Blue Yoshi
Smash Master
Have you ever played a game against someone really good where you lose all the time, often unable to do anything in response? This is often because you are new at the game, or there is a significant skill gap between the two players. Often, this results in the losing party to no longer want to play the game. This applies to video games, sports, anything.
Speaking from personal experience (put in quotes)
So, how do we solve this? How do we convince people obviously much worse than us to continue playing the game? That it is actually fun? Well, going back to my story:
Do you want to play against a new person without playing 'dumb'? How can you play your best (or near your best) without completely destroying your opponent? Well... have you ever wanted to pick up Mario as a secondary? Or have you never used Ness before? Pick a character you're weaker at (or a character you've never used before). This way, you can still play near your best (provided with a character you may not know how to use), but with the matches being more even, thus making the game more enjoyable for the other player.
Maybe you know how to use every character fairly well, but still want to improve from these matches. What do you do there? Well, are there any advanced techniques you have difficulty doing? e.g. having troubles double-jump cancelling in combos with Yoshi? Maybe pick Yoshi and try using only djc'd aerials. Sure you'll mess up alot and may even lose the match, but after a few matches, you'll get the hang of it (all the while making the matches funner for your opponent). Or maybe you can Fox shine-cancel 10% of the time, and would like to improve that ratio. Pick Fox and go shine only (maybe up-B to recover... your choice). Sure, it's obvious what you are doing, but... well, at least they have an equal chance at winning (shine only is really hard to kill with if you aren't the best at it). Just try to pick something that they can easily defeat (so no practicing the timing of Kirby's up-tilt combo).
Heck, I played against a new Falcon player in person (he played the game a few times before, so he knows the basics, but can't combo). I went shine only against him on various stages. He knew very well what I was doing, but he didn't care. He got hits on me and killed me several times, so he was happy (he won most of our matches we had while doing this). He found it a challenge to use what he knows to try to counter getting shined, and slowly he found ways to punish me. Sure going shine only may seem like a cruel way to play, but... well, they'd be more thankful you do wierd things like that than go all out and destroy them.
One last point: If your opponent is thinking of playing as a character you hate (e.g. Kirby), and you don't want another Kirby up-spamming noob to deal with... suck it up and deal with it. Yes, Kirbys that spam up-tilt are probably very annoying to deal with for characters that go from 0 - 100 once hit by one up-tilt, but at least you have a new (probably permanent) 64 player. Who knows... maybe they'll prefer to use someone else later? Discouraging someone from using a certain character could easily discourage them from playing the game anymore. This doesn't only apply to Kirby btw. Also, if they want to have an item match, or a 50% damage match, a ffa with cpus, a timed match, or a match on Yoshi's Story, or Mushroom Kingdom, or Sector Z, play them with those settings. Let them feel in control of what happens. Sure, the rules or stages may suck, but... well, if they like it, then try to like it as well for them. And for Heaven's sake, don't cloud camp the entire match on Yoshi's to punish them for picking that stage
SUMMARY:
If you are playing against a new 64 player who you can obviously beat no problems, go easy on them. Pick a new character, use only 1 or 2 attacks. Let them win a few games. Sure, it may not be satisfying for you in the short run, but if this new player decides to continue to play and gets better, then in the end, the "play weaker" strategy ends up paying off in the long run. Never discourage them from picking a certain character, as this may discourage them from continuing to play. If they want to change the rules from the standard ruleset, let them do that. Simply put, let them play the game they want it to be played, and then they'll enjoy it more.
Well, hopefully this helps some of you to recruit some new 64 players from the melee/brawlers (or other games) in your area. Who knows, maybe if one person has a good experience playing against you, they'll advertise the game to their friends for you.
Speaking from personal experience (put in quotes)
So that said, getting destroyed at a game, while feeling incapable of doing anything to defend against it, makes the game really boring. How does this relate to smash 64? Well... consider that every character has easy 0-death combos on new people who don't tech (for example), it is quite easy to be playing against someone new such that they get this feeling. Once someone realizes that they can't do anything at the game, they will no longer want to play it, as... well, what's the point if you get jv 6-stocked every match (with the occasional hit every three matches).
