At E3 2011, Nintendo announced the Wii U, and the one announcement that caught my attention the most was that of a new "Super Smash Bros." game. What made the announcement even more exciting, though, was the reveal that Nintendo was also planning to bring the series to the Nintendo 3DS. This was like a dream come true for me: I'd loved the series ever since I was a child that didn't own a Nintendo system, and now I was going to be able to take "Smash" on the go with me and play it wherever I wanted. It just sounded awesome! And fortunately, when it finally did come out...yeah, it was awesome.
"Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS" was almost like an appetizer for the Wii U version that was released a month later, but it was still an excellent appetizer that gave more than a taste of what the Wii U version would offer. It featured the same large roster of characters, plenty of exciting stages, and the welcome changes to the gameplay (i.e. improved speed and the removal of tripping). It was all here in one tiny but great package, and the game itself played as well as you would hope a "Smash" game would play. The visual design was also stellar, I appreciated the return to a more whimsical design after "Brawl" took on a more gritty design, the music is a treasure trove of Nintendo goodness, and I think the Smash Run mode is one of the better solo modes that the "Smash Bros." series has offered.
My biggest issue with "Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS" is that the handheld controls can just feel uncomfortable to me. As nice as it is to have "Super Smash Bros." on a handheld, the 3DS itself can feel a bit tough to use as a controller for the game. Also, the game doesn't really utilize the 3D all that much, so if that was something you were excited about...sorry, but it doesn't do much with it.
Overall, "Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS" accomplishes its task of being "Super Smash Bros." on a handheld, and does an excellent job of it. Granted, it might be moot to play it today, given that "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate" can also be played on a portable device (and with a better controller), but for its time, "Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS" did a great job of introducing the series to portability, and was an excellent appetizer in the wait for "Super Smash Bros. for Wii U."
Final rating: 9 out of 10 "Awesome"