Review for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Game for Nintendo Switch, the video game was released on 07/12/2018
The most ambitious crossover fighting game in videogame history is back to being talked about in its fifth incarnation thanks to the careful supervision of the master Sakurai. Impossible to imagine a console of the big N without its Smash Bros. and as tradition dictates we are faced with a multi-faceted diamond, capable of embodying both the party game soul that denotes the most cacophonic quarrels and a highly competitive and profound fine micro-mechanical title.
For those who can accuse this chapter of being a "more of the same" simply the son of the inclusion policy of every content appeared in the saga to date, we are ready to dispel any doubts: Super Smash Bros. Ultimate takes the veteran player by the hand, even the one still anchored in the Melee chapter, and leads him into the future of the saga. Before diving into the dynamics of Ultimate it is good to explain the basics of the atypical Nintendo fighting game to those approaching the genre for the first time.
Knowledge is power
Atypical beat 'em up because unlike the more common mechanics adopted by its illustrious genre brothers, in Smash it is not necessary to reduce the opponent's life points to zero to triumph (although a mode has been added that even provides this, in the myriad of options available), but the blows inflicted on our enemy will increase a percentage relative to his health, making the enemy "lighter" and therefore sensitive to moves able to launch.
In fact, in Smash we will triumph over our enemy only when the latter is launched outside the screen without the possibility of returning to the combat platform. During our fights an infinite number of tools will appear on the stage able to help the first player ready to collect them, from pokéball aimed at summoning the cute little monsters to help us up to weapons capable of temporarily replacing the equipment of our character, or not.
In Smash we decide the rules of the match, whether to throw ourselves into a team melee of up to eight players by throwing at us endless tools in iridescent stages bristling with deadly traps or to measure ourselves in a 1 VS 1 without frills by completely eliminating the luck factor. The options are so many and Ultimate thanks to an intuitive interface makes us able to get to the heart of the action in extremely customizable and distinct modes.
The rules of the Melee
The first big item that pops up from the mode selection menu is the melee: with its myriad of subsections able to make us organize in a few key presses from the classic screw tournament to relay combat, it represents the perfect vademecum for the fast fighter. Unable to list all available match variants. We will be able to immediately select one of the 3 forms of the 103 stages available, taken from the worlds of belonging of the characters present in the roster, while initially there will be only 8 characters available.
The melee remains the most effective way to be able to quickly unlock all the warriors present in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, in fact on a regular basis, at the end of a fight, we will be called to defeat an opponent among the characters not yet unlocked. If we manage to win, the contender will join the roster permanently and from that moment we can use it as we please. In case of defeat, do not worry: we will still have the possibility to later re-face the enemies that we were not able to beat initially.
The star of hope
The trailer for the story mode "The Star of Hope" was able to thrill the old fans and to thrill the lore of the Smash Bros. saga even the most distant from the imaginative universe of Nintendo. Kiaran and an army of Master Hand battle our favorites, continuing the adventure exactly where we left off in the now distant 2008 Brawl chapter for Wii.
Heroes are blown away by Kiaran's overwhelming power, all except the pink ball so loved by Sakurai and the late Satoru Iwata. It will be Kirby's task to be able to free the clones of his old comrades from the enslaved spirits that move the threads.
The star of hope represents a metaphorical path with multiple interpretations, the most popular interprets the saga as a growth path of a child who imagines clashes between his heroes, playing with his action figures. It is no coincidence that the trophies that we could collect in the past chapters were located in increasingly adult contexts; that the child is now grown up and has decided to get rid of his old toys?
Spirits, echo of a destroyed world
In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate the collectible trophies are therefore absent, in their place we can capture the spirits of fallen warriors of the gaming worlds present in the saga. As Kirby we will have to explore a beautifully watercolored board, where to clear the way we will be forced to get rid of the former allies possessed. To compete worthily in the fight we will have to equip the spirit suitable for each fight, in a very elementary triangulation of weaknesses.
The spirits can in turn, depending on the available slots, equip assistants able to provide us with peculiar abilities such as starting a fight equipped with an instrument or giving us a specific statistic. During the progression on the board, between solving some interesting and never too complex puzzle and a fight, we will be able to save our companions from Kiaran's clutches and use them instead of Kirby in the adventure.
Spirits level up through fights or thanks to the use of particular candies able to enhance them and the most tenacious will even be able to evolve. Using too powerful ones compared to the challenge presented is not a good idea, in fact the greater the balance of strength compared to the opponent, the greater the rewards.
