From Brawl to Smash-Up

I’m now at the tail end of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Smash-Up guide and I just received frame data from Ubisoft. I do most of the fighting game guides for Prima and I always ask the developers for frame data, but this is the first time I’ve actually gotten that request fulfilled. I’m quite pleased to announce that frame data will be included in the Smash-Up guide. I’m just debating on how best to present it (a separate chapter or part of the character chapter).

In other news, I wanted to briefly touch on the differences between Super Smash Bros. Brawl and TMNT: Smash-Up. I’m moderately active on Smash Boards, and I know many competitive Smash Bros. players are looking at TMNT and comparing it to both Brawl and Melee.

While I can’t give too much away at this point, and there’s a section in the General Strategies chapter of the guide that covers this slightly more in-depth (I say slightly because this is a TMNT guide, not a guide on transitioning from Brawl to TMNT), but I can say that the game does not play like Melee. It’s much closer to Brawl, but it’s still quite a bit different. Knocking players out of the stage (referred to as ring outs in the game) is not the focus of combat like it is in Brawl. Some stages have easier ring outs than others, but there aren’t recovery attacks (Up+B in Smash) in the same way they’re presented and used in Smash. Smash Attacks also perform differently and must be setup differently.

The stun system in TMNT will add a new level of depth to competitive Smash, but overall I think Smash players will have to view TMNT as a brand new game and not an extension of the Smash series. It’s also important to look at TMNT as the first game in a series and not the fourth Smash title. Having three previous games allowed Brawl to advance the characters and refine the gameplay (although I know a lot of competitive players would have rather seen Melee 2 instead of Brawl). If you want to compare TMNT to Smash, it would be best to compare it to Smash 64 since that’s the first game in the series. You can’t expect the refined gameplay you’d find in the fourth installment in a series. For example, the number of characters in TMNT is far less than the number of characters in Brawl, but if we see three more games in the TMNT series, I’m sure the characters count will meet and possibly exceed that of Brawl.

Now I’m not saying that there’s anything wrong with TMNT. I think Turtles fans will enjoy it and it does have some depth for possible competitive play. However, I don’t want reviewers and competitive Smash players to immediately write the game off without taking into account that it’s the first in the series. It’s difficult not to directly compare TMNT to Brawl, but I don’t feel it’s a fair comparison given the history of the two franchises.

Getting back to the gameplay, I’ve read some comments on Smash Boards about how some players feel the game lacks depth and will cater to novice players without offering much for competitive play. This is not a review, so I won’t offer a definitive opinion on the matter, but as a competitive player I feel that this game is focused on TMNT fans as opposed to the tournament scene. Aerial combat takes a back seat, and ground combat at higher levels of play is more about evasion than anything else. There’s down falling and other high level techniques from Brawl, but many of them can’t be used in the same way you’d use them in Brawl. Essentially, you can’t play TMNT at high levels like you’d play Brawl at high levels. There are no chain grabs, and the combo system is very different, etc.

I will be keeping a close eye on the reviews for TMNT as well as looking at what the competitive Smash community thinks of the game. I think reviewers will try to compare this too much to Brawl, which shouldn’t happen, but inevitably will. I also think that competitive players will try to play TMNT like Brawl instead of looking at it as a brand new game. I look forward to seeing what the competitive community can do with it though. You’ll have access to complete frame data in the guide, providing a lot more knowledge at release than you got with Brawl or any other Smash game.

I’ll keep an eye on the Smash Boards thread for TMNT and try to post another blog answering some high level questions before the game releases. However, the frame data in the guide should give competitive players a lot of insight into the game.

P.S. The glow around the characters is not an issue. There’s no reason to complain about it.

Categories: Projects, Uncategorized
Tags: frame data, smash brawl, TMNT, TMNT Smash Up
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