I’ve finally dug through the 400+ songs featured in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. I was particularly pleased with the Super Smash Bros. for 3DS soundtrack that I reviewed a couple months back, and the Wii U soundtrack is a staggering three-to-four times bigger.
Now, while many of those tracks are original soundtrack versions and returning arrangements from Melee and Brawl (which are excellent themselves), there’s still new arrangements to enjoy.
Let’s have a listen.
Zipping through the various franchises, Super Mario Bros. gets a lot of love in the Wii U version. There’s a fantastic new medley from Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario World, a funky version of the Super Mario World and Super Mario Bros. 3 fortress themes (probably my favorite new remix), and even an energetic and upbeat version of “Rosanlina in the Observatory” from Super Mario Galaxy. I also love the new version of “Chill” from Dr. Mario, which gets a new rockin’ update.
The new arrangement of Metroid’s title theme is great, as well as the grittier version of F-Zero’s “Mute City.” There’s an infectious medley from Yoshi’s Island, an excellent take on the Onett theme from Earthbound, a rockin’ Xenoblade medley with very high energy levels, an impressive arrangement of music from Duck Hunt which turns the short jingles from the original game into a lengthy and fun listening experience, and lots of love given to the Mega Man franchise (Shadow Man from Mega Man 3 is really well done).
There’re hours upon hours of music to enjoy in this game. There’s tons of new music featured alongside past arrangements, and I can’t say I’m surprised to hear Sakurai say he’s tapped out and doesn’t think he can cram any more value into a future installment of Smash Bros. (maybe that soundtrack would have to be 800 songs?).
The two-disc album coming out from Club Nintendo will feature but a fraction of the music, so let’s hope there’s lots of the new original themes (the new main theme is incredibly driving and memorable) and the best arrangements from across the various games.