Does playing Melee first help Smash 4 players?

[Matt11111]

So the other day I noticed that there are several top Smash 4 players who played Melee before the game came out. Larry Lurr, ZeRo, ESAM, and Mew2King (let me know if I'm forgetting any, thank you in advance) have all been on both Smash 4's PGR and Melee's SSBMRank. All of these players played Melee first, since Smash 4 did not exist when they played Melee.

So I wondered, does playing Melee first make it easier to become top players in other Smash games, specifically Smash 4? As of right now, my opinion is yes, it does, and I have two reasons for this.

#1: Skill ceiling. It's no secret that Melee's skill ceiling is much higher than that of Smash 4. So I would imagine mastering Smash 4 would feel like a bit of a walk in the park compared to mastering Melee.

#2: Experience with the series. To some extent, I would imagine knowing the mechanics of the Smash series by playing one game would be somewhat of a help when it comes to playing other games in the series.

But what do you guys think?

 

[Nah]

Your #2 is basically right, but it's not something specific to Melee really. There's some current top Smash 4 players who started (iirc) with Brawl instead, like Nairo or Salem.

Fundamentals are fundamentals, and that will will largely transfer between all forms of combat, or at the very least between games in the same series. They simply have more experience is all, so they don't have to eat up time learning and honing those fundamental things--they were already ahead of the newer players. (Some of the) players who first got into competitive Smash via Smash WiiU/3DS will one day be the top players of future Smash games for the very same reason, and not because there's something magical about either game that makes one better faster or more easily. I would not recommend that anyone playing Smash 4 right now who started competitively with it go and play Melee.....it's not going to be some hyperbolic time chamber of training or anything.

tl;dr:

 

[Matt11111]

Your #2 is basically right, but it's not something specific to Melee really. There's some current top Smash 4 players who started (iirc) with Brawl instead, like Nairo or Salem.

Fundamentals are fundamentals, and that will will largely transfer between all forms of combat, or at the very least between games in the same series. They simply have more experience is all, so they don't have to eat up time learning and honing those fundamental things--they were already ahead of the newer players. (Some of the) players who first got into competitive Smash via Smash WiiU/3DS will one day be the top players of future Smash games for the very same reason, and not because there's something magical about either game that makes one better faster or more easily. I would not recommend that anyone playing Smash 4 right now who started competitively with it go and play Melee.....it's not going to be some hyperbolic time chamber of training or anything.

tl;dr:

That image. I like it. Clap clap. :]
Aaaaanyway, yeah, it didn't take me long to realize that that point could apply to pretty much any game. The list of Brawl players who moved on to see success in Smash 4 is incredibly long.

 

[NINTENDO Galaxy]

What a smart tldr Nah, so clever.

Your #2 is basically right, but it's not something specific to Melee really. There's some current top Smash 4 players who started (iirc) with Brawl instead, like Nairo or Salem.

Fundamentals are fundamentals, and that will will largely transfer between all forms of combat, or at the very least between games in the same series. They simply have more experience is all, so they don't have to eat up time learning and honing those fundamental things--they were already ahead of the newer players. (Some of the) players who first got into competitive Smash via Smash WiiU/3DS will one day be the top players of future Smash games for the very same reason, and not because there's something magical about either game that makes one better faster or more easily. I would not recommend that anyone playing Smash 4 right now who started competitively with it go and play Melee.....it's not going to be some hyperbolic time chamber of training or anything.

tl;dr:

EDIT: I'm not a top player but I myself have played the smash series casually from 64 to now and I can say that it helped. Nah's post is the only post you need to read.

 

[R3D3MON]

What a smart tldr Nah, so clever.


EDIT: I'm not a top player but I myself have played the smash series casually from 64 to now and I can say that it helped. Nah's post is the only post you need to read.

notice the "played casually"

 

[KirbCider]

Yes, but not because it is Melee.

Nah pretty much already hit the nail on the head with their response. The pros got where they are now not because they played Melee nor because of the fact it's much tougher to master. It's simply because they earned experience by playing in general.

Although each Smash game has various differences your skills can still carry over; however at the same time a lot of the knowledge you may have learned (certain techs or combos for example) may no longer apply. Plus you will have to get used to how each game feels. I still remember the transitions from Melee, to Brawl, and then to Smash U. Each game feels much different and takes time to adjust. Either way, whatever Smash game you started out with will help you develop as a player, not just Melee because it's Melee.

 

[Deleted member]

As long as I've experienced the games' mechanics, physics, prerequisites, advanced techs, and what have you I won't have much trouble adapting to Smash 4. I have played Melee since 2005 and all that time playing got me ready for Brawl in 2010. By extension, my times playing that game prepared me for Smash 4 last year. I also play Tekken alongside Smash and adapting to the new features and/or mechanics with each sequel is half the fun on the road to improvement.

Speaking truthfully, had I known earlier that Smash 4 had a more forgiving learning curve than Melee I would of played Smash 4 first rather than Melee.

 

[Frihetsanka]

In general, being skilled at a video game is closely related to your attitude. I've noticed that many people who play at a Diamond/Master level in one game will play at a Diamond/Master level in other games as well. If you are a top level player in one platform fighter, then chances are you could learn to be a top level player in another platform fighter.

Having experience with games in general can help you become better with games in general. Having experience with figthing games in particular will likely help you become better at other fighting games too. With that being said, I'm unsure how to answer your poll. If given the choice of spending 50 hours first with Melee before jumping into Smash 4, or just using those 50 hours on Smash 4, I'd say just go for Smash 4.

 

[Mario & Sonic Guy]

All that I can say is that Melee and Smash 4 do not exactly share the same mechanics, so if you're so used to Melee's mechanics, it may take you a while to get used to Smash 4's floatier mechanics. For one instance, fighters who rely a lot on chain grabs in Melee will have to alter their battle strategy in Smash 4, since after you grab a fighter, you have to wait at least 70 frames before grabbing the same fighter again. Similarly, fighters in Smash 4 fall at slower speeds than in Melee, which helps in the recovery department (especially in the case of Fox, whose recovery is considerably better in Smash 4), but also has a negative impact on their vertical endurance.

 

[embargo]

yes and no, melee will teach you some movesets if not altered throughout the other games. The thing about melee and 64 is that they are a lot more complex and faster than smash 4. Once you switch, you're not used to the speeds and new tech of brawl and smash 4.

 

[Blixen]

I have been playing Melee 2 more years than I have Sm4sh I can not recall a single instance that me playing Melee first ever helped. And Melee would be more of a walk in the park than Sm4sh because Melee has had many many years to grow and let the community figure out all of its techniques matchtups etc.. but Sm4sh has only had a couple years for this and combine that with the seemingly infinite amount of matchtups to study it really does seem Sm4sh is harder in my opinion.

 

[Crystanium]

Playing Melee first doesn't help playing Sm4sh. What helps is dedication and practicing perfectly.

 

[Gavi]

Having previous experience with smash games helps. Things from previous games carry over to other games. All smash games have the same goal. Someone who played melee will have an easier time adopting smash 4 than someone who has not played previous games.