Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is a hit. It's received glowing reviews, and sold more than 3 million units in its first 11 days, according to Nintendo. No one should doubt the draw of iconic characters from across the gamingverse punching each other in the face.
Gameplay is simple: you pick a fighter and battle up to seven other human or CPU opponents using fists, feet, weapons, and special abilities. The last person standing within the allotted time is the winner. Sounds like a fighting game, doesn't it? Well, according to some people, Smash is most certainly not.
The Beefs With Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Despite the game's pugilistic premise, there is a portion of the gaming populace who adhere to the absolutely ridiculous notion that Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is not a fighting game. Allow me to speak in their tongue for a bit.
"Smash, you see, isn't much about technical play. You don't dwindle your opponent's life bar with your attacks, you build their damage meter. You knock opponents off stages instead of beating them down. Oddball powerups, such as mallets and rocket launchers, drop onto stages. It's just...weird."
That, of course, wasn't a direct quote from any one source. It's an amalgam of the various reasons I've read/heard regarding why some people dismiss Smash as a fighting game. As though fighting games have one set formula!
Since Street Fighter II ushered in the modern fighting game, the video game industry has seem team-based fighters (King of Fighters), weapons-based fighters (Soul Calibur), line-sway fighters (Fatal Fury), and even arena fighters (Power Stone). So, the mechanics certainly aren't the problem; fighting games have been varied from the jump. However, I suspect that something else is at play.
Nintendo's cutesy and family-friendly characters—Mario, Peach, Kirby, and the rest of the crew—likely play at least a small role in the Smash bias. Fighting games are Very Serious Affairs (™), after all. Like that one game that stars a monkey-man who's named after food and loves to engage in fisticuffs whenever he isn't stuffing his face, or that other game featuring a demon-ninja's rivarly with an ice-ninja.
The Smash-isn't-a-fighting-game mentality is rubbish. It's annoying at best, and pretentious gatekeeping at worst. That said, I understand where the outlook comes from, as I used to spout the same trashy statements—fairly recently, too, with the release of Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U in 2014.
You see, I was a Street Fighter guy. A King of Fighters man. Still am. I won't win a tourney that's stacked with anything but scrublords, but I'm competent. For the longest time, though, I looked down on Smash for being too kiddie, too simplistic, and not adhering to fighting games' "back alley brawl" aesthetic. Honestly, those weren't my true issues with Smash. A big part of my Smash avoidance came from the fact that I didn't understand the mechanics.
Humans have an annoying habit of tearing down anything that lives on the outskirts of the familiar, in the gaming sphere, and beyond.
A Smashing New Perspective
It took the newest Smash, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, to change my view on the series. The game's massive 70-character roster is what drew me into giving the game a chance this go-round. There's Mario and Sonic, Solid Snake and Pac-Man, Ryu and Bayonetta, and Paulina and Simon Belmont. Smash Ultimate showcases a who's who of video game luminaries, a showcase that most definitely brings the hype.
Putting serious hours into the game over my holiday break turned me from a condescending fighting game elitist to someone who welcomes Super Smash Bros. Ultimate with open arms. Learning the mechanics, particularly the stage verticality and how it impacted my strategy, took some major adjustments. Thankfully, skilled friends—as well as the tweets, videos, and articles produced by the fighting game community (FGC)—helped me grasp the core concepts. I now know what millions knew all along. Smash is a terrific fighting game.
I implore everyone who's held a deep-seated, anti-Smash Bros. bias to pause, take a breath, and analyze the place where those feelings thrive. And, of course, give Super Smash Bros. Ultimate a play. The newest series entry is a love letter to the video game industry that's crafted with such care that it should be experienced by all. Don't let the very real possibility of you getting bodied by Wii Fit Trainer (who is a playable character) deter you from experiencing the magic.
Smash Is a Fighting Game, Y'all
If, after reading all this, you still believe that Super Smash Bros Ultimate, and all the games that have come before it, aren't fighting games, then please digest this: Historically, Super Smash Bros. is an Evo staple, with its Grand Finals happening during the show's final night. If that doesn't spotlight Smash's fighting game essence, I don't know what does.