If like us you have been smashing hard since December 7, the release date of the superb Nintendo fighting game signed by Sakurai, surely you have ventured online in search of some more challenging matches than the single player offer.
Unfortunately Ultimate tutorial is really meager, is silent on many of the core mechanics to get the better of the most competitive fighters, leaving us without vital information on how to triumph in our duels. The purpose of this guide is to provide a general understanding of the advanced components that you need to master in order to be successful in combat.
Stale-Move Negation
Surely you have noticed that repeating a move often results in a reduction in its effectiveness, which results in less percentage damage and less casting power. This because the game keeps track of the last 9 moves made, the more times a move is repeated, the less effective it will be. The system also takes into account failed moves, but not throwable objects, such as Link's bomb. Often varying strategy during the match is certainly one of the keys to victory.
Fast Falling
As soon as you pass the apex of the jump, you will have the opportunity to tilt the movement stick down to fall to the ground faster than normal. Your character will glow for an instant upon correct input. Recovering before the opponent is a fundamental tool, especially if combined with a Fair in Short hop.
Short hop, Fair, Nair, Bair and Dair
Jumping and pressing the basic attack command (A) will produce an air attack, which will prefix the initial of the input direction (forward forward air, downward down air, and so on). As you have certainly noticed, depending on the time and intensity of pressing the jump command, the vaulting of the character we are using will be different. If we press the jump button and the basic attack at the same time, we will automatically produce the minimum jump, called Short Hop. One of the bases of competitive play is precisely to perform often short ops in Fair or Nair, followed by the Fast Falling that we have analyzed in the previous paragraph.
Perfect Parry
One of the most consistent innovations included in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is the opportunity to perform a perfect parry capable of turning the opponent's attack in our favor. By holding down the shield button, we will have to release it in conjunction with the arrival of the Hit-Box of the enemy attack, thus gaining several frames of advantage. This mechanic is diametrically opposed to the impact blocks present in SoulCalibur, which involves pressing the block button at the exact moment of impact of the blow.
Teching
While we are flying in the air, just before touching the ground or any wall, we will have the opportunity to press the shield key to recover instantly, minimizing the recovery phase. Teching allows for various strategic uses, especially on the edge of the combat platform, but to learn more about its options, a guide entirely dedicated to this mechanic and its options would be needed.
Directional Influence
Even during Hit Stun we have minimal control over our character and knowing how to master DI is often the difference between life and death. When the opponent will throw us away, for example by hitting us with a Smash attack, we can counter the direction and effectiveness of the launch by tilting the stick in the opposite direction to the opponent. In case of vertical smashes, tilting the stick down will not be effective: the correct input is diagonal-down, towards the nearest corner of the platform.
Footstool
Among the many options of air combat, certainly the least known is represented by the footstool: our fighter can use the opponent's head as a launching pad for a jump, stunning the enemy for a moment. A well-placed footstool, especially outside in off-stage recovery moments, can be so unsettling as to guarantee us an easy victory.
In a layered product like Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, which is so easy to learn and difficult to master, in this guide we have only shown the first layer below the surface of the Iceberg. Familiarizing yourself with these advanced aspects of the game will take you to the next step of mechanical and strategic proficiency, making you able to face your duels with better awareness.
► Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is a fighting game developed by Bandai Namco and published by Nintendo for Nintendo Switch, the video game was released on 07/12/2018
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is a game to own at all costs: we decided to evaluate it with a 94%, if you are interested in learning more you can read the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Review
