Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS

 3DS
User Score
8.4

Generally favorable reviews- based on 922 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 756 out of 922
  2. Mixed: 116 out of 922
  3. Negative: 50 out of 922
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  1. Thebluehydra
    Oct 8, 2014
    4
    Everything that was done right in previous installments Melee and Brawl has been either unnecessarily changed or removed, and the new features are lackluster. Smash Run is boring, customizable loadouts have been done by plenty of other fighting games, the online is still a joke, and interesting characters like Snake, the Ice Climbers, Lucas and Wolf have been removed for characters nobodyEverything that was done right in previous installments Melee and Brawl has been either unnecessarily changed or removed, and the new features are lackluster. Smash Run is boring, customizable loadouts have been done by plenty of other fighting games, the online is still a joke, and interesting characters like Snake, the Ice Climbers, Lucas and Wolf have been removed for characters nobody asked for (because I'd hate to imagine having to share the same planet as someone who wanted Dr. Mario back).… Expand
  2. jsbdog7
    Oct 5, 2014
    2
    As a religious smash player I was very disappointed in this new chapter of the series. Nintendo took the competitive feel out of it and the game has lost its luster. What really lost me was the horrible controls and internet speed. The online play has the one of the slowest servers a game has ever had and one person can drag everyone down in a multi battle. You cannot move the charactersAs a religious smash player I was very disappointed in this new chapter of the series. Nintendo took the competitive feel out of it and the game has lost its luster. What really lost me was the horrible controls and internet speed. The online play has the one of the slowest servers a game has ever had and one person can drag everyone down in a multi battle. You cannot move the characters fast and moves are harder to perform and chain for quick damage. Overall, this game is not worth it unless you want to buy the game just for playing level 3 computers for 2 hours.… Expand
  3. Sir_Rage
    Oct 6, 2014
    3
    I expect better from Nintendo. Multiplayer is a 2fps lag fest, With Terrible controls. 3DS is not meant to play fighting games like this, Circle pad inputs the wrong control 40% of the time. If your playing by yourself which you do 90% of the time, you have little to do other then battle bots on the same maps, because this game has barely any modes. Don't buy this pile of crap. Wait forI expect better from Nintendo. Multiplayer is a 2fps lag fest, With Terrible controls. 3DS is not meant to play fighting games like this, Circle pad inputs the wrong control 40% of the time. If your playing by yourself which you do 90% of the time, you have little to do other then battle bots on the same maps, because this game has barely any modes. Don't buy this pile of crap. Wait for the proper WII U version.… Expand
  4. Failatlife
    Oct 16, 2014
    2
    Let's start with the positives. The game looks great. Probably the best-looking on the 3DS.

    And.. that's about it. Early on, Nintendo should have realized that the 3DS layout was less than ideal, especially for a fanbase like the Smash Bros. Community, who are picky enough about controls as it is. At first, the fans were ecstatic at the prospect of Smash Bros. on a handheld, but    Let's start with the positives. The game looks great. Probably the best-looking on the 3DS.

    And.. that's about it.

    Early on, Nintendo should have realized that the 3DS layout was less than ideal, especially for a fanbase like the Smash Bros. Community, who are picky enough about controls as it is. At first, the fans were ecstatic at the prospect of Smash Bros. on a handheld, but seriously, they're Nintendo. They should know better.

    The stages are too small. There are two reasonable excuses for this: 1) The screen is too small, so a huge, fun stage would make it impossible to see your characters. 2) The hardware just can't handle that many polygons on the screen at once.

    The solution: my very first complaint.

    The biggest problem is simple. The cast is just unbalanced. I can see at least five characters getting banned in tournaments as is, that is, if they even consider a handheld game eligible for tournament play.

    For clarity, Little Mac is not OP. Just stick to the edges and try not to get launched. If you're at the edge, you've cut his moveset in half because otherwise he'll just launch himself over the edge like Wil E. Coyote.

    However, Rosalina, Zero Suit Samus, Sheik, Captain Falcon, and Yoshi (Yeah, that's right. Yoshi.) are all disgusting. If I ever see one in a match I just jump off the edge and kill myself out of pure principle. If they don't want to play fair, they don't get to play at all. I don't care if my ranking takes a gigantic "an hero." I refuse to play with legitimized cheaters.

    What's worse is that you could easily fix three out of these five characters.

    Make Rosalina more like Ice Climbers, in that she's practically helpless without a Luma. Make her normal attacks weaker and make her recovery less effective whenever the opponent manages to kill Luma. That's a distinct weakness that would balance out her ridiculous range, power, and knockback.

    Slow Yoshi down. His new character model automatically makes it easier for him to connect with hits, and he has a solid range-game too. It's all he needs.

    You can make Captain Falcon fair by automatically knocking off one of his lives whenever a match starts. He just sucks.

    Zero Suit Samus and Sheik just need to be scrapped. Sorry. It's true. They are just too fast, too strong, and too hard to hit.

