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Why Ultimate (nearly) has the best Classic Mode, IMO

Perkilator

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These are all my honest feelings about Ultimate's Classic Mode, along with a brief rundown of how it works (for those who might be out of the loop). I apologize if this OP is agonizingly long.

Classic Mode mural.jpg


Each fighter has a pre-determined route related to that character (be it in-universe or in context of Smash) that ends with a different encounter (usually a boss from World of Light) that's not always Master Hand or Crazy Hand. There's 6 rounds, a bonus game, and then the final round. For example:

Kirby: Gourmet Clash
Classic Mode example.jpeg

Kirby faces characters who love to eat things (PAC-MAN, for example, becuase why not?); the route itself is a reference to Kirby Super Star's Gourmet Race subgame, as each round starts with food items. The final round is a boss battle against Marx, the final boss of Kirby Super Star (funny that, since that's the same game that has Gourmet Race).

There are multiple things that can happen in each round depending on the context of that characters route (from simple things like Stamina Battles to the aforementioned food appearing in Kirby's route). The bosses you can face are:

Master Hand (& Crazy Hand, on 7.0 or higher)
Crazy Hand by himself (unless you're above 7.0, cause Master Hand joins him again)
Giga Bowser (a boss for the first time since Melee)
Galleom (back from Brawl)
Ganon (straight out of Ocarina of Time, death animation and everything)
Marx (and yes, I did mention him)
Rathalos (who's also an Assist Trophy)
and Dracula (from Castlevania, if you couldn't tell)


For every route you win, the difficulty scale increases depending on how much damage you take and how long each round takes (and that boost increases depending on how far you are on the scale). If you lose a round, you can either spend gold to decrease the difficulty by .7 or use a Classic Ticket to keep the difficulty the same, but at the cost of the difficulty boost being less than it normally would if you were doing really well. You can start Classic Mode between 0.0 and 5.0 (meaning you have to earn to way up 9.9) and even use a Ticket to start to earn more rewards, perhaps even another Ticket (yeah, they're good for something other than continues!).

With so many characters having their own little story for each playthrough, this Classic Mode has the most variety by far, since no two routes are the same (not counting 2-player Classic Mode, since P2 is just tagging along for P1's route). Seems like it should be the best in the series, right? ...Okay, a concept like this existing at all is pretty subjective when it comes to thoughts and feelings. While it's my favorite Classic Mode...it just barely falls short of being the "best".

There are actually quite a few noticeable problems with Ultimate's Classic Mode (most of which are minor compared to others), so I'm going to go over each problem one by one.


Problem 1: The difficulty scale
This is my biggest problem with Ultimate's Classic Mode, so it'll get more tame after this. It literally only goes higher based on your damage and time, which means you'll have to go for no damage as quick as possible to get the highest possible boost depending on where you are on the scale after each round. This also applies to bosses as well, which means you'll barely get a boost for **** if you aren't basically playing like a god (the best difficulty scale scores I got came from the battles against Master Hand). And even ignoring bosses, good luck getting a good boost when the CPU decides to go haywire on you for no reason. On 2.0 difficulty.


Problem 2: Boss distribution

Technically my second biggest problem. Of the 6 non-Hand bosses in the game, a lot of them feel severely underused in favor of said Hands. Just to properly show where that problem lies, here are the non-Hand bosses at the end of each route:

Giga Bowser
:ultmario:
:ultfalcon:

Galleom
:ultdarkpit:
:ultsnake:
:ultrob:
:ultwolf:
:ultmegaman:
(Round 6; Guts Man Stage)
:ultkrool:
:ultminmin (ARMS Grand Prix Final Battle)

Ganon
:ultlink:
:ultzelda:
(Death Mountain)
:ultyounglink:
:ulttoonlink:

Marx
:ultkirby:
:ultrosalina:

:ultinkling: (Calamari Inkantation)

Rathalos
:ultyoshi:
:ultbowser: (Round 6)
:ultmarth:
:ultduckhunt:
:ultpiranha:
:ulthero: (Round 4: Fighting Spirits - DRAGON QUEST III)

Dracula
:ultluigi:
:ultpacman: (Dwelling of Doom)
:ultsimon:
:ultrichter: (Dance of Illusion)

Crazy Hand by himself
:ultfalco:
:ultken:

