Summary: <p><strong>Episode 5</strong></p><br> <p> <strong>Smash 4 History</strong></p><br> <ul> <li> <strong>Developer:</strong> Bandai Namco and Sora Ltd</li> <br> <li> <strong>Release Date:</strong><br> <ul> <li>3DS<br> <ul> <li>Japan September 13, 2014, US October 3, 2014, and EU October 4, 2014</li> <br> </ul> </li> <br> <li>WiiU<br> <ul> <li>US November 21, 2014, EU November 29, 2014, Japan December 6, 2014</li> <br> </ul> </li> <br> </ul> </li> <br> </ul><p><strong>Development </strong></p><br> <ul> <li>During E3 2011, Smash was announced for the WiiU and the 3DS. Development for the game didn’t start until October of that year. At E3 2012 there was no mention of the game which confused and disappointed some fans because of it being announced a year earlier. Shortly after E3 during a Nintendo Direct, it was announced that Bandai Namco was along with Sora, Sakurai’s company would be developing the game. At E3 2013, Sakurai began posting photos of the game regularly on the miiverse. At first they seemed to be random screenshots with no info, but eventually, that changed and he began including more info. December 5th, 2014, was the last post and you can see all the archived Miiverse posts <a href="https://www.ssbwiki.com/List_of_Director%27s_Room_Miiverse_posts">here</a>. July 2nd, 2012 Sakurai posted a whiteboard drawing to Twitter showing off a number of characters that would all end up in the game. The picture has been removed from Twitter but can be seen <a href="https://www.ssbwiki.com/File:SSB4_whiteboard.jpg">here.</a> Zero Suit Samus, Wario, Sandbag, Pit, Pikmin, Pikachu, Mr. Saturn, Mr. Game and Watch, Meta Knight, Marth, Mario, Luigi, Link, Kirby, Fox and Donkey Kong. Initially, Sakurai said there would be a single player story mode, but it was later dropped.</li> <br> </ul><p><strong>Gameplay Changes</strong></p><br> <ul> <li>One of the biggest changes was the speed of the game. Melee is extremely fast-paced and frantic, Brawl was much slower, Smash 4 was faster than Brawl but still slower than Melee.</li> <br> <li>Melee is an extremely combo heavy game and high-level players could easily punish players that left themselves open to it. Smash 4 allows for combos but not to the extent that Melee does. Getting yourself out of combos is much easier in Smash 4, but not as easy as it was in Brawl. Bridging the gap between casual and hardcore is what Smash 4 set out to do, but that does end up making the competitive matches less interesting to watch than Melee.</li> <br> <li>The much improved online did a much better job catering to players. The casual could play with friends and the hardcore could play For Glory matches. Lag can still be an issue but it's much better than Brawl. </li> <br> </ul><p><strong>Competitive scene</strong></p><br> <ul> <li>Melee’s high-level competitive play is unmatched when watching pros play and the skill gap sets players apart. Most Melee players have stuck with Melee because Smash 4 is still more like Brawl and less like Melee. In spite of that Smash 4 has still made its way into the tournament scene. </li> <br> </ul><p><strong>Character list for Smash 4</strong></p><br> <ul><li> <br> <ul> <li>Bayonetta</li> <br> <li>Bowser</li> <br> <li>Bowser Jr.</li> <br> <li>Captain Falcon</li> <br> <li>Charizard</li> <br> <li>Cloud</li> <br> <li>Corrin</li> <br> <li>Dark Pit</li> <br> <li>Diddy Kong</li> <br> <li>Donkey Kong</li> <br> <li>Dr. Mario</li> <br> <li>Duck Hunt</li> <br> <li>Falco</li> <br> <li>Fox</li> <br> <li>Ganondorf</li> <br> <li>Greninja</li> <br> <li>Ike</li> <br> <li>Jigglypuff</li> <br> <li>King Dedede</li> <br> <li>Kirby</li> <br> <li>Link</li> <br> <li>Little Mac</li> <br> <li>Lucario</li> <br> <li>Lucas</li> <br> <li>Lucina</li> <br> <li>Luigi</li> <br> <li>Mario</li> <br> <li>Marth</li> <br> <li>Mega Man</li> <br> <li>Meta Knight</li> <br> <li>Mewtwo</li> <br> <li>Mii Fighters</li> <br> <li>Mr. Game & Watch</li> <br> <li>Ness</li> </ul> </li></ul>
