Sakurai's recent article on competitive play got translated

[Renji64]

Someone needs to tell Sakurai that Melee was mostly played by casuals and only a tiny % of the install-base used the advanced techniques he put in the game.

God damn, I don't know where he gets this mentality the Melee was too complex. It is the Gamecube's best selling game with over 7 million copies sold. But sure, Sakurai, Melee was too 'advanced' and new players didn't buy it, obviously.

There's a lot of Sakurai-jerk around here, where people just lap up anything he says. I don't question his commitment to the series and to video game making, but I question his ability to MAKE A GAME WHICH CATERS TO SEVERAL DIFFERENT AUDIENCES.

It's almost certainly a Japanese thing. Nintendo are in the **** right now with their terrible WiiU sales because it's a console that neither fully-caters much for the casual players nor does it fully-cater for the 'hardcore' gamers. Instead it sits in this **** middle ground and no-one owns one. What a surprise that a leading Japanese game developer is evidently failing to understand you can reach multiple audiences if you design your product correctly.

The worst part is this: Nintendo Of America seem to get it. The amount they have been involved (sponsoring EVO, Reggie addressing the Smash community etc) seems like they ****ing understand. They know SSB4 will sell like hot-cakes regardless, so why not include 'hidden' competitive elements to help drive sales of the game even further, without alienating casual audiences.

There was no tutorial for Wavedashing or L-cancelling, we figured that **** out ourselves. And guess what? It didn't make a damn different to little Timmy and his younger brother littler Johnny because they never knew about these techniques and they were happy watching Mario and Bowser fight.

All these comments are subject to what i've seen so far of SSB4, and I hope I am wrong and Sakurai proves me wrong. But for now, I am disappointed in the competitive aspect of SSB4. Also, disappointed in the Sakurai white knights who will lap up anything he does. That dude could make SSB5 one-button only and you guys would rejoice over it.

Pretty much sakurai could sell some people a empty game disc and people think it is great or even a game with tripping.

 

[Luigi#1]

Pretty much sakurai could sell some people a empty game disc and people think it is great or even a game with tripping.

[Extremely aggresive sighing heard in the distance]

 

[Nintymat]

Back on topic, my original impressions post left out one thing; that comment about the Wiimote. I found this quite odd. Sakurai believes that making a control scheme suited to the Wiimote is ideal for a casual audience. Is it though? There is a thing called the Nunchuk which everyone has lol. More to the point, I'm just having a hard time trying to stomach the idea that not being able to turn off tap jump is accommodating to every player. When you can't do an Utilt without inputting the Up during another action, there's something wrong. This is exacerbated by the lack of a control stick on the Wiimote, so its pressure sensitivity can only register so much. in this case, how long you held jump, not whether or not you even jumped at all. I get that the Wiimote had limited buttons, but I don't think this was really the best way to do it. I know of casual players who prefer button jumping, even if I personally liked tap jumping better for a long time (I only made the switch early this year haha).

But this is what pisses me off about the entire ordeal.

Sakurai doesnt want to cater to the 'competitive' scene, yet he gives us options like turning tap to jump on/off in Brawl.

In SSB4 he's giving us Wii-U GC controller adapters, 'For Glory' mode, Nintendo hosted tournaments, online matchmaking, FD-type stage variations, a promise of better balancing, and yet he won't give us more hit-stun, less landing lag, and some hidden advanced techniques. Why?

It's like he's put in enough features to make it feel like he gives a damn about being a competitive fighter, but not enough to actually make it a competitive fighter.

What was I saying again in my post above about Nintendo Of Japan failing to completely cater for an audience?

 

[Saikyoshi]

Like I said on Miiverse: He wants to make this shallow party game meant to be played for two minutes tops with large groups of people the likes of which can only be found in Japan and not a one-on-one fighting game.

Yet he makes not only a fighting game, but one of the greatest fighting games of all time.

How do you screw up your goals that thoroughly?

