Why Imbalance is Good in Smash

[Scav]

Lately we’ve had a number of posts regarding balance. Are items balanced? (Depends.) Characters? (More so than other games.) Do tiers exist? (Yes.) Are all levels fair? (No.)

Smash Melee is one of the deepest shallow games you will ever play. It ranks with Ikaruga and Megaman for taking a simple formula and adding layer upon layer of complexity. Movesets are a fraction of the size of those found in Soul Caliber — and they all require <em>one button</em>. Take that, Street Fighter!

Despite this, Melee is far from balanced. Fox annihilates Pichu. If you play Bowser, well, have fun against Sheik. Flatzone is absurd, and yeesh, who thought heart containers were a good idea?

What you might not know is that <em>this is a good thing</em>. Necessary, in fact, to the health of Melee and Brawl.

While reading <a href="http://glancevalve.com/2007/07/01/imbalanced-and-unfair-why-we-secretly-love-these-games.aspx">GlanceValve’s article about game imbalance</a> I found myself constantly nodding in agreement. Would Kirbykid be as passionate about the game if he didn’t have an underdog character? Maybe. But the game would lose its draw. Think of Gimpyfish, Bum, Direvulcan, and Taj. These talented players snub tier lists by playing a dangerous Bowser, Donkey Kong, Game and Watch and Mewtwo, respectively.

Be sure to check out GlanceValve’s article, and then adopt a low-tier.

 

[CJ]

Yeah i see what you mean I myself am an avid Roy and Young Link player and I constantly kick anyones butt who pokes fun at me for it

 

[kirbykid]

I thought I should say…

I hate Kirby in Melee. I like Kirby as a character.
Kirby makes me more angry than anything else. Looking at all the cool character get cooler is infuriating. Developing technique after technique that the tiers can do so much better is disheartening. Smashing an enemy at 150%+ and have them barely move at all is pointless.

Tiers are fine. Can’t avoid them. But laziness is just sadness.
Melee is such a great game, it’s sad that Kirby’s doesn’t get to be apart of it.

Complaining used to be fun…. about 4 years ago. Clearly complaining isn’t as fun as playing the game and having real fun. I seriously wanted to stop playing smash a long time ago because of Lame-ol-Kirby. The only problem was, Smash is where a lot of my friends are. We travel far to do this one thing. It’s what connects us. I didn’t really have a choice. And that’s the worst part. Fox and Marth would be powerful enough without half of the things they can do. I know they wanted to gimp Kirby, but did they have to do it on every aspect of his Character.

Look what you’ve made me do. More tears.

 

[Master Makoku]

Hopefully kirby will be better. I feel sorry for you kirbykid. If I could help I would. But look to the future kirby could be one of the best characters in brawl. Hope for that.

 

[Rupe]

“Complaining used to be fun” haha
I got a little chuckle for that because the OP had given a nod to Gimpyfish for playing Bowser (an excellent Bowser at that), but dammit that boy likes to complain.

 

[Lava]

I was just thinking that with the number of characters increasing, and movesets adjusting… there’s a chance that whether balanced or not, at least the top and high tier will have a few more characters in it. Instead of 2 and 3 respectively, maybe we could be seeing something like 4 and 4, or 4 and 5 even. Crazy I know, but… it could happen. Then again, a nice fat healthy middle tier is good too.

Upgraded Kirby ftw! (My first main in SSB64.) If they at least give him a good dash attack, I’ll be satisfied. If his smashes actually affect people, I’ll be happy. Maybe at least Meta Knight will be good.

 

[CJ]

That would rock if meta knight was good. I am personally looking forward to Pit he looks crazy kool

 

[SciFiGuy]

I bet you that half of the people who just read that article don’t even know who Bum or Taj are.

 

[CJ]

I kind of know who Taj is and he takes a massive risk playing Mewtwo. I personally like Mewtwo especially with items on.

 

[Jammin]

Taj is a monster.

 

[RC Hammer]

Taj is a geni elephant from Diddy Kong Racing! Gosh!

 

[kirbykid]

I witnessed Taj beat Wife first hand at MLG Dallas.
It was fun stuff.

 

[PrinnyFlute]

It’s worth noting that imbalance creates conflict, and that’s pretty much what games are about. It’s just a matter of doing it right.

