Is Smash Ultimate TOO COMPETITIVE?

Has Super Smash Bros Ultimate become too competitive? Yes. Yes it has.

Follow me on Twitter!

[redgerran]

Do you think Smash Ultimate is too competitive?

[BuilderJr.]

Overall, no. Smash is fun here and there. Playing too much is when it gets “toxic”. Personally, I play with “competitive” rule sets and stages, but I just play for fun. The thing is, Smash is a video game, it’s supposed to be fun. Everyone has fun in different ways as well. Whether that’s items, final smashes, entering tournaments, or just simple stages with raw skill. We all find fun in separate ways. Where I think the line is crossed is when people make this child’s party video game their whole lives. Smash should be a hobby, a fun little game to do when you’re feeling up for it. I’m not saying all competitive players are like this, but some definitely take this game too seriously. I respect people’s choices to do what they want, but at the end of the day, it’s literally just a video game. Play the game and enjoy yourself

[tyfi]

Ever since I stopped playing elite smash, my mentality has improved, my gameplay has improved, and I’m having a ton of fun with the game again. Battle arenas are where it’s at.

[LastManStanding]

I have a problem where I've gotten decently good at the game so when I try to play casually my brain doesn't allow me to lose. If I'm losing its like " I'm not going to lose ya'll don't even play as much as me." It's not satisfying and I want just what you said here, to have fun again, win OR lose.

[notzack]

Here’s how to have fun playing…. Lose on purpose. Trust me. I have 3k+ hrs on ssbu. I have been every type of smash player hes described in the video. (I dont have a switch anymore so i guess im retired) but just lose on purpose and you will see how much of a good time the “opponent” has from winning. And know that you created that joy & fun intentionally. Losing is how you win in ssbu

[doublemode]

The thing about competitive Ultimate is that it is a community and it does bring people together. I almost wish Nintendo made a “For Fun” and “For Glory” section like they did in Smash 4. But should we suddenly stop Ultimate from being competitive, it’s an Esport now and the game being competitive is okay, Elite Smash shouldn’t be the standard since it’s the top 10% of that character.

[JacobAnderson-jtdu]

Mkleo, Esam, Tweek, Riddles, have all said that online sucks at least once, I learned to not get upset if I loose a match on elite, because nothing works online!

[WellToastedBagel]

For some, yes. But for me, and many other competitors, no it hasn't become too competitive. What drives me to play the game is winning in the face of a person who wanted to win just as much as you did. It is much more satisfying to win when you know your opponent is in a similar playing skill level, and it was a tooth and nail scrap that left you on the edge of your seat the whole game.

Why I think this isn't bad is because Smash is just as much a fighting game as it is a casual one. Sakurai made Smash as a more forgiving, and easy to pick up version of something like King of Fighters, where casuals have literally 0 chance of winning if they go up against someone who knows what they are doing. So since it's conception, it has literally been a competitive fighting game at its core. Just one that isn't as technically demanding as a traditional fighting game.

Has that been accomplished as good as it could have? No, it never was in my opinion. Something inherently skill based such as fighting games never will be good at being a fair experience for everyone. But it is the closest we've ever gotten to this idea outside of one button gimmicks like Footsies, Dive Kick and One Strike. It doesn't take a lot to know how to play the game, there are two attack buttons and no matter what direction your stick is pointing the attack button does something. And on paper the most complex this game gets is a multi layered game of rock paper scissors. Attack beats grabs, Grabs beat shields and Shields ward off attacks. Though obviously there are some mechanics that make this not so cut and dry, which is where the depth of play comes in for those willing to take the game further like rolling, Oos options like attack, spot dodging, jumping. But they all feel like natural extensions of the foundational triangle/RPS game that is Shield, attack and grab. So even taking the time to learn these concepts isn't as technically demanding as older traditional fighting games can be.

In summary, at its core Smash always is a take on fighting games that is easy to play, but hard to master. It is the truest definition of this idea in regards to the larger fighting game IPs. since in my opinion casual play is literally as easy as Spamming your attack buttons in the general direction of your opponent. Which is encouraged further thanks to the A button picking up items for you on top of attacking. But there is room for passionate players to turn into a combo demon who plays neutral so well that a casual player may literally never get a hit on someone who's even marginally better than them.

Truly Casual play has to be arranged with friends, and I think it always will because of how online fighting game communities typically are represented by the sweaty and competitive minority looking for similar people who are looking for a good fight. Expecting Casual play to be common is a bit of an odd way of thinking because of this fact. Casuals don't live and breathe the game like people who fell in love with Smash as a video game do. So regardless of whether it's online or offline/in person, it's probably a once in a while thing with friends. Making it that much more difficult to run into a random person who just wants to throw items and screw around.

[pamoon_]

This might be the reason why I wanted to focus on my career and marriage than Smash.
I still have fun playing but if I can beat my friends or go 50:50 against them, I’ll be happy. Other things, like getting characters in Elite or success in tournaments, are a bonus.

