Original Post: Nintendo’s E3 presentation started with a bang as Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime and CEO Satoru Iwata faced off in a Dragon Ball Z-esque bout of blurry fists. When the action gets too intense for reality, they put their Miis where their mouths are in a Super Smash Bros. fight to reveal the addition of Mii Fighters to the roster.
You will be able to import any Mii as a fighter and then customize its style with three classes and four special moves to select.
The Mii Fighter classes are:
- Brawler: An up-close-and-personal, empty-handed style along the lines of Donkey Kong
- Sword Fighter: For a nimble, armed style like Link
- Gunner for a projectile-based move-set like that of Samus
You will be able to specify four special moves from a selection of 12. The variables of class and skills allow for a whopping 243 possible combinations from which to select your ideal Mii Fighter.
The presentation also gave us more details of Nintendo’s previously announced foray into NFC figurines, à la Skylanders. As Fils-Aime and Iwata showed, the “Amiibos” can be brought in to help you out during a Smash Bros. fight, or to fight against as an AI. Unlike the standard AI opponents that have been a feature of the franchise from the beginning, the Amiibos will become more powerful by leveling up across multiple fights. Through repeated play you will be able to train and customize your Amiibo’s skills and tactics to create a tougher, personalized fighter that you can take with you on the go. They will gain the most experience when fighting against other Amiibos, encouraging Pokémon-like battles where you and your friends can sit back to let your trained fighters square off on your behalf.
The notion of living Nintendo figurines hearkens back to the opening of the original Smash Bros. where its characters started as lifeless toys in a child’s bedroom that are then brought to life for battle. The Amiibos will also work with Mario Kart 8 in the future, among other games yet to be announced. Currently the Amiibos only work with the Wii U GamePad, but next year they will release a peripheral that lets them engage with the 3DS as well.
Finally, Nintendo showed off details from the 3DS Super Smash Bros. In addition to conventional brawling, the game will feature a host of alternate modes and mini-games wherein you can race across platforming levels, compete to shot-put other fighters as far as possible, or clear a level full of destructibles. You will also collect trophies (that look very much like those from Super Smash Bros. Melee) and achievements, in addition to having access to extensive metadata on your fighters and gameplay.
Super Smash Bros. will first be coming to the 3DS on October 3 and then to the Wii U in the following holiday season.
