Get more tips with Prima’s Super Smash Bros. 3DS strategy guide!
From a competitive standpoint, items in Super Smash Bros. are a huge sore spot. It’s rare to see items turned on at a huge tournament, but there are special “items on” tournaments that take place from time to time. For the most part, if you’re playing with items turned on in Super Smash Bros., you’re playing for fun. Smash was originally designed to be a party game, and that’s how a vast majority of the people who buy the game wish to enjoy it.
There are quite a few items in Super Smash Bros., so it can be difficult to figure out which items are the best to go after, and which items you can leave to the other players (unless they’re easily picked up). We’ve taken the liberty of testing out each item in Super Smash Bros. 3DS to give you a rundown of some of the best in the game.
Freezie
Origin: Mario Bros. (the original arcade game)
While Freezie was arguably one of the best items in Super Smash Bros. Melee, it was almost too effective because the item was toned down considerably in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. The 3DS version of the item is very similar to its Brawl counterpart. While it doesn’t freeze enemies as long as it did in Melee, it’s still a very effective item.
If you can hit an opponent with Freezie, that character is frozen for a short time. While the character is frozen, you can inflict a considerable amount of damage. In most cases, once a character is frozen, that player will be holding shield, ready to guard as soon as the Freezie breaks, or they’re attempting to roll or jump away to avoid taking any more damage. In either scenario, if you can predict which action the opponent will take, you can tack on even more damage after the Freezie breaks. At the very least, most opponents will be trying to run away instead of attacking you.
Home-Run Bat
Origin: Super Smash Bros. 64 / Earthbound
The Home-Run Bat is one of the most feared items in all of Super Smash Bros. If you’re hit by the Home-Run Bat, it’s almost always a guaranteed KO. While it’s not a fast attack, it’s still about the same speed as most Smash Attacks, which means in a free-for-all setting with three or four players, it’s not difficult to sneak up on two characters duking it out and slam one or both opponents with the Home-Run Bat.
Even if you don’t have enough time to use the Smash Attack variant of the Home-Run Bat, you can throw it at an opposing character. Even when thrown, the Home-Run Bat still has a good chance of knocking an opponent off the stage, if not scoring a KO. The knockback on the thrown Home-Run Bat is fairly high, which means at moderately high percentages, it should be feared, even in a one-on-one situation. Your best bet is to pick up the item when you see it, then hold on to it until you can smash an opponent.
Master Ball
Origin: Pokémon
The Poké Ball item has always been a solid weapon in previous Super Smash Bros. games. While it can be random at times, more often than not you’re going to get a decent Pokémon from the Poké Ball. The Master Ball is a new item in Super Smash Bros. 3DS, and it works almost exactly the same as the Poké Ball, except that it releases legendary Pokémon.
Just like the original Poké Ball, the legendary Pokémon aren’t always going to cause big damage or score an instant KO for the user. However, there’s a higher percentage of deadly legendary Pokémon that will spring from the Master Ball compared to high quality Pokémon releasing from the Poké Ball. Almost every legendary Pokémon will either set you up to score a KO, or do all the work for you.
It’s not much of a gamble even if you get one of the less effective legendary Pokémon. The opposing players still have to scatter to avoid what “could” potentially come out of the Master Ball. Just be ready to capitalize on the legendary Pokémon, or your opponents fleeing the area.
Ore Club
Origin: Kid Icarus: Uprising
The Ore Club is a new item in Super Smash Bros. 3DS that has multiple uses. You can use it as a basic weapon, swinging it for moderate damage. However, if you use it as a Smash Attack, it sends out a tornado that covers a decent portion of the screen and pushes opponents back. The tornado moves slow enough that you can follow it to perform combos if an opposing character is hit by it.
What may be the best ability of the Ore Club is that it gives the user armor during a Smash Attack swing. If you get hit while performing a Smash Attack with the Ore Club, you’ll still take damage, but your character won’t move at all, and will continue to attack with the item. In addition, the Ore Club can be thrown like any other item, causing decent knockback, with KO potential.
Finally, it bounces back a decent distance after being thrown and hitting another character. This makes it ideal for edgeguarding. Knock an opponent off the stage, then throw it at an opponent when they get close to the edge again. If you hit the opposing player, and they’re close enough to the stage, the Ore Club will bounce back onto the stage allowing you to pick it up and throw it again. With proper timing and spacing, you can repeat this several times for a nearly guaranteed edgeguarding KO.
X Bomb
Origin: Kid Icarus: Uprising
The X Bomb is a new item being introduced in Super Smash Bros. 3DS. When thrown, the bomb rotates and four explosive beams of light shoot out from the object. The orientation of the bomb determines the trajectory of the explosive beams. That fact alone makes this a difficult item to dodge. Your opponents will never know exactly where the beams will shoot unless they’re paying extremely close attention to the X Bomb. If they’re that focused on the item, it means they aren’t paying attention to what your character is doing and they’re probably vulnerable to attack.
Once the X Bomb hits, it inflicts considerable damage, and can even KO a character in certain situations. When it appears, it’s going to be a mad dash to be the first one to get to the item. Usually, this means you can attack other players while they’re focused on trying to pick up the X Bomb. However, another great bonus of the X Bomb is that once it’s dropped, it doesn’t matter if the character who picked it up gets hit immediately after. The explosive beams will likely interrupt any combo the opposing player is trying to perform, and at the very least, they’ll have to move to avoid the explosive beams.