Best I did is one character in Elite (Jigglypuff) and 2-2 in Smash 4 tournaments.

[Applecrispgames]

Most games are competitive you win some you lose some that's life. If you want to play it as a party game invite your friends and play it as a party game. I like playing this game competitively as do many other players

[DaEevster]

Some people do just get good to be a total sweat but there are still other types of players out there take me as an example. I got good at smash because I wantet to teach other people how to stop mashing B or A and try to actually play the game and get good at it. So I don't think you are completely wrong but smash online is not the world

[beqcreo]

Ultimate has been out for 5 years now, so what do you expecf?

[theBlackMagePunk]

So to me this sounds like your local 0-2er complaining. I think the big disparity between being able to find comp ruleset matches vs free for all matches online is because of why people are playing this game. The competitive players play it to get better, to prove their skill, and to have fun. And the easiest way of doing that is playing online. Most people who play casually don't play online cause they don't play the game that much. The majority of people online at any given time are gonna be competitive players. I wouldn't say the game is too competitive. It's just as competitive as any other fighting game. That's why people play them. Is smash a fighting game or a party game? The answer is yes. Its both. Losing is frustrating, putting in so many hours and still losing can be soul crushing. But there's excitement in learning why you lost. How you can play better, learning new tricks and tech. You see yourself over time slowly losing less and less and by less and less. You go from getting 3 stocked, to two stocked, to really close games, to winning. And it's exciting seeing that progression. Seeing your hard work payoff. And that's the fun part of smash, seeing yourself improve. Taking games off players that a year ago you couldn't have dreamed of ever beating. That's the joy of it. And another beautiful part of it is, if you want to take a break from playing competitively, you can still pick illegal stages, you can turn items on, you can allow meter. If you don't enjoy the competitive grind, then that's fine it's not for everyone. And as for your analogy about naming competitive splatoon players vs smash players, I think that boils down to splatoon is team based. You don't root for players, you root for teams. Could I name a splatoon team? No. But I don't play splatoon. I could ask my mom to name a smash player and I doubt she could. I don't think smash is too competitive. I think it's just as competitive as any other fighting game.

-the local 0-2er

[darksun]

I quit smashbros a year ago. Last week I picked the game up again to "have some fun". After one hour I was done. And don't get me wrong, I won most matches but I still hated it! Everyone is so serious about the game as if his/her life depends on it. (Almost) every match was annoying or exhausting. Glad I stopped for real... The game doesn't even have a fun singleplayer (story)mode.

So yeah... I get what you mean.

[middyjohn]

i think the point is lost halfway through the video, it becomes too competitive because almost no one is there to play casual when you want to wind down.

imo no one is to blame here, casuals always drop the game after some time to play other games. Plus smash games have always been carried by competitive players since they are the ones that stick with the game all the way.

Its unrealistic to ask them to dumb down their competitive nature for your sake, they love the game and dont mind the pain of grinding to get to where they are.

Just hop off and play other games, there are like tons of casual games out there. Or get a hobby...

[bulletcat]

finally, someone at least partially ADDRESSES this issue, and the issue of people overall defining their self-worth from these matches, thank you.

[TheAveragePotato]

I just wanna do a sick combo and say to my friend. “Yes. I did that.”

[its_ianm]

Yeah I got into this game when I was about 7 and it was smash bros brawl, I used to play against my older brother and his friends and it was always fun no matter what stage or rules we used. I continued to play smash 4 once my brother moved out to college and I began playing by myself or with my friends. I got to the point where I was consistently beating most of my friends, but even if I didn’t, it didn’t matter, it was still fun. Now I have ultimate and I have 900 hours in the game, Lv 9 CPU’s aren’t that hard anymore and no one I know can consistently beat me, so I thought I’d try Nintendo online and see how I’d square up. I lost my first match and won my second, which is about what I’d expect, but then I went on a 6 game losing streak and decided it was enough for that day. And now to this day it normally takes me 5-7 matches before I win even 1, I feel there’s this void between playing casually against bots or friends and playing online that needs to be filled because now playing against the people I used to play with is boring, I’m even able to beat my brother consistently who got me into the game, but I stand no chance against most people online so I’m stuck and I don’t have the time nor mental drive to start dumbing thousands of hours into the game just to win on a semi regular basis.

[cybirdgames]

2:58 - 5:34 infinitely Accurate, Couldn’t have said it better myself and the main problem with free for all battles is that someone will target you, try to take your stocks first before anyone else’s, and if someone loses, he/she will rage quit wasting everyone’s time and no one wins.

[Subatile]

Nah competitive play and tournaments are what make this game fun. If you work for your hard earned #1 at your local and get rewarded for it, then you would want to pursue that feeling. Most good players don’t full sweat against friends who wanna mess around and goof off. As for the online situation, if you need to use nintendos wifi system to make friends, you have bigger issues than smash bros. No hate at all, this video brings up good points.