Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U are two upcoming games, both the fourth in the Super Smash Bros. series.

Samus Aran and Zero Suit Samus, along with several other veteran fighters have been confirmed to be returning as playable characters, and new playable characters include Villager, Mega Man, and the Wii Fit Trainer (a full list of fighters is below). The Geothermal Power Plant is featured in the Wii U game as a stage, Pyrosphere. Norfair is also returning. Ridley appears on that stage as an AI character that can be recruited by attacking him enough, and he can be killed. Joulions, FG-1000s (identified as FG II-Graham units) and Zeroes are also featured as enemies. In addition to the Metroid returning from Brawl, Mother Brain and Dark Samus feature in this game as Assist Trophies. Kraid is also said to appear as a boss character in that game mode alongside other known Metroid creatures like the Kihunters and Reos. The Screw Attack item also returns and still works as a wearable badge like it did in Brawl. Metroid and Super Metroid are featured as Masterpieces.

Samus and Zero Suit Samus' appearances are now mainly, but not completely based off of Metroid: Other M, unlike the earlier games which based their appearances on their depictions in Super Metroid and Metroid: Zero Mission.

The game will be the first to be compatible with the new amiibo technology, which is similar to Skylanders and Disney Infinity. These figures, which include Samus, are placed on the Wii U GamePad for the player using it.

Samus Aran
Samus and Zero Suit Samus have become separate characters, with their Final Smashes no longer forcing a switch between the two. This also means the taunt trick to shed the Power Suit mid-match no longer works. The change also applies to Zelda/Sheik who can no longer transform mid-match, and the Pokemon Trainer being removed altogether in favor of only Charizard. The reason for the change was because the developers "want people to focus on single characters more deeply", however its been stated that the 3DS' hardware was proving to be a challenge for "multiple character combatants".

Introduced into this game is a customization feature which allows players to fundamentally alter functions of character moves. All fighters including both Samus characters now have twelve variants of each of their four special moves.

A new game mechanic allows multiple characters with tether recoveries to latch onto a stage ledge at once, tether recoveries in general are said to have longer range now.

Zero Suit Samus' moveset and strength have been reworked around her new Jet Boots, which augment her kicks and jumps. Some notable changes are the addition of the Boost Kick move that replaces the Plasma Wire, and her forward smash being also changed to a kick. She will still use the Paralyzer as a pistol and Plasma Whip for her returning moves from Brawl. She can now use her long-range grab as an air attack and tether recovery like her armored self. Replacing Power Suit Samus is Gunship, in which, as the name implies, Samus jumps into her Gunship, flies away and then can shoot at opponents for a limited period of time. Her introduction animation has also changed and now has her jumping out of her Gunship and landing on the battlefield.

"Regular" Samus has received some modifications to her moveset as well, with a new Neutral Air double kick that hits on both sides, an explosion effect added to her Forward Smash, missiles can now be cut in half by sword wielding characters, and an overall increase in attack power. Sakurai also commented in one of his "Pic of the day" posts on Miiverse that "the speed and power of Samus's Charge Shot has been drastically improved".

Director, Masahiro Sakurai had this to say about developing Samus in previous games:

"For example, look at Samus. She's sort of floaty [in Super Smash Bros.]. The reason we've represented her that way is we've taken some of the inspiration from the original Metroid. I think the reason Samus felt floaty in the game is because you have to jump so much, you have to have a certain level of accuracy while you're jumping and shooting. By enabling her to be floaty, you're slowing down that motion allowing for better accuracy in her shooting. At least, that's how I interpret why she was floaty in the original game.

"What's important about that is realizing why Samus moves the way she does," Sakurai explained, "not just saying, 'This is how she moved in a previous game, so we're going to represent that because that's the way she's always been.' I have to really go and think about it all again before I give her that representation. It's making sure we understand that and using the same logic in creating her in this world."

As far as voice acting goes, Alésia Glidewell's voice clips from Brawl used for Zero Suit Samus are recycled for this game, rather than Jessica Martin, who voiced Samus in the most recent Metroid: Other M recording new sound effects.

Both Samus characters have gained some new alternate costumes. For Samus, the blue costume (representing the Fusion Suit), pink costume (representing the Power Suit in Missile mode in the original Metroid) and brown costume (representing the Dark Suit) appear to be returning, and a new white costume (presumably representing the Light Suit) has been introduced. For Zero Suit Samus, her blue costume (representing the Metroid Prime 2: Echoes Zero Suit and ending outfit in Metroid Fusion) and black costume (representing her Super Metroid outfit) have been shown as returning, and she has a new red costume as well. Additionally, her blue and orange Justin Bailey outfits from Metroid Fusion and Zero Mission are featured as costumes.

Confirmed Playable characters
Confirmed characters so far.

Note: Bolded names are newcomers.


 * Mario (Super Mario Bros.)
 * Bowser (Super Mario Bros.)
 * Luigi (Super Mario Bros.)
 * Peach (Super Mario Bros.)
 * Rosalina & Luma (Super Mario Bros.)
 * Bowser Jr. (Super Mario Bros.)
 * Dr. Mario (Super Mario Bros., returning after being cut from Brawl)
 * Link (The Legend of Zelda)
 * Zelda (The Legend of Zelda)
 * Sheik (The Legend of Zelda)
 * Ganondorf (The Legend of Zelda)
 * Toon Link (The Legend of Zelda)
 * Samus (Metroid)
 * Zero Suit Samus (Metroid)
 * Kirby (Kirby)
 * King Dedede (Kirby)
 * Meta Knight (Kirby)
 * Fox (Star Fox)
 * Falco (Star Fox)
 * Captain Falcon (F-Zero)
 * Pit (Kid Icarus)
 * Palutena (Kid Icarus)
 * Dark Pit (Kid Icarus)
 * Donkey Kong  (Donkey Kong)
 * Diddy Kong (Donkey Kong)
 * Marth (Fire Emblem)
 * Ike (Fire Emblem)
 * Lucina (Fire Emblem)
 * Robin (Fire Emblem)
 * Pikachu (Pokémon)
 * Lucario (Pokémon)
 * Charizard (Pokémon)
 * Mewtwo* (Pokémon)
 * Greninja (Pokémon)
 * Captain Olimar (Pikmin)
 * Little Mac (Punch-Out!!)
 * Villager (Animal Crossing)
 * Mega Man (Mega Man)
 * Sonic the Hedgehog (Sonic the Hedgehog)
 * Mii Fighters (Wii)
 * Wii Fit Trainer (Wii Fit)
 * R.O.B. (R.O.B.)
 * Mr. Game & Watch (Game & Watch)
 * Duck Hunt (Duck Hunt)
 * Yoshi (Yoshi)
 * Wario (Wario)
 * Pac-Man (Pac-Man)
 * Shulk (Xenoblade)

* Mewtwo has been announced as a downloadable playable character in Spring 2015, free for those who bought both versions of this game.