Blame for the lack of success of WiiU, Nintendo adopted with switch a policy of "remastering": bringing titles that could really give more on the previous console, adapting them with additional content and technical improvements. We saw it with Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, with the next to go out New Super Mario Bros U Deluxe and with the now ubiquitous Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, partly for the desire to try something new on the part of his fans, partly for the information released at a later time, he did not initially have the desired success. Only later, with the discovery of the new contents, did the stench of a masterpiece begin to be smelled: let's go and see why.
The roster of rosters
With well- 74 characters, we are ahead to the biggest Super Smash roster ever: great returns such as Solid Snake and new entries such as the characters of Castlevania immediately make this title a great novelty: if Switch is the definitive console of Nintendo, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate has the ultimate game suit, landing and overwhelming with its unchanged but at the same time new gameplay. In fact, the changes are not aesthetic (not all), but they can be found inside: from changed movesets to varied attack times, now it will be necessary to get back to the game to understand how to extricate yourself between one stage and another without perishing.
Of course Nintendo is fond of old video game dogmas, and for that you'll have to unlock the various characters through a long process that will require you at least 20 hours of gameplay. Fortunately, there are little tedious solutions, which we will see later. In the game we therefore find the whole roster seen on WiiU, complete with echo characters, different versions exclusively for some moves or aesthetics, which however have most of the characteristics similar to those of the original character. At the time of writing this review, Nintendo has already announced new characters on the way, including Joker di 5 person, showing how the work on the title is well structured and long-lived.
Your Super Smash Bros.
From the choice of matches to the customization of the game, passing through various modes and ending in the classic "free for all", Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is a feedback conglomerate: all the champions of this game, together with the players of the globe, have had their say on the WiiU title, leading to this direct evolution, customizable even in the choice of matches, teams or game rules. Even we can save these rules, creating our game modes and choosing them from time to time.
The game also acts as an encyclopedia: in fact, in the gallery you will find all the music of the various games, while among the scenarios you can choose every single stage seen in the previous title, along with new ones. The effect you will have is to feel at home, between fights that are always different and fun beyond belief. In fact, if the competitive world that is approaching the game is always finding new methods to win their matches and excel in the category, the title easily adapts even to a nice and light evening, since even newbies will be able to quickly understand the game, to understand how to move and compete with others. This does not make Super Smash Bros. Ultimate an "easy" game, but an accessible one: at high levels, in fact, every single frame will be fatal.
A small note of merit should also be given to the individual characters, who offer a gameplay that is always different depending on the series: Cloud will have his Limit Break as well as Link his classic attacks. In short, every single character is almost a game in its own right, bringing to the clash different thoughts of playability, adapted to perfection.
History (and what a History)
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate decides, however, that it is not enough to re-propose a game already seen, and as in the previous choices with the remastered, inserts the mode in the new chapter The Star of Hope, an adventure that mainly focuses on interesting gameplay and a fairly mundane story. The bad guy on duty, Kiaran, has imprisoned all the heroes and villains of the game. Only Kirby managed to escape: he has the arduous task of starting to rescue everyone!
In fact, in the mode we will have to overcome enemies on a board (through classic encounters), each with its own modifier and character. As we advance, we will find the clones of the characters who, once defeated, will be unlocked both in the standard mode and in the adventure. But the interesting part comes now: every single meeting will propose (almost jokingly) the scenarios seen in the respective chapters; and here is that one Samus Zero Suit dressed in white she will battle you like The Boss in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, complete with background soundtrack. These "licensed reproductions" wisely exploit the thousand variables of the game to propose moments capable of snatching smiles (and some insult in the most difficult). The system of helpers: Once you have chosen the character and his supports, you will understand how important it will be to make the right choice.
In this mode, therefore, you will have to choose the character you will use to fight, the support spirit and his helpers. Each supporting character will have a symbol depicting Attack, Defense, or Technique (or neutral): with a circular system, each will be weak to the other and resistant to the third. In this way, the choice of the helper character could change the fate of the encounter. Each spirit will also give your character an attack bonus, and with each encounter he will level up, increasing his power. It will also give you abilities, perhaps reducing magic damage or giving resistance to poison. The support spirits, on the other hand, will only grant enhancements and abilities, without however leveling up or anything else.
This dynamics, which will become more and more complex by completing fights (and thus unlocking new spirits), will give the game a really deep collection system, complete with character evolution, saving combos and exploration through timed missions (where you will leave some of your spirits to train or explore some dungeons). The game map also, making you move like on a board game board, will require a lot of backtracking, often inserting cause-effect dynamics between encounters scattered throughout the map, taking about 20 hours to complete.
To unlock spirits you can also access another mode, which will simply offer you encounters where, upon their completion and the overcoming of a reflex minigame, it will give you more or less strong spirits.
The sore point: online
It would be nice to only sing the praises of similar games, titles that dictate the rules of how a marketing maneuver is implemented that is capable of both increasing the revenues of a company but also making the fans happy. Unfortunately, however, even this time Nintendo was unable to cope with online multiplayer: if until now we have talked about freedom of choice, both in terms of roster and rules, online loses all of this. Although at the beginning we will be able to choose our mode, and a lightning-fast matchmaking will allow us to reach the battlefield in a few seconds, subsequently to favor this speed (and avoid endless waiting), the game will position the matches according to the similarities of the modes, often thus changing the requests made in the beginning.
This translates into two consequences for two different targets: newbies will find it difficult to adapt and access that pro knowledge, while pro-players may lose matches due to rules not chosen by them and perhaps not compliant with standards. The game room takes care of the solution, which allows friends to clash with each other, but in this way we are faced with a title that does not offer the best in online between strangers. We understand, however, that the problem is legitimate, also because adapting all the rules and making matchmaking with them would lead to long queues, but a bitter taste remains.
Enough technicalities ...
… And to say this about a game that only requires technique is quite strange. Yet Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is also this: a game of technique, which however envelops the player in a fantastic world. Just be a fan of a single brand inside to find your space in this heterogeneous world, leading you to master the skills of this to the maximum. Then finding the right approach with the other characters creates a challenge never seen in other games, never replicated in other titles. Surely there are much more technical fighting games, but thanks to the few moves (about a dozen), the dynamics between the various heroes and villains included in the game manage to be always new, always easy to trigger and spectacular to see.
