With Evo 2014 around the corner, competitive Super Smash Bros. Melee players are gearing up for one of the year's biggest events.

Of course, the new Super Smash Bros. for Wii U will potentially become a competitive mainstay in future years. With that in mind now's a good time to share a mini-interview that we conducted at E3, with competitive Smash players Armada and mew2king, who'd both spend some time checking out the new title at the show. Don't forget to check out our previous interview with mew2king, too.

First of all, what do you guys think of the new Wii U game?

Armada: I think it looks pretty good. I think it’s very fun with a lot of new characters, and the stages and graphics look amazing. So that’s really good, and fun to see.

Mew2King: Yeah, the game’s graphics are on a completely different level. Pretty much, he said what I was going to say.

What are your favourite characters to play as in this new version?

Armada: I haven’t been playing that many characters so far, since I’ve only been playing for maybe 40 minutes, but so far Zero Suit Samus is my favourite character. She’s very fast, and I feel pretty free when I play her, so that’s my favourite character for sure now.

Mew2King: Yeah, Zero Suit’s amazing in this game, though I’m using Kirby right now because he’s a very easy transition from Smash 64 Kirby, and he’s who I play in that game. It’s an easy carryover - so that’s what I’ve been using in the past 40 minutes I’ve been playing.

Have you noticed any technical changes from past Smash Bros. games that will make a difference in terms of competitive play? And as competitive players, is there anything you’d like to see done differently in the series?

Armada: One thing I did notice when I was playing was that the landing lag was a bit longer than in previous Smash games, so after you land an aerial you can’t move as fast afterwards. An improvement could be to reduce some of the lag to make the characters move faster, which also would mean that you could use a lot more aerials while playing. That’s always been a huge part of previous Smash games, and part of what makes it so special as a franchise, in my opinion.

Mew2King: I completely agree - the landing lag is definitely the number one thing. Kirby in this game seems pretty good with the landing lag - there’s some lag, but it’s not very significant. I think if more characters went a similar route to how Kirby plays, like with his down air or back air, the game’s tension would be increased. I would also add directional influence, which is where you can control which way you get hit by using the control stick. But if there’s one thing that matters above all, it’s definitely the landing lag.

Do you have any advice for our readers who might be interested in getting into competitive Smash Bros., either to play themselves or just to start watching?

Mew2King: There’s a website called Smash Boards, and most all of the tournaments are there - click on ‘Forums’, go to ‘Tournament listings’, and you’ll see all the tournaments. Also, if you check out the Smash Documentary on YouTube there are a lot of links in the video description which can send you to different areas, and there’s also a Reddit thread for each Facebook group. So using that and Smash Boards, you can find a lot of information.

Armada: And on Twitch, you can find VGBoot Camp and Clash Tournaments. There are huge tournaments every single weekend, streamed mostly by those channels but also by a lot of others, so if you want to start watching before going to tournaments, I recommend those two streams.

Mew2King: Also, my friend Sky is going to be hosting tournaments in Southern California. His Twitch channel is Sky_mp3, and I’ll be streaming there with him, along with my own channel.

Have either of you gotten a chance to check out any other games on the E3 show floor?

Mew2King: To be honest, we’ve mostly been doing interviews, hanging out with friends, and playing some Smash Bros. We also got to watch the Invitational, and I got to cheer on my friend ZeRo - he’s one of my best friends and I’m really glad he won!

Are there any new Nintendo games you’re looking forward to checking out if you get the chance?

Mew2King: Mario Maker.

Armada: Same for me!

Are you looking forward to Evo, and are you at all concerned — or even pleased — about the potential of a longer landing lag in the new Smash Bros. entry on Wii U? Let us know in the comments below.