New Smash 4 Mod Hopes To Usurp "Project M", But May Not

Despite Nintendo not providing the support (that was arguably deserved) for many years, the Super Smash Bros community built an empire all by itself. Spreading like wildfire through Melee’s stellar game engine and nuances that made it stand out, tournaments steadily continued to grow. With Super Smash Bros Brawl’s release, the fans were torn by the slower gameplay, which created Project M. Project M took the Brawl game and easily modified it to play more like Melee. This was so well done, that Project M started appearing in major tournaments and continues to see play. Now, there is a new mod on the horizon that may do something similar to Super Smash Bros for Wii U, but does it even stand a chance due to the sheer amount of work a mod of this caliber needs? What about the fact that these fan projects are often quickly shut down?

Awkwardly titled the “Smash 4 Melee HD Mod”, this mod seeks to do just what it’s titled as: add in the Melee gameplay to the Wii U game. Of course, there will have to be some creative liberties taken with characters such as Mega Man, Cloud, Bayonetta, and the others. Translating their unique gameplay into the Melee style will surely be a challenge.

The players are on the fence

Since Project M took off to be an incredible fan-made fighter, we were curious to what some Project M players thought about this new mod.

Fuzz, a Project M player that mains Mewtwo, didn’t seem impressed. “From what little I’ve seen, it looks like the team doesn’t have a common thread yet. Like there’s not a mission statement, not one goal that every person shares.”

“I don’t see many Project M players shifting to that. It takes more expensive equipment, there isn’t an established tournament scene for it yet since it’s so young, and, to be frank, it’s still of low quality compared to PM or official games.”

“Project M 3.6 has the benefit of about 5 years of development and refinement and I’m sure 4xM can get there, but it’ll take time. I think the most important factor in it picking up competitively is if the Smash 4 exclusive characters are really fun. If the only really fun characters are Melee vets then why bother playing the mod, way I see it.”

After chatting with some players, I got to sit down with one of the devs on Project M. SOJ, who used be involved with Project M’s development talked a bit about Project M and the prospects of this new mod. “The Project M Development Team ceased working together in late 2015. After we disbanded, we knew we could never work on a mod of Smash Bros again together, because of how much of a toll the shutdown put on us.”

“We went as far as we could development-wise and we saw how much work went into taking a game and rebalancing it to match the speed and depth of play of Melee. A few of the team went on to making their own game with Icons, but most of us quit game development entirely.”

“As for this new 4 x M mod, I am personally intrigued by it. I knew it was only a matter of time before someone did it. However, I think the devs are foolish taking on a project like this and they seem very unprofessional already from my first impression of the mod. They don't have clearly stated goals for the project besides making things as Melee as possible, and the scope of it seems too open and unfocused. Also they're taking on an enormous risk by starting this project that I don't think they're aware of, not only for them, but possibly for us.”

On the more positive end, Juan Manuel DeBiedma, also known as famed Smash Bros player Hungrybox recently played around in the mod for a stream. Overall, he seems to like it, but he does point out some things that he would like to see in future updates. If anyone knows their stuff, Hungrybox is definitely one whose thoughts are invaluable to the development process.

Watch 4xM! The Best Smash 4 Mod??? from Hungrybox on www.twitch.tv

Fighting the good fight

Of course, hanging over any fan project is the chance that the game’s publisher might shut it down, or (even worse) legal action. While Nintendo fan games can be some of the coolest experiences around, like Pokemon Prism or Another Metroid 2 Remake, they are often quickly removed, only to live on through the sheer amount of copies being spread around initially over the internet.

Companies like Capcom and Sega have even gone as far as to use fan game creators on various projects. Recent hit, Sonic Mania, was famously created in part by a team of former rom hackers. Street Fighter X Mega Man, which was initially made by one fan, was then assisted by Capcom, and finally, was released by Capcom for an anniversary. Even Nintendo seemed to have created Super Mario Maker as a response to the plethora of Super Mario level hacks and programs like Lunar Magic.

Really, it’s up to the creators of “Smash 4 Melee HD Mod” to put in the effort it will take to make it truly special. However, it probably would’ve made more sense to straight up release the mod after it was finished, rather than trying to hype it up while in beta.

That said, it would be interesting to be able to follow another mod to see a lot of play in the tournament scene. This kind of modding seems like something that’s unique to the Smash community and will only grow as more iterations of the game come out.