I noticed a few things looking at the screenshots of the final smashes. The characters are either running away, being demolished, or dodging the attacks. Why isn’t anyone shielding the attacks. Maybe shielding is futile against the final smashes. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that I hadn’t seen a screenshot of any character shielding yet.
<p align="center"> <a href="http://smashboards.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/06/scr_086.jpg" title="scr_086.jpg"><img src="http://smashboards.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/06/scr_086.jpg" alt="scr_086.jpg" /></a></p>
This shot comes the closest to showing a shield. Fox’s arms are bent as if shielding Mario’s attack except there’s no colorful bubble. Perhaps Sakurai felt the shields would be unattractive for the screenshots and removed their graphic before taking the picture. Maybe shielding has been changed for Brawl and there’s a new way to defend against attacks. Whatever the truth is, it would be good to discuss just how good the shields are in Super Smash Bros. Melee. <!--more-->
Winning in Melee is all about spacing and timing. To strike your opponent, you have to be close enough to make contact. This is spacing. To successfully land a blow once in rage, you have to be aware of how fast your moves come out, or how long they last. This timing. It’s simple to see how space and time work together at the heart of this fighting game. These same parameters apply to shielding. When holding either L or R, a colorful translucent orb encapsulates your character. The time it takes to put up a shield or let it go is very quick, allowing for players to defend themselves as a reaction. If an attack hits the shield, the shield absorbs the shock preventing the player from being hit. However, the force of the attack puts stun on the shield too preventing it from being dropped or let go of as quickly. The stronger the attack, the more stun is transfered to the shield.
<p align="center"><a href="http://smashboards.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/06/supersmashxdate8.jpg" title="supersmashxdate8.jpg"><img src="http://smashboards.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/06/supersmashxdate8.jpg" alt="supersmashxdate8.jpg" /></a></p>
To prevent the shield from being used to indefinitely protect one’s character, the shield shrinks over time. This is dynamic for several reasons. The more the shield shrinks the less area it can protect. If the shield becomes too small, it breaks leaving the player woozy and open for any attack. As the shield shrinks, it maintains its circular shape. Naturally, the first parts to become exposed are the head and feet. In order to protect these areas with a smaller shield, the shield can be moved around by moving the control stick softly. If they try to hit your head, move it up some. If they’re stabbing at your feet, move it down. The smaller the shield gets, the more the players has to know about the spacing and timing of the oncoming attacks. The small character’s shield generally cover more of their body especially if they’re round like a Kirby. The bigger (usually stronger) characters extremities poke out of their shields very quickly.
To prevent shield from being assaulted from attack after attack that applies so much stun that the defender is pinned in place practically paralyzed, the player has a variety of dodging and attacking options. Just by moving the control stick left or right while shielding, the player can roll away invincible for a short period of time. By moving the stick down, the character dodges on the spot. By hitting up or any of the jump buttons, you can jump out of shield. With a few advanced techniques, you can even up+B or up smash directly from your shield.
These options are great, however, the most effective move from a shield is “shield grabbing.” Simply by hitting the A button while shielding, the shield is dropped and the character immediately grabs. This is an easy way to reverse a situation. Most attacks will leave the attacker vulnerable for a moment making shield grabbing very effective.
Being able to attack from a shield may seem counter intuitive or cheap, but there are only two attack possibilities for the defender to use while the attacker can use any of their moves without worrying about stun. This is why the advantage is always on the attacker’s side. This is important because it encourages active playing and attacking instead of defending.
So far shielding is simple and complex at the same time. All that I have discussed primarily involves the heavy shield. The heavy shield is the darkest colored shield that comes up when the triggers are held completely in until they click. Because these triggers have different levels of pressure, shields in Melee have different densities. By barely pressing the triggers (or by pressing and holding the Z button) a light shield comes up. The main differences between the heavy (normal) shield and the light shield is the light shield trades size for durability. Though the light shield is bigger than the heavy shield, it shrinks much more quickly when under attack. Also, the light shield grips the ground less than the heavy shield. When attacked, the light shield causes the character to slide in the same direction as the force of the attack. This can be a good or a bad thing.
<p align="center"><a href="http://smashboards.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/06/supersmashxdate6.jpg" title="supersmashxdate6.jpg"><img src="http://smashboards.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/06/supersmashxdate6.jpg" alt="supersmashxdate6.jpg" /></a></p>
The shield was also specifically designed to balance the game by adding two more features. By activating the shield right before a projectile hits you, the projectile is reflected and travels along the reversed trajectory. It’s called power shielding. If this same technique is used against an attack, the shield is instantly dropped without taking stun from the attack. This allows the defender to retaliate quickly instead of being slowed down by shield stun. Because of these shield techniques, all projectiles can potentially be reversed to hurt the player who sent them. It makes some players think twice before shooting, throwing, or launching anything. Unfortunately, using this techniques on attacks doesn’t always produce fruitful results. Some attacks have multiple hits that practically ignore all the hard work that’s involved with the timing and spacing of a power shield.
As as a final design point, the big round colorful shields are easy to see when the game is zoomed out. It’s like a beacon that tells you who is shielding and where.
With all this detail put into shielding, I highly doubt they’ll remove the colored bubbles from the game. I hope they fix power shielding, but other than that, they’re nearly perfect as they are.
