The Halloween Captain
Smash Master
Smash bros. has always been a fun game about battling with your favorite characters using unique, clever fighting mechanics. Win or lose, items or no items, 1 v. 1 or free-for-all, the premise stays the same, and a good time is had by all.
Competitive smash, however, doesn't make sense. It developed because people wanted to get better at this game. some of them went to extremes. That is, they began searching for frame-rate data, memorizing specific matchups, started relying on only "good" characters, and taking all the randomness out of the game.
Why?
It is not normal to study a game. Even the concept of "practice," which is seen often in the world of sports, is rather odd, as the objective is to become better so that you can win. The problem with this is it takes the "recreation" out of the game. It stops being as fun and light-hearted as it once was, and in many cases limits those involved to a select few characters, maps, and rulesets, while forcing them to learn new tactics and practice those tactics until perfected. A game with more than 3 dominant characters is often considered "balanced," and a game you have to invest a lot of practice and research to be good at is "deep." The exact depth is determined by how many levels of play there are, a game where many high level players can destroy eachother such that matches are consistently won by the slightly superior player tend to be "very deep."
The problem therefore shows itself thusly: If one is to be good and practice anything, why on earth would it be smash? The skills are only worth something until the next smash comes out. It limits the practical gameplay possibilities to few characters, and the number becomes especially small the higher up the player tiers one goes. It requires an absolutely incredible amount of knowledge and practice to be good at. And ultimately, all one learns from the experience is how to do a select few very precise button presses consistently. And maybe, just maybe, a player is enough of a genious (and a recluse) to win back the hours spent in front of a screen on a game that was meant to be played much differently than the way the player decided to play it.
How can being competitive be more fun than being non-competitive?
Competitive smash, however, doesn't make sense. It developed because people wanted to get better at this game. some of them went to extremes. That is, they began searching for frame-rate data, memorizing specific matchups, started relying on only "good" characters, and taking all the randomness out of the game.
Why?
It is not normal to study a game. Even the concept of "practice," which is seen often in the world of sports, is rather odd, as the objective is to become better so that you can win. The problem with this is it takes the "recreation" out of the game. It stops being as fun and light-hearted as it once was, and in many cases limits those involved to a select few characters, maps, and rulesets, while forcing them to learn new tactics and practice those tactics until perfected. A game with more than 3 dominant characters is often considered "balanced," and a game you have to invest a lot of practice and research to be good at is "deep." The exact depth is determined by how many levels of play there are, a game where many high level players can destroy eachother such that matches are consistently won by the slightly superior player tend to be "very deep."
The problem therefore shows itself thusly: If one is to be good and practice anything, why on earth would it be smash? The skills are only worth something until the next smash comes out. It limits the practical gameplay possibilities to few characters, and the number becomes especially small the higher up the player tiers one goes. It requires an absolutely incredible amount of knowledge and practice to be good at. And ultimately, all one learns from the experience is how to do a select few very precise button presses consistently. And maybe, just maybe, a player is enough of a genious (and a recluse) to win back the hours spent in front of a screen on a game that was meant to be played much differently than the way the player decided to play it.
How can being competitive be more fun than being non-competitive?