Right from the outset of the game, long time fans will be able to tell that there missing content from the game. Smash 64, Melee and Brawl all had a opening cinematic and for Smash 3DS not to have one, it feels... odd. There's a lot more missing content as well with the biggest being a lack of Singleplayer. There's no Adventure mode and no Subspace Emmisarry in Smash 3DS and as a result, the game could get boring to play very quickly for some. Classic Mode, All Star Mode and the Stadium challenges all return for Singleplayer goodness, but they can only keep ones interest for so long.
One new mode introduced in Smash 3DS is "Smash Run". In the space of 5 minutes, players must go around a large stage, defeat themed enemies based on the franchises used in the roster along with a few members of the Subspace Army and collect powers found by defeating enemies, completing challenges and opening chests. At the end, you're thrown into a random challenge consisting of: Defeat your opponents in standard matches, defeat your opponents with special rules in play (item choices, character status (Metal bodies, Super Mushroom size as default ect), defeat the most opponents (consisting of themed enemies on a stage of that game (eg Kirby enemies on the Dream Land stage), Race to the finish and Climb the tower (these speak for themselves). This mode is a lot of fun to play but, like the rest of the game, gets boring to play when you're alone. While the mode is basically the same as City Trial from Kirby Air Ride, there's a "YOU WILL LOVE THE SUBSPACE EMISSARY, JUST AS IT LOVED YOU!!!" vibe to it as well, the combat is basically the same, only now you can equip powers (akin to Kid Icarus Uprising) to your characters including Power Bombs, Super Armor, Shinespark, Spinning Blades, Heavenly Light and more. Lots of fun to play (assuming you don't run into Reapers or Clobberskulls without being prepared) alone, but it does get boring fast without other human players.
Classic Mode and All Star Mode have had a few changes made to them. In classic mode (after changing your difficulty as you could in Kid Icarus Uprising), you can take one of three paths with varying difficulty. The harder the path, the better the rewards. After you complete five stages, you can face off against either Master hand or Master Hand and Crazy Hand depending on your difficulty at that point. Speaking of which, Master Hand got an upgrade in the form of Master Core. At intensity 5.1 onward (max 9.0) and in the fight against both hands, you'll have to fight Master Core, who will change appearance depending on the amount of spores and difficulty. These forms are Master Giant, Master Beast, Master Blades/ Edges and then finally Master Shadow before you can get to the core itself. I like this form of Classic Mode, I just wish it was a bit longer. As for All Star Mode, the only real difference is that the order you fight the characters is in the order of their release. Nothing else to it.
While the Character Roster is quite big, the stage count is small when compared to Brawl. There are 30 stages in the game (one more then Melee) and while they are all good stages, even a few returning ones, it feels tiny. Brawl has 41 stages in it and, while at face value it doesn't seem like that big of a deal, to Smash fans, it really does because a lot of the stages don't have anything spectacular to them like they did in Brawl. They look nice, but they feel tiny in comparison. The music selection is also much smaller then it was in Brawl, which could turn away a few people.
There are a lot of nice changes to the game when compared to previous versions. You can now purchase trophies in a special shop using either Gold tokens you earn in other modes or by using Play coins which you can earn by walking around with your 3DS. This makes it so much easier to earn most of the trophies (and is how I got most of my 560+ trophies...). You can also play a brand new Mini game called Trophy Rush, by purchasing time for the game, you break falling blocks to build up your "Fever Meter" to which all the blocks will either give you gold tokins, powers/ clothes/ moves or trophies). Its a fun little distraction and if you need lots of trophies, thats a good way to get them. The Sound test also got an upgrade, by plugging in headphones and turning on a setting, you can turn your 3DS into a MP3 player and listen to the in game music. I'd love this feature if it wasn't for one thing. When I used it, it was very easy for the L and R buttons to be pressed, changing the song (though that might be because I have a 3DS XL). There are a few others but I'll save them for surprises.
At the end of the day, is Smash 3DS worth it? Yes and no. It is a good Smash game and a great 3DS game, but it feels smaller then previous versions. This might be because its on the 3DS, but in terms of size: I'm fine with the size as it is the first time a Smash bros game is on a portable console. I compare it more to Smash 64 (but not for this review...). Smash Wii U is aparently a much better experience but for Smash on the go, Smash 3DS does its job. If you want a game to get into the series and have a 3DS, get Smash 3DS.
I said this on Twitter, but I'll say it again. If you read this Masahiro Sakurai, thank you for all your hard work. I've herd the stories of how much strain this and the Wii U version did to you during development and while I don't think you should put that much strain on yourself again, thank you. This game and all versions before it have been played and loved by thousands of people all over the world and the quality they have in them is unlike anything I've seen before.From the bottom of my heart, thank you for all the hours of entertainment you have provided before, and the hours Smash 3DS and Smash Wii U will provide in the years to come. You and your team deserve a rest, because even with the problems stated, no one could have asked for a better game, let alone two. If you're a Smash fan, please, congratulate Sakurai and his team.
Next week, time to see how the Rainbow Rocks. two more posts and then you won't see any more posts on magical horses without requests. The review of Equestria Girls: Rainbow Rocks and then, finally, I speak about the music in the My Little Pony series. See you next week
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