The Super Smash Bros. mod scene has a new contender, as Super Smash Bros.: Reloaded released May 23, 2016, for use with the latest title in the franchise, Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. While Super Smash Bros.: Reloaded's creator, Y.2.K., has said that the mod's goal is to make Super Smash Bros. for Wii U more "competitive", he also states that he doesn't want Super Smash Bros.: Reloaded to become a "spiritual successor" for Project M, the now-defunct Super Smash Bros. Brawl mod that was shut down by its development team on December 1, 2015.
As Super Smash Bros.: Reloaded is only in its first version release, the amount of changes this mod makes to the original Super Smash Bros. for Wii U is limited. The changes that Version 0.2 of Super Smash Bros.: Reloaded has made to Super Smash Bros. for Wii U includes: a custom title screen; "hazardless" versions of stages such as Hyrule Castle 64 and Jungle Hijinks; and Space Battlefield, a battlefield set in space. Future versions of Super Smash Bros.: Reloaded plan to add custom costumes for characters, tournament legal big battlefields, further hazardless stages, custom music and sounds, and a cleaner user interface.
Super Smash Bros. is a franchise that has been featured heavily in the competitive game scene, and has been seen play in professional tournaments such as the Evolution Championship Series (EVO) and Major League Gaming Pro Circuit; the Nintendo Gamecube's Super Smash Bros. Melee is the game of choice for competitive Super Smash Bros. players, as its mechanics, stages, and player characters all offer a high level of play. Mods like Project M, Brawl-, and Brawl+ were all created with the intent to build on Super Smash Bros. Brawl, which was seen as lacking the competitive qualities found in Super Smash Bros. Melee; for example, the "wavedash" mechanic found in Super Smash Bros. Melee doesn't appear in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and Super Smash Bros. Brawl added a "tripping" mechanic that cut down on effective combos and hampered movement.
Currently, the only way to access Super Smash Bros.: Reloaded's hazardless stages is to select the "omega version" of the stages in the stage selection menu of the mod, although Y.2.K. has said he plans to change them over to the normal version of the stages in future updates.
More updates are planned for Super Smash Bros.: Reloaded, but Y.2.K. has given no timeline for when players should expect the next updates to the mod. There is also no word if Y.2.K has plans to mod Super Smash Bros. for Wii U's sister title, Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS.
What are your thoughts on Super Smash Bros.: Reloaded? What do you think about the post-Project M competitive scene? Leave your thoughts in the comment section below!
