Super Smash Bros Ultimate is exactly what we’ve been waiting for and a perfect way to close the series. In a Nintendo Direct, Sakurai announced that every character would return for the fifth and final installment of the Smash Bros franchise. At the release of the game, we sit at 75 characters with more DLC fighters to come.
Rollout
Sakurai did a great job building hype through the use of Nintendo Direct announcements to detail new characters and features of the game. The official Smash Bros website was also maintained and updated on an almost daily basis to detail returning fighters, stages and to highlight musical selections since we didn’t want to see this in a Nintendo Direct. Also announced was a limited edition Smash Bros Ultimate Switch that would come with a pre-downloaded version of the game and access to DLC fighters as they get released. Some limited edition GameCube and Pro Controllers were also released and the old GameCube adapter for Wii U still works with the Switch.
All perfect concepts are not without fault however. After unlocking everything and heading online, players will notice a buggy netcode that causes you to lag with no recourse. Though no official statement has been released about this, it’s expected to be resolved sometime soon.
Single Player
One glaring issue with Super Smash Bros Wii U was the lack of a decent single player mode. That issue was stamped out very early on with the announcement of the World of Light adventure mode. While this isn’t the Subspace Emissary that we all wished for, it is still a great way to play solo. It builds upon the Super Smash Bros Melee adventure mode and has the player traverse a map while fighting in themed “Spirit Battles” meant to mimic various video game characters but using configurations of existing fighters to imitate them. This mode also has the potential of unlocking every character in the game without playing a single game of classic mode. Along the way, the spirits you collect can be used to power up the main fighters to make battling easier.
Speaking of Classic mode, it’s what you expect. Standard fighting game ladder that’s specially themed for each fighter. You also unlock hidden fighters here as well. There’s a difficulty slider that rewards you in higher quantities of you play on a tougher setting.
Multiplayer
This is obviously what we all came for and it doesn’t disappoint. A staggering 75 characters after fully unlocking the characters, over a hundred items, hundreds of songs, and over 75 levels give this game the most variety of any fighting game on history. From a mechanics standpoint, don’t expect Super Smash Bros Melee, but more of a happy medium between the aforementioned and Super Smash Bros Wii U. This will no doubt lead to longer lifespan than its previous installments in the competitive scene, while simultaneously providing years of excitement for casual players too.
Flyamese Final Factor
Get this game. This product is 2 decades of culmination into a game that we may end up playing for 2 or more decades. The only sour spot right now is that the online is atrocious at best. Plagued with lag and slightly dysfunctional. I’m confident that’s high on the Nintendo priority list so once that’s fixed, this game will only get better.
Image Credit: Nintendo Everything