Nintendo's E3 2014 demo of Smash Bros. for Wii U contained only a sliver of the content that's expected in the final game, but it was enough to prove the latest installment's high quality. I had access to 20 characters, eight stages, and enough items to cause serious chaos. All of the battles I played felt frantic and fun. I jumped into timed four-player free-for-alls as Marth and battled colleagues, friends, and anyone I could find on the E3 show floor.

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Super Smash Bros. Wii U E3 2014 Screenshots 14 IMAGES

So what's it like to play the new Smash Bros., you wonder? The new game felt familiar, but also re-tuned with lots of little changes here and there. The most important difference I noticed was the change of speed. Smash Bros. for Wii U finds a happy middle between Melee's speedy pace and Brawl's plodding gameplay. The characters themselves felt slightly heavier, but I guess I'm still adjusting to the new feel of it all.As someone who's spent a lot of time playing as Marth in Melee, it didn't take me too long to chain satisfying combos and send foes reeling. But Smash Bros. creator Masahiro Sakurai has introduced a small change to the vintage Gamecube controller scheme -- it also applies to the GamePad and Wii U Pro Controller presumably) one that feels like a major improvement: Players can now charge up Smash attacks by holding the c-stick in a specific direction on the ground.Of course, some uncompromising folks consider use of the c-stick as heresy, but maybe that's because using this shortcut came at the expense of not being able to change up a powerful move. In Smash Bros. for Wii U, if I held the stick in place, I could charge up the same way a traditional Smash attack input would work. In one match, after a powerful strike from Marth's up-tilt move sent both of my foes into the air, I dashed towards their landing point, charged up with the c-stick, and sent both out of the ring.I got to use lots of items during my time with Smash Bros. for Wii U. I activated Pow Blocks that sent anyone touching the ground flying up into the air. In one match, a deadly Bullet Bill zipped across and knocked my character clear off of a platform. I dodged fire bars and inevitably got dinged by a blue shell. In another match, Pokemon's Keldeo emerged from a Pokeball and sent three characters into the distance the same way a major league slugger would smack a homerun into the cheap seats.As far as new characters go, I tried my hand at a few and (as expected) all of them played differently. Little Mac is Smash Bros. land-locked bruiser. He dished out a lot of punishment on the ground, but felt completely out of his own element in the air. Wii Fit Trainer acrobatic attacks probably made me laugh the most during my play. There's just something immediately funny about watching trainer's attack repertoire of yoga and fitness poses. Rosalina & Luma presented my favorite new character so far in Smash Bros., mostly because of how her star-shaped companion added so much extra range. I could poke at other players who weren't paying attention and work Luma into some cool combo opportunities.It feels absurd to call a 20 character demo at E3 a small slice, but I'm talking about Smash Bros. -- a series known for over the top fan service inside its gorgeous arenas and other modes. What I played demonstrated a capable installment full of fun potential and surprises. The wait for the Wii U version is long, but when the game feels this good, it's really difficult to complain. Make sure you check out all of IGN's Smash coverage at E3 2014.

Jose Otero is an Associate Editor at IGN and host of Nintendo Voice Chat . You can follow him on Twitter