Should Ultimate have a "Tutorial mode"?

[TheMisterManGuy]

Smash Bros. has always been at its core a party-friendly fighting game, but was also always intended to have some depth underneath its simplicity. Ultimate, more so than ever though, is actively encouraging competitive play, and is looking to streamline a lot of these advanced techniques, making them easier to pull off for newcomers who want to get good. Do you think it should go further however, and have a sort of "Tutorial mode" to run a casual gamer through the ropes of many of its mechanics, including more advanced, competitive-focused tactics? Many fighting games have been including one lately, and having a tutorial like this could help Smash Bros. in the long run, teaching newcomers everything from Attacking and Movement, to Perfect shielding, dash canceling, and DI. Hell, you could have Pit and Palutena host this mode, letting their witty banter explain the specifics in a simple, easy to learn way.

 

[Khao]

I hope so. As simple as Smash is, a lot of people still struggle to understand the difference between tilts and smashes, or walking and dashing. Or even recoveries in general. "How to Play" shouldn't be a movie anymore.

 

[TheMisterManGuy]

a lot of people still struggle to understand the difference between tilts and smashes

Technically, tilts are officially referred to as "Strong attacks". Nintendo did put out some basic tips and techniques videos for Smash 3DS when it launched, even released some for Brawl on the Wii's Nintendo Channel. But I think this kind of teaching should be baked right into the game this time around.

 

[aarchak]

I think a tutorial mode where the game is taught to newbies in like 5 minutes, especially teaching recovery, would be super nice. I have previously played with people at gatherings who didn't know how to play the game and them trying to figure it out was terrible, they died the second they went offstage. I don't want that to happen again.

 

[osby]

I personally have zero interest in learning advanced techniques but considering this game's increased speed, it might be a good idea to going over everything. People sometimes forget Smash is supposed to make things easier for the newcomers.

PS: Pit and Palutena idea sounds fun.

 

[Fell God]

You sure like bringing up interesting talking points. Honestly, for me, it wouldn't matter since I'm already...hm, there's no real way to say you're good without sounding cocky...let's go with competent! However, I think the best way to go about How To Play is to do something similar to, say, for example For Honor (it doesn't suck like everyone says I promise) where there are basic and advanced tutorial videos specifically for each character. Ultimate could take this a step further and allow you to practice what you've learned, perfect certain techniques and combos for your character. But one really big thing when it comes to being good at Smash has nothing to do with what you do with your controller at all: you can't really teach mindgames and such, but in the end whatever they do will probably work. After all, experience is probably the best teacher anyway.

 

[Smash Lampjaw]

It's a good idea individually, say an option to play through a more advanced tutorial when you boot up the game for the first time and then have it be in the menu for future reference. Have a full match with an easy AI opponent so they can feel it instead of read it. It might even do some of the more prolific players well to try it, in case Ultimate adds anything unique to the combat we haven't seen before.

Unfortunately, I can't see a social gathering happening where everyone has to wait for every new player to sit through a 5 minute tutorial when a room full of people want to get into it, though, including the new players who don't want to hold everyone up. I think most people would rather quickly explain the controls to them and go easy as they let them play around until the basics click.

I've never been to a gathering that does this, but maybe putting the movie on so they can watch it together would be the best option in that scenario. Have the first match with some of the familiar players to demonstrate how it works, then let the new players have a match against each other, that kind of thing. Experience is the best education.

I don't think anyone expects juggling, meteor smashing, effective rolling, or sometimes even recovery past double jumping in someone's first match, and it won't do them well to get advanced techniques in their heads as a main priority as long as they're able to recognize the game and get a feel for how it works first. You don't want them to quit if they think it's too complicated. They'll know after a few rounds if Smash is something they're interested in getting more into.

 

[lucasla]

Would be nice. Always I reunite my friends to play I first force them to train for about 10 minutes with me in some stage, just to explain the controllers for them... how to move, how to run, how to recover, how to dodge, attack, the differences between the attacks... Cause if I don't do that, they will just play pressing any button in some crazy way hoping for some result.
I dont think a tutorial would help in this situation, cause everyone would need to do the tutorial alone and it takes some boring time, but for a single person that is playing the game for the first time, a tutorial would be appreciated.

 

[TheMisterManGuy]

It's a good idea individually, say an option to play through a more advanced tutorial when you boot up the game for the first time and then have it be in the menu for future reference. Have a full match with an easy AI opponent so they can feel it instead of read it. It might even do some of the more prolific players well to try it, in case Ultimate adds anything unique to the combat we haven't seen before.

Unfortunately, I can't see a social gathering happening where everyone has to wait for every new player to sit through a 5 minute tutorial when a room full of people want to get into it, though, including the new players who don't want to hold everyone up. I think most people would rather quickly explain the controls to them and go easy as they let them play around until the basics click.

I've never been to a gathering that does this, but maybe putting the movie on so they can watch it together would be the best option in that scenario. Have the first match with some of the familiar players to demonstrate how it works, then let the new players have a match against each other, that kind of thing. Experience is the best education.

I don't think anyone expects juggling, meteor smashing, effective rolling, or sometimes even recovery past double jumping in someone's first match, and it won't do them well to get advanced techniques in their heads as a main priority as long as they're able to recognize the game and get a feel for how it works first. You don't want them to quit if they think it's too complicated. They'll know after a few rounds if Smash is something they're interested in getting more into.

I think a good idea would be to have the tutorial segments be unlockables. Start with movement and attacks first, then have the player unlock the other segments through gameplay so that they can get a feel for the basics. I would also make the conditions to unlock them much easier than other unlockables so that the player doesn't feel like they have to work too hard for their lessons.