 

[Renji64]

[Extremely aggresive sighing heard in the distance]

must be the sighing of all the people who tripped and lost a stock or match.

 

[Farorae]

Pretty much sakurai could sell some people a empty game disc and people think it is great or even a game with tripping.

I don't know if you're intentionally trying to start an argument or not, but with the wording you're using it's certainly coming off that way.

 

[TeaTwoTime]

Sakurai's article has me even more optimistic about Smash 4 than I was prior to reading it. I think that some people should keep in mind that translations of articles should not be approached and quoted with the idea being that they are exactly conveying Sakurai's original wording and intended message. I really doubt that "maniacs" is meant to be insulting in any way and I don't at all see what he's said as an attack on competitive Melee players, as some people have suggested. He's talking about lowering the discouragingly high technical skill requirement for new players to get into the tournament scene, which, personally, is just about the best news regarding Smash 4's competitive scene that I could've hoped for.

 

[Farorae]

Like I said on Miiverse: He wants to make this shallow party game meant to be played for two minutes tops with large groups of people the likes of which can only be found in Japan and not a one-on-one fighting game.

Yet he makes not only a fighting game, but one of the greatest fighting games of all time.

How do you screw up your goals that thoroughly?

Well you'd be just as wrong now as you were on miiverse. If that's all you got from this interview then I don't know what to tell you because that is certainly not what he is trying to do with the game.
Sorry if this came off as aggressive it wasn't meant to be.

 

[lami]

But this is what pisses me off about the entire ordeal.

Sakurai doesnt want to cater to the 'competitive' scene, yet he gives us options like turning tap to jump on/off in Brawl.

In SSB4 he's giving us Wii-U GC controller adapters, 'For Glory' mode, Nintendo hosted tournaments, online matchmaking, FD-type stage variations, a promise of better balancing, and yet he won't give us more hit-stun, less landing lag, and some hidden advanced techniques. Why?

It's like he's put in enough features to make it feel like he gives a damn about being a competitive fighter, but not enough to actually make it a competitive fighter.

What was I saying again in my post above about Nintendo Of Japan failing to completely cater for an audience?

That's the customization aspect to make it a show of skill in the game he's created. He doesn't need to add any AT's or more hitstun to cater to a small portion of the audience. He didn't add these features because he gives a damn about it being a competitive fighter, but so that you can play your way. Casual or competitive.

 

[ChikoLad]

The problem with these translated articles is that the meaning of certain things gets lost in translation, since they seem to be literal, straight up translations, not taking into account the language differences. Hence, everyone got hung up on the "maniac" comment.

I'm willing to bet that this is applicable to much of the article.

Basically, what I'm getting from this article is "I'm aware of the Melee scene and will give them options for more skill based play, but it's not my main focus since they are merely a vocal minority. I also do not wish to encourage hand injuries (keep in mind the man has calcific tendinitis, possibly from playing at a highly technical level himself), and I also want to make a new experience, not copy a previous Smash game".

And from how most of the newcomers seem to mix things up, and how the veterans are being tweaked, that seems to be the case. I definitely think some characters encourage "Melee-esque" tactics (Greninja and Little Mac), some encourage "Brawl-esque" tactics (Villager and Mega Man), and some are just something different altogether (Rosalina and Robin).

I don't see anything controversial about this article, and it's not very different from anything we've heard before, really.

 

[25%Cotton]

Like I said on Miiverse: He wants to make this shallow party game meant to be played for two minutes tops with large groups of people the likes of which can only be found in Japan and not a one-on-one fighting game.

Yet he makes not only a fighting game, but one of the greatest fighting games of all time.

How do you screw up your goals that thoroughly?

the funny thing is nobody i've talked to from japan seems to even know brawl existed, and those that did only played it once or twice. EVERYONE knows melee though.

go figure.

honestly, i'm kind of embarrassed to be reading this. i was hoping the translation was just week, but aside from the "maniac" thing being overblown he comes off really annoying in the japanese, too. LOL.

