Playing the long-awaited game was nothing short of spectacular. As an avid Smash player, I found this game compared well with Super Smash Bros. Melee on GameCube, one of the best games in the series.
Ultimate seems to be designed with beginner and advanced players in mind, which is a huge leap forward from the previous Smash game. I played through the story mode, which made it easy to get familiar with the Switch controls, and then jumped onto online play once I felt comfortable to control the characters. It’s great that one can play story mode until one is comfortable, making it ideal for first-time players.
The magic of Smash comes out in the multiplayer. So, naturally, I tested the game with a small group of friends. In the gathering, there were players who hadn’t even heard of the game before but, after a few rounds of learning the controls and combos, they couldn’t put the controller down.
There’s something addictive about the chaos of trying to fight an opponent, trying not to fall off the sides of the screen, and collecting power-ups as they randomly appear.
What stood out was the art style of each level, which remains true to the games from where they’re derived. Pictochat – a personal favourite – is a level that’s based on a drawing game on the Nintendo DS, which constantly redraws and erases platforms on the map as if players were playing in someone’s doodle.
While there are 74 players mentioned in the game, there are only eight to start with: Mario, Pikachu, Donkey Kong, Yoshi, Samus, Link, Kirby, and Fox. That said, playing with these characters will allow one to unlock more characters, depending on which character is selected.
Overall, it’s unlikely that the average user will end up playing all the game modes or unlocking all the fighters. If there’s something to criticise, it’s that there are too many fighters and modes. That said, it allows more people to battle in their favourite modes and with their favourite characters.
Click here to read why it’s a miracle to have a new Smash game, according to the lead game designer.
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