Favorite Smash Title/ Ranking The Previous Smash Titles Thread

[Captain Shades]

The Favorite Smash Title Thread is about talking about your favorite entry in the Smash series leading up to Ultimate. I thought it’d be interesting to discuss which Smash titles the community finds the best and why, to give a clearer picture as to what the community may want in Ultimate. I would ask that you be respectful to everyone in the thread, discussion is fine, but this thread is for fun, so please don’t attack someone for having a different opinion on which Smash is the best. It would also be nice if you can add reasons for your pick, that way discussion can be better. Thank You for checking out this thread, and I’d love to see favorites down below.



Since I started the thread, I mine as well go first. I’m going to guess that I’ll have a controversial pick amongst the community, but I feel this title deserves some respect amongst the Melee and Wii U debate, and that would be Brawl.

Brawl, in my opinion is definitely underrated as I feel it did the most right of any Smash title. Well it may not be the most competitive option, Brawl has a ton to keep it a float amongst the Smash series. To go over my points, I’ll make a numbered list below.

1) Brawl’s Music - I’m going to be honest, Brawl had the best ost of the series. Brawl’s music was a lot grander than the other entries, giving it a bigger feel. Many of the tracks were really catchy, Bramble Blast and Unfound Revenge come to mind, along with Metaknight’s Revenge. While I enjoy Wii U’s music along with Melee, it just can’t top Brawl for me.

2) A ‘Classic’ Mode - I enjoy Classic Mode in Brawl the most. Going through franchise by franchise was a good idea, and I love the battle before the Hands. The 4 player match felt special when it was a one of a kind thing. To talk about the other titles, Melee’s was good, but I never cared for the extra modes outside of break the targets, they just kind of felt there, I did like the individual break the targets though, but since Brawl had a bigger roster I don’t hold the lack of custom stages against them and I still find the main 5 fun. I feel like Brawl’s classic mode is quicker to, which adds to the enjoyment for me. As for Wii U, well, it sucks, it’s nothing but multi-man melees with no variation with goal of making Classic quicker, but ironically, I feel classic went longer in the end. I also hated the betting system, you couldn’t even try a harder difficulty than 5 when you began due to a lack of coins, it just sucked.

3) Cut The Fat, Get To The Core - Brawl’s roster was phenomenal, not a single character that didn’t deserve to be there. They even focused on lesser franchises more with more characters from Mother, Kirby, Fire Emblem (at the time), Star Fox, Metroid, and Donkey Kong. All the new comers earned their spots unlike Melee which had characters like Pichu and Young Link, or Wii U which had Dark Pit and Dr. Mario’s return. The roster was filled with recognizable faces, new and old, and really completed the main casts of many franchises.

4) Stage Builder - While limited, you can easily make a fun stage given the tools. I should also add that it was way simpler than Wii U’s, which tried to give more freedom with drawings, but ended with a system that didn’t seem to work half the time. I’ve made many fun stages with Brawl’s tool kit, and I loved the idea and hope it returns in Ultimate.

5) Subspace - While maybe a little too original, the Subspace was a fun diversion from the main game and I consider it better than Melee’s Adventure Mode. The Subspace really played up Smash’s roots in the Platforming genre, having decently fun levels, and some great boss encounters including the likes of Ridley and Petey. Adventure Mode had it’s moments in melee, but to me it felt more like another classic Mode, but with two well crafted platforming levels, and two poorly done get from point a to b with little to no hazard stages. Subspace felt like an Adventure in comparison and had some fun level design and secrets. While originality may bog it down for some, I enjoyed the ride and it felt special when a giant Nintendo boss or enemies like Porky show up in levels as they are a cross over character in this original experience.

6) Nintendo References Galore - Smash is a celebration of Nintendo, and no title in the series seems as good as Brawl when it comes to showing off the vast array of Nintendo products. We have stages like Picochat and Hanenbow that represent obscure titles. Characters like R.O.B. and Pit to go a little retro, stickers which hold a vast array of references to Nintendo history, a list of all Nintendo published titles, masterpieces, and trophies of some extremely obscure titles. Don’t forget assists as well, which house characters like Barbara or the excitebikers.

7) Charm and Personality Take Center Stage - With the additions of characters like Wario, King Dedede, Diddy Kong, and other more personality filled characters, Brawl seems to have a lot more charm going for it. The Subspace cutscenes also help in portraying personality. I also love that Classic has a still frame end screen after a match as you can get some hilarious images from it just looking at facial expressions, like Luigi will close his eyes more, same with Diddy, and Wario is just Wario. This Smash seemed to have the most charm to it in all honesty, which made it more enjoyable.

