Smash Bros Smash is for the Casuals: A topic on the design of the Smash series and how people miss the point

[AwdryFan1997]

Super Smash Bros. Melee was designed for the casual market. Those who played Melee discovered numerous glitches and whatnot, and began playing competitively. Super Smash Bros. Brawl attempted to destroy the competitive scene, however failed, due to the birth of mods such as Project M.

Fast-forward to now. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is a step ahead of Smash 4 in terms of basic design and appeal. However, its online modes are extremely lackluster compared to the previous entry. Why? Well, allow me to explain...

Super Smash Bros., as a series, is for the casual market. From the original on Nintendo 64 until now, the series was always designed to be fun. Not painful. Not insulting. Fun.

I'm going to fix Ultimate's online. First, we restore For Fun and For Glory, however we add a third mode, tentatively titled "For Virginity" which is where all of the "competitive" Smash players go. For Fun is for extreme casuals, while For Glory is for guys like me who are relatively good at the game however aren't little cowards who main Duck Hunt.

The next step relies on the computer players. I believe instead of the current scale system, we have three: Level Three, Level Nine, and Level HIYAA. This will create a sense of balance throughout the entire game, firmly creating tiers for people who are here to goof around, people who are here to feel satisfied, and people who are lonely and have no friends.

So, what do you think?

The statements about loneliness and virginity are intended to be humorous, by the way. I'm not sure if you can tell.

 

[Mikey the Moblin]

if smash is for casuals why do they patch top tiers

 

[AwdryFan1997]

if smash is for casuals why do they patch top tiers

So that Smash can be for casuals.

 

[Mikey the Moblin]

So that Smash can be for casuals.

...so they balance the game around competitive play
for casuals?

 

[AwdryFan1997]

...so they balance the game around competitive play
for casuals?

Since when has competitive play ever been the focus, though? I'm certain the competitive scene is accounted for when designing the games, but at the end of the day, the vast majority of people playing these games aren't trying to git gud, they just want to have fun.

 

[Mikey the Moblin]

Since when has competitive play ever been the focus, though? I'm certain the competitive scene is accounted for when designing the games, but at the end of the day, the vast majority of people playing these games aren't trying to git gud, they just want to have fun.

that's true of, let me see

every game ever
and yet competitive scenes exist and because of esports actually can account for significant profit margins over casuals

 

[AwdryFan1997]

that's true of, let me see

every game ever
and yet competitive scenes exist and because of esports actually can account for significant profit margins over casuals

I think we're agreeing here. I just think that there needs to be more specialized modes for those who wish to have fun and those who don't.

 

[Mikey the Moblin]

I think we're agreeing here. I just think that there needs to be more specialized modes for those who wish to have fun and those who don't.

you're trying to exclude competitive players from enjoying a game marketed to them lol

if you enjoy playing 1v1s in smash you're a competitive player

 

[AwdryFan1997]

you're trying to exclude competitive players from enjoying a game marketed to them lol

if you enjoy playing 1v1s in smash you're a competitive player

What? No! That's not at all what I'm saying! Where'd you get that idea?

I play 1v1s all the time, that's really the only mode I play.

 

[Quin]

you can have competitive free for alls or casual 1v1's, so what you are saying is dumb. I can play pretty competitively with items too, but maybe I don't understand the difference between casual/competitive in smash anymore

How to actually fix Ultimate's online without bad jokes:

randoms: Remove GSP or make a separate mode for it, make it so you can force the game to play with your ruleset if you want, add back taunts online.

Friends/arenas: Just kill arenas altogether, or rework the idea so changing characters and stages isn't a giant hassle(doesn't remove you out of line or takes two loading screens)
Add back the way it worked in brawl and smash 4 when playing with friends.(pick stage, character and GO)

And this is just fixing the current system, which still leaves us with bare minimum online modes.

Reminder, you are paying for this.

 

[Long John Spaghetti]

Okay, here's my two cents.

Super Smash Bros. was originally designed as a party game. However, it HAS picked up a significant competitive scene, however, I believe Nintendo doesn't want it to get it overly competitive, so that's why we'll never have another game like Melee, it was too competitive.