Gamers in Japan have got their hands on early leaked copies of Smash Bros. on 3DS, with no sign of Solid Snake or the Ice Climbers.
Super Smash Bros. For Nintendo 3DS isn’t out in the West until October 3 (there’s still no date for the Wii U version), but in Japan it’s released this Saturday. And that means that shops have already got their stock in, and so inevitably some fans have managed to get their hands on a copy early.
But this doesn’t immediately tell you anything, because in order to unlock any characters that haven’t already been announced you have to play through the game, which takes time and skill.
And judging by the Twitch stream below the guy playing the game really doesn’t seem to be very good at it.
However, based on what he and others have already discovered Ness from EarthBound, Falco from Star Fox, and Dark Pit from Kid Icarus are definitely in the game.
Ness has been a veteran of the series since the very first Smash Bros., but there’s no sign of Mother 3’s Lucas as yet. Falco is another series veteran and traditionally a clone character of fellow Star Fox character Fox McCloud.
Dark Pit is a clone character too, of main character Pit, but also featured in the game is Alph from Pikmin 3. But although he is referred to by name on the selection screen he’s merely a costume change of series lead Olimar.
It’s hard to prove a negative but although there’s no sign of Solid Snake yet, or any mention of Konami in the credits, it seems that Wolf O’Donnell from Star Fox is definitely not in the game – because you have to buy his trophy rather than earning it.
By that same virtue there’s no Squirtle or Paper Mario either, and although there’s no conclusive evidence so far it looks like the Ice Climbers are definitely out too.
Other characters not yet confirmed by either Nintendo or those with the game are the dog from Duck Hunt, Bowser Jr. (who allegedly has the seven Koopalings as his alternate costumes), Dr Mario (a clone of Mario), and Zelda bad guy Ganondorf (traditionally a clone of Captain Falcon).
[Fake update: Actually no, scrub that. In the process of writing this story we've just noticed he's unlocked the Duck Hunt dog, so he's definitely in.]
The previous leaks for these characters were pretty convincing though, and we’d be very surprised if they weren’t shortly confirmed as well. In fact we’ll update this story if and when that happens. Wario, R.O.B., and Mr. Game & Watch have also been spotted on previously leaked character selection screens, but we’ve not actually seen anyone play as them yet.
[Proper update: The guy on Twitch has just unlocked Mr. Game & Watch, so he's definitely in too. And so is Dr Mario, Wario, and Ganondorf.]
[Another proper update: The pokémon Jigglypuff is in the game as well, which is a slight surprise. Although he is a series veteran and a favourite amongst serious players. The Kooaplings as alternate costumes for Bowser, Jr. have also been confirmed, plus there are alternate costumes for Link and Toon Link that look like Fierce Deity Link from Majora's Mask.]
For now though this is the official line-up according to Nintendo. Although the 3DS and Wii U versions are quite different the playable characters are apparently the same in both…
Bowser, Captain Falcon (F-Zero), Charizard (Pokémon), Diddy Kong, Donkey Kong, Fox McCloud (Star Fox), Greninja (Pokémon), Ike (Fire Emblem), King Dedede (Kirby), Kirby, Link (The Legend Of Zelda), Little Mac (Punch-Out!!), Lucario (Pokémon), Lucina (Fire Emblem), Luigi, Mario, Marth (Fire Emblem), Mega Man, Meta Knight (Kirby), Mii Fighter, Pac-Man, Palutena (Kid Icarus), Princess Peach, Pikachu (Pokémon), Olimar (Pikmin), Pit (Kid Icarus), Robin (Fire Emblem), Rosalina & Luma (Super Mario Galaxy), Samus Aran (Metroid), Sheik (The Legend Of Zelda), Shulk (Xenoblade Chronicles), Sonic the Hedgehog, Toon Link (The Legend Of Zelda), Villager (Animal Crossing), Wii Fit Trainer, Yoshi, Princess Zelda (The Legend Of Zelda), and Zero Suit Samus (Metroid).
Email gamecentral@ukmetro.co.uk, leave a comment below, and follow us on Twitter
