Nintendo Hypes Up Fan Favorite Exclusives at E3 2014
Nintendo came out with a bang on this year’s E3 show floor with playable demos of hard hitting titles including the hugely anticipated Super Smash Bros for Wii U and 3DS. The Wii U has been struggling since its release, selling well below competing consoles in part hampered by its small and unappealing pool of game titles. The recent release of Mario Kart 8 has already begun to boost sales and the new announcements from the Nintendo Direct E3 2014 are giving hope for a brighter future for the Wii U.
Super Smash Bros. was without a doubt the hottest thing going on around at Nintendo’s floor with massive lines stretching away from each of the 20 or so demo stations. All of the stations interestingly enough used four Gamecube controllers. Each round of four players were allowed two 2 minute matches with the winner of the second match receiving a voucher for a free Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and 3DS t-shirt so there was at least some incentive for some attendees to keep on playing.
One of the Super Smash Bros. stations consisted of a bar with the game being played on a huge projection. Fans on the floor who demonstrate some special dedication to Nintendo such as wearing a character hat or displaying a personalized 3DS will be invited to enter the line for the giant screen Super Smash.
We of course had to try out the new Super Smash Bros. and the Wii U version was incredibly fun to play. Everything that made the past games in the installment great has made a return while improvements enhance the experience. Graphics have been improved across the board with stage visual design being much more detailed from Super Smash Bros. Brawl and updated character animations give more livery to the characters.
The pacing of the new Super Smash Bros. have been sped up tremendously to address criticisms that the slower pace Brawl had over Melee made the former less competitive. The professional gamer invitational tournament on Day 1 is another indication that Super Smash Bros. development team has paid attention to those concerns as well as the rise of esports in recent years.
Nintendo also showed off some of the Amiibo figurines revealed during the E3 2014 Nintendo Direct. These come with an NFC chip in the base that can send and receive data to the Wii U GamePad which can trigger in-game actions. The Amiibos shown at E3 were beautifully sculpted to match the art poses of the Super Smash fighters.
Super Smash Bros. for 3DS was also on the floor with both its singleplayer and multiplayer mode available to demo. Overall, this game is less impressive than the Wii U version almost entirely due to the 3DS’s form factor. The rectangular shape was clumsy to handle and the screen was too small to easily track all the intense action.
Moving onto the rest of what Nintendo had to offer, we took a look at Hyrule Warriors, an upcoming spin off of the Dynasty Warriors franchise that brings Legend of Zelda characters together in an action packed adventure at 30 FPS. The player controls one character fighting hordes of enemies until they confront a massive boss inspired by the scale of the Legend of Zelda games. Hyrule Warriors was incredibly popular by E3 attendees thanks to its engaging and explosive gameplay.
There were other Wii U games E3 attendees could play including Yoshi’s Wooly World, Bayonetta, Bayonetta 2, Just Dance 2015, Wii Sports Club, Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker, and Kirby and the Rainbow Curse. These titles were off to the side away from the big Super Smash Bros. and Splatoon areas.
Some of the minigames from Mario Party 10 were available for trying out as well. Four friends can play each other in the usual style as past Mario Party games or five friends can play in the new Bowser Party mode in which one friend gains the unfair advantage as Bowser. Unfortunately, not much was revealed or confirmed for the new Mario Party.
Splatoon was the surprise reveal of Nintendo’s E3 2014 show, being the company’s first major foray into the shooter genre. Two teams of five players work to cover as much of the play area with colored ink and each player is a transforming squid-human hybrid armed with a paint gun that can cover objects with ink or harm opponents. Players can temporarily transform into a squid that swim with tremendous speed in their team colored ink or the ability to hide under the surface permitting stealth tactics. The heavily objective based gameplay allows for both passive strategies in which players can conquer areas behind enemy lines or aggressive KDR tactics to deny opponents space on the field. It’s a bit early to say whether or not Splatoon will be a hit, but so far it is a colorful new twist on a genre currently dominated by militaristic themes and direct combat.
Nintendo’s presence on the E3 2014 show floor hasn’t had this much attention in years with a huge attendee turnout and Super Smash Bros. receiving several show awards. Nintendo fans can look forward to the future with new optimism for these upcoming and convincing games.
