- For information concerning both this game and Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS, see Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U.
Super Smash Bros. for Wii U is the fifth installment of the Super Smash Bros. series. It was released for the Wii U in 2014, shortly after its handheld counterpart, Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS, and is often paired with the game. However, Super Smash Bros. for Wii U is officially considered to be the fifth installment.[2]
Super Smash Bros. for Wii U also had a digital release for the Nintendo eShop that players could purchase until the service discontinued on March 27, 2023. The digital version requires 15,700 MB (approx. 15.3 GB) of memory to be installed. Since the game requires so much space, standard set Wii U consoles cannot download this title without an external storage device, but deluxe set Wii U consoles can.
As with previous installments, the premise of these titles is that characters from various Nintendo video games do battle with each other. Third party characters, such as Mega Man and Sonic the Hedgehog, are also featured in these installments. The Smash Ball item from Super Smash Bros. Brawl returns, allowing characters to perform unique and extremely powerful Final Smashes.
The game could be played over Nintendo Network before the service shut down permanently on April 8, 2024.
A follow-up title for the Nintendo Switch, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, was released four years after Super Smash Bros. for Wii U on December 7, 2018.
Gameplay[]
Main menu
Super Smash Bros. for Wii U is designed to be more similar to Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS than Super Smash Bros. Brawl, despite having greater hardware specifications than the latter game. The movesets and animations of some returning characters were changed more significantly than during the transition from Super Smash Bros. Melee to Super Smash Bros. Brawl, with many returning fighters having completely new moves, and major alterations, such as Pit. Aesthetically, the games are much more stylized and visually intense than the previous entries, with the overall colors being bolder and brighter and many elements having been redone to stand out more, and the characters also appear more similar to their current appearances from their franchises of origin, lacking realistic details in them.
Super Smash Bros. for Wii U does not utilize the touch screen of the Wii U GamePad much during gameplay. In addition to Off-TV Play, the Wii U GamePad can display in-battle stats, such as damage percentages. Like in all games, Smash has its traditional fighting game mode with its customized rules where four chosen fighters play on chosen stages. This includes the Stamina mode (where players get HP that decreases), Time (time limit), Stock (lives) and Coin Battle (winner is the one that collects the most coins). Special Smash also returns in this version, allowing players to battle under certain conditions.
Customization/cross-connectivity[]
Players can send customized fighters from one version to the other. Players can customize fighter's special attacks with one of three variations for each, except for the Mii Fighters and Palutena. Players can also equip items to fighters to increase specific attributes (attack, defense, or speed) while sacrificing others. Up to three items can be equipped at a time, and some items provide additional side effects to the fighter.
Custom characters cannot be used in With Anyone online. Additionally, by connecting the two games the player can use their Nintendo 3DS as a controller for the Wii U version; alternatively, players were able to purchase the Smash Controller application that was released on June 14, 2015 from the Nintendo 3DS eShop to use their system as a controller. The "Smash Controller" application requires 314 blocks (40.1 MB) to be installed.
Exclusive modes[]
8-Player Smash[]
An 8-Player Smash on one of the stages, Mario Galaxy, featuring Pikachu as a fighter
8-Player Smash is introduced for the first time, increasing the maximum number of players from four to eight. An option of four teams is allowed, with the yellow team serving as a new team color choice. In this special game mode, most stages are restricted when five or six players are playing and even more when seven or eight are playing; in stages that are playable in 8-Player Smash, stage hazards such as bosses and other features are removed for optimization purposes, though stage incompatibility has shown to be mostly arbitrary, with even some incompatible stages featuring 8-Player spawn points.[3] Omega variants of the same stage may allow for more players. Players additionally cannot play coin battles in 8-Player Smash.
Smash Tour[]
The normal-sized Smash Tour board
Smash Tour is a new mode serving as the exclusive mode for the Wii U version. Smash Tour is a board game mode in which players (as Miis) travel around a board by spinning a wheel, collecting fighters and power-ups for their fighters scattered around the board. Players start with two fighters by default. If two players cross paths, then all players are pitted into a Smash battle for a reward, and the winner obtains a fighter from one of the other players. Players may also obtain items that can be used to trigger various effects, and random events may also occur on the board. Checkpoints are also scattered around the board which boost players' stats when they pass over them. The number of turns can be set between 15 and 25, and after all the turns have ended, players fight in a Stock match using their stat boosts, their stock based on the fighters they collected. The player can choose between a small, normal-sized, and big board to play on.
