Masahiro Sakurai Says There's No Correct Way To Play Super Smash Bros.

There's no right way to eat a rhesus

Smash is a very easy game to pick up and play, but there is a massive skill ceiling.

Some of the fanbase can be positively toxic in the "git gud" nonsense as well. And I have always felt Smash is more friendship destroying than Mario Kart and Mario Party combined.

I do find myself enjoying the game, but it is also frustrating. This is largely because I am so painfully bad at fighting games. Yet it is the fact that I can enjoy it despite being utter trash that makes this game, and this series, unique for me.

Generally I can't bring myself to enjoy almost any other fighting game.

Only way to play smash is Fox only onFinal Destination. Not sure why Sakurai placed other images of other characters and locations on the character selection screen and stage selection screen though.

There's no right way to eat an Oreo either.

That's really the beauty of Smash. Whereas other fighting games essentially require you to memorize complex combos and movesets for every character, Smash is open to everyone regardless of their skill level and lets anyone play how they want. Looking for a fun, casual fight? Grab some friends, turn on time match, leave items and stage hazards on, and have a blast. Want something more competitive? One on one, items off, final destination or battlefield is the way to go. There's something for everyone in Sakurai's magnum opus!

You mean no correct way other than items on, random characters and random, non-omega, stages.

There are stages like Mario Bros. or Balloon Fight that emphasize this. Kinda fun to play off of the original underlying games that way.

Well....DUH! Play however you want, that's the whole point of the customization options. lol

I think the problem is that people see it as a fighting game. If a game like street fighter or mortal kombat had items you would of course want to turn them off. If they had platforms you could jump on then again you would turn them off. But Smash is simply not a game even remotely similar. I hate the comparison. I mean there are people who won't play Smash because they don't like fighting games... it's crazy. It is a party game, it's a smash game, it's something else!

I'll be frank - I think Ultimate's online structure craps on Smash 4's. Smash 4 focused way too much on appealing to competitive players, making it super rare for me to ever play it with other people with items and stages on (without a nonsensical 2 minute time limit for a KO-only session, mind you).

Because the user preferences constantly clash in Ultimate, a series of matches can form in all different ways, delivering me the variety I desperately craved in Smash 4.

@Mrtoad True, there is no way to play Smash unless it’s Fox on Final Destination, no items.

Yeah, but what does he know? Fudgin' casuals.

Overall I think gaming has an elitist problem where people are name calling others because they are not "hardcore" enough.

I know right now you can adjust the power level of each individual fighter in the settings. However, I really wish they can also add the ability to adjust the power level of different users, so it will be a lot easier for my friends to learn the game through local multiplayer.
Another thing for me is side tilt attacks are nearly impossible even with low sensitivity as it always executed dash attack.
Otherwise, great game. I already played 45 hours.

He can say what he wants but the game brought back directional air-dodge, massively reduced landing lag and added a parry mechanic among other things, I’d say Ultimate is along the lines of doing what Botw and Odyssey in giving people what they’re been yearning for. He can also add in so many cheap items but it doesn’t cover up that Smash has a huge amount of mechanics to learn many of which rely on strict frame windows to achieve. I wouldn’t be surprised if we hear that a lot of this game was shaped by younger staff members that don’t share his views like what happened with Botw and Odyssey.

rubbish we all know the correct way is to button mash like hell and get excited when we pull off a stunning move by fluke!

@SalvorHardin I read an article in which other Nintendo employees stated this was part of his vision. The extremely high skill cap absolutely is Sakurai's intention, it's the "final destination, no items" bit in an effort to remove luck that isn't. Pros doing other things sometimes would make it much more interesting, kind of like how Nintendo online Pokemon tournaments have different rule sets each time.

It seems that people are taking this opportunity to mouth off competitive players, but I think a lot of people are missing the point of Sakurai’s quote. There is NO correct way to play Smash, which means that playing with all items on and on non-competitive stages isn’t the “correct” way to play either. Just as Sakurai wouldn’t have included items if he intended no one to use them, he wouldn’t have included the ability to turn them all off if he didn’t want players to be able to turn them off. Yes, competitive elitists exist, but so do casual elitists who genuinely believe they are better for playing the way “Sakurai intended.”

TL:DR: It’s fine to like this game both competitively and casually. No matter which you prefer, don’t be mean to people who don’t like playing the game the same way you do.

Well the online certainly seems to promote sticking with a single character. I dunno why they made it so inconvenient to swap characters in a fighting game.

I love it when Sakurai calls out the hardcore players.
Cause he's right, the way they play is boring as Hell.

There is a correct way to play: Play to have fun Of course, that goes for any game.

