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Which Smash Will Reward You The Most?

DanDiCa

Smash Rookie
Joined
Nov 23, 2014
Messages
6
Location
In your heart
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DanDiCa
This one is speaking competitive wise obviously but I was curious about it.

lately after putting some time and improvement on Smash 4, made me wonder about this... Which smash game is the one what will reward you the most as a competitive player?

so far Melee seems to have taken the most important events and actually attention, but... I slowly start to see that Project M shows some potential (actually getting updates which might be a special factor since it might keep its audience "entertained" by bringing new stuff once in a while) to actually substitute Melee and replace it from the Big competitive scenes.

regarding on Smash 4, I have seen on YouTube and other forums many complaints about it still being "pretty slow" and "not fun to watch" even though it is a great game (imo), many comments such as "this game is not competitive viable" made me wonder, does smash 4 has potential to catch a big audience and actually reward its top players as same as Melee?, it can be noticed by the "hype" people put when it comes on Melee tournaments and Smash 4 tournaments, it seems that Melee players are even more rewarded by the crowd and public in general than Smash 4 players, I mean... Melee is the one at EVO.

I don't know if there has been another thread like this since I'm not that active in the forums but I was wondering about this topic and expecting some smash veterans lighten my existence in this question.
 

Grump

Smash Apprentice
Joined
Mar 15, 2008
Messages
131
Location
Florida
I imagine smash 4 has the potential to be better, but it'll depend largely on what type of metagame we can discover and how that evolves over time. The thing about Melee is that the speed and game-pace (not to mention the technically-demanding aspect) does lend it to be a more entertaining watch right away. Smash 4 is more about mindgames and knowing character match-ups than Melee is (opinion), and that'll be perhaps more fun to play, but it's up to us to create that hype the same way Melee's hype was created.
 

Raijinken

Smash Master
Joined
Dec 8, 2013
Messages
4,420
Location
Durham, NC
From a mental perspective, it depends on the player. I suck at tech but can read well, so Smash4 is way more rewarding to me than Melee and PM, because I can actually feel like I'm decent at Smash4 instead of just playing friends who aren't as good. Mileage may vary.

From a spectator perspective, it still depends. Melee's got speed, but it's lacking in character diversity at the higher end. Smash4 may lose that diversity as it ages (unless Sakurai and Nandai change their mind and push more frequent patches), but for now, you'll see more unique matchups in a significantly brighter and nicer-looking graphic style on Smash4, which some players may prefer. Furthermore, with the relative lack of advanced techniques, it's far easier to actually follow the events of the game. You lose the OMGWTF effect when players do something mind-blowingly complex and quick and effective, but some people prefer to trade that for actually knowing what is going on at all times. It makes it more of an understandable event (kinda like watching real sports, or so I hear) that spectators can relate to, instead of a magical display of technical skill that leaves players confused but impressed. But again, whether you prefer comprehension or flash depends entirely on your personality. But as someone who has tried to get several friends into spectating both pro Smash and pro Dota, at least my friends seem to prefer watching things that are more straightforward unless I'm around to give them the play-by-play breakdown of what on earth is actually happening.

And from a financial perspective, only time will tell. A bigger financial reward speaks for itself in that aspect.

Melee has its draws that appeal to a lot of the competitive crowd, as well as the spectator crowd. Brawl, too, had its draws, but had other issues that kept it from really catching on either from a spectator or competitor stance. Smash4 doesn't seem to share those same flaws, with its faster speed, more-punishable defensive game, and so on. It also skips some of the subjective draws of Melee with its near-lack of traditional advanced techniques, but has its own unique draws with the more balanced viability of offensive and defensive playstyles and character designs, the revised (in my opinion, vastly improved) edge game, etc.

There's nothing objectively "unviable" about Smash4 competitively. It's purely a matter of if it will draw a big enough player and spectator crowd to compete with the existing standard that is Melee. I'd love for them both (and Project M, too, though honestly I'd rather PM replace Melee entirely) to see continued competitive growth.
 
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