The trend over the last one year has been to release games that were broken, unfinished, laggy, glitchy, underwhelming, and with barely functional online modes. Games like Battlefield 4, The Sims 4, Watch Dogs, DriveClub, Destiny, Halo: The Master Chief Collection, and Destiny all come to mind when you think of this trend. However, last night Super Smash Bros. for Wii U launched, and not only did the product not have any bugs or glitches- that much is to be expected from a Nintendo game, they always have incredible polish- but, amazingly enough, Nintendo seems to have provided a smooth launch of an online focused game, with there having been no reports of online connectivity problems, server lag, pre-loading issues, and so on.
Fans took to Twitter to cheer on Nintendo for pulling of very smooth launch– its first of this magnitude and for a company that has traditionally been as internet averse and shy as Nintendo has been, it’s amazing that they managed to pull it off- and in our own experience, lag in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U is minimal at best, even on an average Wifi connection (so far, I have personally run into lag in two online games out of a number that probably approaches over 50).
In a year where Nintendo has silently continued to make a statement for its philosophy and approach to games development via masterpieces such as Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, Mario Kart 8, Hyrule Warriors, and Bayonetta 2, Super Smash Bros. for Wii U is another feather in its cap, and another vindication for the company which has been under a lot of fire recently because of struggling sales of its Wii U console.
Stay tuned to GamingBolt for more coverage of Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, including our extensive review, which will be coming soon.