I don't go for the tourney play approach myself.

Starting with Brawl though, stages and items got entirely too nonsensical and unpredictable.

Things appear to have been dialed back a little bit now, but it's still an exhausting ordeal to have to deal with Smash Balls, barely visible badges, constantly transforming stages, fragmented items, broken/dud/gag items, assist trophies that follow their own rules entirely, and the insane mish-mash of art styles they all arrive in now.

That last point is only made worse by the complete lack of decision making on lighting and shadows in Ultimate, and the adjustments to characters tat seem to focus more on materials than proper color coordination.

At least the particle effects are now super crisp and very good at informing players of what's going on.

I'm one of the few people that don't mind this free for all style of playing a fighting game as there were other fighting titles that also incorporate similar features like Samurai Shodown, Marvel vs. Capcom, and Power Stone which also had items and interference in game to mix things up.

He is very much right, which is the beauty of smash.

Personally, I'm not fond of 1v1, no items, final destination matches simply because I have MANY 1v1, no items, flat level fighting games I can call on. RIght now installed across my systems I have KoF, SFIV, SF30, SCVI, MKX, Injustice 2, Blade Strangers, FighterZ, and DOA5.

I'm not saying these games are better 1v1 games, just that there is a lot of competition in that area, whereas team or free for all brawlers are far less common.

I also think that's one of the many reason why Smash is such a huge succes. Sakurai should be real proud.

Smashbros is a game for everyone.
even mu brother who doesnt like fighting games is now addicted to smash. He even says its the best game he ever played lol. And he has every console out there and a high gaming PC.

Wrong. The correct way to play Smash is offline, because, for the third time in a row, the online mode is unplayable.

@SalvorHardin

I agree. The game feels tighter and only having one air dodge makes it more intense. Sakurai always says he doesn't care about competitive smash but the game has been moving back in that direction with the last two entries.

All these people are screaming for “Fox only, Final Destination, no items!” But theyre forgetting that the best way to play is “Eight player match, Ice Climbers only, Fountain of Dreams stage morphed with New Pork City, all items turned on high!” 😉

I enjoy both ways of playing Smash. I find 1v1 just as fun as 1v1v1v1 or 1v1v1v1v1v1v1v1. It’s a very versatile game, and that’s why it appeals to such a differing spectrum of people.

@Scapetti Well, in a literal sense, it is a fighting game. What else do you call a game where the only focus is making your character beat up the other character to win?

I believe the correct term for the genre is “Platform Fighter.”

@Dr_Corndog What do you mean? Online is amazing, I've been having almost lag less batlles with friends online. Are you using an ethernet cable?

I’m fine with both competitive or casual play. I like to mix things up with all items or none at all. 1 on 1 or 4 man Smash. The online quick play matches tend to throw me in whatever type matches anyways.

That's nice! The true meaning of Smash is what you make it, not hardcore or just a frantic party. It's however you want to play. Of course, that's not gonna stop anyone from 5 Stock battles.

Makes sense. Now, what I really want to play is smashket ball. Where is stage builder!?

Seriously though, smash can be a party game, a traditional fighting game, a warioware game, or if you use or imagination, even a turn based RPG. Smash really is a strage enigma if you ask me. Very few other games can be a million games at once.

I love how he always trolls the competitive audience, but he does it subtly and with class. These are the guys that complain about having to unlock all the characters. Some of these guys treat their controllers like. And I like what he says, if the competitive scene used more stages and items, things would be more interesting.

@Mrtoad ya you're right. Competitive players should be playing on Big Blue with Poke Balls set to high. I really don't understand why they'd want to pick fair stages and fair rulesets...

Well Sakurai-san, in retrospect, you could have made SSB the fighting game version of Mario Kart by making features mandatory like items on or no vanilla versions of stages (i.e. omega stages), but that's the price of freedom lol. SSB will continue to be played by many for whatever it means to you: Nostalgia, fun free-for-all chaos, or competitive PvP play.

So infinite Assist trophies would be fine

I think the best part about Smash compared to other fighting games is the amount of flexibility you have. With tons of stages, game modes, and additional rules that can be added and turned off at the press of a button, it really allows you to customize it into the type of game you wanna play. If you want a casual party fighter you can do that, but there's also the option to go more competitive.

@Kalmaro Yeah, wired via the USB adapter. I have 400 Mbps cable internet and a ping of 8 ms according to speedtest.net.

I did change my MTU to 1500, as was suggested online. I've played three or four matches since, and they were better--though not perfect.

@Dr_Corndog @Kalmaro Online is hit or miss. One match the game literally stopped for several seconds (co op online). Other times it runs flawlessly. Most of the time it's really good. That's what you get with P2P.

