Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, the latest addition to the popular Nintendo Smash series, has landed on the Nintendo Switch with a bang, selling 5-million copies in the first week of its release. The game has been long-anticipated since the console’s release, as many fans consider t to be a Nintendo staple. And the wait was well worth it.
It features 74 playable fighters, 108 stages, almost 1300 Spirit characters to collect while playing, and a single-player Adventure mode that took about three days (or 28 hours) of gameplay to complete. The game offers far more gameplay than its predecessors, making it the Smash game that gives its players the best bang for their buck.
For those new to the game, the goal is to fight opponents and build up their damage score (draining their health) to knock them off the stage eventually. This makes the game seem chaotic, as many players jump around the platforms as if they were on quicksand, in order to avoid being hit by the other players.
It also services two kinds of players: the competitive and the casual.
Competitive players can be matched on the online service by skill ranking to enjoy playing with similarly high-skilled opponents. This is especially important in e-sports training for the game, and for players wanting to master combos against other human players. The casual gamer is also catered for, with eight-player chaos and button-mashing to see who comes out luckiest. This segment is also important for those wanting to learn how to play.
Training mode is also a place to go for those learning to play. It offers “CPU” players that are graded by intensity to train as a single player to learn a character’s moves, combos and general fighting style. More challenging CPU players can also be used by competitive players to train when there isn’t a Wi-Fi connection available.
Direct Play features in this game, allowing two players with two Switch consoles to play against each other over a direct connection – no Wi-Fi needed. This is especially useful to those who want to have a social gaming element on the go, similar to that of the cable connector of the Gameboy.
Click here to read Bryan Turner’s review of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
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.
It’s a “miracle” that the Ultimate edition was even released at all, according to game designer Masahiro Sakurai.
“You may not sense that, but it is actually a miracle every time we’re able to create a Smash Bros. game,” said Sakurai in an interview with Game Informer, “It’s a bit different from any other game series that regularly comes out with new instalments. Unless we get approval from all of the IP holders who are involved in this game, we can’t make this game. And every time, we are walking a fine line.”
He also told the magazine Famitsu that he enjoys playing the game: “I’ve been playing Smash Bros. on-and-off too. Of course, I was able to fiddle around with it here and there during development, and I still play it with the rest of the staff during our lunch breaks. That being said, I’m still able to enjoy it as it is on my own Switch back at home.”