Special Orders[]
Master Orders
In Special Orders, the player has the choice of playing either "Master Orders" or "Crazy Orders", referring to Master Hand and Crazy Hand. In their respective modes, Master Hand and Crazy Hand construct challenges for the player. Players purchase tickets in order to face challenges. In Master Orders, players purchase tickets in order to try one of three challenges, the reward depending on the difficulty; each ticket is used separately, and each challenge may only be tried once. Playing Crazy Orders requires the player to either use a pass or pay 5,000 gold; the player can then play any number of challenges to rack up rewards within a set time limit before facing Crazy Hand in a final battle. If the player loses at any point they lose some of their rewards.
Events[]
Events menu
Events return from the previous two installments, in which players take on a series of themed battles, including some Pokémon battles. Events are arranged in a grid, however, and the path forward reveals itself when the player completes a given event. Players can also receive various rewards such as trophies, gold, and Special Orders passes by completing challenges. Like in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, two player Events are also available.
Masterpieces[]
Masterpieces from Super Smash Bros. Brawl returns as a feature in the Vault. It offers short demos of past Nintendo games that can be played for a certain amount of time. The game can redirect the player to the Nintendo eShop where they could purchase the Virtual Console version of the game, if was is available on the Nintendo eShop prior to its discontinuation. None of the Masterpieces are Pokémon games.
Classic[]
The board in Classic Mode
The Classic Mode of Super Smash Bros. for Wii U operates differently than in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS. A consistency is that the intensity system from Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS is retained, in which players can spend gold to increase the intensity level. If the player gets a Game Over, some of their rewards will be lost, and the intensity will lower by .5, unless the intensity level is set at 2.0. Classic Mode can be played with two players together.
Instead of paths, the player has to choose which group of fighters they want to battle, and as many as seven opponents may be fought in a single stage. One of the opponents includes the rival, which is programmed to be harder than the other opponents. The longer the rival stays alive, the stronger it becomes. On some occasions, an intruder may pop up for one match; the intruder will either be giant-sized or metallic. Some opponents may even possess rewards, which can either be gold, trophies, custom parts, or a Crazy Orders Pass.
When the player KOs any opponents, their trophies will be displayed in the "Fighters Defeated" box. The defeated opponents can later be used as allies for any team battle matches. In team battles, opponents that the player's allies KO will also be added to the "Fighters Defeated" box.
There are a total of seven stages, with the first three stages consisting of battles against default opponents and the rival. For stages 4 and 5, the player will face an additional group of opponents, but they will use their alternate color schemes; these opponents may also come equipped with their custom special moves. Stage 6 pits the player against the Fighting Mii Team, where they must KO twenty Fighting Miis. Stage 7 pits the player against Master Hand, but higher intensities will add Crazy Hand, and even Master Core to the mix. Unlike Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS, the player cannot avoid fighting Crazy Hand on intensity levels 3.0 and higher. Upon completing the mode, the player earns a trophy of their current character.
All-Star[]
The All-Star rest area
Unlike Classic, All-Star is almost the same as in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS. The main difference is that the characters are fought in reverse chronological order; at the beginning, players face the newest characters and finish with the oldest fighters in the game. All-Star Mode can be played with two players together.
Like in Boss Battles mode of Super Smash Bros. Brawl, the player receives a Game Over with no continues if they lose their one stock or run out of time, which then leads to the results display screen showing the gold, Global Smash Power, score, trophies, Crazy Orders Passes, and custom parts that the player earned so far. Upon completing the mode, the player earns a Final Smash trophy of their current character.
The first three eras include at least one Pokémon fighter, but none appear in the 1993-1991, 1990-1986, 1986-1984, or 1984-1980 eras. The following fighters and stages appear in All-Star, and Pokémon is highlighted bold:
| Time period | Opponents | Stages |
|---|---|---|
| 2015-2007**, 2007-2013 | Corrin** Greninja Lucina* Robin Dark Pit* Shulk Bayonetta** Wii Fit Trainer Rosalina & Luma |
Mario Galaxy Kalos Pokémon League Skyworld Coliseum Wii Fit Studio Umbra Clock Tower** |
| 2006-2001 | Lucas** Lucario Ike Zero Suit Samus Toon Link Bowser Jr. Roy** Olimar Villager |
Town and City Smashville Mario Circuit Pyrosphere Castle Siege Garden of Hope Pirate Ship** |
| 1998-1994 | Ganondorf Sheik Cloud** Jigglypuff Charizard Pikachu Mewtwo** Diddy Kong Ness |
Onett Pokémon Stadium 2 Bridge of Eldin Kongo Jungle 64 Midgar** |
* - Only available in the full All-Star mode. ** - Downloadable content. Only available in this mode after downloading, but it will be removed if the player deletes the game's DLC data. Inclusion does not affect any of the game's challenges.
