This Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Guidebook Will Teach You Everything You Need To Know

Are these any good?

@RupeeClock Luckily it doesn't release till Dec 7, as well.
$13.49 with Prime, and still includes the digital. Pretty cheap, considering the price of most strat books

Already got mine pre-ordered! I have a fondness for Strategy Guides, and Smash is my favourite series, so it seemed appropreate.

I remember buying a Prima guide for Super Paper Mario way back in 2007, but I don't think I've ever bought one since. Do these things even still sell well in this digital age? Although it is Smash, of course, so I'm sure this one will sell gangbusters.

Got this one as well as the Pokémon one preorder. I know strategy guides are kind of obsolete in this day and age but I like flipping through them and my kids have started to enjoy collecting the as well. Minor thing but I really do hope that's not the final cover for the collectors edition, it's rather plain tbh

Leaks.

Why do you need a guide for Smash? It’s a pretty straightforward game.

Having never gotten into any of the past Smash games, this is the first guide that could actually be useful to me, to get some insight on the "meta". But I think I'll stick with the inevitable My Nintendo starter guide when it's released.

@justin233 I presume this is either for die-hard collectors or people who intend to get really good at the deeper mechanics of Smash.

hardcover guides are nice collector's items at least

A bit unnecessary when you have the internet to look this stuff up.

Is the hard cover book actually just all white? I feel like the hard cover should have cover artwork and not the paperback...

So.... What's actually in it? Does it give actual descriptions and info of what moves actually do and the mechanics behind them? Or is it just if you press B, Mario throws a fireball?

Does it list unlockables and/or what you have to do to unlock them?

Other than to have it as a shelf item, is there any reason why I should buy this thing?

Useless as there will be balace patches and DLC

@DawgP Well, I'm buying it because I'm a librarian and it'll work well in my library's collection. That reasoning might not work for you, though.

That being said, Prima Guides are generally pretty reliable and have good tips that casual players can benefit from both pre- and post-balance patches.

Does anyone know what the extra 144 pages in the hardcover version contain?

Hopefully it comes with a electronic copy that gets updates as DLC comes out.

@justin233 I'm getting it because all I really know how to do in Smash is move, jump and do basic punches.

I don’t think smash needs a guide. You won’t really get stuck in the game and it’s not a type of game to provide you with frame data of attacks as there will be balance updates. It must cover more on the history

I used to be real big in guides with games like Final Fantasy. Nowadays I'll just look online for info.

@CurtisB I'm going to go out on a limb, and say that the hardcover version's artwork is being withheld due to spoilers. Amazon probably only received that temporary placeholder until more announcements are made. I could be wrong though.

I understand the guide for collectors, but when patches come out to balance out fighters wouldn't this make the guide not usable when learning strats? (assuming it goes into very small details)

Everything? I doubt it. But it probably does look nice.

This looks fun; I collect coffee table books from time to time so this would be a cool addition to my collection.

@justin233 I think it’s the novelty of owning a guide book with bits of trivia, concept art and learning a few tricks here and there. why does anyone do anything really? I wouldn’t mind having one of these just for the fun of it, despite already knowing this series and its components like the back of my hand...

@readalie Then you're definitely in the "for the sake of having it as a shelf item", just in a slightly different context.

And I am no stranger to guides; I have used many of them (most of them on Pokemon games over the years starting with Gen 1). I'm just more curious about the contents than anything else for this one. Because if it had all those explanations of moves and things that would randomly be tips in the Wii U version but disappeared before I could read them, I'd be all over that book. Lucas' psi magnet damages when it dispperses? Luigi's kick taunt has a spike against people grabbing ledges? Robin's Thunder tome has X uses and each level of charge consumes Y of those uses? Basic-level info on functionality of things is sorely lacking in Smash Bros.

Strategy guides, cheat books, walkthroughs.

Soon Video Games will become a spectator sport. We no longer play games we watch others play.

This brings nostalgia of my first Smash Bros game I played (Brawl), since my parents bought it with the guide to it. Was actually a really good guide for a casual player, and included everything from moves to items to slightly more advanced techniques. A few months back I finally dug it up from its hiding place in my room and flipped though it. Had I been the child that read such things thoroughly enough, I might actually have become a competitive player sooner.

No, thanks. Why would I be interested in buying a players guide for an online multiplayer game that will be patched repeatedly after it is published, significantly changing the game and invalidating the book?

@link3710 I think you might be correct. Another piece of evidence is how the hardcover doesn't have the official nintendo seal on it like the paperback has.

@CurtisB Unfortunately, the Wii U/3DS version didn't either: https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41Nn47cCzlL.SX365_BO1,204,203,200.jpg

But as you can see, even with it's muted design it was far more interesting than what's been shown so far.

No, thanks. Why would I be interested in buying a players guide for an online multiplayer game that will be patched repeatedly after it is published, significantly changing the game and invalidating the book? [2]

@Not_Soos just wanna let you know I can’t help but always read your posts in Soos’s voice. Even though you clearly are Not Soos.

@ShadJV Heh heh, thanks dude.

Welp, back to riding this tiny train for children. Doo-doodley-boop!

im sure this will be worth it for the high level play fighting game guides always rock for frame data and pro menuvers.

I will download the pdf for free.

@Not_Soos you’re making me miss Gravity Falls 😭

If memory serves, I have four Prima guides: Kingdom Hearts II, Super Mario Galaxy, its sequel, and Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
That said, I'll be gleefully suiciding my way through day one of release - getting all the fighters by maxing out the match count is by now a Smash tradition to me.

@ShadJV
DuckTales 2017 is basically Gravity Falls with ducks. And it's awesome.

@AlexSora89 I guess. I’ve seen maybe half a dozen episodes of it and wasn’t too interested. Nobody can quite live up to Soos and he made GF from a good show to a great show IMO.

The girl duck, Webby is it? She’s sorta interesting. Not quite a Mabel but a similar archetype at least.

@ShadJV
The closest there is to Soos is Launchpad McQuack, both here and in his original 1987 incarnation. And Webby was retooled - from the annoying girly stereotype she used to be - into Mabel's counterpart.
Anyway, it's only bad if you want it to be Gravity Falls with Ducks, which it is but kind of isn't. Enjoy it for the amazing remodernation of DuckTales it is and everything will go smoother than you thought it would be.

@AlexSora89 never said it was bad, I just don’t care for it. I’ve never even considered comparing it to Gravity Falls until you suggested it. If people like it, that’s cool! Just isn’t my cup of tea.

@ShadJV
It's a pity you'd miss out on it, but I guess you're just eagerly waiting for Infinity Train to premiere on CN then.