McLeodGaming Direct is an online digital presentation made by McLeodGaming, inspired by Nintendo's own Nintendo Direct presentations. Its current focus is to demonstrate and announce new content to be present in Super Smash Flash 2 such as information about characters, game modes and new features coming up in the new demo. McLeodGaming Directs are typically streamed to McLeodGaming's official Twitch channel before being released to their official YouTube channel immediately afterward. Currently, two presentations have been shown off.
List of McLeodGaming Directs[]
McLeodGaming Direct - Super Smash Flash 2 v0.9b (7/21/14)[]
McLeodGaming Direct Announcement
The announcement.
McLeodGaming Direct - Super Smash Flash 2 v0.9b (7 21 14)
The direct.
The first McLeodGaming Direct was streamed on July 21, 2014 at 4:30 P.M. EST and had a duration of 12 minutes and 50 seconds. It primary focused on v0.9b of the demo. It was presented by former developer, Max Void Silverman.
The direct was announced in a YouTube video released on July 19, 2014. In addition to revealing the time and date that the direct would be streamed on, it also revealed a new Special Smash modifier, Dramatic, in which each hit deals a long period of hitlag to both players and causes the camera to briefly zoom in on the player being attacked.
Character announcements[]
- Chibi-Robo, first revealed at McLeodGaming's SSF2 booth at APEX 2014, was shown with upgraded visual effects and moves, now being a completely full character. He uses an assortment of everyday objects in his attacks. His companion and best friend, Telly Vision, now follows Chibi-Robo in battle, giving him "emotional support", though he is not part of Chibi-Robo's moveset since he is not the type to interfere in combat. When using his plug or his toothbrush in his attacks, Chibi-Robo will now emit an electrical charge or a trail of bubbles, respectively. His Final Smash was revealed to be his massive companion, Giga-Robo.
- Characters' upgrades were shown. Sora was shown off as being more like he is in the KINGDOM HEARTS games where he is a combo-oriented character, with Strike Raid now being his neutral special move and Flowmotion his new side special move. Ichigo was shown with a new design and a new ability, the Flash Step, being part of many of his attacks and movements, leading him to a new fighting style of fast movements but slow attacks. Bomberman was shown with a slight upgrade, as he is now able to have five bombs of any type on-stage at once and throw bombs upwards or downwards.
- Many characters were given traction and friction fixes, making them wander around the stages more normally. Black Mage and Captain Falcon were shown with these improvements as examples.
- A brief teaser of an upcoming major update was shown, revealing Isaac's appearance in SSF2 as a playable character. However, he would not be playable on demo v0.9b, but in the upcoming major update excluding patches. His teaser was made very similarly to Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U trailers' style, albeit the fire in the intro was missing and only the character's presentation was shown.
Game mode announcements[]
- After showcasing multiple Special Smash modifiers, including the Dramatic modifier revealed in the announcement for the direct, the direct showed the final modifier to be revealed before the demo released, Turbo. Coming directly from the Super Smash Bros. Brawl mod, Project M, Turbo mode works exactly the same way, allowing characters to create a new way of fighting by using a complete lack of ending lag on attacks to create a lot of combos non-stop. The developers also prepared a short video of what the special modifier can offer.
- Online was finally showcased on the game's menu. As expected, the mode itself would release in the new version of the demo. Players can create an account via the McLeodGaming Network, log in with their username and password, and either create a room to host or join other players' rooms from a list. Special Smash modifiers can be selected for online battles. Additionally, the Waiting Room, previously a multiplayer stage before being removed, returns with a new design to serve the same purpose it had in Brawl, which is occupying the player before a battle begins by having them practice against a motionless Sandbag.
Other announcements[]
- The direct briefly mentioned other things that were not talked about in detail, such as the new Break the Targets stage and the replay feature.
- The release date of the demo v0.9b was revealed to be on July 24, 2014. McLeodGaming Network accounts for Online would be activated for a select number of players on the demo's release before being rolled out over the span of a week to the rest of the community.
- The Super Smash Flash 2 v0.9b tournament, the first official tournament for the demo, would begin on July 27, 2014 and would be streamed on McLeodGaming's Twitch channel.
McLeodGaming Direct - Super Smash Flash 2 Beta (1/25/15)[]
Second McLeodGaming Direct Announcement
The announcement.
McLeodGaming Direct - Super Smash Flash 2 Beta (1 25 15)
The direct.
