Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is a fighting game that stars Nintendo's deep roster of characters in a fast, chaotic yet approachable contest of skill. Play involves timing one-button hits and directional attacks to work towards knocking opponents too far off the stage to recover. It stands out for not following the usual fighting game formula, such as eliminating health bars in favour of its comedically large vulnerability percentages.
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That lack of a health bar and the light-hearted, cartoon brawling make it a welcoming game for newcomers. You pick famous game characters and try to get more hits in than your opponents. The controls are relatively simple, so the skill is knowing your character's moves both to land damage and to make it back to solid ground if you take a big hit.
As you progress, you discover the battles have real depth. Every fighter’s move set requires practice to master, and family free-for-alls still leave room for an upset. As you play, you unlock an impressive list of familiar and varied characters: Mario, Donkey Kong, Zelda, Metroid, Star Fox, Kirby, Yoshi, Pokémon and so on. Each comes with its own themed interactive stages with optional items and hazards.
The result is a fighting game that doesn't follow the usual rules. No health bar. Percentages that increase wildly. The simple controls. It means you can jump in for frantic item-filled chaos, or grind lab time and matchups for tournament-ready sets. It stands out for the exuberant fighting that focuses on skill and timing more than gore and injury