 

[Nintymat]

That's the customization aspect to make it a show of skill in the game he's created. He doesn't need to add any AT's or more hitstun to cater to a small portion of the audience. He didn't add these features because he gives a damn about it being a competitive fighter, but so that you can play your way. Casual or competitive.

But what's the point of him giving us the option to 'play it our way', when the game itself is designed to only be played one way?

What's the point of having a For Glory mode when the game is slow (to make sure it can be played casual) and what's the point in Nintendo hosting tournaments where the final is 1v1 Final Destination and the whole thing turns into a camp/run-away fest as that's how the game is designed?

Exaggerating, but it honestly seems like Sakurai has said: "Look, here's your 1v1, and your Final Destination, and your GC controllers now shut the **** up" when he's completely missed the point of what the competitive scene would like from Smash 4. (although he was on the right path with For Glory and the GC adapter)

 

[Clavaat]

It's like some of you get so caught up in what you were saying/thinking you don't read the other posts.

For starters, "maniac" would mean "hardcore" here, it wasn't an insult at all. No one should be taking it as such. You have to take some translations with a grain of salt; they are not 1:1 with English.

Also, he wasn't talking about Melee being a difficult game to pick up, he was talking about Melee being a difficult game to get into competitively, which is true. This is not a bad thing. What this will mean for us is, more players would be able to enter the scene in tournaments, but only the truly skilled will reach the higher levels. By skilled, I don't mean AT's. I mean, understanding positioning, defense, when to apply offense, spacing, pressure, etc that you wouldn't read in the manual. As it is, many people are turned off by tournaments, even at the local level, because they feel they can never keep up with people who are able to perform AT's consistently.

 

[Hitzel]

A few things that annoyed me:

• Everything that becomes super popular becomes harder to access as the masses get good at it. Everything.
• Why only speak about tournament Melee when any group of players can sit down and enjoy it outside of formal tournaments?
• Tournaments I've been to are usually inviting to beginners and are a great way to network with other beginners as sparring buddies.
  
• Gameplay can be good without difficult execution, it's always frustrating to see developers speak like it's not true.

That all being said, he did end this by saying that he wants to make a game that is accessible yet deep in the long run, so I can very much appreciate that. And yeah, it makes sense that the word maniac means advanced/hardcore in translation and not that we're crazies.

 

[Bladeviper]

But this is what pisses me off about the entire ordeal.

Sakurai doesnt want to cater to the 'competitive' scene, yet he gives us options like turning tap to jump on/off in Brawl.

In SSB4 he's giving us Wii-U GC controller adapters, 'For Glory' mode, Nintendo hosted tournaments, online matchmaking, FD-type stage variations, a promise of better balancing, and yet he won't give us more hit-stun, less landing lag, and some hidden advanced techniques. Why?

It's like he's put in enough features to make it feel like he gives a damn about being a competitive fighter, but not enough to actually make it a competitive fighter.

What was I saying again in my post above about Nintendo Of Japan failing to completely cater for an audience?

hit stun seems really well don this time around, it does not need to be longer from what ive seen so far and as for the at's you said in your post there are hidden. We can't say there won't be any in this game at all you know because they are hidden

 

[Nintymat]

It's like some of you get so caught up in what you were saying/thinking you don't read the other posts.

For starters, "maniac" would mean "hardcore" here, it wasn't an insult at all. No one should be taking it as such. You have to take some translations with a grain of salt; they are not 1:1 with English.

Also, he wasn't talking about Melee being a difficult game to pick up, he was talking about Melee being a difficult game to get into competitively, which is true. This is not a bad thing. What this will mean for us is, more players would be able to enter the scene in tournaments, but only the truly skilled will reach the higher levels. By skilled, I don't mean AT's. I mean, understanding positioning, defense, when to apply offense, spacing, pressure, etc that you wouldn't read in the manual. As it is, many people are turned off by tournaments, even at the local level, because they feel they can never keep up with people who are able to perform AT's consistently.

