E3 2014 Super Smash Bros Impressions (Best Buy Smashfest / Invitational)

Atlanta was a disorganized mess. It was a single store and they used the kiosk in the back with extra controllers paired for four players.

Line was wrapped around the gaming section and nearly the length of the entire Best Buy. Games were originally a set of two 5 minute games and later shortened to 2 minute matches after they realized they were in over their heads. Nothing was roped off either. There were a lot of line cutters who zigzagged through aisles to get to the front.

The one machine that played the game wasn't facing toward the crowd either so not that many people actually saw what was going on.

Ran out of printed pre-order slips so they run off extras with a photocopier.

You'd think Nintendo would have enough clout with Best Buy for some basic organizing ... or maybe some HDMI splitters and the entire TV section of displays everyone was standing next to.

I got there around when it started at 4 and there was already a line ... and it doubled behind me. Ended up walking around to look at the game in action before leaving.

If it wasn't for the people I talked to in line and my sister who managed to nab a Mario Kart 8 flag, think the entire 'venture might have been a total bust.
 
Drove by the Best Buy in San Jose at like 3:30 and the line was all the way around the building, crazy. Seemed way busier than last year, but maybe I'm misremembering. Gonna have to get there way early on Saturday. Anyone know how they're actually doing the first 35 thing? Should I have it preordered beforehand or are they doing it after you play?
 
jedivulcan said:
Atlanta was a disorganized mess. It was a single store and they used the kiosk in the back with extra controllers paired for four players.

Line was wrapped around the gaming section and nearly the length of the entire Best Buy. Games were originally a set of two 5 minute games and later shortened to 2 minute matches after they realized they were in over their heads. Nothing was roped off either. There were a lot of line cutters who zigzagged through aisles to get to the front.

The one machine that played the game wasn't facing toward the crowd either so not that many people actually saw what was going on.

Ran out of printed pre-order slips so they run off extras with a photocopier.

You'd think Nintendo would have enough clout with Best Buy for some basic organizing ... or maybe some HDMI splitters and the entire TV section of displays everyone was standing next to.

I got there around when it started at 4 and there was already a line ... and it doubled behind me. Ended up walking around to look at the game in action before leaving.

If it wasn't for the people I talked to in line and my sister who managed to nab a Mario Kart 8 flag, think the entire 'venture might have been a total bust.
Click to expand...

While Nintendo helped "organize" the event, the staffing and set up was 90% up to Best Buy.
Nintendo doesn't have enough reps to cover these like they should, because that would be insane since they don't do these events but once in a blue moon.
The actual staff was suppose to be handled by Best Buy, and they are a mess with that stuff. Many stores didn't even know they were hosting the event until a few days before (despite the lists and letters being sent out weeks ahead of time) because of sheer incompetence in the company.

I'm just really surprised they keep choosing Best Buy for this. Target would be a better store to use. They'd get better staff and a much larger cross section of people interested in the games.
 
Jintor said:
Ugh Toon Link's bouncing D-Air was awesome. Multi-hits
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MrSaturn99 said:
Hm, okay @ same FS.

Boooo at no more bouncing Dair. :(
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Yeah, it was one of my favorite things to do. It seems to envelop him in some sort of blue aura and he plunges straight down, knocking everyone out of the way, until he hit the ground. MIGHT be better? Initial impression says no, but who knows. Overall, i feel like link and toon link have flipped for who is better this time, but I could be totally wrong :p I only played 2 minutes of each.
 
Just came back from the one in Greenfield. Game was great I thought, played as both Marth and Little Mac. Didn't feel right using the Pro Controller though. Only had to wait in line for about 2 hours since I got there super early. And outside of single-highhandedly crashing the game, everything went smooth.
 
Baliis said:
Drove by the Best Buy in San Jose at like 3:30 and the line was all the way around the building, crazy. Seemed way busier than last year, but maybe I'm misremembering. Gonna have to get there way early on Saturday. Anyone know how they're actually doing the first 35 thing? Should I have it preordered beforehand or are they doing it after you play?
Click to expand...

Called my Best Buy location after class (around 7:30) and the rep said the lines went to the back of the store...

Hoping for better luck next time but I may not even bother at this point given reports of people camping out and it's just Wednesday.