And the rest is either all Master Hand and Crazy Hand or neither at all (:ultjigglypuff::ultbayonetta::ult_terry: end with a character battle and no boss). I think you can see from Giga Bowser alone (and I guess technically Crazy Hand, as well) why this is pretty wrong. I understand that it's not Classic Mode without the Hands, but having them as the boss of nearly every single route makes it seem so boring. This quote right here from another user sums it up perfectly:
I too wish we had more bosses, and I wish they were more evenly-distributed among Classic Mode routes. The other bosses have such cool designs in terms of fighting, but if you try to clear Classic with every character, have fun fighting the hands like, 80% of the time. Oh, what's that? Ike's Classic route is called "Black-Clad Warriors"? So he fights Dracula who wears black, right? Nope. Hands.
So, yeah. If I could distribute the bosses more evenly, here's how I'd do it (spoiler tagged for size):
Usual Song: Giga Bowser
:ultmario: (King Bowser - Super Mario Bros. 3)
:ultfalcon:
:ultdaisy:
:ultganondorf: (Fated Battle)
:ultwiifittrainer:
:ultlittlemac:
:ultincineroar: (not preceded by :ultbowser:; team battle w/:ultgreninja:)
Usual Song: Boss Battle Song 1 (Brawl)
:ultsheik:
:ultdarkpit: (team battle w/:ultpit:)
:ultsnake:
:ultsonic:
:ultrob:
:ultwolf: (Boss Battle - Super Smash Bros. Brawl)
:ultmegaman: (Round 6; Guts Man Stage)
:ultshulk: (Round 6, while :ultmegaman: gets moved to the Final Round)
:ultcloud:
:ultkrool:
:ultminmin (ARMS Grand Prix Final Battle)
Usual Song: Calamity Ganon Battle - Second Form
:ultlink:
:ultzelda: (preceded by :ultganondorf:; Death Mountain)
:ultyounglink:
:ultroy:
:ultkingdedede: (CROWNED)
:ultpalutena: (preceded by :ultganondorf:; Hades' Infernal Theme)
:ultbanjokazooie: (team battle w/:ultdiddy:)
Usual Song: Vs. Marx
:ultkirby:
:ultfox:
:ultness: (team battle w/:ultlucas:)
:ultdoc:
:ultmetaknight:
:ultolimar:
:ultrosalina: (team battle w/:ultmario:)
:ultinkling: (Calamari Inkantation)
:ultridley:
Usual Song: Roar/Rathalos
:ultsamus:
:ultyoshi:
:ultpeach:
:ultbowser: (Round 6; Fortress Boss - Super Mario Bros. 3)
:ultmarth:
:ultrobin: (Id (Purpose) (Remix))
:ultduckhunt:
:ultbayonetta: (Round 6, while the Pits are moved to the Final Round; Let's Hit the Climax!)
:ultpiranha:
:ulthero: (Round 4; Fighting Spirits - DRAGON QUEST III)
:ultbyleth: (Team battle w/:ultmarth:; Code Name: F.E.)
Usual Song: Nothing to Lose / Black Night
:ultluigi:
:ultgnw:
:ultpit: (team battle w/:ultdarkpit:)
:ultlucas:
:ultwario:
:ultike: (Against the Dark Knight)
:ultpacman: (Dwelling of Doom)
:ultsimon: (team battle w/:ultrichter:)
Usual Song: Master Hand or Master Hand / Crazy Hand
:ultdk: (team battle w/:ultdiddy:; New Donk City Hall Ω)
:ultpikachu:
:ultjigglypuff: (preceded by Giant :ultdk:; Final Destination - Super Smash Bros.)
:ulticeclimbers:
:ultpichu:
:ultlucina:
:ultmewtwo: (team battle w/:ultpikachu:; Battle! Lorekeeper Zinnia)
:ultchrom: (team battle w/:ultrobinf:)
:ultzss:
:ultpokemontrainer:
:ultdiddy: (team battle w/:ultdk:)
:ultlucario:
:ulttoonlink: (team battle w/:ulttoonlink::ulttoonlink:)
:ultgreninja:
:ultbowserjr:
:ultryu: (M. Bison Stage Type A)
:ultcorrin:
:ultisabelle:
:ultjoker: (Mementos Ω; Our Beginning)
:ult_terry: (KOF Stadium Ω; Soy Sauce for Geese - FATAL FURY SPECIAL)
Usual Song: Crazy Hand
:ultdarksamus: (Team battle w/Meta :ultridley: )
:ultfalco:
:ultvillager:
:ultken:
:ultrichter: (Dracula’s Castle Ω; Dance of Illusions)
:ultpikachu: (Vs. :ultmewtwo: before Master Hand; Red/Blue Medley)
:ultjigglypuff: (Vs. Giant :ultdk: before Master Hand; Jungle Level (64))
:ultbowser: (Vs. :ultmario: (Fated Battle), then Metal :ultmario: (Metal Battle))
:ultpokemontrainer: (Vs. :ultmewtwo: before Master Hand; Red/Blue Medley)
:ultmegaman: (Vs. :ultdoc: (We’re Robots), then :ultmewtwo: (Mega Man 2 Medley))
:ultryu: (Vs. :ultganondorf:, before Master Hand; Sagat Stage Type A))
:ultbayonetta: (Vs. :ultpit:x6, then Giant :ultpalutena:; The Legend of Aesir)
:ulthero: (Vs. :ultrobin: (Fighting Spirits - DRAGON QUEST III), then Giant :ultridley: (Battle for the Glory)