#1 Why would he give a damn about the game being played in tournaments? Why would he care about Melee being a difficult game to get into competitively, when he's gone on record saying he doesn't want the game to be played like that.

#2 " I mean, understanding positioning, defense, when to apply offense, spacing, pressure, etc that you wouldn't read in the manual."

Positioning - SSB4 seemingly offers no advanced movement options so positioning is limited
Defense - Defense seems extremely strong due to the way air dodge works, and the speed of the game, and lag-frames on moves
Offense - No/limited combo game, no quicker movement options, lots of defensive options
Spacing - See the first point

All of these things dont make for a competitive fighter, even if they allow people to enter easily. What's the point in making a game easy to play at a competitive level, if no-one plays it competitively?

Rock Paper Scissors is easy to master because there's no advanced techniques, but theres a reason that **** ain't at Evo.

Frankly, Nintendo should be questioning why in the last two years a game they released in 2001 is being streamed infront of 140k people around the world, gaining a ton of publicity and new fans, was chosen over their most recent effort at the series.

 

[Hitzel]

That's the customization aspect to make it a show of skill in the game he's created. He doesn't need to add any AT's or more hitstun to cater to a small portion of the audience.

More hitstun, yes please. Certain AT's, no thank you.

Hitstun is an extremely important base gameplay mechanic and screwing it up is a serious problem. AT's like Wavedashing and L-Canceling on the other hand are super specific and don't help his target audience, so leaving them in the past is okay with me.

 

[topspin1617]

After reading the article, I'm not seeing where some people are taking offense.

He basically briefly talks about his philosophy for the series: a fun party/action/fighting game that everyone can pick up and play. He talks about his issue with Melee, and he's correct. I'll never argue Brawl has the better competitive play, but there are a lot of things about Melee that can be discouraging for lower level players; going up against someone who really knows the game just exacerbates the issues.

A common notion seems to be "casuals will buy anyway so it doesn't matter". But does anyone understand that if any developer took this approach to a game, the community would eviscerate him? It DOES matter; maybe not to Nintendo's profits, but it matters to players and it matters to Sakurai. It's clear to me that his first concern is making the game as enjoyable as possible to as many people as possible.

The difficulty I think is that Melee took off in a way he didn't expect. I really don't think Sakurai wants to take anything away from the tournament crowd persay... rather, he's faced with trying to make the game enjoyable for all styles, which is a difficult task. He seems to indicate at the end of the article that he's trying for a "low floor high ceiling" thing with Smash 4, which is probably the best ideal to aim for. I think we just need to be calm, voice concerns that exist, but we have to let this game play out before we try to judge it.

I don't envy the position of trying to balance a game like this. Traditional fighters are more straightforward; the "competitive style" is really the ONLY style. Smash is a different beast altogether and I think we should always keep this in mind.

 

[Dinoman96]

Frankly, Nintendo should be questioning why in the last two years a game they released in 2001 is being streamed infront of 140k people around the world, gaining a ton of publicity and new fans, was chosen over their most recent effort at the series.

I get the feeling that it's only NOA who seems to care about the competitive scene. Iwata/Sakurai/Nintendo of Japan, probably not so much, and perhaps Iwata has too much respect for Sakurai to really question him (After all, They were tight at Hal Labs, and Iwata feels that Sakurai is the best person to lead Smash).

 

[Bladeviper]

#1 Why would he give a damn about the game being played in tournaments? Why would he care about Melee being a difficult game to get into competitively, when he's gone on record saying he doesn't want the game to be played like that.

#2 " I mean, understanding positioning, defense, when to apply offense, spacing, pressure, etc that you wouldn't read in the manual."