Can't even imagine the amount of people trying to get in on Saturday... >.>
 
How is Pikachu ? Just read that his Thunder now goes through platforms, that's awesome. And that his Up-smash is now weaker. Not so nice. What else ?
 
BroBuzz said:
Just came back from the one in Greenfield. Game was great I thought, played as both Marth and Little Mac. Didn't feel right using the Pro Controller though. Only had to wait in line for about 2 hours since I got there super early. And outside of single-highhandedly crashing the game, everything went smooth.
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DivqjtW.gif
 
Riki said:
I'm just really surprised they keep choosing Best Buy for this. Target would be a better store to use. They'd get better staff and a much larger cross section of people interested in the games.
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Although it seems strange to say given the congestion created in Best Buy for events like this and just on any normal shopping day, Target's electronics sections are in most cases a bit too small to facilitate this kind of line without disrupting other areas of the store.

Went to the event in Madison, Wisconsin. I was in Canada for last year's, which was much less busy, and run via a sign-in sheet so that people could go shop and then come back at their assigned time. In this case, long line, and the two two-minute matches (which may have been the case from the beginning, I arrived at 4:40 or so). Lots of 3DSes, lots of people talking about the game and E3, and later two event staff walking the line with two 3DSes and the 3DS version.

I waited about an hour and a half to play, although I realize now I actually cut in front of a bunch of people thinking that there were too lines merging into one. So apologies for very briefly delaying those people getting to play the game.

WiiU: Fine? I'll admit I'm not a huge Smash player, and so I chose random for the first round (Zelda) and chose Link for the second. Finished second both times. Game felt fast, but I was never really one for strategy, so I mainly just kind of did stuff. I'm not sure if I'll jump right in on this, as there's been nothing revealed so far to convince me that this will get played anymore than my mostly abandoned copy of Brawl.

3DS: Had a try at "Smash Run" mode, which I really enjoyed - although I would have loved to have realized that I had special moves I could have been using before the final ten seconds, I can see its multiplayer potential and thought it was a nice addition to the Smash formula. It handled better than I expected, honestly, and I'd be open to picking it up in the instance that it goes on sale.

Seemed like lots of people were pre-ordering (some people got out of line to pre-order to help pass the time), and I at least personally took advantage of the $20 coupon to pick up DKCR:TF.
 
Jachaos said:
How is Pikachu ? Just read that his Thunder now goes through platforms, that's awesome. And that his Up-smash is now weaker. Not so nice. What else ?
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His up air is easy to combo into. Like Melee. I was landing multiple up airs into fairs, nairs, and even a dair.

Quick attack cancel is definitely gone :(

Down smash seemed faster? Like the animation ended super quick, but I might be imagining that.
 
I haven't really paid much attention to Smash, but is the 3DS version the exact same game as the WiiU? I noticed in the Treehouse conference they only showed SP stuff for the 3DS.
 
Just got back from trying it out. The line was way too long and I wasn't going to be able to play, but me and my friend were crafty and got to try out the 3DS version without a wait and watch some Wii U play. Overall it felt very good, faster than Brawl. I was a little upset that Olimar wasn't available on the 3DS version for play on the demo.
 
Riki said:
While Nintendo helped "organize" the event, the staffing and set up was 90% up to Best Buy.
Nintendo doesn't have enough reps to cover these like they should, because that would be insane since they don't do these events but once in a blue moon.
The actual staff was suppose to be handled by Best Buy, and they are a mess with that stuff. Many stores didn't even know they were hosting the event until a few days before (despite the lists and letters being sent out weeks ahead of time) because of sheer incompetence in the company.

I'm just really surprised they keep choosing Best Buy for this. Target would be a better store to use. They'd get better staff and a much larger cross section of people interested in the games.
Click to expand...

Nintendo is pretty shorthanded. Recognized a Nintendo rep that I ran into at a different Best Buy an hour away from the one this event was hosted. That was way back when Pokemon X and Y launched. She told me Nintendo only had three people employed that ran around to different retailers in the Atlanta area. I think their entire staff was there because I only saw three people including her with Nintendo shirts.

It's a shame ... I can't completely blame Nintendo, I guess. There were a lot of Best Buy staff working and stocking the floor that were totally oblivious to why there were so many people in the store.
 
