Super Smash Bros Wii U has a single player mode, of course. And it is very much not the main attraction, but it’s still worth your time. It’s got a whole slew of modes, some of them more interesting than others, and it’s a pretty inventive package. But don’t try to compare it to Brawl’s single player mode, Subspace Emissary. This one is very different, and has very different goals.

Super Smash Bros Wii U Single Player Review: Don’t Compare It To Brawl

First off: Super Smash Bros. Wii U has a veritable stack of single player modes, and some are better than others. Of the pure straight-up combat-driven modes, All Stars remains the best. You fight against all the other fighters, starting with the ones created most recently and ending with the early ‘80s heroes—Mario, Pac-Man and Donkey Kong. It’s basically the same as in Brawl, which means… it’s great. The other classic mode, of fighting a string of opponents and then Master Hand, is back again too, although it’s now played on a rather inscrutable board, and ends very quickly. I’d recommend you stick with All-Star mode.

Super Smash Bros Wii U’s brand new single player modes are both pretty interesting, and you should definitely give both Master Orders and Crazy Orders a try. Named for Master Hand and Crazy Hand, both have you bet gold to fight in battles with specific circumstances—mostly basic free-for-alls and team fights—which can win you prizes for use in customizing Mii Fighters. Crazy Orders is harder, but has better rewards, and both are reasonably fun.

The events mode, which returns from Super Smash Bros. Brawl, is also a good time, and runs the gamut from straight fights between thematic groups of characters (all the Zelda characters; all the characters from the original Super Smash Bros) to quirkier events, like one where Pac-Man has to eat six characters during his Final Smash. These are pretty fun, and also have good rewards, including gold and items.

But there is no single flagship mode, like Subspace Emissary was in Brawl, and honestly… I miss it. That game could practically have been a stand-alone, and it serve to introduce every character and their moveset in a thematically interesting way. It’s entirely gone, and none of the other single player modes are as ambitious. The new ones focus on straight battling, which is fine: That’s what the game was about.

But Subspace Emissary combined that with a solid platforming game—the side-scrolling version of Smash Bros. It’s much missed: Super Smash Bros Wii U amps up the multiplayer game to unseen heights, and is almost definitely the best game in the series, but the single player game feels remarkably different, and a sideshow to the main multiplayer game. Times change; that’s the way of the world now, but still, I’ll miss Subspace Emissary.