Cloud Reveal Trailer for Super Smash Bros. Wii U & 3DS (Nintendo Direct) <br />The series features many characters from Nintendo's most popular franchises, including Mario, Fox McCloud, Link, Kirby, Samus Aran and Pikachu. The original Super Smash Bros. had 12 playable characters, and the roster count has risen to 26 characters in Melee, 39 in Brawl, and 55 in 3DS/Wii U (four of which are downloadable). Some characters are able to transform into different forms that have different styles of play and sets of moves. The games also feature non-playable Nintendo characters, like Ridley and Petey Piranha. In Brawl, two third-party characters were added, Solid Snake and Sonic the Hedgehog. Additional third-party characters Mega Man, Pac-Man, Ryu and Cloud Strife appeared in 3DS and Wii U, while Solid Snake was removed from the line-up. <br /> <br />Every title in the series has been well received by critics, with much praise given to the multiplayer mode experience. The Super Smash Bros. games have spawned a large competitive community and have been featured in several high profile gaming tournaments. Of the official Smash titles, Melee is preferred by most competitors due to its technical demands and depth of metagame. <br />At E3 2011, it was confirmed that Super Smash Bros. will be coming to the Nintendo 3DS and the Wii U, with the two games being cross-compatible with each other in some way.[13][14] Sakurai stated that the announcement was made public in order to attract developers needed for the games, as development for the titles did not start until May 2012 due to production on Kid Icarus: Uprising.[15][16] On June 21, 2012, Nintendo announced that the creation of the games would be a co-production between Sakurai's Sora Ltd. and Bandai Namco Games.[17] The titles were officially revealed at E3 2013, with new information being released via trailers, Nintendo Direct presentations, and developer posts on Miiverse.[18] The game features 56 characters (five of which are downloadable) with 19 brand new fighters, including third-party characters Mega Man, Pac-Man, Ryu, and Cloud Strife. The game was released for Nintendo 3DS in Japan on September 13, 2014, along with North America on October 3, 2014. The Wii U version was released on November 21, 2014 in North America, in Europe on November 28, 2014, in Australia on November 29, 2014, and in Japan on December 6, 2014.[19][20][21] <br /> <br />Future <br />In April 2014, Bandai Namco Games posted a recruitment advertisement on a Japanese career job opportunity website. The recruitment page consisted of a listing for programmers for Super Smash Bros. 6, which was expected to be released in 2015 for both the Wii U and Nintendo 3DS. The page noted there were 120 game developers working on the project at the time, and that the Bandai Namco expected that number to increase to 200. However, shortly after its publication, the page was taken down.[22] <br /> <br />In January 2015 in his column in Weekly Famitsu, Sakurai alluded to the possibility of retirement, expressing doubt that he would be able to continue making games if his career continued to be as stressful as it was. <br />Super Smash Bros. also features Metal Mario (originally from Super Mario 64) and Giant Donkey Kong, who are simply enhanced versions of their respective characters. Metal Mario is simply Mario with increased resistance to being knocked out of the stage as well as a faster falling speed and more attack power, while Giant Donkey Kong is simply a larger and more powerful version of Donkey Kong. Both characters reappear in Super Smash Bros. Melee 's Adventure Mode along with Giant Kirby, Metal Luigi and two Tiny Donkey Kongs. However, due to items introduced in Melee (the Metal Box, Super Mushroom, and Poison Mushroom, specifically), all of these seemingly non-playable characters (including the enhanced characters that were unplayable bosses in the first game) are indeed playable for short amounts of time. Dark Link, a completely black form of Link, appears in Melee and Brawl as an opponent in an Event Match, and in Brawl and 3DS and Wii U is also a playable costume for Link.[48] <br /> <br />Giga Bowser is a gigantic, enhanced version of Bowser introduced in Melee. He is the secret final boss of Melee 's Adventure mode, only appearing if certain conditions are met. Giga Bowser becomes playable for short periods of time in Brawl and 3DS and Wii U when Bowser performs his "Final Smash" attack. Bowser transforms into Giga Bowser, and is near invincible until the effect of the Final Smash wears off.[ <br />Super Smash Bros. features music from some of Nintendo's popular gaming franchises. While many are newly arranged for the game, some pieces are taken directly from their sources. The music for the Nintendo 64 game was composed by Hirokazu Ando, who later returned as sound and music director in Melee. Melee also features tracks composed by Tadashi Ikegami, Shougo Sakai, and Takuto Kitsuta.[57] Brawl features the collaboration of 38 composers,[58] including Final Fant