<p align="center"> <a href="http://smashboards.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/06/scr_086.jpg" title="scr_086.jpg"><img src="http://smashboards.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/06/scr_086.jpg" alt="scr_086.jpg" /></a></p>
This shot comes the closest to showing a shield. Fox’s arms are bent as if shielding Mario’s attack except there’s no colorful bubble. Perhaps Sakurai felt the shields would be unattractive for the screenshots and removed their graphic before taking the picture. Maybe shielding has been changed for Brawl and there’s a new way to defend against attacks. Whatever the truth is, it would be good to discuss just how good the shields are in Super Smash Bros. Melee. <!--more-->
Winning in Melee is all about spacing and timing. To strike your opponent, you have to be close enough to make contact. This is spacing. To successfully land a blow once in rage, you have to be aware of how fast your moves come out, or how long they last. This timing. It’s simple to see how space and time work together at the heart of this fighting game. These same parameters apply to shielding. When holding either L or R, a colorful translucent orb encapsulates your character. The time it takes to put up a shield or let it go is very quick, allowing for players to defend themselves as a reaction. If an attack hits the shield, the shield absorbs the shock preventing the player from being hit. However, the force of the attack puts stun on the shield too preventing it from being dropped or let go of as quickly. The stronger the attack, the more stun is transfered to the shield.
<p align="center"><a href="http://smashboards.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/06/supersmashxdate8.jpg" title="supersmashxdate8.jpg"><img src="http://smashboards.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/06/supersmashxdate8.jpg" alt="supersmashxdate8.jpg" /></a></p>
To prevent the shield from being used to indefinitely protect one’s character, the shield shrinks over time. This is dynamic for several reasons. The more the shield shrinks the less area it can protect. If the shield becomes too small, it breaks leaving the player woozy and open for any attack. As the shield shrinks, it maintains its circular shape. Naturally, the first parts to become exposed are the head and feet. In order to protect these areas with a smaller shield, the shield can be moved around by moving the control stick softly. If they try to hit your head, move it up some. If they’re stabbing at your feet, move it down. The smaller the shield gets, the more the players has to know about the spacing and timing of the oncoming attacks. The small character’s shield generally cover more of their body especially if they’re round like a Kirby. The bigger (usually stronger) characters extremities poke out of their shields very quickly.
To prevent shield from being assaulted from attack after attack that applies so much stun that the defender is pinned in place practically paralyzed, the player has a variety of dodging and attacking options. Just by moving the control stick left or right while shielding, the player can roll away invincible for a short period of time. By moving the stick down, the character dodges on the spot. By hitting up or any of the jump buttons, you can jump out of shield. With a few advanced techniques, you can even up+B or up smash directly from your shield.
These options are great, however, the most effective move from a shield is “shield grabbing.” Simply by hitting the A button while shielding, the shield is dropped and the character immediately grabs. This is an easy way to reverse a situation. Most attacks will leave the attacker vulnerable for a moment making shield grabbing very effective.
Being able to attack from a shield may seem counter intuitive or cheap, but there are only two attack possibilities for the defender to use while the attacker can use any of their moves without worrying about stun. This is why the advantage is always on the attacker’s side. This is important because it encourages active playing and attacking instead of defending.
So far shielding is simple and complex at the same time. All that I have discussed primarily involves the heavy shield. The heavy shield is the darkest colored shield that comes up when the triggers are held completely in until they click. Because these triggers have different levels of pressure, shields in Melee have different densities. By barely pressing the triggers (or by pressing and holding the Z button) a light shield comes up. The main differences between the heavy (normal) shield and the light shield is the light shield trades size for durability. Though the light shield is bigger than the heavy shield, it shrinks much more quickly when under attack. Also, the light shield grips the ground less than the heavy shield. When attacked, the light shield causes the character to slide in the same direction as the force of the attack. This can be a good or a bad thing.
<p align="center"><a href="http://smashboards.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/06/supersmashxdate6.jpg" title="supersmashxdate6.jpg"><img src="http://smashboards.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/06/supersmashxdate6.jpg" alt="supersmashxdate6.jpg" /></a></p>
The shield was also specifically designed to balance the game by adding two more features. By activating the shield right before a projectile hits you, the projectile is reflected and travels along the reversed trajectory. It’s called power shielding. If this same technique is used against an attack, the shield is instantly dropped without taking stun from the attack. This allows the defender to retaliate quickly instead of being slowed down by shield stun. Because of these shield techniques, all projectiles can potentially be reversed to hurt the player who sent them. It makes some players think twice before shooting, throwing, or launching anything. Unfortunately, using this techniques on attacks doesn’t always produce fruitful results. Some attacks have multiple hits that practically ignore all the hard work that’s involved with the timing and spacing of a power shield.
As as a final design point, the big round colorful shields are easy to see when the game is zoomed out. It’s like a beacon that tells you who is shielding and where.
With all this detail put into shielding, I highly doubt they’ll remove the colored bubbles from the game. I hope they fix power shielding, but other than that, they’re nearly perfect as they are.
Good story as always and for so early in the morning. Id have to agree on the fact that they probably wont get rid of them. Maybe Sakurai was waiting to put up a post in the “how to play” section named “Shielding, it helps”. I dont know if thats wat it will be called but I bet he’ll make one. After that he’ll add pics with the shield. Oh and First comment woot! 