The second McLeodGaming Direct was released on January 25, 2015 and had a duration of 21 minutes and 43 seconds. While initially scheduled to be streamed at 6 P.M. EST, some technical difficulties pushed the direct back one hour late at 7 P.M. EST. It primarily focused on the final major demo version, officially named in this direct as Super Smash Flash 2 Beta, and was presented by Void once again. This direct was shown primarily to let players know what to expect at APEX 2015.
The direct was announced in a YouTube video released on January 23, 2015. In addition to revealing the time and date that the direct would be streamed on, it also briefly teased several stages to be shown in the direct, including Battlefield, Galaxy Tours, Link's character-specific Break the Targets stage, and the stage used for Sandbag Soccer.
Character announcements[]
- Isaac, first revealed at the end of the first direct, was shown through gameplay for the first time. All of his special moves were revealed, starting with his side special move being Move, a spell that casts a hand-shaped Psynergy orb that keeps travelling forward as it damages opponents on its way. It is the same attack he uses in Brawl as an Assist Trophy but with the main difference being that it can combo the attack into different directions. His neutral special move is Growth, which makes vines to grow out from Isaac's hands to bind opponents, leaving them open to other attacks. His up special move is Lift, which makes Isaac create a Psynergy hand that launches him into the air, open to new attack possibilities. Finally, his down special move is Gaia, which allows Isaac to cast a Psynergy circle in the ground to cause an earth pillar to rise from the ground, dealing damage to opponents.
- Character upgrades were shown. Sora was shown off again, revealing a slightly reworked set of attacks to appear more graceful in movement, much like he is in the KINGDOM HEARTS games. He also gains two new special moves: a new up special move called Aerial Recovery, which launches Sora into the air and can be canceled into any other attack without losing momentum, and a new down special move called Command Deck, a move reminiscent to his Magic Swap and Magic Cast attacks from previous demos, which cycles between Fire, Blizzard, and Thunder respectively before starting over. Lloyd was shown to have been given some graphical updates to his swords, changing the way he attacks depending on which sword is facing forward, as his swords no longer change hands when facing a different direction; instead, Flamberg always will be in his left hand, and Vorpal Sword always will be in his right hand. Additionally, many of his moves have been modified or changed entirely. Tails was shown to be given a new side special move called Airlift, in which Tails throws himself forward in hopes of catching an opponent. If he succeeds, he will grab the opponent and carry them as he keeps flying, ultimately launching them into the air. Peach got revamped with a new design from scratch, having more fluid animations and increasing her reach.
- As with the first direct, there was a teaser near the end of this one, similar to Isaac's reveal. This one revealed Bowser as a new playable character for SSF2 Beta.
Stage announcements[]
- A montage was shown of stages from the previous demo that were visually updated. The stages shown include Bomb Factory, Pokémon Colosseum, Sky Sanctuary Zone, Clock Town, Dracula's Castle, Saturn Valley, Silph Co., Starship Mario, Smashville, Battlefield, Phase 8, and Final Destination.
- A new stage hailing from the Chibi-Robo! universe called Desk was revealed, which is set on a desk somewhere in the Sandersons' household. The foreground and background of this stage are typically cluttered with all kinds of things that change with every match. There are also many elements of this stage to interact with, including drawers that can be pushed in before launching outward, a stapler that launches fighters up to the higher shelves, and a lamp that can be turned on or off via a switch on the wall. Additionally, the stage corresponds to the time on the player's computer clock, which affects both the time shown on a clock on the wall and the time of day outside the window.
Game mode announcements[]
- Home-Run Contest was revealed. This mode works exactly as it does in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, in which the player must rack up damage on a defenseless Sandbag before launching it as far as possible, with an optional Home-Run Bat provided.
- Classic was revealed for the first time. It works very similarly to how it does in official Super Smash Bros. games, in which the player has to complete a series of stages, confronting several opponents on the way to the end. However, there is a new twist for higher difficulties: the Peril Roulette, which inflicts a "peril" every match. A peril may give either the player a disadvantage or the opponent an advantage for the upcoming match such as making the opponent overpowered or giving them a Turbo modifier. On Insane difficulty, the player will receive two perils per match, with one giving the player a disadvantage and another giving the opponent an advantage.
- Character-specific Break the Targets stages were revealed for each character in the game, with stages for Mario, Donkey Kong, Link, and Bomberman being showcased. This was revealed along with a new universal Break the Targets stage where the targets move quickly around it, making it harder to break them.
- A brand new and original game mode called Arena was shown. This mode focuses on more action-oriented mini-games, unlike those in Stadium. The only mode shown was Sandbag Soccer, in which players must knock the Sandbag into their opponent's goal. The higher damage percentage the Sandbag has, the faster and farther it will launch and the more difficult it will be to stop it.