It’s only natural that we try to carry over our past fighting game experiences when picking up a new title. Everything from how we move, to how we shape our strategies, to the terms we use to describe all of this are fresh in our minds and ready to be applied as soon as we hit the start button. But what we often find is that some piece of old information will clash with something new and we’ll wind up confused, frustrated, or even discouraged as a result.
These sorts of information clashes occur the most when making a major transition, yet still remaining securely beneath the fighting genre umbrella. Making the move from something like Ultra Street Fighter IV to Persona 4 Arena or from a background heavy in more traditional fighters to Super Smash Bros. 4 can be daunting or off-putting for this reason.
Luckily, DelxDoom of the Smash Boards community created a guide to help ease those of us who have been tossing Hadoukens for as long as we can remember into the world of tilts, spikes, and bairs. If you’re scratching your head at what any of those words mean, you’re likely not alone; fortunately, the guide covers that, too, with a simple glossary of common terms to prime readers for the in-depth information to follow.
DelxDoom spends a great deal of time breaking down how matches of Super Smash Bros. flow. Some may be surprised to find that the same basic goals we aim to achieve in Street Fighter or other, more traditional fighting titles exist in the Nintendo franchise: pummel your opponent until you’re the last one standing through the use of well-timed attacks, carefully-planned defensive options, and baiting.
Though all of the general information given is sure to help newcomers, the real magic of this guide lies in the comparisons made between Smash and the other games we all know and love.
As an example, everyone likes landing a hard knockdown in Street Fighter and it’s easy to understand why: they limit our opponent’s options while leaving our own intact. This same sort of situation happens in Smash as well, but isn’t limited to a single scenario like the hard knockdown. Instead, these advantageous situations occur when opponents are, well, knocked down (which is an easy comparison to draw), when they are above you in the air and you are below waiting to combo, and when you’ve knocked them off the stage and they’re trying to make their return to solid ground.
There are plenty more comparisons that will help make this transitory period much easier and, if you’re in the process of picking up Smash for the first time, this guide is the perfect place to use what you already know about fighting games to your advantage.
I’d also like to encourage those still skeptical of Smash’s place within the fighting game community to check out the guide, too; it could change the way you think about the franchise.
Source: Smash Boards