8) All-Star Mode - The Mode went by franchise, which was better than random or multi-man Smash by years. This meant the player had a variety of matches between 1-4 characters, allowing for more variety while be structured and organized.

9) Unlocks - For many of the characters, you actually had to try to unlock them, unlike the easy unlock everyone in an hour style Wii U had. I find it more fun to spend more time unlocking instead of having all characters handed to me, as that makes me play the game more and try out the various modes. It was also nice that Brawl didn’t have weird unlocking conditions for characters, like leaving your game on for 20 hours, or get a two in the time for a particular stage in Adventure. The requirements were simple, but kept the players playing for a while.

10) Stage Variety - The stages in Brawl were all varied as many were from strange franchises, had unique gimmicks, or just played differently. There was a great variety between neutral stages, traveling stages, auto-scrolling stages, layout changing stages, interactable stages, and crazy hazard stages. The stages were all different and had their own charms, and while not all were hits, I’d rather take a huge selection over the multitude of traveling stages found in Wii U and 3DS. I feel Brawl had a unique selection and I enjoyed the stages greatly, even the more annoying stages like Mario Bros., I find to be enjoyable due to the sheer amount of chaos.

11) Menu - Melee’s looked boring, and Wii U’s was confusing. Brawl combined the two and made the perfect combo of accessibility and a sleek design, it honestly has the best menu in the franchise.

12) The Coin Launcher Game - a fun diversion for getting trophies, I felt it was way more interesting than Trophy Rush or the chance machine.

Overall, I find Brawl to be an underrated gem of a Smash game. While it has its faults, I believe that there are still many things to like about the title, and honestly, it did a lot of things better than other Smash titles, so I would say that Brawl is my favorite entry, for now.


Well, that would be my favorite pick, what’s yours? Leave comments below to tell me what the best Smash is and why.

 

[osby]

Even though I agree with, like half of your points, ("only deserving is here" part was annoying) I also really like Brawl, it's underrated. Ultimate seems to be best Smash so far and 3DS is a close third.

 

[Deleted member]

The thing is you're ignoring everything about brawl that's while brawl has the best music there's glaring issues with balance like gliding too many grapples and that dang Meta Knight
Oh yeah and chain grabbing tripping the list goes on and on as far as modes go I think it's second to smash 4 because I love the system they use for that which you clearly don't and when I try to play the game feels so droopy I feel depressed lol there's like five broken characters and everything else is bad I think brawl is the second worst with only 64 being worse but you would think you would have to think about it that much because one's on the Wii the other ones on the Nintendo 64 but thats my opinion...

 

[Captain Shades]

Even though I agree with, like half of your points, ("only deserving is here" part was annoying) I also really like Brawl, it's underrated. Ultimate seems to be best Smash so far and 3DS is a close third.

I guess I should have said the important characters to each franchise...IDK. I feel like Brawl’s cast was just tighter than Melee’s or even 4’s which seemed to have character that were just thrown in probably because they were easy clones. This is more an issue with Melee, as it had so many picks that really felt like throw a ways, like is Pichu honestly the best Pokémon they could have picked, or did we really need Dr. Mario. I get that they were easy clones, but Brawl had the same thing and choose much more significant faces like Wolf a prominent villain in Star Fox, or Lucas the main protagonist of the final Mother game. They didn’t just feel like another Mario.

Here, I think Scott is good at explaining it as well as why Brawl is good.

The thing is you're ignoring everything about brawl that's while brawl has the best music there's glaring issues with balance like gliding too many grapples and that dang Meta Knight
Oh yeah and chain grabbing tripping the list goes on and on as far as modes go I think it's second to smash 4 because I love the system they use for that which you clearly don't and when I try to play the game feels so droopy I feel depressed lol there's like five broken characters and everything else is bad I think brawl is the second worst with only 64 being worse but you would think you would have to think about it that much because one's on the Wii the other ones on the Nintendo 64 but thats my opinion...

Smash 4 has Bayonetta which is a character that people legitimately want banned from tournaments, along with Diddy Kong. Cloud was also super broken from what I remember. Really every Smash title is imbalanced, so it’s harsh to call Brawl out specifically because Metaknight and Ice Climbers are op, when Melee and 4 both seem to have two or so characters that own the rest of the game.
Also I barely experience tripping, so it never hindered my experience.

The modes in Brawl are the best though, Smash 4 is a lot of Multi-man smash, while Brawl has bosses, modes with multiple match types, an actual break the targets, a story mode, etc. I just find Brawl better overall.