    For a character to be balanced, they should probably have two big strengths and one big weakness. Fox (My former main. "Former" because he got NEUTERED) is fast, can dish out damage, but has horrible knockback. He needs to get his enemies up to 200 before he can reasonable KO them.

    Shulk (My new main) has cool Monado arts, meaning he can alter his stats at will and keep the enemy guessing. In a way, that's FIVE STRENGTHS if you know how to use them all. His weakness is that it's a tad difficult to pick the art you want and you've vulnerable at the time. Also, he's about as slow with his attacks as Ike.

    Balance isn't hard, so why did Nintendo butcher the old cast to make the newcomers seem better?

    Wait. I think I just answered my own question.    … Expand
  5. TemplarGR
    Sep 10, 2016
    0
    A very mediocre fighting game that is extremely overrated and overhyped by Nintendo fangirls. In typical Nintendo fashion, they keep milking their trash on every console they can, with minor changes, and the gullible fangirls keep spending their cash filling up Nintendo's vast coffers.

    There is nothing of value in this game. It is very boring. It is worthwhile only in very small bursts,    A very mediocre fighting game that is extremely overrated and overhyped by Nintendo fangirls. In typical Nintendo fashion, they keep milking their trash on every console they can, with minor changes, and the gullible fangirls keep spending their cash filling up Nintendo's vast coffers.

    There is nothing of value in this game. It is very boring. It is worthwhile only in very small bursts, playing multiplayer with your friends. Thus, if you don't own a better gaming platform like a PC or a PS4, and you just have to buy it, get it on the Wii U at least.    … Expand
  6. WeReview4U
    Oct 28, 2014
    4
    Serious problems with multiplayer and nothing really new at the horizon , make this title just an everage one, of course unless you are Nintendo fan I guess
  7. jamesfelicia
    Dec 25, 2014
    4
    i got this game today, and the lack of a story mode was a complete turn off for me to start, then i played it, and the graphics i could not bear to look at, everything on the 3ds is incredibly small, and it isn't much better on the larger scales

    almost every other fighter on the planet has a story mode, and this has no excuse besides the cinematics they used in the previous game were    i got this game today, and the lack of a story mode was a complete turn off for me to start, then i played it, and the graphics i could not bear to look at, everything on the 3ds is incredibly small, and it isn't much better on the larger scales

    almost every other fighter on the planet has a story mode, and this has no excuse besides the cinematics they used in the previous game were uploaded online, and i would much prefer at least minimal dialogue and no fancy crap at all because i've played fighters that function in that exact way and their stories were enjoyable

    playing the actual game sucked rather than the usual casual fun time you could have nintendo thought it had to be hardcore and thats where they went, and as a result they created this disgusting game

