"Smash Ultimate" smashes expectations on the Nintendo Switch

Review: 4/4 starsOn March 8, “Super Smash Bros Ultimate” was announced. In response, Nintendo fans around the world went crazy, and hype exponentially grew as time went on. With gradual reveals of new characters and sporadic gameplay footage, fans couldn’t wait for its release. On Thursday, their dreams came true... and it was everything we had hoped for.The new game is everything the previous ones were, brought to new heights. With smoother mechanics and better effects and graphics, the experience is unlike any before. Slow-motion cuts and freeze frames make it all the more stunning, and the overall cinematic feel gives players a heightened experience of Smash.A key difference with this new game is the addition of new characters, as well as the reintroduction of old ones. 2015’s Inklings from the “Splatoon” series join classic characters like Pichu and Simon Belmont. The players have 76 different characters to choose from, each from a different part of video game past and each with an acutely different playstyle that makes sure each person can choose a fighter that suits them.“Smash Bros Ultimate” was guided by numerous mistakes from the past six games. The biggest change in the newest addition was their balancing fix. In the past, certain characters, like Bayonetta or Meta Knight have emerged with very few weaknesses and powerful attacks, making them a clear cut above the rest. Now, Nintendo has learned from these mistakes and came up with a quick fix: every character is crazy powerful.This change is possibly the most notable to the newest game. Matches are far shorter, and characters are launched farther. Even the heavy, slow characters, who used to sit at the bottom of the tier list without fail, are becoming viable picks. This balancing makes the game truly more personalized; players no longer have to wonder whether the character they play can go the distance; nearly every character is powerful enough to win matches.The Smash Bros franchise has always been a crowd pleaser. From the first game’s release in 1999, it’s been gaining fans and followers ever since. “Ultimate” brought everything great about past editions, refined it even more and emerged with a masterpiece that will entertain for years to come.