Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS

One of my favorite things about geek culture is how often creators come together with their characters, games, etc. and release special collaborations that combine multiple great things into one awesome product. Although Nintendo is just one company, their willingness to combine their IP's in different games has always excited me. Because of this, I have a deep appreciation for the Smash Bros. franchise. My introduction to the series was a $25 copy of Melee that I found at a Gamestop near the end of the GameCube's lifespan. As the years passed, I still appreciated the franchise, but I rarely sat down to play it anymore (with the exception of pulling out Brawl with a group of family friends every now and then) because the gameplay felt more catered towards a short playtime, and I didn't feel like it was worthwhile to boot up a console and get everything situated if I wasn't going to play for a significant chunk of time. That's why the portable (yet powerful) SSB4 on 3DS was such an exciting announcement!

The game itself feels like a an improved version of Brawl on the Wii, with more balanced characters and a larger roster. I spent most of my time playing the "Smash Run" mode that drops you in a large map filled with enemies and secret doors, each rewarding you with tokens that upgrade your stats upon your victory. Those stats come in handy as you then play a random mini game against the other three opponents (who did their own token collecting as well), hoping that you had the biggest numbers in the traits highlighted by the mini game. All of that was very fun to me, but I chose "Smash Run" because of the large number of rewards you can collect throughout the game. I am a collector, so I my goal was to leave "Smash Run" with at least one new custom move or trophy every round, or at least enough coins (the in-game currency) to buy something new at the shop. My very favorite part about the Smash Bros. franchise is the collectible trophies that show off Nintendo's vast universe, and this title had hundreds!

I may never have become very talented at SSB4, but I always have an awesome time both brawling and collecting; and the accesibility of this release makes it one of the most rewarding to have on hand to quench a moment of boredom.
You can download the game for 3DS here (as of 8/21/2017): http://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/super-smash-bros-for-nintendo-3ds

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