I went to Smashfest as well. And I must say Bowser is very much improved. He is much faster and his fire breath has larger range now. Overall I liked what I played. Pretty fast moving battle as well. 3ds version also ran really smooth. But the Pro controls and the 3DS controls are awkward to get used to when you are used to the jump button being in the position where the A button is.

Also I won my match via sudden death. Bowser is much faster so winning was a cinch.
 
DeadNames said:
Was sonic available? If so, does he play any better?
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Yeah, Sonic was in it. I don't know how he played, because not many people chose him at my event. He had some reallyyyyy cool alts though! One that had his Zero Gravity cuffs, and one where he was pimping some Purple Chaos emeralds (this one was great lol). Another one which I think was a reference to Silver, of all things, too.

Kouichi, we both went to the same event! They had two 3DSs tied to two guys but then, they left, and no one got to play with them. It made absolutely no sense, and got hopes high for people in the front of the line that got to see this.

Xamdou said:
Damn what free swag did you get!!!??
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There were a lot of goodies. We can't get the smash coin until the game comes out (which really sucks for me, I have to go away to college now- DARN DELAYYYS.) According to the guy, as long as you pre-ordered the day of the event and pick it up at the same Best Buy, you are guaranteed a coin, regardless of being the first 70 (Sorry if this is redundant). Prizes after you played included Mario 3D world furry cat ears (what I ended up getting), Sticker Star sticker book, more of those Mario Kart 8 flags, Wii U pins, 3DS wristband, some Smash Bros pins (One that was just the Smash Ball/Smash Bros logo, another with the Logos of the game title (Smash Bros for WiiU/3DS), and probably some other stuff I can't remember. Everyone that played got one item. Pretty cool.

Overall, it was a very fun experience. For anyone going on Saturday, go extremely early. My friend got there two and a half hours before it started and there was already a sizable line, of course, also account for skipping. People brought laptops and were playing Melee, it was beautiful. Hype was strong, but it doesn't even begin to describe the screams when the game was booted.
 
The line was pretty ridiculous even at 4 PM when it started and my brother and me got there. They wound up at around quarter to 5 taking names and giving people times to come back. I didn't think there was that many people were 2 minute matches would take that long, but we showed up a little early and were lucky they called us in right when we got there.

Played as Kirby. My brother had Mario. The other 2 were Little Mac and Mega Man. Played on Wily's Castle stage.

Not being used to controls on the pro it wasn't bad but would take more than 2 minutes to get used to. Very hard for me to hit the jump button, wound up resorting to up on the control stick while playing. Likely needed to readjust how I was holding the controller.

Physics wise it felt like a slightly faster Brawl with less floatiness to it.

Kirby was pretty neat to play as, I felt like he's been powered up a bunch. Got to copy Mega Man and his special was awkward (again probably the controls itself). Didn't get to the others. It looks like his up-special will work well again for getting back on stage and hitting an opponent waiting for you. Didn't use his rock or hammer unfortunately, and not a single Smash Ball appeared on stage.

The stage wasn't as bad as I was expecting, but the yellow devil was a bit annoying to dodge around. It was best to stay behind him as he attacked and moved. Will be a somewhat chaotic stage.

Saw the 3DS version over someone's shoulder. It looked really nice. Didn't feel like staying after the long 3 hour wait (even though I left and came back) so might try to go Saturday and try just the 3DS version. However they desperately needed more than one machine there.
 
Vanillalite said:
1) Nintendo rep said no pics or videos so I had to do some quick snaps aka sorry they are shitty
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Really!? There was a guy where I went that had a tripod set to the first 6 or 7 matches, and then people were huddled around the players. The "line" was hardly even a thing at the front, it was actually pretty cool. Good thing they took names, otherwise it would have been impossible to tell who was next.
 
falconxcrunner09 said:
Anyone have a pic of the pre order coin?
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Apparently available when you pick up the game :(

I assume this also means it's at any best buy you preorder.


Oh yeah, forgot to check toon link's colors, but link was "GREEN, BLUE, RED, and PURPLE"
Only those 4. I assume more in final game. Purple was a light purple.