    dont buy it, play brawl instead, it was much better and this rapes all the nice features brawl had    … Expand
  8. SuperLuigiBrosZ
    Nov 19, 2014
    0
    Letting Namco develop this is the biggest mistake ever made for the Smash Bros franchise oh and Sakurai is a terrible director as well because all he is doing is promoting his mediocre overrated Kirby series. Seriously. Kirby got more screen time than Rosalina in her OWN trailer and was even shown last. Anyway the blast zones are too big, ledge mechanic sucks (I prefer tripping over thisLetting Namco develop this is the biggest mistake ever made for the Smash Bros franchise oh and Sakurai is a terrible director as well because all he is doing is promoting his mediocre overrated Kirby series. Seriously. Kirby got more screen time than Rosalina in her OWN trailer and was even shown last. Anyway the blast zones are too big, ledge mechanic sucks (I prefer tripping over this crap and I am serious) and it's the most unbalanced character roster in the franchise because of how many playable characters there are this time and just when you think it can't get any worse they're adding Mewtwo! The fact this game is getting balance patches already proves my point. The Wii U could be the best game but the 3DS version is more unplayable then Sonic 2006 and your Circle Pad will break too if you play this game competitively. Smash Run is a stupid gimmick and custom move sets are dumb because Sonic doesn't have Tails as a recovery, Toon Link doesn't have the leaf as a recovery from the Wind Waker as a recovery and Olimar doesn't have Pikmin from Pikmin 3! Get with the program Sakurai! Don't buy this game. Just wait for the Wii U version. Please. Oh and if you own this game. Sell it and use that money for the Mewtwo DLC for the Wii U version.… Expand
  9. Sir_Pantyson
    Feb 1, 2015
    4
    I looked forward to this game for months. My friend Cody recommended it to me saying "Best game I have ever played". Everyone I knew that had a 3DS, had this game, and recommended it to me. I went to EB on Christmas to find they were sold out. I ran to future shop, and spent 50$ on a copy. I played it for 10 hours and got bored. **** you Cody. **** you.
  10. Linkfan
    May 18, 2017
    0
    Putting Smash bros on a portable console was a terrible idea, it's not nearly powerful enough, the online is laggy as hell, and the controls suck. I don't like smash bros for wii u either.
  11. wotshish
    Nov 2, 2015
    0
    While the game is fun to play and amazing in its fluidity, Playing against other players online is a painful experience because there is no real matchmaking. New players have to fight pros, meaning you will most people will never progress in skill. In this day and age, a flaw this huge is game breaking. Nintendo proves once again that they are incapable of having a passing grade when itWhile the game is fun to play and amazing in its fluidity, Playing against other players online is a painful experience because there is no real matchmaking. New players have to fight pros, meaning you will most people will never progress in skill. In this day and age, a flaw this huge is game breaking. Nintendo proves once again that they are incapable of having a passing grade when it comes to online play.… Expand
  12. Focaccia
    Feb 14, 2017
    0
    This game is the worst in the series: even worse than the wii u version. The single player is garbage and this is a portable console game, so most of the games are single player. I loved the first 3 games but this one is terrible. The single player is empty: No adventure mode? No break the targets? The new modes are all mediocre (Smash run is the worst mode in the Smash bros series) andThis game is the worst in the series: even worse than the wii u version. The single player is garbage and this is a portable console game, so most of the games are single player. I loved the first 3 games but this one is terrible. The single player is empty: No adventure mode? No break the targets? The new modes are all mediocre (Smash run is the worst mode in the Smash bros series) and they even managed to mess up classic mode! Tons of useless characters were added: Wii fit trainer, Villager from Animal Crossing, Dark Pit (basically a useless clone), Pac-Man (seriously Nintendo?), and some awesome characters from Brawl have been removed (Solid Snake and Ice Climbers come to mind). The new stages are unoriginal and in this version there isn't even the Skyloft stage. This game lacks creativity heck there isn't even an intro unlike the first 3 games which all had incredible intros. The use of amiibos is pointless and boring and the DLC is stupid: Corrin and Bayonetta are overpowered ruining the game experience and WHY IS RYU IN THIS GAME HE BELONGS IN STREET FIGHTER! Do not get this game it's fricking crap!… Expand
  13. SirAwesomeness5
    Jan 30, 2019
    3
    I asked for it for Christmas one year and was disappointed. I lost interest very quickly and it's now sitting in my 3DS case. I don't recommend it. I don't know why I don't like it; I just don't. Also, I know the game is great for multiplayer, but I don't know anyone else with smash 3ds or Wii U.
  14. Sorrybois
    Apr 2, 2019
    1
    This version of Smash 4 is unfortunately nearly just as bad as the Wii U version. There's not much to say about this game, to be honest, since this abomination was ported to the wii u version. Sakurai (AKA Now the 2nd worst game developer in recorded history) managed to make classic mode even worse on the Wii U version of this pile of trash. But there is no excuse for the 3DS's version'sThis version of Smash 4 is unfortunately nearly just as bad as the Wii U version. There's not much to say about this game, to be honest, since this abomination was ported to the wii u version. Sakurai (AKA Now the 2nd worst game developer in recorded history) managed to make classic mode even worse on the Wii U version of this pile of trash. But there is no excuse for the 3DS's version's absolutely horrendous classic mode. It managed to be better than the wii u version because it removed the extra battle, Round 7, and they actually managed to get you to pick if you want to face master hand and crazy hand at the same time or fight master hand alone instead of getting forced to figh them both on low difficulties ike 5.0. However, Smash 4 doesn't have much content at all, sadly. Sakurai decided to make it unfair for the 3ds owners by excluding the stage creator, smash tour, 8 player mode and special smash for no apparent reason whatsoever. He also removed the master fortress boss fight too. And also, what could have made smash 4 much much bigger was if only the dlc was actually in-game content and not downloadable. Smash Run is boring too, and so is the joke that is online. Sakurai also excluded some popular brawl characters for no reason at all whatsoever. Nothing else to say, to be honest.… Expand
  15. Mrwren
    May 11, 2023
    1
    I hate this game. It is the wish.com version of the Wii u version.
    1. The graphics had a huge downgrade from 720p/1080p to 360p. That’s even worse than Wii!
    2. I don’t like the touchscreen
    Bad game don’t buy
  16. ilovegamedemos8
    May 12, 2023
    2
    this aint good, this was my intro into the smash franchise and is easily my least favorite installment, the biggest thing for smash is multiplayer, have fun playing couch multiplayer on a 3ds, oh wait you cant. NUH UH

Awards & Rankings

3
#3 Best 3DS Game of 2014
1
#1 Most Discussed 3DS Game of 2014
6
#6 Most Shared 3DS Game of 2014

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
85

Generally favorable reviews - based on 76 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 71 out of 76
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 76
  3. Negative: 0 out of 76
  1. CD-Action
    Jan 9, 2015
    80
    If you’re a fan of Nintendo, you will be delighted with Super Smash Bros. [13/2014, p.69]
  2. Hyper Magazine
    Dec 2, 2014
    80
    On its own merits, it's an utter joy...but it's also pretty clearly a primer for the Wii U version. [Issue#255, p.68]
  3. Pelit (Finland)
    Nov 15, 2014
    85
    The new Smash overcomes its biggest challenge by actually being very playable on the portable 3DS. The online side is mediocre at best, but there is nevertheless a lot of fun to be had here. [Nov 2014]
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