Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (2018) Thoughts and Discussion

 Hey everyone! How's it going? I'm doing pretty well. Today I'm gonna be talking video games. Specifically Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and Pokemon: Let's Go Pikachu! for the Nintendo Switch. I'm doing separate posts on each game with this one, as you could tell from the title, will be on Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and my next post will be on Let's Go Pikachu! just so I can give each game it's due. So let's get into it.

As someone who spent numerous hours playing Super Smash Bros. on the Nintendo 64 in the late '90s, all through the 2000s and into the early 2010s, I've continued to have an interest in the series through the GameCube and into the Nintendo Wii U. Though the only games in the series I haven't played are Super Smash Bros. Brawl for the Nintendo Wii and Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS for the Nintendo 3DS. I've only played the two most recent games, Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate for the Nintendo Switch, once each at a friend's place in the mid to late 2010s. I did better on Ultimate though because the controls were more standard for it than the Wii U game's controls were. And that's just because the Wii U is weird in terms of the controls. But that's not what I'm here to talk about today.

So because I had already played Ultimate at a friend's house a few years ago on New Year's Eve, when I was at the drugstore, getting my Covid booster, I happened to see the game on the rack behind the cashier and I grabbed it because I haven't personally owned a Super Smash Bros. game since the original on the N64, which I ended up having to get rid of almost a decade ago, and we haven't had a Super Smash Bros. game in the house since Super Smash Bros.: Melee on the GameCube and that was just since my younger brother moved out since the GameCube was his. I don't remember if he owned the game or just rented it. Anyways I didn't start playing Ultimate as soon as I got home like I would normally do because, well, I had a sore arm since I'd just gotten my booster shot. I finally got to it last night and I felt like I was back in the summer of 1999, playing it up at the cottage with friends and my siblings.

Because the game was brand new, it just had your basic starter characters, Mario, Link, Kirby, Donkey Kong, Yoshi, Samus, Fox, and Pikachu, which I'm fine with because I'm used to those characters and played as them for years on the N64. For my first round I picked the classic Donkey Kong Country stage from the first Super Smash Bros. game. And then I went and played as Kirby and fought against Mario. Why? Because even after all these years I still find it funny to suck my opponent up and use their own abilities against them. I won though it was a close match since I was playing against a computer opponent and get used to the controls again after having not played it since 2018. And while the item drops look slightly different, playing on that level, with those characters was awesome.

Immediately after that round I had to fight Ness in order to unlock him. I did, I won, and I unlocked him. Now, because I've never played Earthbound for the Super Nintendo before, I only know Ness from the Smash Bros. games, so I got really excited when I was able to unlock him almost immediately. And then I became adventurous and played as Ness against Link on a stage I wasn't familiar with as a stage in a Smash Bros. game, but was VERY familiar with from my childhood. That map was the Duck Hunt stage, complete with 2D, 8-bit graphics, both ducks, and the laughing dog.

Yes my friends, I played a round of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate on the stage based on the classic 1984/1985 NES game, Duck Hunt. And just like in the original NES game, if you miss the ducks, even if you're busy beating the crap out of your opponent, the blue sky in the background turns pink for a moment as the ducks fly away and then the dog pops up and laughs at you. Oh and the stage is laid out like the actual screen if you were playing the NES game on a modern TV, with the black bars on either side, and in order to knock your opponent off the stage, you have to knock them into the black bars on other side. Which I thought was a cool function of the level.

Obviously I have tons more characters to unlock and lots more rounds to play, but last night was basically me testing myself to see if I still had the touch when playing a Super Smash Bros. game in 2022. And yeah, I still do. Which means playing against my friends is gonna be so much fun. I just had alot of fun playing Super Smash Bros. again since it had been awhile. And that was with the added bonus of having the dog from Duck Hunt laughing at me again. Anyways, I'll probably do a bigger review of the game once I've unlocked more stuff. I just wanted to give my thoughts on the rounds I played last night because both were nostalgic and lots of fun.

Alright my friends, that's gonna be it for me for now. I'll be back later with some thoughts about Pokemon: Let's Go Pikachu!, also for the Nintendo Switch. Right now though I'm going to have some lunch and then go outside for a bit before I come back for my next post. Later.