Will Playing Sm4sh Make You Worse at Melee?

[BigBubbs]

I've been playing a lot of Sm4sh lately, and I was wondering if this is bad for your Melee skills, since they're such different games, and maybe playing one will mess with your muscle memory for the other? Just curious.

Thanks for replying!

 

[AirFair]

Most likely. The combos and speed are a lot different between the two, so it's not just the muscle memory that's affected, it's also vastly different in terms of mechanics. Splitting your time between the games does not mean you can't improve at both, it's just harder and will most likely take more time depending on you.

 

[Gen.Excel]

I found that playing Sm4sh didn't affect my melee gameplay to a great extent. I often forget I can airdodge safely in Smash 4 and I also frequently try to l-cancel, but aside from that I'm able to think of the games as different and adapt.
The biggest differences in gameplay in my opinion are ledge grabs (It's hard to get used to smash 4 edgeguarding as opposed to simply wavedash+grabledge) and also using my shield a lot more in Smash 4.
Rolls are super slow and punishable in melee as opposed to fast and mostly safe in Sm4sh, so I have trouble landing good punishes on players spamming rolls.
As long as you're not trying to play both games competitively it shouldn't make that much of a difference.

 

[BigBubbs]

I found that playing Sm4sh didn't affect my melee gameplay to a great extent. I often forget I can airdodge safely in Smash 4 and I also frequently try to l-cancel, but aside from that I'm able to think of the games as different and adapt.
The biggest differences in gameplay in my opinion are ledge grabs (It's hard to get used to smash 4 edgeguarding as opposed to simply wavedash+grabledge) and also using my shield a lot more in Smash 4.
Rolls are super slow and punishable in melee as opposed to fast and mostly safe in Sm4sh, so I have trouble landing good punishes on players spamming rolls.
As long as you're not trying to play both games competitively it shouldn't make that much of a difference.

Now, here's a harder question...

What if I have the same main for both games?

 

[BigBubbs]

Most likely. The combos and speed are a lot different between the two, so it's not just the muscle memory that's affected, it's also vastly different in terms of mechanics. Splitting your time between the games does not mean you can't improve at both, it's just harder and will most likely take more time depending on you.

Famous last words: Well, if M2K can do it, so can I!

 

[Dark Byte]

Now, here's a harder question...

What if I have the same main for both games?

Having the same main will make it even more confusing when you switch back and forth. The moves and character model will be similar but your actual playstyle and move choices will be totally different. In my opinion you should just pick one fighting game to get good at and stick with it. Sm4sh has such a forgiving buffer on everything, it makes it hard to adjust back to melee's tighter and more precise timings. Personally I would rather be great at one game than decent at two games, but not everyone is as competitive as I am.

 

[BigBubbs]

Having the same main will make it even more confusing when you switch back and forth. The moves and character model will be similar but your actual playstyle and move choices will be totally different. In my opinion you should just pick one fighting game to get good at and stick with it. Sm4sh has such a forgiving buffer on everything, it makes it hard to adjust back to melee's tighter and more precise timings. Personally I would rather be great at one game than decent at two games, but not everyone is as competitive as I am.

Okay.
I'll take that advice to heart.
Thank you!!

 

[FoxE]

I'd say yes because it makes you think that basic strategies will allow you to win. Making the game not as deep as Melee would be. Of course I'm talking about the mental side of Smash.

 

[Jebus244]

I believe the only thing you can transfer from smash 4 to melee is your ability to read your opponent. All the buffered movements and safe defensive tactics in smash 4 make it completely different game. Not to mention the finger dexterity gained from melee has almost no use in smash 4.