Stadium[]
Three minigames are playable in Stadium mode, like in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS. Home-Run Contest follows the same rules as in the previous installment but with an option to compete with four players. Target Blast now has three stages to play with instead of one, up to four players can participate, and the bomb is bigger in the second round, resulting a bigger explosion when that happens. Multi-Man Smash remains the same as in the Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and can be played with up to four players.
Vault[]
Vault menu
Similar to the Nintendo 3DS version, the Vault allows players to view and buy Trophies and view records, tips, and replays as well as listen to the sound effects and music. In this version, however, players can also view the games' promotional trailers, ending movies for the fighters, as well as play Masterpieces.
Trophies[]
There are a total of 743 trophies in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, several of which represent the Pokémon franchise. In the Trophies menu, players can buy Trophies from the Trophy Shop like in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS. Trophy Rush has been retained, but up to two players can play. Like in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Photo Studio allows the player to pose and resize their Trophies on various backgrounds and take pictures of them. Another new mode known as Trophy Box allows the player to fill boxes with trophies based on a given criteria, such as specific games (Pokémon Diamond & Pokémon Pearl, Pokémon Gold & Pokémon Silver).
Online Play[]
This game had online play similar to Super Smash Bros. Brawl in that players from all over the world could compete in matches, until Nintendo Network had shut down on April 8, 2024. In With Friends, players could customize the rules to their liking and utilize voice chat between battles. In With Anyone, two basic options were available: For Fun and For Glory. In For Fun mode, players battled on randomly-selected normal stages, excluding Final Destination, with all items turned on. Losses were not recorded in For Fun mode. In For Glory mode, players only fought on the flat, Final Destination versions of stages, without items. Players could either play standard Smash or Team Smash matches in both modes, and For Glory offered a 1-on-1 mode as well.
Conquest pitted various fighters against each other, and players who won battles with them in With Anyone mode would have added points to that fighter's score. The winning fighter would be revealed a few days later, and players who participated in the conquest by playing as that character would receive gold as a reward. After the rewards, the next conquest would begin.
Spectate mode allows players to view matches and bet gold on their outcome, view replays of past online matches, and view a map showing the players currently online.
Instead of an online leaderboard, the game makes use of a different type of ranking system, called Global Smash Power. A player's GSP score is recorded for each of the various single-player modes, the number indicating how many players around the world they outrank.
Playable characters[]
The full character select screen, including all downloadable characters.
Super Smash Bros. for Wii U has the same 58 playable characters as in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS. The base roster consists of 51 characters (counting all three types of Mii Fighters), featuring 34 returning characters and 17 new ones. Seven fighters were released as downloadable content. 36 characters are available by default, while 12 more can be unlocked, and Mii Fighters (separated into Mii Brawler, Mii Swordfighter, or Mii Gunner) can only be chosen when one is created.
Like Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS, one of the removed features was mid-battle transformations, making Charizard to become a separate fighter, after originally being connected to Pokémon Trainer in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, but neither Ivysaur nor Squirtle return as playable fighters.
The character selection screen is divided up into two sections: Original Fighters, characters already part of the core game, and Extra Fighters, characters purchased as downloadable content. Five of the 51 Original Fighters are a Pokémon: Pikachu, Lucario, Charizard, Jigglypuff, and Greninja. Mewtwo is the only Pokémon of the seven Extra Fighters. Overall, the game has a total of six Pokémon. Jigglypuff is the only unlockable Pokémon fighter.
The Extra Fighters were all released on separate dates. Mewtwo in particular was released as a downloadable fighter for both Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Super Smash Bros. for Wii U on April 28, 2015, releasing for free to Club Nintendo members who signed up for a promotion involving the purchase of both the Nintendo 3DS and Wii U versions of the game.[4] It was released as a paid download later on for those who did not register both versions.[5] DLC characters do not have any custom special moves or any unique Palutena's Guidance conversations.
