Over the weekend, I had the chance to finally pick up my Wii U gamepad and play some Smash Bros. Naturally I took the newest DLC fighters, Corrin, and Bayonetta, for a spin. What did I discover? Read on to find out.
Starting with Bayonetta, it became immediately apparent that she specializes in racking up small damage with her guns before finishing off with her heavy-duty moves. Her basic Special involves firing the guns over a long range at an upward angle. This means short characters can usually slide under the shots. Bayonetta’s side and upward special moves are primarily used for initiating air combos for damage and knockback while the downward special is a dodge that slows down the attacker for a few seconds.
An important thing to note with Bayonetta is that virtually all of her basic moves can end with a flurry of gunfire if the attack button is held down. These bullets don’t typically cause flinching and have medium range, so bear that in mind. Finally, her recovery move is extremely short-ranged. I played her on Final Destination, and several times her upward special was not enough to get me back on the stage when I fell below. You get a bit more height and distance with the side special and can apparently bounce off of walls with it, so be sure to execute the heel kick first to give yourself a better chance.
Bayonetta’s final smash, like most other aspects of her character, works a bit different than others’. Using it allows her to attack to build up the Climax gauge. A couple well-landed smashes will do the trick. Once that’s done, Bayonetta will unleash the Climax, resulting in any opponents unlucky enough to be caught by it to be torn to pieces on the spot for an instant KO (if their damage is above a certain point). No launching required. With such a play style as this, Bayonetta is by far one of the most unique fighters in Smash Bros.
Moving on to Corrin. His neutral special attack is an energy ball that, when fully charge, does decent damage and travels a great distance. It causes about one second of stun time on impact followed by knockback, allowing for easy spamming. The upward special launches Corrin up and forward at an angle which can be slightly adjusted by moving the analog stick. The forward special is a nice mid-range attack that requires some timing.
Corrin’s forward smash, using the spear, has fantastic range and more launch power at the tip. Alternately, using it at point-blank results in combo damage while the attack charges, followed by the launch. The down smash hits in both directions at once and launches opponents horizontally. Corrin is a swift and strong Smash Bros. fighter who is easy to use, and many of the hero’s attacks have nasty dragon-form finishes.
Acquiring the smash ball allows Corrin to conjure pillars of flame on either side. Enemies caught in the pillars find themselves trapped in a cutscene reminiscent of Captain Falcon’s final smash. But rather than get run over, they are blown away by a massive vortex from Corrin’s dragon form.
After using both fighters for several fights each, they key difference between the two is the amount of practice required to use them effectively. Bayonetta is trickier to use but very satisfying… uh, I meant in a fight… of course… Ahem. On the flipside, I became used to Corrin almost immediately after figuring out how the side special works. I was even able to land a match-winning blow using Counter, which I’m notoriously bad at using. Overall, both characters are great additions to Smash Bros. and I look forward to using them both again.
