Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U

Super Smash Bros. (also known as Super Smash Bros. 4) is an upcoming Wii U and Nintendo 3DS title. It will be developed by Namco Bandai Games Inc. and Sora, and published by Nintendo. It is the fourth installment in the series.

Confirmed Characters
These 18 characters have been confirmed so far.

Veterans

 * Bowser
 * Donkey Kong
 * Fox
 * Kirby
 * Link
 * Luigi
 * Mario
 * Marth
 * Peach
 * Pikachu
 * Pikmin & Olimar
 * Pit
 * Samus
 * Sonic the Hedgehog
 * Toon Link

Newcomers

 * Mega Man
 * Villager
 * Wii Fit Trainer

Confirmed Stages
These 15 stages that have been shown so far.

( * means that the stage has returned from a previous game, and ~ means that it's an entirely new stage unique to the game, and ^ means that the game the stage is from is not 100% confirmed. Some of these stages might be moved depending on future info.)

Wii U

 * Battlefield*
 * Skyloft (The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword)~
 * Smashville (Animal Crossing: City Folk)*
 * Garden of Hope (Pikmin 3)~
 * Wuhu Island (Pilotwings/Wii Sports Resort)~
 * Wily Castle (Mega Man 2)~
 * Unknown Wii Fit Stage~
 * Unknown Stadium Stage~
 * Pyrosphere (Metroid: Other M)~
 * Mario Galaxy (Super Mario Galaxy)~
 * Windy Hill (Sonic Lost World)~

3DS

 * Battlefield*
 * Unknown Super Mario 3D Land Stage~
 * Gerudo Valley (The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D)~
 * Spirit Train (The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks)~
 * Unknown Kid Icarus: Uprising stage~
 * Arena Ferox (Fire Emblem: Awakening)~
 * Unknown Nintendogs Stage~
 * Unknown Donkey Kong Country Returns Stage~
 * Castle of Darkness (Find Mii II)~

Changes from Brawl

 * Tripping has been confirmed to not return.
 * Though originally there were plans to include a single player story mode, Sakurai has since changed his mind. It has not been announced what, if any, mode will take it's place.
 * Short movies featuring character introductions, like the ones introducing Villager, Wii Fit Trainer and Mega Man, will take the place of the originally planned story mode cutscenes.
 * The speed of the game will be between that of Brawl and Melee. This is to appeal to both casual and hardcore gamers after the lukewarm response by hardcore gamers to Brawl's more floaty mechanics.
 * The "impact-launch" effect has been altered to a colored light trail indicating which player will receive the point should a KO occur. Additionally a red/black effect will appear when a character is hit by a strong attack and has a high percentage as an indicator that the character will likely be KO'd.
 * Some attacks have been adjusted to prevent a character's back from facing the screen.
 * Many of the characters' moves have been strengthened such as Marth's Shield Breaker and Link's Meteor Smash.

Development
The game was first announced at E3 2011, but no further information was released due to Masahiro Sakurai working on finishing Kid Icarus: Uprising. At the start of 2012 the game was officially in production but new information was not released until the following year. On June 11, 2013, two trailers were shown on Nintendo Direct. One announcing the game and the Villager's appearance and another announcing that Capcom's Mega Man would be a new, playable character. One more trailer was released before the end of E3 2013 showing that Wii Fit Trainer would be joining the game. A couple of weeks after E3 in July, Pikmin & Olimar were announced on the official website. At the beginning of August, Luigi was shown off in a Nintendo Direct video. In September, Princess Peach and Toon Link were announced to be in the game. At the beginning of October, Sonic The Hedgehog was announced to be in the game in a Nintendo Direct video. Marth was confirmed to return on November 7, 2013.

Trailers


The first trailer for Super Smash Bros. 3DS/Wii U was revealed at E3 2013, showing off the game for the first time, as well as revealing the inclusion of the Villager as a newcomer. Two more trailers were released later for the new characters Mega Man and Wii Fit Trainer. A trailer was released alongside the announcement of Sonic the Hedgehog.

Trivia

 * This will be the second multi-platform Super Smash Bros. game, the first being the original Super Smash Bros.
 * It will also be the first handheld Super Smash Bros. game.
 * And the other will be the first HD Super Smash Bros. game
 * This game was announced at E3 2011 but development didn't start until after the release of Kid Icarus: Uprising in 2012 and no characters, stages or gameplay were shown until E3 2013 a full 2 years after the first announcement.
 * The 3DS and Wii U versions will have different stages: the 3DS having stages from handheld games, while the Wii U having stages from console games.
 * The 3DS version will have some form of character customization.
 * The 3DS and Wii U versions will not have cross-platform play due to the use of different stages in each version. However it would appear that the customizable character function can be transferred to/from each version.
 * Sakurai stated that in the 3DS version, outlines will be placed around the character so it will be easy to see them from far away. The thickness of the outlines can be decreased or even removed.
 * Both versions of the game will have the same amount of characters.
 * It has been confirmed that footstool jumps will return in this game.