Problem 3: Variety isn't everywhere
Remember when I said no two routes are the exact same and this has the most variety out of any Classic Mode? Well, I never said no two themes were the exact same. A lot of themes for some routes gets reused more than the team has any right to. Be it:

Darkness (:ultlink::ultfalco:)
All Pokemon characters (:ultpikachu::ultpokemontrainer::ultgreninja:)
Close-range combat (:ultfalcon::ultlittlemac:)
Duos especially (:ulticeclimbers::ultchrom::ultdiddy::ultbanjokazooie:)
All Fire Emblem characters (:ultlucina::ultbyleth:)
8-bit games (:ultgnw::ultpacman:)
Space also especially (:ultsamus::ultfox::ultolimar::ultrosalina::ultridley:)


If I could revise some routes with recycled (sometimes overused) themes:

:ultfalco:: Fight characters with an attitude problem
:ultlucina:: Fight characters related to different time periods.
:ultchrom:: Fight characters who act as parental figures
:ultgnw:: Fight characters from all across Nintendo's systems (from Switch to NES)
:ultpokemontrainer:: Fight characters who represent Gym Leaders (:ultmegaman: for Rock, :ultgreninja: for Water, etc.)
:ultolimar:: Fight giant characters
:ultgreninja:: Fight characters who specialize in stealth
:ultpacman:: Fight characters who appear in arcade games
:ultbanjokazooie:: Fight characters who appear in N64 games
:ultbyleth:: Fight characters who mirror Fire Emblem gameplay mechanics (:ultsquirtle::ultivysaur::ultcharizard: for the Weapon Triangle, :ultinkling::ultrobin: for durability, etc.)

One last small problem I have is the fact that there's no Target Test. I would've at least preferred a Brawl-style one for the base roster and Melee-style ones for the DLC characters.

So yeah, that's basically it. Feel free to leave your thoughts and opinions in the replies below.
 
Last edited:

StrangeKitten

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The scoring system is rough if you're a nut like me who has tried to get two million with as many characters as I could. You get more points the more attacks you land, but of course, you want to get hit as little as possible and finish the round in a timely matter because you want 9.9 by the end. If anyone's looking for a challenge, getting two million points is the way to go.

I've done it with :ultbowser:, :ultyoshi:, :ultwolf:, :ultkrool:, and :ultpiranha:. Tried countless times with :ultincineroar: but I've never surpassed 1.9 million. Can back up the fact that CPUs are a crapshoot who will at times be stupid diffcult regardless of your difficulty number
 

Quillion

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Messages
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If I were to change classic mode at all, I would do the following: You can select a character, then you can select another character's route to play on. However, to unlock alternate routes, you would need to beat the selected character's route, and then beat the route of the other character you want to play on.

So if you want to do Mario on Link's route, first you have to beat Mario's route and Link's route.
 

RetrogamerMax

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I really miss Break the Targets man and I mean classic Break the Targets from 64/Melee/Brawl not Smash 4's Angry Birds ****. Classic Mode needs Break the Targets to be perfect.
 

Perkilator

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If I were to change classic mode at all, I would do the following: You can select a character, then you can select another character's route to play on. However, to unlock alternate routes, you would need to beat the selected character's route, and then beat the route of the other character you want to play on.

So if you want to do Mario on Link's route, first you have to beat Mario's route and Link's route.
I've been...sort of doing that by doing 2-player Classic Mode (i.e. Playing :ultpacman:'s route with :ultpacman: as P1 and :ultgnw: as P2).
 

Mario & Sonic Guy

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The highest intensity that I've gotten so far is 5.9, with only one Classic mode challenge remaining. Sadly, Ultimate's Classic mode doesn't have anything too rewarding for completing the maximum 9.9 intensity, AND using even one Classic Ticket to continue blocks you from reaching maximum intensity.

It's a shame that you can't Golden Hammer your way out of that challenge, because the effort needed to reach intensity 9.9 for a lackluster reward (Mii headgear) just isn't worth it.
 

Perkilator

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Messages
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The highest intensity that I've gotten so far is 5.9, with only one Classic mode challenge remaining. Sadly, Ultimate's Classic mode doesn't have anything too rewarding for completing the maximum 9.9 intensity, AND using even one Classic Ticket to continue blocks you from reaching maximum intensity.

It's a shame that you can't Golden Hammer your way out of that challenge, because the effort needed to reach intensity 9.9 for a lackluster reward (Mii headgear) just isn't worth it.
Yeah, you know what? The reward should've been a Smash Ball Spirit instead.
 

cmbsfm

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I think the mini game before the boss gets old fast. That definitely needs more variety among characters.
 
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