The Kirby series mainstay is officially joining the battle.
Meta Knight will be a playable combatant in the forthcoming Super Smash Bros. games for Wii U and 3DS.
The longtime Kirby series mainstay’s inclusion was confirmed via today’s official Miiverse post by Smash Bros. Director Masahiro Sakurai. A Battleship Halberd stage reminiscent of Meta Knight’s home stage from his Brawl debut was also revealed.
The character’s controversial mechanics and abilities, which many saw as overpowered in his first Smash Bros. outing, have been tweaked. Sakurai gave this brief rundown of the some of the changes: “Meta Knight's Up Special Move, Shuttle Loop, changed quite a bit in this game. The glide is gone, and the attack slashes opponents twice while spinning in a large loop. This has turned into a highly technical and effective move.”
With Meta Knight’s inclusion, the roster for the new Smash Bros. games has grown to include 37 character slots. The Wii U and 3DS versions of the game will share the same character list, so those who need to know the full roster will likely get the complete list once the 3DS version hits Japan on September 13. The 3DS version will roll out in western territories on October 3, while the Wii U version currently has a vague Holiday 2014 release planned.