Super Smash Bros. For 3DS Review

The small taste of the next generation of Smash before it comes out on the Wii U later this year has hit the shelves and now you can settle any argument or bet in Smash anytime, anyplace, anywhere with the 3DS version.Super Smash Bros. For the 3DS has the same roster of fighters that will be present in the Wii U version and if the handheld version showed us what to expect in the console version, it seems very promising so far.

Each of the new fighters bring their own set of skills they know from their respective franchises and the number of new fighters in this iteration of Smash brings a new breath of life into the 15 year fighting game.

Classic mode allows you to pick your own path on where to go and the harder path you decide to walk, the better the rewards. All-Star Mode seems easier this go around than in the past, it's usually challenging and has you fight like a regular Smash match. However this particular mode seems more like a multi-smash game than it's predecessors.

The new Smash Run mode can have some hillarious outcomes. You have 5 minutes to run through a map fighting off enemies from various Nintendo franchises, such as Goombas from Mario, Pookas from Dig Dug, Waddle Dee's from Kirby, etc. Defeating these enemies gets you stat boosters such as attack, defense and speed that will carry over to the final match. This match can be anything from a team match, a free-for-all match, a multi-smash match, etc. It's interesting to walk into a match with an even faster Sonic or an even harder to kill Bowser.

Local multiplayer goes off without a hitch. You and three friends can battle it out all you want in new stages and old stages. You can even throw in an AI opponent in the mix if you're down one friend and the AI will even hold their own if set to the higher difficulties.

Online multiplayer is where it gets irritating. My first online match was nice and flawless with no lag at all. After the first match was when it got crazy with lag, especially playing against players in Japan where the lag was unbearable to where you couldn't play the game.

Fighters are customizable and you can transfer them over to the Wii U version when it is released. You can increase a characters speed, attack and defense to make them stronger and even customize their attacks to evolve normal attacks into stronger versions of that very move. Unfortunately, these custom fighters can't be played with online, only solo and local multiplayer.

Despite being an awesome mobile handheld version of the beloved fighting series, it does come with it's own issues. Controls take a little getting used to, but once you have the grasp of it, it becomes second nature. When doing a 4-player smash, the camera zooms out to where your characters are tiny and a little hard to see where you're at. The returning stages are not particularly the best stages to come back in this iteration, particularly Distant Planet and Mushroomy Kingdom.

Still, it's Smash bros and it's on the handheld and the game is still as solid as ever so now any argument or bet between friends can be settled in Smash anytime and anywhere. This serves as a taste of what's to come in the Wii U version and so the appetizer has me wanting get to the main course right now.

Super Smash Bros. For the 3DS gets 4 Power Up Stars our of 5!