An old classic
For the nostalgic can not miss the classic mode, in which the character and the difficulty of the game are selected, we will have to face a series of stages with thematic fights, up to confronting the boss on duty. We were really missing out on smashing the credits to scrape together a few extra points.
The only drawback of the production is manifested precisely during the rediscovery of the old ways: although the classic mode is present, the "All Star"And the"melee against 100“, Immediately catches the eye the inexplicable absence of the event mode, the hunt for targets, and even the very classic “home run constest”.
These gaps are justified by understanding the work of Sakurai and his team: with 74 active characters with a completely revolutionized and recalibrated moves kit for the occasion it is clear where most of the work has been destined, in fact in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate all the characters never appeared in the saga are present.
Fighters with a mechanical heart
With a good chunk of its audience anchored to GameCube's 2001 Melee chapter (title still played at the EVO Tournament), and given the saga's evolutionary needs partly presented in Smash 4 of the ill-fated Wii U, the guys from HAL Laboratory had to operate on a razor's edge.
The result is a title capable of resume the philosophy and needs of Melee, as the expression of the speed of execution and movement of the characters, going to regulate old mechanics fundamental to the gameplay that had not been inserted in the beautiful more static Smash 4.
So the aerial dodge returns and all that follows: the advanced mechanics of micro input that they take dozens of hours to master like Wawedash. The new mechanics included were weighted thanks to an evident study on the gameplay of professional players which is rarely seen during the production of a competitive title, it was clear for example that the increased speed would have led to an even more frequent use of dodging. old Smash, so here is a penalty to the window of invulnerability and to the exponential recovery time for chained dodges.
While this is not the best place to discuss generic and specific data frame changes, we can assure you that every interaction has been meticulously refined and nothing has been left to chance.
Among the most important innovations we must include the perfect parry, mechanics capable of giving us several frames of advantage over the opponent when the shield is released at the exact moment of contact with the enemy blow, pretty much the opposite of the perfect parries we've been accustomed to from all other titles this mechanic is featured in.
It is imperative to underline that the atypical nature of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and the gameplay solutions of this chapter distance it light years from the fighting game dynamics on the market: "winning" the neutral game will never open the opponent to specific mix ups. as a reaction will always be available, just as the absence of a corner revolutionizes the concept of pressure, instead opening the doors to the dynamics of the fighting outside the stage.
Aesthetics and perception
With its 720p and 60 FPS in portable mode and 1080p and 60 FPS in stocked version Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is able to give sharpness and fluidity to the wonderful animations that this title boasts, which, together with timely modeling and use of textbook particles, formulate the perfect recipe for a fluid and satisfying gameplay feeling. We are still talking about Nintendo.
The Ultimate soundtrack not only features a large number of original and rearranged tracks from the Smash Bros. series, but composes its musical offering of 900 songs selected from the titles included, for a total of 28 hours of music. The ability to create your own playlist is the icing on a really palatable cake, after all, who doesn't have the songs of the big N in their hearts to want to listen to in order to energize themselves during a fight?
Online and Ranked Battles
What better way to take a break from the single player sector than to jump into the fray online against other fierce players? Unlike the previous chapter where you could choose to fight "for fun" or "for glory", all Super Smash Bros. Ultimate online quick matches will be ranked. The ranking will not be global and relative to the account, but each character will have his own dedicated rank that will go up or down depending on the outcome of our fights.
Also in this juncture the choice of how to modulate the multiplayer experience is entirely handed over to the user, who will be able to set rules and be matched mainly against opponents with preferences similar to his. If you are a competitive fan of omega stages without tools, you can select these options right away and jump into 1v1 battles. If fun is your priority, you will soon find yourself caught up in giddy and confusing confrontations all to laugh at. In any case, if your rank is really high, you can be admitted to the true competitive mode of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, reserved for players with a very high score.
You can play online with a friend locally, participate in friendly rooms with specific rules or create your own. Unfortunately, both text and voice chat communication is very limited, even to talk to our friends we will have to download the Nintendo App that can put us in touch with our friends in the room.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is truly the ultimate Nintendo fighting game experience. The commendable work done by Sakurai and his development team elevates the title to qualitative peaks never reached, focusing mainly on the gameplay aspect of the production, leaving out the accessory modes proposed in the previous chapters. The return of the adventure mode embodied by "the star of hope" is a declaration of love to the entire gaming world, which make Ultimate an unmissable experience. Destined to expand during 2019, with the first DLC pack already announced and containing 5 characters, scenarios and musical themes, who knows if there will be the possibility of even witnessing the return of some of the old glorious modes.
► 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