 

[Diddy Kong]

I can't decide. Melee and Smash 4 tie for having the best gameplay, but Brawl had the best rosters and newcomers as of now. It's impossible to rank them for me.

 

[Deleted member]

I guess I should have said the important characters to each franchise...IDK. I feel like Brawl’s cast was just tighter than Melee’s or even 4’s which seemed to have character that were just thrown in probably because they were easy clones. This is more an issue with Melee, as it had so many picks that really felt like throw a ways, like is Pichu honestly the best Pokémon they could have picked, or did we really need Dr. Mario. I get that they were easy clones, but Brawl had the same thing and choose much more significant faces like Wolf a prominent villain in Star Fox, or Lucas the main protagonist of the final Mother game. They didn’t just feel like another Mario.

Here, I think Scott is good at explaining it as well as why Brawl is good.

Smash 4 has Bayonetta which is a character that people legitimately want banned from tournaments, along with Diddy Kong. Cloud was also super broken from what I remember. Really every Smash title is imbalanced, so it’s harsh to call Brawl out specifically because Metaknight and Ice Climbers are op, when Melee and 4 both seem to have two or so characters that own the rest of the game.
Also I barely experience tripping, so it never hindered my experience.

The modes in Brawl are the best though, Smash 4 is a lot of Multi-man smash, while Brawl has bosses, modes with multiple match types, an actual break the targets, a story mode, etc. I just find Brawl better overall.

yes Bayo is broken and cloud is almost there
But there are top and mid-tier characters but brawl has like 5 broken characters and everything else is horrible but when I rate games I look at the competitive aspect

 

[Mario & Sonic Guy]

With Smash 3DS / Wii U existing, Brawl really doesn't feel as good as it once did. But even before Smash 3DS / Wii U existed, Brawl still had its flaws.

For starters, the CPU has the habit of pursuing human fighters, even in free-for-all bouts. Second, even on the easiest difficulty, the CPU always seems to anticipate your attacks, block them, and then shield-grab you.

Stale move mechanics were also atrocious, as spamming the same attack repeatedly not only weakens the damage dealt, but the KBG is also weakened.

I could go on further, but Brawl definitely had problems that would later be fixed up in Smash 3DS / Wii U.

 

[Al-kīmiyā']

Melee. You couldn't have made this a poll?

 

[Captain Shades]

With Smash 3DS / Wii U existing, Brawl really doesn't feel as good as it once did. But even before Smash 3DS / Wii U existed, Brawl still had its flaws.

For starters, the CPU has the habit of pursuing human fighters, even in free-for-all bouts. Second, even on the easiest difficulty, the CPU always seems to anticipate your attacks, block them, and then shield-grab you.

Stale move mechanics were also atrocious, as spamming the same attack repeatedly not only weakens the damage dealt, but the KBG is also weakened.

I could go on further, but Brawl definitely had problems that would later be fixed up in Smash 3DS / Wii U.

Why are those bad things? Shouldn’t a player get punished for not changing things up, that seems pretty reasonable to me, plus the reduced knock back actually helps for combo game. Plus what’s wrong with smart CPUs, don’t smash players want more of a challenge, something they mock Brawl for?
Honestly, I’ve never experienced these issues, and I usually play with at least level 7 CPU, so if the easiest are this bad, then the harder ones must be pathetic.

yes Bayo is broken and cloud is almost there
But there are top and mid-tier characters but brawl has like 5 broken characters and everything else is horrible but when I rate games I look at the competitive aspect

I guess not everyone is competitive. Brawl did many, and I mean many things right, but keeping competitive play was not one, but I don’t mind that. The game was fun regardless of its flaws and with so much content, I would say that it was the best Smash. It was a very ambitious title that tried many things, a lot of which me and others wish would come back. Story Mode, Bosses, the great music, a proper stage builder, there was so much there for a casual audience that I found myself invested for hours. I’m sorry that it was not what you wanted, but it seems our ideals for Smash are colliding in Ultimate, so at least we have that to look forward to.

I can't decide. Melee and Smash 4 tie for having the best gameplay, but Brawl had the best rosters and newcomers as of now. It's impossible to rank them for me.

Hard decision. I liked the gameplay of 4, but kinda got bored after a while, it just wasn’t punchy enough for me. Brawl felt like hits were a lot bigger, something Ultimate seems to be adding to 4’s gameplay, which I enjoy. Honestly, with the tweaks of Ultimate, Smash 4 is looking to have the best gameplay and be more fun to see and watch. I think 4 just feels a little to defensive for me.

