in 3DS only. That is unfortunate for Kid Icarus: Uprising, Fire Emblem Awakening, nintendogs and other DS/3DS games (Nintendoji, HarmoKnight, Culdcept, just to name a few). Like stages, I'm opposed from splitting them this way from the very start. They should be more evenly distributed, or just intentionally cripple the 3DS one -- they're doing this everywhere anyway.
Oh, and the trophy selection is also quite random. Some games gets lots of trophies, others don't have anything beyond the barebone stuff. Think of some semi-important characters from the various series and see! Hocotate Freight's president? Nope. Micaiah? Nope. Bomb and Target from Target Blast? Nope. Bandanna Waddle Dee? Quardruple nope. (Though to be fair, other "new Kirby" main characters like Galacta Knight and Magolor are present.) I wouldn't say insufficient, but they really are barebone.
Fighting against Macs, Charizards and Dark Pits sucks tho, especially in For Fun where their spam attacks get them to win matches..
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