Why does this smash game feel particularly fun to play?

[elliotnz]

Is it because it rewards offensive play? Or because every character feels like its could wreck you if played right

 

[Deleted member]

Well, ignoring the competitive side of things for now it is probably because it is like a family reunion of all characters that graced at least one Smash installment, akin to Tekken Tag Tournament and Tekken Tag Tournament 2. Maybe it is the new items. Maybe the new World of Light? It could possibly be the spirits you can employ. These reasons are why I need to get Ultimate and soon.

Sayonara

 

[MG_3989]

Because it’s really really good. It’s just innately fun to play at casual and competitive levels. Sakurai worked his magic

 

[Quillion]

Because it finally unites the demands that the competitive community have been making with Sakurai's explicit goal of making these maneuvers accessible. The two big things in my view are:

• Skid canceling, which allows you to do everything out of a dash. It gives us a versatile movement option like wavedashing while making it easy to use.
• Universally low landing lag with no L-canceling caveat, which enhances combo freedom and, as you said, rewards offensive play. This finally proves to the naysayers that L-Canceling was never necessary for a fast-paced game like Melee.

With those two things and many more, the learning curve is smooth while providing a lot of playstyle freedom. It balances Brawl and Smash 4's accessibility without their restrictiveness, and Melee's learning potential without its stiffness.

 

[Sean²]

Because they put their heart and soul into making it good. You can get the same vibes from Melee and Brawl. Smash 4 was filler on a failed console in which the director was absent for a long period of the development process, AND they were walled in by limitations of 3DS development as well, which hampered the final Wii U product. It felt like playing a game that was just a shell of its predecessors, only bound by the name.

At least that's how I think of it.

 

[MG_3989]

Because they put their heart and soul into making it good. You can get the same vibes from Melee and Brawl. Smash 4 was filler on a failed console in which the director was absent for a long period of the development process, AND they were walled in by limitations of 3DS development as well, which hampered the final Wii U product. It felt like playing a game that was just a shell of its predecessors, only bound by the name.

At least that's how I think of it.

I actually agree with from my few times of playing Smash 4 (I didn’t play it regularly), but it didn’t have the same Smash magic. 64 has it, Melee has it, Brawl has it, and Ultimate definitely has it. Smash 4 just seemed a little stale to me. This is just from feeling it out a couple times but I knew how special Ultimate was as soon as I played my first match. That didn’t happen with Smash 4

 

[Crystanium]

Rewards offensive play? Ha! This game is just as campy.

 

[EGsmash]

Because people don't like gameplay that's a good balance between defense and tactical offense - they just want an unreasonable combination of heavy hitting attacks with very little endlag and low risk, high reward combo potential.

Smash 4 was cool because you could really put it all out there and either whiff or get the sweetest kill. It was slower so you had to think and plan your moves and there was an element of risk involved. Ultimate was made to please the tournament crowd and to make casuals feel like they're hitting the sickest combos when really they're just throwing out moves until a few of them connect. I guess that's fun, but to me it feels cheesy fan-service. But that's just my opinion; same reason why I like Baseball over American Footbal.

 

[Sean²]

Because people don't like gameplay that's a good balance between defense and tactical offense - they just want an unreasonable combination of heavy hitting attacks with very little endlag and low risk, high reward combo potential.

Smash 4 was cool because you could really put it all out there and either whiff or get the sweetest kill. It was slower so you had to think and plan your moves and there was an element of risk involved. Ultimate was made to please the tournament crowd and to make casuals feel like they're hitting the sickest combos when really they're just throwing out moves until a few of them connect. I guess that's fun, but to me it feels cheesy fan-service. But that's just my opinion; same reason why I like Baseball over American Footbal.

Your description of Smash 4 just described every smash title (except the slower part). Your description of Ultimate describes zero smash titles. There is just as much tactical play in this game as there has been in the past, you just have to think a little quicker now. Players throw out moves to pressure the opponent. Just now, with less worry that your attempts at shield pressure will just be negated by a grab into a ding dong or hoo hah combo. And as Crystanium said, this game is still pretty defensive. Defensive options are still really good if you compare it to Melee. But not nearly as good if you compare it to Brawl or Smash 4. Being on offense is actually worth it now, but being on defense is still viable. We have a better balance now than we ever have.

And yes, it's fan service. Fantastic fan service. Makes it almost feel like the first time Nintendo has ever listened to their fans, doesn't it?

 

[Quillion]

low risk, high reward combo potential.

Slight correction there: high tech, low risk, high reward combo potential.

That little correction there ties into two things I mentioned: learning potential and playstyle freedom. You may call the lag adding an element of risk and choice; I see it as unnecessarily restricting playstyles into being campy and defensive due to how reliable dodge options are and how throws are the only real combo starter for most of the cast.

Defensive options are still really good if you compare it to Melee. But not nearly as good if you compare it to Brawl or Smash 4. Being on offense is actually worth it now, but being on defense is still viable. We have a better balance now than we ever have.

Thank dodge staling for that. We get to have our cake and eat it too: defensive options that are reliable, but can't be spammed.

I actually thought about how good that would be before Ultimate announced that. So I got my wish.

 

[Ryu Myuutsu]

Because its a great game. Probably the best in the series.