Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is a brawling masterpiece. Anything that lets siblings beat each other mercilessly while inhabiting the bodies of Nintendo’s megastar mascots has got to be a good thing, right?

But unfortunately, because of the way the world works, you will need a Switch. If you don’t have one sat next to your rig, and can’t afford to get one now that you’ve invested all of your savings in that RTX 2080 TI, then you’ll be left out of Mario’s violent party. You might be able to go over to a friend’s house and play – but who doesn’t pine for a copy of their own?

Luckily, while Super Smash Bros. is still the dominant platform fighting series, it has in recent years inspired a ton of competition on PC. So even if you’re out of the Nintendo loop you can pick one of these games up to fill the void. We’d recommend checking out each game to see if the community meets your expectations as some of these titles have sputtered online. They’re still great for local sessions though.

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Well, no. But here are some great ways you can replicate that special feeling. So, with all that said, let’s kick off – we’ll start with one of the best examples out there.

Brawlhalla

Brawlhalla is a platform fighter with everything you could want: over 40 distinct characters, a variety of colourful stages, casual and competitive modes, and weekly updates that address balance and community feedback.

You don’t even have to spend a penny

As it’s free-to-play it has amassed a large and active community. That’s one of its biggest advantages over many of the other games in this list. However, the unpleasant side of that is much of the community being toxic. As Brawlhalla has been around for a few years now too, you’ll also face some frustration going against the dominant strategies in intense one on ones – you’ll need to practise a lot to overcome that hurdle. Try sticking to the casual battles if you’re struggling.

With a secure connection and some friends, however, Brawlhalla provides hours of platform fighting entertainment, and you don’t even have to spend a penny.

Rivals of Aether

While Super Smash Bros. strikes a good balance between casual and competitive play, Rivals of Aether goes all out on the competitive side by zeroing in on speedier mechanics. It gives you a number of elemental animals to fight with, and boy, it’s great fun to see a Monk-frog stab a lion who has a flaming mane. Stars from other popular games such as Ori and Shovel Knight also make an appearance as playable characters.

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Rivals of Aether has a fantastic art style to boot, although we still can’t stop thinking of Greninja whenever we see Ranno in action. If you want your Smash-like competitive, then this is among your best picks.

Slap City

Slap City, an especially zany party fighter developed by Ludosity, has smooth, floaty mechanics that feel more like Super Smash Bros. Brawl than Melee or Ultimate. Smash Summit 7, an invitational for some of the most influential players in the competitive Smash scene, had the game as part of its lineup.

The development team is pretty involved with regular updates and balance patches as well, so if you’re looking for a platform fighter with a friendly community be sure to check this one out.

Super Smash Flash

Super Smash Flash, and its sequel, is a browser replica of Super Smash Bros. Melee. It’s easy to access, has multiplayer, and a bunch of other features from the original game. This is in no way legal, obviously, but the creators have got away with it so far…

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Super Smash Flash also has non-Smash characters like Naruto, Chibi-robo, and Goku, making that brand recognition even more prevalent. We were hooked the first time we picked it up.

Lethal league

Unlike any other fighting game you’ll play, Lethal League brings the popular sport of baseball into the mix, making for a projectile-based brawl.

Similar to Smash Bros., the way to win isn’t to lay into your opponent with punches and kicks – though that does soften ’em up. What you have to do is smack a baseball around the enclosed 2D arena, letting it bounce off the walls, gaining speed with each thwack. If it hits a fighter at a high enough speed it’ll knock them straight out.

Lethal League is a game of reaction speed and spatial awareness. If you want something different this is the game to go for – plus it has a growing and active community.

Dynasty Feud

Dynasty Feud has more than 40 unique characters. Alright, that doesn’t seem like much compared to Ultimate’s roster of 70+, but it’s still plenty no matter what the context. And the full context here is that you don’t just pick a fighter, you pick an entire dynasty, and fight between different periods of history.

Unfortunately, as brilliant as that idea is, developer Kaia Studios confirmed it only sold 300 copies back in June of 2017. Hopefully it’s done better since, but that still means Dynasty Feud should probably be purchased to play alone – or locally with friends who can also pick it up.

Dimensions VS

Developed by TeePee Studios, Dimensions VS has only recently come to the platform fighter scene – but due to its tight mechanics it’s already starting to get traction. However, the sound, character, and level design are lacking and seem to be putting people off.

That’s a real shame as the developer appears to be committing to keeping the free-to-play fighter up to date with regular updates and content patches. Dimensions VS doesn’t have a whole lot of discussion around it yet, so it’s difficult to say how active the playerbase will be in the coming months, but it’s worth checking out as long as you proceed with caution for now.

Super Smash Land

Super Smash Land is a fan-made ‘demake’ – from the developer of Rivals of Aether, no less – that recreates the popular series with Game Boy specifications. It’s been around for years, and pops up every once and a while on a gaming forum or subreddit – but it’s never had the attention it deserves.

It’s still free-to-play, easy to access, and is a great fit for a stream, all-night gaming session, or solo Smash-like adventure.

Brawlout

Brawlout is the indie game version of Super Smash Bros. – like, really. It’s not just an independently-developed game, but features characters taken from around the indie game universe. Replacing the likes of Mario and Link are familiar faces from Hyper Light Drifter and Guacamelee.

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It got some mixed reviews at launch, mostly due to direct comparisons with Smash – it’s hard to match the polish Nintendo delivers. Still, while Brawlout may not be nearly as good as Smash Bros., it’s still well worth a look, especially if you want to see some of your beloved indie game characters brawl.

2D platformers as practice

There are other Smash-likes that could be mentioned but this is an important point to make: if you want to get better at platform fighters, you should play more side-scrolling platformers.

Digging into the mechanics of games like Nidhogg, TowerFall, and Samurai Gunn can help with your timing, coordination, and reactions when in desperate situations. It’s the type of training that would be turned into a montage in a Rocky movie. It all helps, and there are plenty of platformers you can play without needing a good internet connection or a bunch of friends with hours to spare.