In 1999, Super Smash Bros for the Nintendo 64 was released. With a total of 12 completely unique playable fighters, it was no wonder that the game received such high praise. It’s hard to believe that it has only been nineteen short years and the franchise has grown so much. The Smash Bros games have always been praised for bring together gaming’s icons  for a huge fighter; the only difference is now that Super Smash Bros Ultimate, the newest game in the franchise features 75 fighters with five more as DLC or downloadable content in the future. This review will be split up into three parts–the fighters, the story mode, and the menu–each representing a different component of gameplay. Each part will get a rating out of ten; the individual ratings will then add up to a final overall score out of thirty.

The Fighters:

Although it sounds hard to make so many characters all balanced and fun Smash Ultimate, it seemed to be no problem for Nintendo as each character feels completely different but viable in their own right.

“This is the most balanced Smash game by far, all the characters have been created to be equal in strength,” said junior Andrew Hamilton.

The fact that each character has different animations to let their personality shine through really shows the dedication of the team behind this game

Rating: 10/10

The Story Mode:

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate’s story mode, titled World of Light, starts when the god of light Galeem is preparing to fight all the characters. Galeem releases beams of light that completely annihilate every character but Kirby, who manages to survive the encounter. This is where the player’s adventure to save their friends and defeat Galeem begins. World of Light is a fun and challenging mode in comparison to other options. However, one thing this game feature severely lacks in is character interactions: Super Smash Bros. Brawl’s story mode, titled The Subspace Emissary, showed the characters interacting with each other through cutscenes, which was one of the best parts of that game. World of Light unfortunately lacks any such cutscenes, which diminishes the experience

Rating: 7/10

The Menu:

The advanced UI or user interface of Super Smash Bros Ultimate is a feature that was not expected but definitely appreciated. For context, in Super Smash Bros. 4, trying to navigate the menus itself is a chore; it is extremely hard to find anything you are looking for. Unlike Smash 4, Ultimate’s menu is very colorful while also being clear and concise as to where everything is and how to access it.

“The colorful interface brings a very distinct feeling. ” said senior Brien Mapilin.  

The above advantages make traversing the menu just as fun as playing the game.

Rating: 10/10

Playing Smash Ultimate has truly been an amazing experience. The amount of detail that the developers put in this game really shines through. Without a doubt, this is the ultimate Smash game. That being said, with all points tallied up, Super Smash Bros Ultimate gets a score of 27/30.