Super Smash Bros for 3DS launched today in North America, and after a whole day spent with the enormous cast of characters, a select few have proven themselves to be noticeably more powerful than others. While it is still too early to call any of them “broken,” these three are worth keeping an eye out on when it comes time to analyze character rankings and tiers. This is neither an exhaustive list nor an assertion that they are the most powerful characters on the roster, only that they are really damn powerful on their own.
Little Mac
Early looks at the character for the past couple of months have proven themselves pretty valid. Little Mac, a newcomer to Super Smash Bros from Punch-Out!, has quickly emerged as one of the game’s more potent fighters.
Little Mac has that deadly combination of excellent speed and raw power. He’s incredibly quick and dances around the fighting stage exactly as you’d imagine (and hope) a boxer would. He can turn on a dime and continue a relentless assault if you manage to slip by him. If he throws you across the stage, he can reach the other end to keep you juggling before you can even safely land. His fully charged neutral special is reminiscent of Captain Falcon’s Falcon Punch, except with much longer range.
His Final Smash transforms him into Giga Mac, a larger version of himself akin to Giga Bowser. As you might imagine, he becomes significantly more powerful while in this mode (a temporary transformation) and becomes immune to flinching and being launched.
As a bonus, his Power Meter from Punch-Out! makes a return. On the bottom screen, a bar will gradually fill up as Little Mac both deals and receives damage. Once full, the game will urge you to use your neutral special for what will more than likely be a one-hit KO on whoever you are fighting. His recovery is decent at best, which is great, considering he needed to have at least one noticeable drawback. Expect to see a lot of Little Mac in your more competitive matches.
Rosalina & Luma
These two being as powerful as they are came as a bit of a surprise. Rosalina glides her way across the battlefield like the Star Princess she is. And while she is by no means the epitome of speed, she is certainly a solidly maneuverable character. However, what makes her considerably strong is just how hard she hits. Her attacks and smashes have a decent amount of range and some serious launching power.
Luma fights alongside Rosalina and tends to reciprocate some of the moves that she herself makes. The most standout move that Rosalina and Luma have, however, is the neutral special. Assuming that Luma has been called back to Rosalina’s side, Rosalina can charge Luma up and shoot him a pretty good distance forward. The move is deceptively powerful and, at full charge, can launch an opponent off the stage at a mere 50%. The full charge occurs fairly quickly and would be spammable were it not for the fact that Luma needs to be reeled back in to Rosalina’s side to use it again. But even then, calling Luma back is a quick process.
Rosalina’s recovery is alright, albeit a bit difficult to control, and her Final Smash leaves much to be desired. But despite these flaws, Rosalina and Luma can get a lot of work done through their fairly simple standard and special moves. Rosalina and Luma are, interestingly enough, not amazingly powerful or unique when considering their capabilities at an individual level, but holistically, everything comes together in a very powerful way.
Bowser
Oh King Koopa. Bowser has been something of an oddball in the past two entries of Super Smash Bros. However, this installment seems to have brought him a fair good amount of upgrades.
The most significant difference players will find with Bowser is that he is noticeably faster and more agile than ever before. Maybe it’s because he stands more upright than he has in the past, but hey, who knows. I digress. Anyhow, Bowser is still as powerful as he’s always been in Super Smash Bros, except this time, he has the agility to make it usable and not awkward or clunky.
Granted, nobody in their right mind would call Bowser a fast player, but he is fast enough to make all that strength a lot more threatening than it once was. His side smash has him do dropkick similar to Diddy Kong’s and is probably the best example of his newfound glory. His flame breath reaches a greater distance that allows him to rack up some cheap damage and keep his enemies at a distance.
A common theme here: his recovery and Final Smash are nothing to write home to about, but they get the job done and can do some serious damage on their own right. Still, Bowser being faster than he’s ever been has done some miracles for his usage.
How are your experiences with the new Super Smash Bros going? Any characters you think are great? Some you think are bad? Let us know!
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