I think one of the arguments for balance in characters isn’t that every character should have an equal chance against every other when on a completely level playing field. That’s just freakin’ absurd. ;P

Balance in a game like Smash should be more about balancing the overall game while keeping match-to-match conflicts highly heated. Just like in Rock-Paper-Scissors, no two pieces are balanced. While, say, Bowser in Brawl might get his head handed to him by a speed freak like Fox, against a middle-weight like Mario, his attacks might really start to hit home. No two pieces are balanced, but when weighed against the median, they all stand a fair chance.

Of course, you’re going to have tiers, however slight. There’s nothing wrong with having a known underdog. Things start getting a little too iffy, though, when you end up with the average player frustrated with the game as a whole because they can’t play their favorite character without being crushed into dust despite their best efforts.

All in all, though, it’s doubtful we’ll be havin’ those issues, as Brawl looks like it’s going to be more than polished enough.

 

[SciFiGuy]

Um ya last time I checked, Taj isn’t Mewtwo exclusive. He went Marth against PC at Pound 2.

 

[kirbykid]

^^^
Well put PrinnyFlute. Don’t go out of your way to make some characters really really bad. And don’t go out of you way to make some characters really really good.

 

[Falcofucker]

Falco has got to be upper tier…he is the man

 

[CJ]

He’s already number two. Roy should be at the top he rocks out loud.

 

[Falcofucker]

Cj who do you use? Just Roy

 

[SciFiGuy]

Roy sucks what are you talking about.

The only people off the top of my head that are good with him are Neo and UmbreonMow. Though Neo doesn’t play much anymore.

 

[CJ]

SciFiGuy: You suck, Roy is wicked awesome.
Falco***ker: I also use Young Link, Falco, and Jigglypuff (with the fighting headband) but yeah mostly Roy

 

[Master Makoku]

Ok two things.

1) Dont diss roy. Thats CJ’s character and CJs my homie.
2) Roy isnt that bad. Hes stronger than marth and he sets things on fire.

 

[SciFiGuy]

…you guys are terrible.

1) Roy sucks. He’s low tier. Marth is better than Roy in nearly every way.
2) Yeah, Roy is that bad. The fire doesn’t matter.

Marth is faster than Roy. Marth has a better recovery than Roy. Marth has a better sweetspot than Roy. Marth has more matchup advantages than Roy. Marth can do things than Roy can’t do such as DSHFair. Marth’s down air spikes, unlike Roy. Marth’s 3rd over b pointed down spikes people, while Roy’s does not.

Do I need to say more?

Marth is better than Roy.

 

[Falcofucker]

CJ you the man cause you use Falco…f*ck what anyone says including that imbread hemroid face Scifiguy

 

[greenblob]

Isn’t Roy slower AND weaker than Marth? I’m pretty sure if you compare most of their attacks, Marth’s attacks do more damage.

 

[Falcofucker]

MKarth is better and ive never met anoyone that likes Roy over Marth

 

[Someone]

Roy has a small advantage- his hair is slightly lighter than Marth’s so it contrasts him on a dark stage.
I never said it was worth reading.

 

[SciFiGuy]

Falco****er- You know I love space animals

 

[Johnknight1]

Good points, that is sorta why I keep playing Link, Roy, and Ness. Never see them coming, and the mindgames is the ultimate advantage! It can be good, so long as no one is broken (in which no one is), and if every character is worked on hard enough they could match any Fox, Falco, Shiek, Peach, or Marth.

 

[Falcofucker]

Johnknight, watch your mouth when you speak about falco

 

[Someone]

It’s not about the character, It’s whether you find a way to hack into the game to give YOU extra stock.

 

[SciFiGuy]

Johnknight1- That only works when you’re facing someone way below your level. If two players are equally good at the game, then a Bowser or something would lose to a Sheik everytime.

 

[Falcofucker]

Someone…your retarted

 

[Master Makoku]

I wasnt being serious. Its just funny to see you guys go crazy when I say something that doesnt make to much since. OH and did you guys ever think that maybe CJ practices a lot with roy so he’s really good with him. Im not saying that roy is great but if you practice a lot wiht any character you can make them seem like they’re on the top of the fighter list.

 

[Falcofucker]

but Flacos the best

 

[Falcofucker]

Falco**

 

[Someone]

Falco is CRAP. C-R-A-P. END OF STORY.

 

[Falcofucker]

Falco= not crap
Someone= crapface

 

[princess peach]

here we go again

 

[Falcofucker]

lol…this guy doesnt want it with me

 

[Sneaky]

Pretty much anyone can screw up any character.