(The online play, it’s worth noting, occasionally suffered a few lag-related hiccups, but considering I was almost always competing against players in Japan, I’m mostly impressed it didn’t happen more often.) But there’s also more to do outside of that core experience than in any prior incarnation. Predictably, it’s a blast, thanks to an entertaining lineup of levels and items, and the huge amount of options and ruleset choices for which the franchise has always been known. You can, of course, head into a standard Smash against computer-controlled fighters, local opponents, or online players from around the world. has so much to do, some of it nestled away in menus within menus, that’s it’s entirely possible to play for hours at a time and never repeat the same activity twice. There’s a similar breadth to the various game modes and diversions. Sure, you could just sink comfortably back into Captain Falcon’s big yellow boots and knee people off the edge of Final Destination all day long, but if you look for it, there’s a hugely exciting ecosystem of drastically different playstyles and character matchups that make it rewarding to explore the entire 51-character roster and find the fighters that best suit you. Like prior standouts Olimar and Ice Climbers (R.I.P., Nana and Popo), they break the mold in refreshing ways. Newcomers like Punch Out!!’s Little Mac, Animal Crossing’s Villager, and Super Mario Galaxy’s Rosalina and Luma toy with ideas of space and vulnerability, as well as introduce new mechanics that change the game. Sakurai has always excelled at distilling characters down to movesets that perfectly encapsulate them, but here he’s more playful and confident than ever before. Not only is there a wider selection of Nintendo characters (and some third-party friends like Sonic, Mega Man, and Pac-Man) to choose from, but there’s also far more variety to be found in how the competitors control.
Regardless of whether top-tier competitive players will eventually discover the same technical nuance that made them fall in love with Melee and (mostly) reject Brawl, it’s already obvious to me that this a game for people who care about games.Īs is common for the genre, most of the truly difficult work lies in building the roster of characters, and the new Super Smash Bros. But it’s also a game that never talks down to its audience and isn’t afraid to make them put in real effort to get the most out of what it has to offer.
At its core, it’s built on the same relatively straightforward principles-simplified button inputs, generally analogous move sets, and broad, readable action-that have always made the series approachable, even for those like myself who shy away from more traditional fighting games. is some inaccessible, byzantine puzzle or that it panders to the most hardcore fringe of its fanbase. That’s not to say that this latest Smash Bros. Namely: Don’t design a game to make players care design it for the ones that already do.
Still, Masahiro Sakurai’s newest crossover brawler-the fourth in 15 years and the first ever to grace a handheld-really does feel like the byproduct of a similar revelation. I’m well aware that the game is not Miyamoto’s brainchild, and I know it’s been in development for so long that any recent soul-searching in the corporate culture at Nintendo was unlikely to have a meaningful impact on its design. It’s a quote that kept popping into my head as I played through Super Smash Bros. That’s Shigeru Miyamoto, game design legend and human Nintendo mascot, speaking about the casual gaming market with Edge magazine last month. They do not know how interesting it is if you move one step further and try to challenge yourself.” “It’s kind of a passive attitude they’re taking, and to me, it’s kind of a pathetic thing.