Smash Bros Direct: New Content Approaching!

Nintendo decided rather than fill their main E3 Digital Event with even more Smash content, they'd just have a separate showcase for it, hence the New Content Approaching Direct. Read on for the breakdown of all the news.

New Characters

So it turned out the leaks were correct! Ryu and Roy are in the game and as of right now, both characters are available to purchase for both the Wii U and 3DS versions of the game. If Roy's your boy, you're in luck as the Fire Emblem hero makes his comeback from Melee, he's sporting an updated visual style and some new moves to boot! Similar to how Marth deals more damage with the tip of his sword, Roy can deal out higher damage with the base of the sword, so close combat is much better than keeping opponents at jabbing distance. His Final Smash brings some true Fire Emblem flare, he swings his sword in a flaming arc before instant KOing anyone caught in the attack. Fighters can be pulled into it if they're close enough, making it a really powerful smash attack.

New Challengers Approaching!

Ryu is a completely different beast, bringing all his signature moves over to Smash, Ryu really changes up the game. Ryu's Hadoken can be executed by just hitting the B button, however you can input his iconic ⬇️ ↘️ ➡️ A move to pull off an even stronger Hadoken. In a similar way, his Hurricane Kick and Shoryuken can also be done using their classic joystick wiggles to deal out extra punishment. While Ryu is based on his Street Fighter II version, he also brings some style from both Street Fighter 3 and 4 with him in the form of some standard moves as well as an EX attack. By performing his down smash, Ryu can absorb one hit from an opponent while he charges an extra strong punch move, it's risky as some characters can hit multiple times very quickly, so they can knock you out of it, but if you pull it off right, you can daze an opponent for an easy knock out. Ryu also has an extra special Final Smash, use it from a distance and Ryu will fire off a massive Shinku Hadoken, players near the fireball will also be dragged into it's devastating blast. However if you use it right next to an opponent, you'll perform a Shin Shoryuken causing instant KO with some flashy SF4 Ultra visuals.

Lucas who has previously been anounced in the last Smash Direct is also available from today. You can buy each fighter separately or in a bundle pack. Ryu comes at a slightly higher price as he also comes with an extra battle stage, more about that below.

Mii Fighter Outfits

If you're into customising your Mii Fighters, then even more outfits are coming your way. For the Brawlers, there's some extra special outfits from some fellow beat em ups. Virtual Fighter steps into the Smash world with outfits from Jacky in the form of a leather jacket and a fantastic hair do, and Virtua Fighters cover boy Akira has a classic polygon shaped torso with his signature spiky hairdo. Tekken also gets its foot in the door with a Heihachi outfit, his ragged grey Gi along with his crazy Wolverine hair makes your Mii Brawler stand out.

Mii Gunners have got some Splatoon love with both Inkling Girl and Inkling Boy making an appearance, unfortunately there's no move set for them to fire out their signature paint, but they're still a neat addition. There also a squid hat if you'd rather be a squid instead of a kid. The Gunner set also has a rather strange looking version of Animal Crossing's Isabelle, sporting what seems to be a party hat as a gun, as well as a Battle Network version of MegaMan.EXE and Zero from Mega Man X shows up for the Mii Swordfighter, with his awesome helmet, gloriously flowing ponytail and bright red armour set completing the look.

Mii Fighters are getting a second makeover

Amiibo News

Even more plastic toys will be hitting shelves in September, as the Smash Bros line increases again! Joining wave 5 is the old school characters, R.O.B. the Robot, Duck and Dog from Duck Hunt, and Mr Game & Watch. Being a flat character, Mr Game & Watch's Amiibo is a bit special, you'll get multiple versions of him in different poses, and a base with a small slot in it so that you can pop your chosen design into it. I'm sure hardcore collectors will go nuts for this, so they can have all his poses on their own individual stands. 

Also coming from the Star Fox series is Falco, and the 3 different types of Mii Fighters will be coming out too. The Brawler, Swordfighter and Gunner will also be special in the fact that rather than just having a colour change, you'll be able to equip them with any of your unlocked or purchased outfits to put on your Amiibo fighter. Ryu and Roy have also had Amiibos confirmed to being in production, but no announcement on when they will be available.

New Stages

The classic Kirby stage, Dream Land is making a return from the original N64 version of Smash Bros, with its original visuals staying exactly how you remember it. The stage will have the original layout with floating platforms, as well as a flat Omega version. A couple of other original Smash Stages were also announced, Hyrule Castle from the Legend of Zelda and Peach's Castle were both briefly teased. No date for when they will be coming to the latest Smash though.

Classic N64 stages are making a comeback!

As mentioned above, Ryu's fighting stage from Street Fighter II makes a special appearance. Suzaku Castle's platform layouts are slightly different as the left side of the castle has small floating platforms for some hectic air battling while the right side has longer platforms for some hardcore fisticuffs. In a nod to old Street Fighter stages, Suzaku Castle also has sign posts on the ground, using a smash attack near these, you can knock an opponent through them causing them to shatter. There's also an Omega version of the stage if you don't want to jump around between platforms. As well as it's unique visual styles, this special stage has multiple soundtracks with it, classic versions of both Ryu and Ken's stage music from Street Fighter II have been included as well as some special Smash remixes on the Wii U version, the 3DS version is limited to just Ryu's themes.

The Miiverse Stage is finally ready, depending on which character you select to play as, posts from the Miiverse will float around in the background of the stage cheering you on as you brawl away. The Smash Bros Miiverse now has a special area for each and every fighter for you to doodle some motivational messages for your favourite characters, although if you've ever looked at the Miiverse, expect to see a huge variety of things, ranging from expertly drawn creations, all the way down to internet memes and everything in between. The Miiverse Stage is free and comes in the update for the game which rolled out as soon as the Direct went live.

Tourneys

A new online mode called Tourneys has been previously announced in other Smash Directs, while its still in testing at the moment, details have been revealed. Player Tourneys are custom Tournaments where you compete for high scores during a set period of time. Regular Tourneys are elimination style tournaments that happen at specific times just like a real tournament. Tourneys mode is currently planned for an August 2015 release.

YouTube Replays

In previous versions of the game, if you had replays saved to your Wii U, they would be unplayable once you updated the game to a newer version, with the latest patch, you can now upload your saved replays directly to YouTube where they can live on forever. While most people won't even use this feature, it's good to have it added in for pro players who want to save all their matches. Obviously you will need a Google account to be able to use YouTube features.

Speaking of YouTube, here's the video of the full Direct if you want to see everything in action.

So that's everything for the latest update to Smash, and best of all, most of the content comes out TODAY! How's all that sound to you? Ready to leap back in to Smash again for more beat em up goodness? Why not challenge me to a throw down online! My NNID is chaosriotzero, feel free to add me and kick my butt. Let us know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @chaosriotzero

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