From the moment that Super Smash Bros. creator Masahiro Sakurai confirmed that players would be starting with eight characters in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, there’s been some hesitance from the fan base. The prospect of beginning with the original starting selection from the Nintendo 64 game is a wonderful trip down memory lane, but the act of earning the full 74-character roster takes a lot of time; time that some feel is best spent elsewhere, but there are a number of pros to this decision – and it can be argued that they far outweighs the cons.
To start, the purpose of beginning the adventure with Mario, Link, Pikachu, Kirby, Samus, Donkey Kong, Fox, and Yoshi is to honor the franchise as a whole. This approach is a love letter to Super Smash Bros., as players will constantly encounter fighters from every past iteration of the series (along with a handful of newcomers) until they have rounded up the full character selection screen. It takes hours to do this, but all of it is by design.
There’s a reason the slogan behind Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is “Everyone Is Here,” and it’s because this is a tribute to all that has come before. Earning characters as players fight other characters reintroduces the premise of encountering these mascots for the first time. This is meant to mirror the initial excitement that accompanied the reveal that each of these characters would be joining the fray in Super Smash Bros. If the appeal of encountering the iconic “New Challenger Approaching” screen is non-existent within the mind of a player, then it’s clear that the thought put into Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is lost on them. So if the nostalgia of kicking things off with the original cast isn’t appealing, the fact that earning fighters adds purpose to booting up the game each and every time should be.
Truthfully, complaining about having to play the game in order to earn characters is somewhat of a moot point – it’s a game and you should want to play it, after all. Now, not everyone has the time to invest in earning all 74 characters, and that’s a respectful dilemma. But the portable nature of the Nintendo Switch is designed to encourage and play into the pickup-and-play nature of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Jumping into a few rounds during a lunch break and earning a couple of characters with co-workers is one of the major benefits of the platform, and it’s only possible on the Switch.
Meanwhile, from a gameplay perspective, earning each new character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is also a brilliant bit of game design. Unlocking characters one-by-one rather than starting off with the finished roster allows gamers to try out fighters as they are awarded them. It’s a lot less intimidating to begin learning the ebb and flow of each fighter as a result. Truthfully, having knowledge of each character is an essential part of both playing as and playing against them. In short, it goes a long way in making players (both new and returning) better at the game.
The choice to have the bulk of the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate cast be earned rather than present from the beginning isn’t to blockade fun, like some have suggested. It’s designed to introduce the playable characters at a pace that allows people to familiarize themselves with their intimacies and encourage them to keep booting up the game. More than that, it’s to honor the legacy of the franchise by tapping into that first spark of excitement that accompanied the realization that gaming icons like Snake, Cloud Strife, and even King K. Rool would be joining Super Smash Bros. as playable characters. Besides, having more to do within a video game is far from a bad thing. If anything, it adds value to the experience.