.png "Pikachu (Super Smash Bros. for 3DS - WiiU Artwork).png (6.2 MB)")
.png "Lucario (Super Smash Bros. for 3DS - WiiU Artwork).png (8.31 MB)")
.png "Charizard (SSB for Nintendo 3DS - Wii U Artwork).png (8.54 MB)")
.png "Jigglypuff (Super Smash Bros. for 3DS - Wii U Artwork).png (6.26 MB)")
.png "Greninja (SSB for Nintendo 3DS - Wii U Artwork).png (7.01 MB)")
amiibo[]
Nintendo's new toys to life figurines were first released on the Super Smash Bros. line. The Pokémon franchise has received 6 amiibo figures which are: Pikachu, Jigglypuff, Charizard, Lucario, Greninja, and Mewtwo.
Stages[]
Super Smash Bros. for Wii U has a total of 55 stages, mostly based on home console games, whilst stages in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS are based mostly on handheld games. 34 of the stages are new with 21 returning from the previous three games. 41 of the stages are immediately available with five being locked and nine being downloadable. Thirteen stages are retained from Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS, including every downloadable stage except Pirate Ship and Miiverse.
The game has a full My Music feature, unlike Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS, allowing players to change the frequency at which each song plays for every stage. Players can change the music settings in the My Music menu, or on the stage select screen by pressing the Y button. Finally, every stage in the game has an "omega" ("Ω") variant, a completely flat stage similar to Final Destination, which can be selected on the stage select screen by pressing the X button.
Only two stages in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U represent the Pokémon franchise.
Kalos Pokémon League[]
This stage mostly shifts between four types and changes the platforms. Obstacles stand in the way of battle during each transition. While the stage is in Dragon-type mode, Axew, Dragonite, Garchomp, and Hydreigon will appear in the background. Occasionally, Rayquaza will appear by itself and will fly across the stage. While the stage is in Water-type mode, Wailord, Clawitzer, Blastoise, and Piplup will appear in the background. Occasionally, Manaphy will appear by itself and will cause a whirlpool in the center on the stage. While the stage is in Fire-type mode, Infernape, Tepig, Pyroar, and Blaziken will appear in the background. Occasionally, Ho-Oh will appear by itself and will cause giant flame pillars to erupt from the stage. While the stage is in Steel-type mode, Honedge, Steelix, Scizor, and Klinklang will appear in the background. Occasionally, Registeel will appear by itself and will use giant steel swords to attack players.
Pokémon Stadium 2[]
Similar to the original Pokémon Stadium. The stage starts off flat, but can change its platforms, themed on a different type. When the stage is in Electric-type mode, Electivire and Magnezone appear in the background. When the stage is in Ice-type mode, Snorunt and Snover appear in the background. When the stage is in -type mode, Skarmory, Drifloon, and Hoppip appear in the background. When the stage is in Ground-type mode, Cubone and Dugtrio appear in the background.
Trophies[]
One of the continued features in the series is Trophies, originally from Super Smash Bros. Melee. They act like figurines that the player can unlock when doing various tasks.
Items[]
Super Smash Bros. for Wii U has a total of 75 items, with 26 being introduced to the Super Smash Bros. series in the game. Like in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS, two of the items are from the Pokémon franchise:
- Poké Ball: Works the same as the old games, summoning a Pokémon when thrown.
- Master Ball: Summons mostly Legendary Pokémon or Mythical Pokémon.
Music[]
Various Pokémon themes appear in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.
- Pokémon Center (Pokémon Red and Blue)
- Battle! (Champion)/Cynthia's Theme Remix (Pokémon Diamond and Pearl)
- Battle! (Dialga/Palkia) (Pokémon Diamond and Pearl)
- Battle! (Team Galactic) (Pokémon Diamond and Pearl)
- N's Castle Medley (Pokémon Black and White)
- Route 10 (Pokémon Black and White)
- Route 23 (Pokémon Black and White 2)
- Battle! (Team Flare) (Pokémon X and Y)
- Battle! (Champion (Pokémon X and Y)
- Trainer Battle Theme Remix (Pokémon X and Y)
- Victory Road (Pokémon X and Y)
Gallery[]
Poké Ball Pokémon[]
.jpg "Palkia (Super Smash Bros. for Wii U).jpg (140 KB)")
.jpg "Dedenne (Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS).jpg (97 KB)")
References[]
- ^ Official Australian site
- ^ Schrier, Jason (June 21, 2013). An In-Depth Chat With The Genius Behind Super Smash Bros. Kotaku.
- ^ Soneek BCM. (Dec 12, 2015). 8 Player Smash on ANY stage YouTube.
- ^ Super Smash Bros Offer
- ^ Nintendo of Europe on Twitter: 'Mewtwo will be available to purchase later in #SmashBros, for those who don't register both versions.'