With the final direct, as well as various showcases following it, we have a glimpse at the meaty single player modes in the game. I'd like to take this thread to talk about how excited I am about three in particular - Spirits, Classic and World of Light.
In general, Smash has always been a great crossover game. Just alone, putting characters from one series in stages from another and using items from yet another all at the same time can be surreal. Mario fighting Sonic on Shadow Moses Island is just one of the many crazy crossovers Smash allows.
However, there has always been the problem of how to let this crossover aspect shine outside of that. Brawl's Subspace Emissary cutscenes took a decent shot at that, giving us many gems. However, Smash 4's single player mode felt bloated and unfocused. Master Orders and Crazy Orders were just random battles influenced by stats, Classic was just random battles too. Collectible trophies have always been an an amazing glossary for all the franchises in Smash, but they never really embrace the crossover aspect.
This is why Smash Ultimate is so exciting to me - because it's single player mode does that. It contextualizes all these random battles into clever callbacks and references - something only dipped into by Event Matches in previous games.
Let's look at the three biggest single player modes offered in Ultimate to explain
Spirits in General
Replacing trophies hurt. Like I said, they were an amazing glossary. At first, I was down on Spirits because they seemed to be glorified brawl stickers, however that is not the case.
Spirits from all over gaming history can "possess" fighters in the game and influence the scenario of battle.
Let's look at an example - The Spirit of Shantae "possesses" Zero Suit Samus. So Zero Suit Samus wears her athletic wear alternate costume to mimic Shantae, starts the battle with a sword, and the battle takes place on Wind Waker's Pirate Ship. Effectively, they've recreated and referenced a scenario from the Shantae games by using stuff from the Metroid series and the Zelda series.
Another aspect of Spirits is summoning. For example, Paper Mario can be "summoned" by using a Cut Man spirit from the Mega Man franchise and a cardboard box from the Metal Gear franchise.
Overall, Spirits over the past two days has shown that it allows for characters and franchises, even the deepest of cuts, from all over gaming history to be referenced in Scenarios created from eachother
Classic Mode
Continuing in the same vein as Spirits, Classic Mode is back and better than ever. In Smash 4, this mode was disappointingly random and not unique for characters.
In Smash Ultimate, every fighter has their own unique classic campaign - from Donkey Kong's "Journey to New Donk City" to Kirby's "Gourmet Clash," the new classic mode captures the essence of each fighter using stages and characters from all different franchises.
For instance, all of Ryu's battles are Stamina Battles on flat stages, referencing his home games. And Zero Suit Samus is fought to Chun Li's theme on Earthbound's Onett.
Donkey Kong's "Journey to New Donk" campaign could take him across multiple urban stages, as we see him fighting the Inklings on Moray Towers.
Adventure Mode: World of Light
Of course, the jaw dropping Infinity War-like intro cutscene is one way Ultimate's new adventure mode embraces and intertwined gaming history, and there is hopefully some more where that came from. However, unlike the Subspace Emmissary in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, there's more to it than just the cutscenes.
https:///wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Super-Smash-Bros.-Ultimate-Easter-Egg-worldoflight-consoles-nov22018.jpg
In addition to themed Spirits battles mentioned in the first section, the "World of Light" is actually jam packed with references to locations from all sorts of games. A big one though, is the "Nintendo City" pictured above with a few of their consoles making up the buildings.
However, we can also see a lava area themed after Super Mario 3D World, the Sealed grounds from Skyward Sword, and Metal Gear Rex's hangar (which seems to be where a big robot boss is fought) among others.
Bosses are another element of this. We already know Castlevania's Dracula and Monster Hunter's Rathalos can be fought here. However, the icon on the menu hints at Balder (Bayonetta) and King Bublin (The Legend of Zelda) too!
——————————
Overall, thanks to the new Spirits system and creativity of the dev team, Smash Ultimate's single player seems to soar above the rest for me. It allows for a new dimension of crossovers in which scenarios from one series can be recreated using aspects from others, and deep cut franchises can be brought to light.