I'm just running Wi-Fi.

It's great that Sakurai still caters to the pros and tryhards (please stop doing Omega 4 player matches with 2 sword users in quickplay ffs) despite not being particularly fond of the scene and style.

@Ashunera84 that happened during the pre release tournament which had the final smash meter turned on which meant notably Peach/Daisy had guaranteed KOs against anybody. Pros seek to win so the meta would be about exploiting the cheapest items, final smashes and stages with easy walkoff KOs, this might be entertaining but I doubt it would last long term versus the current scene.

@SalvorHardin that doesn't change what I said. Most stages with hazards off and "the cheapest items" off accomplishes that. No need for ALL items off and no need to stick to final destination.

No correct way to play it means every way is wrong. 😂

@ShadJV
Dude I just ate lunch don't be dropping knowlage bombs like that

@Trajan oof, yeah I avoid wifi like the plague. It's not good at all.

@Kalmaro mine is actually fine.

@Trajan Mine probably is too, but wifi just isn't as stable as wired and I don't want hang-up mid match.

@Kalmaro Yeah, but wired isn't an option for me. Unless I were to get a second modem or rewire my house.

Plus your opponents internet also effects you. Like the lag brothers I fought last week. Two snakes. It was terrible.

@Trajan They were probably using their comm devices for their internet. Those monsters...

@Kalmaro I really just wish Nintendo copied how Steam/Valve did their online. CSGO has the quick matches which would be nice like we have now, but then a huge server list with ping rates and everything spelled out like 1.6 and source.

@Trajan I'm all for being able to see what people's ping are before matches. Then again I don't play online with strangers.

@Trajan Some connections are definitely better than others, but I almost always experience a little bit of input lag. And it only takes a little in a game like Smash to completely throw off the experience. Contrast this with Rocket League, which I play all the time on Switch, and which runs just as smoothly online as off.

@Ashunera84 Literally no pros think that only FD should be used, some don't even want it to be a starting stage.
And items add non-skill RNG based elements, how would you like to be in a match worth $1000s of dollars if you win, only to lose because the assist trophy/Pokeball spawned closer to your opponent than you.

@Monado_III solvable problems.

Play a series.
Even out profits more.

Every single athletic sport has significant random elements present between weather, bounces, injuries, officiating imperfections, broken equipment etc.

An unexpected event may result in a loss... or it may provide an opportunity for further skill.

Simple to play, difficult to master.

Yep I am gonna play every character at least once, then play characters I like to play more!

@Kalmaro I think he meant before they updated it. I do remember the preferences not working for people at all when the game launched. You could play for hours and only ever play with the default rules. I also think their were a lot of people all rushing to online even if their WiFi wasn’t very good. The online is definitely a lot better now though that’s for sure.

@quinnyboy58 I've had my butt kicked at a lot of fighting games that way.
you can spend months learning the game, only to be bested by a newbie mashing buttons.

@Heavyarms55 I find Smash to be one of the toughest fighting games in existence. Its hard to follow. Tekken for example is the type of fighting game targeted at casuals, its rather easy to button mash and just know a few moves to win the game. A lot of people can't even pick up Smash without walking off the screen and getting confused as to where they are.

@CharlieSmile Really? I've found that button mash doesn't really work in Smash. The problem is that Smash has a set button layout and button mashing only makes it worst.
Unlike other fighting games which is all about a variety of moves where you can button mash to pull of some amazing combo by sheer accident, Smash doesn't really do that. Its closer to classic Street Fighter.
I'm a decent Smash player (though have gotten worst in the last two versions) and I get beaten at times or even 'smashed' by computers in World of Light but rarely do I run into so much trouble in other fighting games (Tekken, Soul Calibur, DoA, BlazBlue, etc). I agree with @quinnyboy58 said, you can train for months and then get beaten by a noob in most other fighting games.

@Retsam
tl;dr

@Mrtoad

Final Destination with no items, Fox only.
Get it right.

@ReWane Have you tried adjusting the stick sensitivity in the controller customization options menu?

Contrary to popular myth, Sakurai never hated competitive Smash to begin with. He simply disliked both how overly technical he made Melee (which in many ways, he's right), and how some people want to jam Smash into the same narrow box as other competitive fighters. When that was never really the point of Smash.

One of Sakurai's main design philosophies is player customization. The game should be played how the player wants to play it, not vice versa. Sakurai's point is that Smash is way more than just another competitive fighter, and if people only view it as such, it has no future.

Brawl was made the way it was because of the Wii's target audience and Wii Remote limitations. Ultimate is what Smash 4 would've been had it been on better hardware than the Wii U and 3DS.