Super Smash Bros Ultimate was Nintendo’s flagship title both at their E3-centered Direct, as well as their E3 2018 booth. Can you even blame them? Super Smash Bros might arguably be their biggest franchise nowadays: no other game manages to generate as much hype and excitement like Smash does. Was I excited to test their brand new game at E3 2018? Sure! Did I enjoy playing it? Of course! Did I leave the demo session with the same amount of excitement as before? Eh…

No, I’m not saying Ultimate is bad. Far from it. Gameplay-wise, that’s the fastest Smash Bros I’ve played ever since Melee. Some features such as being able to direct your air evasions are back, as well as new balancing additions like reducing the chances of success if you constantly use the evasion technique while on the ground and the addition of decimals to your character’s damage counter. The gameplay tweaks aren’t exactly groundbreaking, as Smash for Wii U’s gameplay was already pretty good, but they’re welcome nonetheless.

Content-wise, Super Smash Bros Ultimate is set to be the biggest game of the series since it’s bringing back every single character from every previous Smash game. It’s impressive, but I feel it might be unnecessary. While it’s great to hear that Solid Snake and the Ice Climbers are back, I still don’t see a reason to bring Pikachu back, for instance. I’m still looking forward to seeing what’s actually new to this game. The only new additions present at the demo were Ridley (also known as Charizard on steroids), Inkling, a Splatoon level and a Breath of the Wild level. I know there are more announcements to be done, but so far, those little additions weren’t enough to entice me. I was never a person lobbying for Ridley’s addition though. I’m glad for people who wanted him ever since Melee, but his addition to the roster isn’t exactly something that left me hyped.

My demo session was comprised of four rounds against three other players: a three-minute match, no stocks, with items and stage hazards. All of the matches were extremely fun and fast-paced. I have little to complain about the game itself, but at the same time, it wasn’t very groundbreaking. The visuals weren’t exactly the same when compared to the Wii U version. The framerate was excellent back then and it’s still excellent now. The sound department is largely unchanged. While I did enjoy my session, I have to be honest, it did feel like I was just playing a re-skinned Wii U Smash on the Switch. I need to see some new additions, especially regarding single player modes in order to properly get hyped for a game like this.

I won’t lie, I had a lot of fun playing Super Smash Bros Ultimate. I loved playing as Snake once again and the small gameplay tweaks were very welcome. I’m just not exactly hyped for it, as I didn’t see a lot of new additions to the game so far. I saw two new characters, one new stage, and a few gameplay tweaks, but I still haven’t seen any proper new modes, portable mode performance, or more new characters. As of now, while the game is enjoyable, there isn’t much that differs it content-wise from Smash for the Wii U. I know Nintendo will announce more characters, stages, and modes soon and that will be the moment I will decide whether or not Ultimate is worth the hype.

While we wait for new character announcements, why don’t you take a look at WTMG’s huge character wishlist for Super Smash Bros Ultimate? We did get Bomberman right! Well, he’s just an Assist Trophy, but he’s in!