In general, Smash has always been a great crossover game. Just alone, putting characters from one series in stages from another and using items from yet another all at the same time can be surreal. Mario fighting Sonic on Shadow Moses Island is just one of the many crazy crossovers Smash allows.
However, there has always been the problem of how to let this crossover aspect shine outside of that. Brawl's Subspace Emissary cutscenes took a decent shot at that, giving us many gems. However, Smash 4's single player mode felt bloated and unfocused. Master Orders and Crazy Orders were just random battles influenced by stats, Classic was just random battles too. Collectible trophies have always been an an amazing glossary for all the franchises in Smash, but they never really embrace the crossover aspect.
This is why Smash Ultimate is so exciting to me - because it's single player mode does that. It contextualizes all these random battles into clever callbacks and references - something only dipped into by Event Matches in previous games.
Let's look at the three biggest single player modes offered in Ultimate to explain
Spirits in General
Replacing trophies hurt. Like I said, they were an amazing glossary. At first, I was down on Spirits because they seemed to be glorified brawl stickers, however that is not the case.
Spirits from all over gaming history can "possess" fighters in the game and influence the scenario of battle.
Let's look at an example - The Spirit of Shantae "possesses" Zero Suit Samus. So Zero Suit Samus wears her athletic wear alternate costume to mimic Shantae, starts the battle with a sword, and the battle takes place on Wind Waker's Pirate Ship. Effectively, they've recreated and referenced a scenario from the Shantae games by using stuff from the Metroid series and the Zelda series.
Another aspect of Spirits is summoning. For example, Paper Mario can be "summoned" by using a Cut Man spirit from the Mega Man franchise and a cardboard box from the Metal Gear franchise.
Overall, Spirits over the past two days has shown that it allows for characters and franchises, even the deepest of cuts, from all over gaming history to be referenced in Scenarios created from eachother
Classic Mode
Continuing in the same vein as Spirits, Classic Mode is back and better than ever. In Smash 4, this mode was disappointingly random and not unique for characters.
In Smash Ultimate, every fighter has their own unique classic campaign - from Donkey Kong's "Journey to New Donk City" to Kirby's "Gourmet Clash," the new classic mode captures the essence of each fighter using stages and characters from all different franchises.
For instance, all of Ryu's battles are Stamina Battles on flat stages, referencing his home games. And Zero Suit Samus is fought to Chun Li's theme on Earthbound's Onett.
Donkey Kong's "Journey to New Donk" campaign could take him across multiple urban stages, as we see him fighting the Inklings on Moray Towers.
Adventure Mode: World of Light
Of course, the jaw dropping Infinity War-like intro cutscene is one way Ultimate's new adventure mode embraces and intertwined gaming history, and there is hopefully some more where that came from. However, unlike the Subspace Emmissary in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, there's more to it than just the cutscenes.
https:///wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Super-Smash-Bros.-Ultimate-Easter-Egg-worldoflight-consoles-nov22018.jpg
In addition to themed Spirits battles mentioned in the first section, the "World of Light" is actually jam packed with references to locations from all sorts of games. A big one though, is the "Nintendo City" pictured above with a few of their consoles making up the buildings.
However, we can also see a lava area themed after Super Mario 3D World, the Sealed grounds from Skyward Sword, and Metal Gear Rex's hangar (which seems to be where a big robot boss is fought) among others.
Bosses are another element of this. We already know Castlevania's Dracula and Monster Hunter's Rathalos can be fought here. However, the icon on the menu hints at Balder (Bayonetta) and King Bublin (The Legend of Zelda) too!
——————————
Overall, thanks to the new Spirits system and creativity of the dev team, Smash Ultimate's single player seems to soar above the rest for me. It allows for a new dimension of crossovers in which scenarios from one series can be recreated using aspects from others, and deep cut franchises can be brought to light.
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