I can’t really say much on Melee. I can only play it on a big tv, and while I can get a full experience of the modes, the gameplay seems to be laggy, making some fights like Master Hand brutally difficult and unfun. IDK I don’t usually play Melee, it’s just not fun to go back to for me, it just feels way to fast and I feel like not all hits connect correctly.

Melee. You couldn't have made this a poll?

I’ll make it a poll, thanks for the response though.

 

[Mario & Sonic Guy]

Why are those bad things? Shouldn’t a player get punished for not changing things up, that seems pretty reasonable to me, plus the reduced knock back actually helps for combo game.

The thing is, damage dealt already plays a factor in how quickly an attack can KO. Even a slight damage drop is enough to make an attack take longer to make a KO, so there's really no reason to add insult to injury by weakening the KBG as well.

Also, Brawl's stale move mechanics are very crippling to the fighters who don't have very many KO moves.

In terms of combo games, a fighter's d-throw could always be set up so that its KBG is low, while the BKB is high enough to put any fighter in a tumbling animation; this in return would enable the attacking fighter to perform a follow-up attack without the fear of its target retaliating or dodging, assuming that the knockback angle is mostly vertical.

Plus what’s wrong with smart CPUs, don’t smash players want more of a challenge, something they mock Brawl for?
Honestly, I’ve never experienced these issues, and I usually play with at least level 7 CPU, so if the easiest are this bad, then the harder ones must be pathetic.

If you want a challenge, you can just buff up the difficulty. But against level 1 CPUs, their resistance should be quite minimal, much like with Melee's level 1 CPUs; they would rarely attack, and lack the knowledge to perform advanced maneuvers, which includes shield-grabbing.

 

[Captain Shades]

The thing is, damage dealt already plays a factor in how quickly an attack can KO. Even a slight damage drop is enough to make an attack take longer to make a KO, so there's really no reason to add insult to injury by weakening the KBG as well.

Also, Brawl's stale move mechanics are very crippling to the fighters who don't have very many KO moves.

In terms of combo games, a fighter's d-throw could always be set up so that its KBG is low, while the BKB is high enough to put any fighter in a tumbling animation; this in return would enable the attacking fighter to perform a follow-up attack without the fear of its target retaliating or dodging, assuming that the knockback angle is mostly vertical.

I gotcha. This is probably why there are infinite chain grabs. Yeah, Brawl has some major issues, and definitely should have had an extra year as obviously the team was rushed/under staffed. With that said though, I still can’t hate it. The game was very ambitious and had more modes than 4 that seemed polished and complete, as 4’s modes, Smash Run and especially Tour, have many issues and seem unfinished in some areas.

Extra Note - I actually like Smash Run a lot, as it feels like a mini Subspace, so I hope it makes a return. I just think the whole not being able to see your friends and even the lack of multiple stages makes it feel incomplete. Smash Tour could be fun, but since I have no idea what’s going on half the time, I can’t really fully enjoy it. I’ll admit, I’m a little harsh on 4, which I shouldn’t be as 3DS is actually really good, it’s just the Wii U version that seems heavily lacking in many ways.

 

[Heatswave]

Voted for Brawl, although I also have fond memories of 64 and Melee... I could never really get that much into 4, don't know why, did never resonate with me as much as the other three.
But it's probably more of an emotional thing than mechanical or rational. I grew up with the first three games and Brawl was the (emotional) high point for me with that many fighters and the story mode with great cutscenes...
But I must admit that I'm really hyped for Ultimate, much more than I ever was for 4, so hopefully I can recreate some of the emotional aspects.

 

[MrRoidley]

While I have similar enjoyment with Melee, Brawl and Wii U at the end of the day, and each of them have their strengths and shortcomings, I think I have to give it to Melee

Up to now, the jump from 64 to Melee was the biggest. Playing Melee as a kid and seeing something much bigger than 64 in all aspects was huge.
Plus it has my favorite singleplayer. Granted that Adventure isn't too different from Classic, but going through it with all characters, with the creative stages, was really fun. Classic was awesome, my fave iteration in the series
And overall it had the best stage selection to me

 

[Dixie Kong]

So since the first two games are without a doubt my favorites, here are my pros and cons for the last two games:

Brawl:
Pros:
Great stage builder
Subspace was pretty cool (at least a great attempt)
Awesome newcomers
Trophy minigame

Cons:
Gameplay (slower, and tripping)
Had the weakest stages in my opinion

4:
Pros:
Better gameplay than Brawl
Better Stages than Brawl
Amiibos
Smash Run
Tourney was fine

Cons:
The worst possible roster list for me (AKA, barely any of my most wanteds)
Trophy Rush
Terrible stage builder


Not sure which I should give the edge, but Brawl had much better replay value for me because of its stage builder.