Greninja and Charizard Smashing In
/Greninja, Charizard, and Mega Lucario Confirmed to be Playable in Super Smash Bros.
Earlier today, Masahiro Sakurai, director of the Super Smash Bros. series, held a rather lengthy Nintendo Direct focusing entirely on the upcoming entries in the series, Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and 3DS. Although the near-forty-minute presentation contained enough information to choke a Rapidash, Pokémon fans will find four bits of news particularly interesting.
The first is a detailing of several Pokémon which will come out of the Pokéball item that occasionally appears on the battlefield. Veteran Pokémon like Staryu and Entei will be returning in this edition of the fighter will newer Pokémon such as Keldeo, Gogoat, and Fennekin will be making their debuts. Additionally, it appears that occasionally, instead of a Pokéball, a Master Ball might appear. These have a greater chance of revealing strong, rare Pokémon (the example used was Arceus).
Secondly, Lucario seems to have the ability to Mega Evolve in battle. Once Mega Evolved, Lucario will have its power maximized and its “aura,” a bonus boost in attack speed, power, and size that Lucario gets progressively when damaged, will be set to full. The method in which Mega Evolution is possible is not yet known, but fans speculate that it will have something to do with Lucario’s Final Smash attack, an ultra-powerful attacking move that a character can only perform if they acquire a special Smash Ball item.
The third and fourth bits of Pokémon-related information were saved for the end of the livestream in the form of a Pokémon themed trailer for the game. We see that Charizard, now independent of his trainer, Red, and Red’s other Pokémon, Squirtle and Ivysaur, will be making his triumphant reappearance in this edition of the game. Charizard picks a fight with Mario, presumably because they are both fire elementals (?), but the feud gets broken up by a rouge ball of water. The camera pans back to the water ball’s origin to find a Greninja hanging from a branch.
Yes, ladies and gentlemen: Greninja “Makes a Splash” into the fight.
In other, more general, news, the release window for the 3DS version of the game is “Summer 2014” while the Wii U version is slated for “Winter 2014.” If you plan on picking up the 3DS version, I’ll see you on the battlefield soon.