James Packard

As far as Smash Bro’s games go, this one is easily the weakest in the series. First, let’s address the few things that were done right: the game offers more options that were not available in previous smash games such as saving preset match settings. Another is bringing back every fighter from every game and most of the maps. That’s literally all the pros. Now cons. This game has no ease of use at all. For a game that was meant to be the most competitive in the series, it sure is unresponsive to any command you give your fighter. The buffer system has a window that is way too long, leading to your fighter performing actions sometimes as long as a second or two after you press a button intended for a completely different action. This will lead to lost matches through no fault of your own. Next, there is absolutely no sense of balance or proportion. There are way too many characters with attacks that universally superior. Meaning attacks that kill early, come out fast, and are not susceptible to punishing. There are very few character strengths that are compensated for with adequate weaknesses in other areas. Every attack or fighter should be situational but what ends up happening is half the characters are useless and the other half can get you a victory without you trying. A part of this is not nearly enough end lag for every move. Fighters can throw out their strongest moves and still have time to defend from a counter attack from a fast fighter. The game rewards you for making mistakes and penalizes you for fighting smart. Shielding an attack knocks you backward out of range for a counter shield grab. Many characters can initiate actions while they are still in an animation for another action. This game is inconsistent. Why do dodgers lose effectiveness as you use them? Do they work or don’t they? This leads to very wide inconsistencies throughout the course of the match. This Smash game feels more like a game of chance than any of the others. It doesn’t feel like it was tested before release. Overall, a very disappointing purchase.