Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, the crossover event of the century, is landing on Nintendo Switch next month. I was able to play all the modes for a limited amount of time but from what I’ve seen, this one really is shaping up to be the Ultimate Smash experience. The game has tons of content to offer and I’ve only seen the tip of the iceberg.
Let’s go on an adventure
The first mode I was able the play, was the all-new Adventure Mode called World of Light. For those who missed the trailer, go take a look on YouTube since it’s easily one of the best trailers Nintendo ever released. In World of Light, you’ll have to compete against other characters who got corrupted by the shadows. By defeating them, you’ll expand your roster of playable characters. At the start, you can only control Kirby, since he’s the only character who escaped from the devastating attack of the Crazy Hands. Beginning your quest with Kirby is a smart decision, not only does Sakurai put a lot of extra spotlight on his character, Kirby is easily one of the best characters to control. Everybody can play Smash with Kirby since it’s the fighter that’s most recommended for new players. That way, newcomers won’t be scared to try this amazing new adventure mode.
Only minutes after your first steps on the gorgeous cell-shaded board, you’ll start unlocking new fighters. I unlocked both Mario and Marth in under ten minutes in. It’s great for the veteran players to have a bit of freedom to choose who you’ll fight first, since I’m sure there’s a main character waiting just around the corner for everybody. Unlocking new fighters isn’t your only goal in World of Light, you’ll also collect a lot of ‘Spirits’. Spirits are the replacement of the trophies from older Smash games and there are literally tons of Spirits to unlock. Every Spirit comes with its own strengths and weaknesses and can really change the course of battle. In World of Light, you’ll fight a lot of enemies under special circumstances. Based on the active Spirit, your opponent might disappear, rush towards you or turn into a metal version. The variation really is enormous, during my first minutes in the game, I saw a huge variety of stages, opponents, and goals to reach the finish. With the addition of Spirits, this is by far the most complex and deep singleplayer mode that ever appeared in a Smash game. It doesn’t feel like ‘just’ a fighting game. Picking the right main and support Spirit before the start of each battle is crucial and offers an extremely deep extra layer to the game.
A Classic Mode returns
Looking for a more straightforward singleplayer mode? The Classic Mode got you covered. Fans of the Smash franchise already know this mode but let me explain it briefly for those who never played it. In this mode, you pick on of the playable characters, I picked Duck Hunt for my first run, and go through a number of stages. In each stage, you’ll face a new challenge. Most challenges are based on regular Smash matches with some special rules (like you can see in our video). At the end, you’ll face a boss battle and after you defeat it, you’ll win the Classic Mode.
What makes this mode more interesting is the fact that you can alter the level of difficulty. The higher the difficulty, the better your rewards at the end. What I liked most about this mode was its diversity. I’ve played as Duck Hunt and Captain Falcon, and both characters had a different path. I faced different characters and even different boss battles. I’m guessing it’s not entirely different for every character and I’m guessing some challenges might re-occur but all in all, this mode is shaping up to be a fun way to train your skills with a specific character. I certainly had fun going through the Classic Mode a couple of times and I’m sure it’s something I’ll eventually do with every playable character on the roster.
The Spirit Board
Time for another new mode, The Spirit Board. This mode offers a more straightforward way of unlocking new Spirits. In this mode, you’ll see several Spirits, all with a countdown timer. The goal of the mode is to select the Spirit you want to unlock and be victorious in the battle that follows. Just like in the Adventure Mode, Spirits alter the overall conditions of your match so you better prepare for the unexpected.
What I liked about this mode was the amount of freedom you get as a player. You can try to unlock the easy ones first or you can go for Legendary ones, which can certainly help you out in the other modes. You can challenge yourself or you can train your skills in the Spirit Board mode. You can also ‘enhance’ certain Spirits, meaning you can transform them into new ones. It reminded me of evolving a Pokémon and it once more demonstrates the crazy amount of work that went into Smash Ultimate.
Smash it out with your friends
Of course, a Super Smash game wouldn’t be a Smash game without its multiplayer mode. During my hands-on with the game, I could briefly check out the new Smash mode. The amount of playable stages and characters truly is overwhelming. Everybody’s here and the newcomers all feel right at home in the game. Of course, I didn’t get the time to truly see the potential of the new fighters but I think there’s something for everybody to enjoy.
The Inklings are fast and use their paint to cleverly dodge their enemies, Ridley is extremely powerful but slow, and Isabella is just a strange yet interesting new fighter. Since the time I spend with the game was a bit too limited, I won’t go into full details of the new fighters just yet. One thing’s for sure however, this is not a port. It’s a completely new game and everything feels fresh. It’s a bit more fluent than the other Smash games and it truly feels like an Ultimate edition without any doubts.
Early conclusion:
The amount of content in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is unbelievable. I’ve only played the modes for a couple of hours but I can already say that this is by far the biggest Smash game to date. The inclusion of the Adventure Mode, the playable roster, the number of collectible Spirits, it’s all so overwhelming and impressive. This one is shaping up to be the game everybody was hoping for. I can’t wait to jump back in and discover everything there is to discover.
