Mewtwo has been released as a free DLC fighter for Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, exclusively to those who bought and registered both versions with Club Nintendo before March 31st. Those who didn’t will have to wait until April 28th to be able to buy Mewtwo for $3.99 for either version, or $4.99 for both versions. It’s the first time he’s appeared in a Super Smash Bros. game since Super Smash Bros. Melee, and fans were hyped when he was announced back in the 50 Fact Extravaganza. Now that I have my hands on the DLC, how does he play?

The short answer is that he plays very close to his Melee incarnation. However, not all of us played Melee, so let me give you a rundown. He controls very similar to Ness, with a high double jump to prove it. His Standard Special, Shadow Ball, is a bit weaker than other moves similar to it like Lucario’s Aura Sphere, Greninja’s Water Shuriken, and Samus’ Charge Beam. His Side Special, Confusion, reflects projectiles and makes the victim tumble. His Down Special, Disable, temporarily puts the target into a helpless state. His Up Special is Teleport, and unlike Ness, Mewtwo’s Up Special allows him to recover, and it’s pretty fast to boot. Unfortunately, it doesn’t have much range, and from what I can tell, no attack hitbox. His iconic Forward Throw is still the same, throwing an opponent forward and then firing a barrage of Shadow Balls, his Aerial Attacks (excluding his Forward Aerial) are great, and his Up Smash can do some serious damage. His Final Smash, Mega Mewtwo Y, is a cool looking attack with good range and decent power.

There are two things I don’t like. First, his voice clips sound like they were ripped straight out of Super Smash Bros. Melee. Second, he makes the character select screen look weird. Instead of centering the bottom row, they instead just stuck it on the very left, leaving the rightmost column with nothing underneath it. Other than that, Mewtwo is a nice addition to the Super Smash Bros. roster.

With the announcement of another veteran fighter returning as DLC, Lucas, it’ll be interesting to see if he gets similar treatment. Lucas is planned for a paid release in June.