The Ultimate Fighter, SMASH BROS.!!!
Alright, hold it, hold it. Are we seriously doing this? No really, are we seriously following the hype train of misery and pain that is trying to get noticed in the slew of other stories about Smash that already came out? The game is, like, at least a year or so old! It’s not worth anyone’s time anymore! Ahhh whatever, I’m already here so let’s talk about (sigh) Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Yaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyy.
Now, as bad as it seems up there, I don’t have a problem with the game. I have actually played quite a bit and enjoy it. I just dislike jumping on the long road of hype and too late articles trying to cover a game that everyone still loves, but which has passed into the land of new-old games. New-old games are those that aren’t old enough to be called that, but are already fading as the next layer of hype comes out. Well, now that I’ve vented, let’s go ahead and review this sucker. So Smash Bros. is your average 2D side-scrolling fighter like Street Fighter or Mortal Kombat that just happens to have bigger maps and be more mobile. Its big draw on the campaigning and advertisements was that it was the biggest in its series. It was the largest Smash Bros. game ever created, and definitely had the longest play time. 74 characters to play from, at least 103 stages, or in colloquial terms, maps to play on. And each of those maps has 2 other forms, Battlefield and Omega.
The character list, or roster for you pros, pulls from multiple games from Nintendo’s long and varied history. There are the ones that are expected, like the Mario Bros, and their people, Legend of Zelda, Metroid, and a few other big names or smaller titles. But then there are the games Nintendo hasn’t made, like Final Fantasy, Metal Gear Solid, Fire Emblem, even Sonic was allowed in. All of these games have also been represented in that there are stages dedicated to them, like Peach’s Castle, the original Donkey Kong game, the bridge from Twilight Princess, even that most hated of canines, Duck Hunt.
Now there is just the general smashing and fighting that you want and got. But there is also a story mode, based on something that seems a little out of nowhere, but actually is based on a realistic lifetime, and the life of its creator, Masahiro Sakurai. Now, once I start on what the story is, you might not see how I can say that, but if you don’t believe me, I will embed a link to a pair of videos that can explain it much better than I can.
He actually goes into quite a bit of depth about it, and the video is very well made, so if you have a spare hour or so, go watch these two. I guarantee you will be pleased. So the actual story mode is that two warring parties, Galeem and Dharkon, are seeking control and/or destruction of everything, including your favorite Smash characters. It is your job as the last surviving Smash character, Kirby, to go and free all the characters and spirits that have been trapped by these two literal personifications of light and dark, then defeat them as well. There are actually 3 different endings, each a little more bizarre than the last, which is explained in the second video up there. The first is when you beat Dharkon, allowing Galeem to kill him and end the world in eternal light.
Alternately, you can beat Galeem, allowing Dharkon to imprison Galeem and end the world in eternal darkness.
But honestly, the third option is the most difficult to achieve and a tad bit weirder than the other two. This one requires you to defeat both Galeem and Dharkon at the same time, allowing the world to be saved and all the spirits to go free, collecting in one giant mass to rise up into the air. I couldn’t find an image, but again, the second video up there has you covered. Now that I’ve told you how the story mode progresses, sort of, I’ll tell you how to beat it. In all actuality, you can pick any fighter that you have beaten and released. However, most of the fights you’ll have will be spirit battles. These require the use of your own spirits, which you accumulate by fighting those spirit battles. Each spirit does something different, like making you immune to certain stage hazards, such as high wind or poisonous floors, or giving you an item. But those are the secondary spirits. The primary spirits are the really important ones. Those are the ones that can level up and give you an edge in the fight. Each spirit has a number by them, showing the total power of the party you’ve picked. The battle also has a number attached to it, and there is a typing advantage. Defense is better than attack, which is better than grab, which is better than defense. Neutral is not affected by typing.
Now, this doesn’t have to affect you. Typing and spirits and all that jazz can be totally avoided by never playing story mode and just turning off spirits in the options menu of normal smash. Or, you could just not care about it while playing the story mode, and do your own thing. It’s really up to you how you want to play the game, or even if you want to play it. But I will say this; if you get or have this game, and start playing story mode, then it’s a good idea to get acquainted with how spirits work. Otherwise, you’ll have a really tough fight every time.
Alright, I think that most of the relevant items have been covered here. I don’t want to go too long, so that’s all for now folks! Have an excellent and smashing time with your…well…smashing.
