The Nintendo Switch expanded its library even more in the year of 2018. With titles like “Super Mario Odyssey” and “Pokemon: Lets Go, Pikachu & Eevee.” Since last summer, there has only been one anticipated title to release on the switch, and on Dec. 7, “Super Smash Brothers Ultimate” was released, and Nintendo fans were filled with excitement. This title will be the fifth “Super Smash Bros.” installment in the series and, as advertised by Nintendo, will be the biggest.
I purchased the game is the huge “Super Smash Bros.” fan that I am, and I must say it lived up to my expectations. The game starts you off with the original eight characters that you started within the first installment of the game: Mario, Link, Pikachu, Yoshi, Donkey Kong, Fox, Samus and Kirby.
As you play the game more, you unlock more characters from Nintendo such as Princess Peach and Bowser. There are also a few third party characters on the roster such as Solid Snake, Sonic the Hedgehog and Cloud from “Final Fantasy.” With a roster of over 75 characters and five downloadable content characters that have yet to be announced, this will be the biggest roster of all the “Super Smash Bros.” games.
The game is your typical “Super Smash Bros.” game. It’s a fighting game where you try to knock your opponent off the stage and the more you “smash” them with items or pure skill, the better chance you have of knocking them off the stage and taking stock away from them. The Smash mode in this game has the most unique features of every “Smash” game before.
One change made in this mode is that you can choose the stage before choosing your character. This puts a bit of strategy in character selection. The stage that’s chosen may help you choose what character is the best fit for the matchup.
Customizable rulesets also made a return. There are a bunch of rulesets that are customizable for you and friends to enjoy the game the way you see fit. You could go from having no items and only flat stages to having items rain down 24/7, with a Final Smash Meter and stage change every minute. This gives the players so much power over how they play the game, and it’s one of my favorite features of the game.
Another feature that made its return to the game was the online gameplay, where you can play with other players from around the world. There are two ways to enjoy the online features. There is the quickplay mode, where you can find an opponent or opponents and face-off in a match in almost an instant.
You can also set preferred rules on how you would like to play, and the online matchmaking system will try to pair you with players with similar rulesets. It sounded like a good idea on paper, but it isn’t the best system. The times I’ve used this feature, I almost never got the ruleset I prefer, and it gets annoying being forced to play with rules that are fun for one or two people but not the others. However, I do play by competitive rules most of the time, and “Smash Bros. Ultimate” is a game that can be played casually.
The other way of enjoying online play is the friend lobbies. The thing I enjoy about the lobbies is that it’s an easy way to be able to play with your friends while not in the same room. You can also put a password on your lobby, so random people can’t join suddenly.
The feature I was happy about the most is the adventure mode. Adventure mode hasn’t been in a “Smash Bros.” title since “Super Smash Bros. Brawl.”
The story takes place where “Super Smash Bros. Brawl” left off. The characters have had their spirits stolen by the two main antagonists of the story. Only one of “Smash Bros.” crew survived this horrible event and must save their friends’ spirits. Overall, this mode is a refreshing sight to see.
It’s a good thing to pick up and complete on a rainy day. It’s a time-consuming adventure that makes you put a lot of work into completing. It took me over 39 hours to complete 100 percent of this mode and it was worth it. There is a lot to keep the player busy.
Do I believe it’s the perfect adventure mode? No. Some things I hoped to have seen more of were character interactions. There are almost none, and for me, that’s an important part of a story. A bit of development would’ve been nice and brought some personality to the story.
I would’ve liked to have seen some aspect from “Super Smash Bros. Brawl’s” story mode included in “Ultimate.” Things such as platforming levels would’ve made “Ultimate’s” adventure mode feel complete. My favorite part about the adventure mode was the interactive maps. There were different puzzles and mazes to figure out throughout the game. It made up for a lot of the adventure and interaction between characters.
This game is solid and what the “Super Smash Bros.” series is all about. I believe it lives up to the name of being the ultimate smash game. My overall rating for this game is a 9/10. I’m not going to say it’s a perfect game because all games have things they can improve upon.
The same goes for “Smash Bros. Ultimate.” It has a great multiplayer mode that’s full of different ways for players to enjoy. It has the perfect character roster by including all characters from past games.
However the online mode could use some improvements, but what game with an online mode is perfect? The story mode is a great addition to this game since there wasn’t one in the previous game and the roster for this game is huge. Overall, this game is great for the casual and competitive player to enjoy.
