Meta Knight is a Super Smash Bros. veteran, a fighter banned from competitive Brawl tournaments, and the latest playable character in Super Smash Bros for Wii U and 3DS.
Nintendo officially revealed today Meta Knight will return in Super Smash Bros for Wii U and 3DS. Super Smash Bros. director Masahiro Sakurai teased Meta Knight’s return with a picture of a Mii Fighter wearing Meta Knight’s armor.
Meta Knight first became a Super Smash Bros. fighter in the previous game, Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Several tournaments banned him because of his ability to monopolize the fights due to his speed, higher priority in attacks, edge play, and aerial recovery and attacks. He has close to no disadvantages when compared to the other characters, and he affected the metagame so much that competitors voted to remove Meta Knight from tournaments. While the ban is not universal, many competitions choose to ban him from use.
Sakurai’s follow-up post in Miiverse indicates the development team have changed some of Meta Knight’s moves significantly from Brawl. “Meta Knight’s Up Special Move, Shuttle Loop, changed quite a bit in this game,” Sakurai wrote. “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.”
The Battleship Halberd also returns, Sakurai said.
Hopefully Meta Knight will be better balanced with the rest of the cast so that he’ll be playable in tournaments. With Super Smash Bros. for 3DS releasing in Japan in only one more month, how many characters are there left for us to discover? Lucina and Robin from Fire Emblem: Awakening are the latest newcomers, and there are plenty other veterans and new fighters to check out.
Source: Smash Bros. official site, Miiverse
