Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

This year, Nintendo announced the latest addition to the multi-million dollar franchise Super Smash Bros.. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is the name of the new release and was released only 4 years after its predecessor Super Smash Bros. For Wii U. The game announced and demoed at E3 has shown the largest cast of playable characters yet, integrating all previous characters and a couple additional ones, Ridley and Inkling of Super Metroid and Splatoon respectively. The franchise is already a hit with almost all of their previous titles with some type of esports scene. Nintendo held a live showing of the game in where they invited pros from all games. Pro players such as Joseph “Mang0” Marquez, William “Leffen” Hejelte, and Jason “Mew2King” Zimmerman and more showcased the first viewing of the game.

The demo introduced new mechanics that will likely shake up competitive play. These mechanics are:

Directional Air Dodging

Dash Cancel with Smash Attack

Frame Perfect Shield Parry

These mechanics have somewhat existed in the past, but are now core to the gameplay and skill expression. For example, in Super Smash Bros. Melee, directional air dodging allowed players to slightly reposition in mid-air and Yoshi’s egg shield had the parry mechanic. Masahiro Sakurai, Smash Bros’ lead game designer, included these techniques to attempt to join the Smash community from multiple titles, down to one.

However, Sakurai and Nintendo’s main focus was to make sure the game was accessible to the casual player. Nintendo’s never intended to have their games played for money, but instead for entertainment. While the esports scene for this game will be inevitable, it will be interesting to see which type of players the slightly technical Super Smash Bros. Ultimate will attract.