Super Smash Bros (Nintendo Wii U)

Super Smash Bros. for Wii U is, along with its 3DS counterpart, the fourth entry in Nintendo's crossover fighting franchise, featuring dozens of characters from across Nintendo's catalog, along with a few special guests. The basic formula is unchanged since the previous title: up to eight characters, controlled by either human players or the computer, duke it out in arenas based on Nintendo games; the list of available stages on the Wii U largely differs from the 3DS game's offerings. As characters take damage, they are sent flying further by attacks, and if they fly -- or fall -- out of the arena, then they're out!

Most of the fighters from previous entries have returned, along with numerous newcomers, including Mega Man, Pac-Man, Little Mac (Punch-Out), Shulk (Xenoblade Chronicles), Palutena (Kid Icarus), Villager (Animal Crossing), and numerous others for a total of more than three dozen playable characters. It is also possible to design a custom Mii-style fighter using parts and abilities unlocked throughout the game; this character can also be transferred for use in the 3DS version of the game.

The game includes standard 2-to-4-player battle modes, including both time and stock matches, playable via either local wi-fi or internet play. Certain stages in the game support 2-to-6 or 2-8-player battles, but only for local play. Returning from previous entries is the All Star mode, where the player must defeat all other characters in the game in order, with only limited healing items available. The trophy collection system introduced in Melee also returns, giving players a glimpse at classic and modern Nintendo characters and other objects in full 3D.

Features exclusive to the Wii U version include the Smash Tour mode, where players travel across a game board to collect fighters and power-ups. Whenever two players occupy the same space, they must compete against each other with their collected characters in either a battle or a competitive minigame. Once the turn limit has been reached, players battle one another with all the characters they have obtained. The single-player Classic mode, while present in both versions of the game, is much different between the Wii U and 3DS. The Wii U's Classic mode is set up as an elimination tournament, in which players may choose which CPU opponents they face each round from groups of randomly-selected characters, some of whom may drop special rewards upon defeat. Playing this mode on a high difficulty setting will give players the chance to fight Master Fortress at the end, a boss that is not present in the 3DS game.