So, how do we solve this? How do we convince people obviously much worse than us to continue playing the game? That it is actually fun? Well, going back to my story:
So... the solution in this case was simple: play easier against your opponent. This seems too self-explanatory, but is actually quite effective. So next time you're up 5 stocks to 3, and you think you could possibly end the game with a 5-stock if you tried your hardest, maybe instead play down a bit, and make the match a 3 or 2-stock instead. Maybe if they hit you, instead of DI-ing to get out of the combo, maybe DI to help their combo... like to make their next move much easier to do, or to give them more options. Maybe don't use some AT's. Sure, maybe it won't be as satisfying to you, but at least they will enjoy the game much more that way, and will likely come back for another go after that session.
Do you want to play against a new person without playing 'dumb'? How can you play your best (or near your best) without completely destroying your opponent? Well... have you ever wanted to pick up Mario as a secondary? Or have you never used Ness before? Pick a character you're weaker at (or a character you've never used before). This way, you can still play near your best (provided with a character you may not know how to use), but with the matches being more even, thus making the game more enjoyable for the other player.
Maybe you know how to use every character fairly well, but still want to improve from these matches. What do you do there? Well, are there any advanced techniques you have difficulty doing? e.g. having troubles double-jump cancelling in combos with Yoshi? Maybe pick Yoshi and try using only djc'd aerials. Sure you'll mess up alot and may even lose the match, but after a few matches, you'll get the hang of it (all the while making the matches funner for your opponent). Or maybe you can Fox shine-cancel 10% of the time, and would like to improve that ratio. Pick Fox and go shine only (maybe up-B to recover... your choice). Sure, it's obvious what you are doing, but... well, at least they have an equal chance at winning (shine only is really hard to kill with if you aren't the best at it). Just try to pick something that they can easily defeat (so no practicing the timing of Kirby's up-tilt combo).
Heck, I played against a new Falcon player in person (he played the game a few times before, so he knows the basics, but can't combo). I went shine only against him on various stages. He knew very well what I was doing, but he didn't care. He got hits on me and killed me several times, so he was happy (he won most of our matches we had while doing this). He found it a challenge to use what he knows to try to counter getting shined, and slowly he found ways to punish me. Sure going shine only may seem like a cruel way to play, but... well, they'd be more thankful you do wierd things like that than go all out and destroy them.
One last point: If your opponent is thinking of playing as a character you hate (e.g. Kirby), and you don't want another Kirby up-spamming noob to deal with... suck it up and deal with it. Yes, Kirbys that spam up-tilt are probably very annoying to deal with for characters that go from 0 - 100 once hit by one up-tilt, but at least you have a new (probably permanent) 64 player. Who knows... maybe they'll prefer to use someone else later? Discouraging someone from using a certain character could easily discourage them from playing the game anymore. This doesn't only apply to Kirby btw. Also, if they want to have an item match, or a 50% damage match, a ffa with cpus, a timed match, or a match on Yoshi's Story, or Mushroom Kingdom, or Sector Z, play them with those settings. Let them feel in control of what happens. Sure, the rules or stages may suck, but... well, if they like it, then try to like it as well for them. And for Heaven's sake, don't cloud camp the entire match on Yoshi's to punish them for picking that stage
SUMMARY:
If you are playing against a new 64 player who you can obviously beat no problems, go easy on them. Pick a new character, use only 1 or 2 attacks. Let them win a few games. Sure, it may not be satisfying for you in the short run, but if this new player decides to continue to play and gets better, then in the end, the "play weaker" strategy ends up paying off in the long run. Never discourage them from picking a certain character, as this may discourage them from continuing to play. If they want to change the rules from the standard ruleset, let them do that. Simply put, let them play the game they want it to be played, and then they'll enjoy it more.
Well, hopefully this helps some of you to recruit some new 64 players from the melee/brawlers (or other games) in your area. Who knows, maybe if one person has a good experience playing against you, they'll advertise the game to their friends for you.