Kinda like this, if memory serves:
wPEDXC0.png
 
crosspost from main Smash thread:

Just got in from Smash-Fest, preordered my 3DS copy and got one of the black pins! :)

Got some hands on time with Pit and won a game with Little Mac! He's definitely gonna be a character I'm gonna put some serious time into. His victory screen with Doc is SO GOOD.

I absolutely enjoyed what I played. I love Melee to death but I think this Smash is going to shape up to be my favorite so far once the final release hits. The speed is enough to not feel sluggish like Brawl. Yeah there's no L-cancelling, wavedashing, etc, but tbh I think I will be able to play and enjoy this iteration of Smash without them. I feel like an easier and more fluid dashdance would really benefit the game though.

I know there's a lot of debate going on right now but I am feeling cautiously optimistic after what I played at Smashfest and I can't wait to get my hands on the game again.
 
I was at the best buy in boardman, game feels great to play. It ditched the brawl floatiness and plays a lot more like melee, the final smashes are still really unbalanced though
 
Cody_D165 said:
crosspost from main Smash thread:

Just got in from Smash-Fest, preordered my 3DS copy and got one of the black pins! :)

Got some hands on time with Pit and won a game with Little Mac! He's definitely gonna be a character I'm gonna put some serious time into. His victory screen with Doc is SO GOOD.

I absolutely enjoyed what I played. I love Melee to death but I think this Smash is going to shape up to be my favorite so far once the final release hits. The speed is enough to not feel sluggish like Brawl. Yeah there's no L-cancelling, wavedashing, etc, but tbh I think I will be able to play and enjoy this iteration of Smash without them. I feel like an easier and more fluid dashdance would really benefit the game though.

I know there's a lot of debate going on right now but I am feeling cautiously optimistic after what I played at Smashfest and I can't wait to get my hands on the game again.
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Can you airdodge during hitstun? This is all I need to know to arrest my fears.
 
Honestly didn't think smash fest was worth the lines, just for two minutes of play. I got to play Wii Fit Trainer. Really didn't get much play in because the controls threw me off. I only performed her down b correctly but doing smashes felt weird and using the right analog stick had me doing smashes in the wrong direction. Only ended up getting second because I got a master ball and got Kyogre.

Really wish I had more time. Thinking about not going Saturday. =/

Mariolee said:
lol
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Actually where I went there were quite a few people who played Mario.
 
Can we dub smash 4's landing thing the 'Glue Jump' or something. Because i felt like the floor was made of glue. I really want this changed for final game. It just felt... bad... to play. Very not fun. :/ And this is coming from a casual player.
 
I just wanna say the 3DS version is phenomenal. It plays as good as it looks. Very fast and responsive. I actually enjoyed it more than the Wii U version. I didn't like the controls on the Pro controller.
 
XxSlasherMcGirkxX said:
I also liked how on the 3DS version the gameplay was hud free and percentage was on the bottom screen.
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Honestly, as pretty as that was, it was tough to look down and see my percent. That said, I didn't notice the smoke at allllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll. I thought it would help me know if i was low or not, but in the chaos i couldn't tell. (Edit: Maybe steam wasn't implemented in the demo? Looking at the invitational i can't even tell if high percentage characters are steaming or not. - Maybe ever so faintly? It needs to be way more overt.)


Hopefully this can be a permanent toggle for 3DS (showing your percent above your head instead of your player number).
daily-2014-05-28.jpg



Oh, also, on 3DS, the player name was already in there and there was no option to change it. I presume it grabs your 3DS name that you set up. That said, unlike previous smashes, your name is still 'P1 P2 P3 or P4' and not your name above your head.
 
DeadNames said:
Was sonic available? If so, does he play any better?
Click to expand...

A lot of his go to moves got more knockback.

His F-tilt can KO now.

His bair feels roughly the same

His up-air I can't really tell, different animation though

Dash attack got a REALLY good buff, and hits more than once with additional knockback. This is huge!

Homing attack has more knockback and comes out quicker.

His normals feel like they have more reach.

That's all I got, all in all, based off this. SSB4 Sonic > Brawl Sonic so far.
 
ionitron said:
Really!? There was a guy where I went that had a tripod set to the first 6 or 7 matches, and then people were huddled around the players. The "line" was hardly even a thing at the front, it was actually pretty cool. Good thing they took names, otherwise it would have been impossible to tell who was next.
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I was told no video unless there were people's faces in it.
 
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