Martin Watts regularly thrashes his Nintendo Life colleagues in online Smash Bros. matches, and now we know why. In this article he outlines a typical day now that two versions of the brawler are available.

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Nintendo’s decision to release not one, but two Super Smash Bros. games in a single year has always been something of a concern for me ever since it was announced. You see, I love Super Smash Bros., and perhaps just a little too much. Ever since the day Super Smash. Bros. for the N64 launched, I’ve been hooked on the series, playing each instalment to an excessive degree while reading up on every titbit, press release and dodgy rumour that emerges on the next one. It’s a video game series that has taken up more of my time and attention than I’m willing to admit.

This in itself isn’t too much of a problem for a self-confessed Super Smash Bros. fanatic such as myself. After all, we all have our guilty pleasures in which we like to indulge from time to time, and what’s life if you can’t enjoy it?

Of course, what I’m forgetting here is that Super Smash Bros. is incredibly addictive, and one of those games that you just can’t put down until you’ve at least sunk tens, if not hundreds of hours into it. It’s something that’s exacerbated if you happen to have friends who share an equal love for playing it. How the series’ master craftsman, Masahiro Sakurai, manages to do it with each and every instalment can only be described as magic.

However, the problem for me isn’t being hooked on a series that’s immensely fun to play; it’s finding the blasted time to play it. I’m a working man with commitments — I have a family, damnit! — how on earth am I meant to tend to these things when I’ve got challenges to complete and a seemingly endless amount of trophies to collect across not one, but two games?

Well thankfully, it’s not as hard as you might think. The fact that Super Smash Bros. is available on a handheld system for the first time, in addition to the home console Wii U version (which is already out in North America, but those of you in Europe must unfortunately wait until 28th November!). The portable game is especially useful for those of us who are forced from our homes every day to go to work, school or any other place that typically encroaches on our enjoyment of Nintendo’s superb fighting series. What’s more, you can transfer your personally customised fighters between both versions, meaning that to some extent the work you put into the 3DS version while you’re out and about also benefits your playtime at home.

I know this because that’s what I’ve been doing. Before setting off to the office each day, I ensure that my 3DS is fully charged and in sleep mode; I cycle to work, and while it’s not as effective as walking when it comes to acquiring StreetPass Coins, it’s certainly better than nothing. This is important if you’re serious about collecting all 685 trophies that Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS has to offer, as StreetPass Coins serve as an alternative form of currency in the game’s Trophy Shop.

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Breakfast is a good time to think about the day ahead, plan what it is you’re going to do, as well as ensure that you’re sufficiently fed to get you through the morning. Of course, you could do all this, or you could simply see what the Trophy Shop in the Wii U Version of the game has to offer while enjoying a bowl a cereal. While I’d like to admire any new purchases I may make in glorious 1080p resolution on the TV, I tend to stick to the Wii U GamePad — I know better than to interrupt my girlfriend’s morning ritual of catching up with The Real Housewives of Atlanta on ITVBe. To make such a mistake could only ever lead to a fate far crueller than even Master Core delivers on the highest difficulty.

Once satiated both in terms of hunger and the number of trophies bought, I head off to work to do the boring stuff that isn’t Super Smash Bros. To ease the mandatory pain, I bring along an amiibo, in most instances Mario, to keep me company throughout the day. Sure, Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS doesn’t actually support Nintendo’s NFC figurines just yet — not to mention I’ll need either a New 3DS or a special peripheral before I can use it — but I like to think that by watching me play the game on my lunch break that he’s still capable of learning my good form. I’m not crazy, honest.

Speaking of lunch times, they’re actually very useful if you happen to have colleagues who also have a 3DS and a copy of the game. What better way to clear your mind of the stresses of the morning’s workload than to beat the living stuffing out of someone in one of the game’s many arenas? Playing the Smash Run mode is especially useful, as it’s a good opportunity to pick up custom moves and equipment which you can attach to a character and transfer across to your Wii U game when you get home. Of course, you don’t have to turn the one relaxing moment of the working day into a competitive battle to the death; the game also offers cooperative modes such as All-Star Mode and Multi-Man Smash. You could argue that this is actually a good way to bond with colleagues.

Another benefit comes in the form of the game’s portable music player feature, which allows you to listen to music from the game with your 3DS system in sleep mode. Getting through the second-half of the working day isn’t easy, so having inspirational tunes such as the Running / Countdown theme from Punch-Out to lift your spirits and give you a rhythm to work to is always a good thing.

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Once five o’clock comes around, it’s finally time to get some serious smashing in. Whether it’s single- or multiplayer that’s your poison, Super Smash Bros. for Wii U has a lot to offer (as we detailed in our recent review). Challenges, events, trophies, characters and stages — there’s an awful lot to unlock in the home console version (although the 3DS version is hardly lacking in content either). The good thing is that there are a lot of different modes you’ll need to play in order to achieve these goals, meaning that there’s enough variety in there to keep you hooked. Not only that, but you can import any customised characters you may have created during the day; given that the 3DS version has been out much longer, there’s a good chance that you’ll have much better equipment which you can bring across to conquer the Wii U game’s tougher challenges, such as Master Fortress.

Arranging a multiplayer session with friends on a work night is never easy, but then that’s what weekends are for. Thankfully, both the 3DS and Wii U versions of Super Smash Bros. feature online multiplayer, meaning you’re always able to play against a human being should you want to. It’s something that this Smash aficionado advises you not do just before you plan on going to bed; those heated battles are bound to get the blood pumping, and keep you up if you’re not sensible.

In case the tongue-in-cheek nature of the article wasn’t apparent, it’s worth mentioning that planning your day-to-day life around Super Smash Bros. probably isn’t the best idea. What it hopefully highlights though is how these two different versions serve different purposes and benefit from some crossover functionality. I would go on a moral crusade about how there are more important things in life you could be doing, but this is eating into my available Super Smash Bros. time. If you’re as obsessed as me, you should be playing it too!

Super Smash Bros. for Wii U is already available to buy in North America and will launch in Europe on Friday 28th November. Have you been playing either the 3DS or Wii U version obsessively, or are you finding them not especially alluring? Let us know in the comments section below!