Nintendo World Championship – E3 2015 Recap

So, last year, here at E3, we got to witness a pretty awesome Smash Bros. tournament put on by Nintendo–this year, they did it again, but came at it from a different angle. Rather than simply being a single game, though, it included things from the present, as well as some of the classics! Needless to say, it was a some pretty good, entertaining fun.

Things kicked off with Nintendo’s newest release Splatoon, where ladies and gentlemen participating were pitted against each other, in several rounds of Turf Wars. Afterwards, was followed by a speed run of the first dungeon of the original Legend of Zelda, where the winner was saved from immediate elimination.

The next rounds, were of a game that was seen for the first time, this evening–a new game for the 3DS: Blast Ball. In essence, a 3v3 mecha-soccer game. Of course, sticking with the style of the tournament, this was followed by yet another elimination round. Next up, was a another classic game, in the way of a speed run, to determine who would save themselves from immediate elimination. The game, a favorite of almost any Nintendo fan–Super Metroid. The speed run with one life, to see who could beat the Mother Brain, and escape the compound first.

For the next round of the tournament, another one of Nintendo’s games, but also a classic MarioKart 8, which, as is given, was chaotic as ever. The game–I’ll be honest, I’d never heard of, before–for the elimination round, was another classic: Balloon Fight. Very simplistic, as most games, back then, but nerve-racking  to say the least.

Everything up to this point was pretty awesome  but, what they had in store, next, was even cooler. If you watched the Smash Bros. Championships, last year, you’ll remember that Reggie, the President of Nintendo America, dropped a challenge to HungryBox, the winner of the championships and told him he would beat him ‘next time.’ Well, he showed up, and there was a battle. As hilarious as it was, it was a little anti-climactic. Mostly just witty banter, for the most part.

What came to follow the ‘show match’ between HungryBox, and Reggie, though, was pretty interesting to watch, for the most part. One of the contestants was definitely better acquainted with, and more skilled at the game–which made things a little less interesting than it could have been, but was still fun to watch, all the same.

The next, and final game, was probably the most fun to watch, though. I’m sure most everyone has seen the mods for Super Mario Bros., and all the chaotic renditions people have made that are insane, and some nearly impossible. Shigeru Miyamoto has gone and created Super Mario Maker, which allows players to create their own renditions of maps of Super Mario Bros.–from the first Mario Bros., to new Wii U version.

Anyway, this final round was a series of four different maps, to see who could the farthest, or get through them fastest. These maps spanned the first three Super Mario Bros. games, which were played individually by the two remaining players, to determine who would have an advantage–a head start–in the final map, which was built in the style of the newer Wii U version. Balloon Fight was nerve-racking, but this… This was absolutely maddening! I’ll have to sit down and trying playing these maps sometime, but I can’t guarantee I won’t destroy a controller in the process!

All in all, it was a great show! The winner, and runner up were presented their prizes by Miyamoto himself, which was a pretty awesome appearance, to say the least. In the end, it was a great evening of interesting, chaotic, fun video games!