Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

After playing a lot of Smash 4, you'll find yourself quite familiar with Ultimate's mechanics and tweaks but it also has some things that may shake your ground a little.

Initially, the gameplay feels incredible and more polished than ever, a lot of characters feel so different (except for the "echo" ones for obvious reasons) and in its massive roster, you'll mostly find at least one character that is suitable for your playstyle. Everything in this game is massive to the point that is overwhelming, you have a lot of stages, characters, music, options, etc. a lot of them are originally from past games but they're updated to the point that they feel fresh and new, also, the fact that they're adding a lot of content with the season pass it is just amazing. There are several game modes to play this game, there's a pseudo story mode which is serviceable but not as memorable like space emissary in Brawl, you can play classic modes and obviously multiplayer, also, an addition that I really like and I have spend hours on it, is that now you can set up the massive soundtrack to every stage of your liking, is not perfect but it's cool.

Although I'm certain that this is the best Smash game to this point, it has also things that keep it from being a masterpiece, the bigger one might be its online play, from matchmaking to playing with friends, is quite bothersome, in matchmaking often you'll fight with rules that you didn't apply, for example, I like to play in final destination only, zero items, stock, etc. but at least 2/6 fights I'll play on battlefield with items or timer, it doesn't sound like a big issue but trust me it really is, I'm not criticizing anyone's playstyle but what I'm trying to say is that nobody wins. Another issue on matchmaking is that if you find someone that you want to fight over and over, you're stuck with the character you choose, unlike in Smash 4 where you could switch between chars to make things more fun, it makes no sense. Its worth note that playing online with friends is also a hassle and it has its fair amount of issues but let's leave it at that.

There are several nitpicks that maybe I'm the only one in this, as I told you, the roster is massive but you literally start with the original roster of 8 characters, and you have to unlock every one of them, they're not that hard to unlock mind you, but it keeps you from playing your mains for at least some hours, if this wasn't an all-star game I wouldn't have a problem with this, but its kind of pointless and frustrating to wait at times. Finally, I know that I'm alone in this one, but I liked a lot the customization mechanic of special moves they introduced in Smash 4, I know that they were banned in professional tournaments but from a semi-hardcore point of view, they added a lot of fun, I hope that they have a comeback of some sorts in the future or future entries.

When all is said and done, and every character is at your disposal, be prepared to have an incredible time, especially when playing with friends locally or online (forgetting some issues there mind you). Smash Bros has this amazing quality that it doesn't matter that you're not great in fighting games, you'll certainly find a character or a playstyle you'll like the most in here and when you have that moment after an 8 player battle where you are the last one standing, it's truly glorious. Smash Bros Ultimate is a must for every Nintendo Switch owner, period, even when I have problems with it, they feel so minimal in comparison to its positive things.