The Ever Growing Snowball of Quality Insanity Known as the Smash Bros. Series
Super Smash Bros. might be the most underrated, underappreciated, and disrespected franchise in the Nintendo universe by critics and the hardcore crowd, and this is why Smash Bros. Ultimate is a gluttony of fun punishment that’s drawing some critique but is part of the Sakurai madness and silent revenge tour he has engaged in since 2016. This game is fast, furious, massive, and to a point in which you are nearly overwhelmed. This feeling usually applies to massive adventure and action games like your Legend of Zelda or Read Dead Redemptions, but a fighting game? How can a fighter sensory overload you with content? Well, Sakurai has spent an entire career bucking the trend, and with more power Nintendo has let him off the leash and now we’re at a point in which we see third-party characters from M-rated franchises scattered in a Nintendo game featuring the Mario Bros. We’ve come quite far from the 1999 surprise smash hit.
Before I start screaming at the criticism of Smash Bros Ultimate, which might actually be Melee on steroids, we have to point out the constant underappreciation of this fighter. Smash Bros. is the only fighting franchise that can literally be altered to meet your preference. Street Fighter is always gonna Street Fighter, but with the overwhelming amount of ways you can play Smash, Smash doesn’t always have to Smash. Smash Bros. is the only franchise that offers you single-player campaigns up the ying-yang in case you are playing alone, offers you a deep customization which guarantees over several dozen different ways to play, and the only one that demands that you even alter the fighters themselves.
Melee became the first fighting video game with an orchestrated soundtrack. Melee became the first fighting video game with an immersive single-player campaign. Brawl became the first fighting video game with a level editor. The entire franchise is a complete twist on the fighting game concept by being the first to force you to alter your playing style depending on the environment and elements (even though the cowardly professionals don’t want to rely on dumb luck by allowing items). It is also the first fighter to be multi-player beyond just two players, AND then four players, as well as becoming the first gaming franchise to ever become accessible to a point in which you can use controllers of previous consoles to play in the current ones. To this day I can use a 17-year-old controller format to play a game released today, that’s amazing attention to ensuring the best experience possible.
It was revolutionary in dozens of ways, and seldom gets that proper respect because the characterization involves Nintendo characters. So even with Melee and its rampant professional gaming history, Smash Bros. wouldn’t be considered one of the big boys alongside Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter, or even Tekken because of how it looked and how it played. Didn’t help that Brawl and Smash for 3DS was quietly trying to attract mainstream audiences (and to great yet somewhat polarizing success). Even in the midst of all the content, all the freedom to toy with the fighting formula, all the special goodies and details, it almost feels like Smash Bros. doesn’t get its critical due.
So what does Sakurai do?
Go even further.
Dig even deeper.
And play with all your emotions.
Basically hand you more. So, so much more.
You want to remove certain characters? Sakurai brings them all back, including Bayonetta. You want to bring back some stages? There are now 100+ stages in the game. You want Waluigi as a character? He’s an assist trophy, stop the nonsense. You want less third-party representation on the Smash Bros. franchise? Guess what, Snake is back and now we have Castlevania AND Persona (with potentially more along the way). M-rated characters everywhere, and guess what, the roster is only 8 to start, with 60+ to collect. You want music? How about 900 plus tracks. Smash Bros. Ultimate is every Smash Bros. wrapped into one, and included in the package is Nintendo’s version of Spotify. Nobody is safe. Who knows who else Nintendo can toss into the Smash Bros. arena. Is Goku really that far off now? They got Joker from Persona, which was originally such a long shot he wasn’t even considered. Seven different gaming companies are now represented in the Smash Bros. insanity.
Super Smash Brothers is more than a franchise, it’s a staple of gaming, a celebration. Similar to how Guitar Hero revitalized and jump-started the careers of many music artists, this series has actually revived other IPs and franchises from the dead; as since 1999 we saw Earthbound, Kid Icarus, Sonic, Fire Emblem, Xenoblade and Bayonetta see increased success and exposure since being added to the always-impressive rosters. But they aren’t included just for numbers, there’s heavy thought into each inclusion, as they each present a different style of battling in the game itself, and they always mirror the franchise they represent.
So back to the strange complaints. Smash Brothers Ultimate is the least-accessible Smash Bros. since the hyper-extended Melee back in 2001 and all its secondary moves and tricks (which if you go back, also received similar complaints about the sheer speed of the mayhem). Ultimate pulls no punches, which scared some of the modern gamers. There were those complaining about the amount of content, the amount of characters you have to collect, the length of the single-player campaign, and even the speed of the action sometimes confusing the player. So Smash Brothers Ultimate has been docked points for being too fast, too furious, and too big.
Good.
Smash Bros. Ultimate is a relentless and unapologetically furious fighting game, and not for the faint of heart. Some of the secondary moves like air-dodging has made a return, and the improv-combo system is as strong as ever. More items, more assist trophies, more traps, more explosions, more surprises, more details (just look at the Breath of the Wild stage and pause it), and overall one of the biggest games in history. At least 40 hours of gameplay, which is absolutely unheard of for a fighting game, and I’m not even including the offline multiplayer, the online multiplayer, the competitive gaming aspect of it which will sure to take off in 2019, and the upcoming characters and extra content in the coming months. With the additional modes, Ultimate is actually Smash Bros., Street Fighter, and even Marvel vs. Capcom rolled into one. Why would you be nitpicky about a game that literally gives you everything you could possibly want and more?
Sakurai has completely outdone himself, which was already next to impossible to do because Melee and Smash WiiU were already two of among the best fighting games of all-time. But as the gift that will keep on giving come early 2019, Ultimate just might take the crown as the new king because of the polish, the detail, and the accessibility combined with gameplay that will challenge you especially once you enter the more competitive world of Smash fighting online and off. A franchise as good as this hardly missteps, and even Brawl and N64 Smash as the weaker installments still stands strong.
Any issues you may have had with the previous three Smash Bros. are eradicated. The game is tough, intense, and doesn’t let go of your senses as items rain down, obstacles and background quirks scatter the screen, and the fast-paced fights force you to pay close attention and think on your feet. If this game isn’t perfect, just because of the overwhelming strengths featured in this package its darn near close. Smash Bros. Ultimate is fast-paced gaming heaven, for the hardcore Nintendo fans and for the hardcore fighting game fans….
……with an online system that still need a lot of help. But what’s a Nintendo game without online gaming issues?