Positioning - SSB4 seemingly offers no advanced movement options so positioning is limited
Defense - Defense seems extremely strong due to the way air dodge works, and the speed of the game, and lag-frames on moves
Offense - No/limited combo game, no quicker movement options, lots of defensive options
Spacing - See the first point

All of these things dont make for a competitive fighter, even if they allow people to enter easily. What's the point in making a game easy to play at a competitive level, if no-one plays it competitively?

Rock Paper Scissors is easy to master because there's no advanced techniques, but theres a reason that **** ain't at Evo.

Frankly, Nintendo should be questioning why in the last two years a game they released in 2001 is being streamed infront of 140k people around the world, gaining a ton of publicity and new fans, was chosen over their most recent effort at the series.

there are combos though, there are already videos of them from the e3 demo.

 

[Clavaat]

All of these things dont make for a competitive fighter, even if they allow people to enter easily.

I disagree wholeheartedly. Combos don't make a game competitive. Anyone can do a combo. Getting into your opponent's head and understanding everything they are going to do are the most important thing. There has been no evidence to suggest that you can't properly space your opponent, get in with pokes, B moves etc.

And no, it isn't easy to master those ideas. If you really think that, you don't play competitively. In anything.

 

[Nintymat]

I disagree wholeheartedly. Combos don't make a game competitive. Anyone can do a combo. Getting into your opponent's head and understanding everything they are going to do are the most important thing. There has been no evidence to suggest that you can't properly space your opponent, get in with pokes, B moves etc.

And no, it isn't easy to master those ideas. If you really think that, you don't play competitively. In anything.

I don't think you play anything competitively. Let's see all your melee combo's then? I'm sure you know how to get max damage in every situation with any character on the roster. Combo's make a game competitive because not only do they add depth, they look good, and that attracts viewers.

Not saying it's easy to make reads on an opponent, i'm saying it's easier to make reads on an opponent, when there is a limited amount of things an opponent can do.

This makes a game defensive, slow, not good to watch etc which makes a game less competitively viable.

 

[lami]

More hitstun, yes please. Certain AT's, no thank you.

Hitstun is an extremely important base gameplay mechanic and screwing it up is a serious problem. AT's like Wavedashing and L-Canceling on the other hand are super specific and don't help his target audience, so leaving them in the past is okay with me.

oh dont get me wrong, more hitstun is awesome, but I don't think Sakurai really cares about hitstun, and most of the casuals probably don't really care either. "It's a new smash bros with new characters! awesome! let's do a pokeball battle with stocks!"
I play competitively and I know that ATs and hitstun are what makes melee such a good game competitively, but Sakurai has a point with him catering to a more casual audience with the Wii's installed userbase being a majority of casual players. With Nintendos mission statement with the Wii U focusing on bringing the hardcore gamers back in to the fold, it makes sense that the new installment of Smash would have some elements to cater to the hardcore gamers, but not a whole game dedicated to that group of players.

 

[Nintymat]

oh dont get me wrong, more hitstun is awesome, but I don't think Sakurai really cares about hitstun, and most of the casuals probably don't really care either. "It's a new smash bros with new characters! awesome! let's do a pokeball battle with stocks!"
I play competitively and I know that ATs and hitstun are what makes melee such a good game competitively, but Sakurai has a point with him catering to a more casual audience with the Wii's installed userbase being a majority of casual players. With Nintendos mission statement with the Wii U focusing on bringing the hardcore gamers back in to the fold, it makes sense that the new installment of Smash would have some elements to cater to the hardcore gamers, but not a whole game dedicated to that group of players.

Unfortunately, there doesn't seem quite enough to carter to the hardcore. No need for wavedashing and l-cancelling but that game needs a bit more something. I think that's what a lot of people are holding out for.

 

[Raijinken]

But this is what pisses me off about the entire ordeal.

Sakurai doesnt want to cater to the 'competitive' scene, yet he gives us options like turning tap to jump on/off in Brawl.

In SSB4 he's giving us Wii-U GC controller adapters, 'For Glory' mode, Nintendo hosted tournaments, online matchmaking, FD-type stage variations, a promise of better balancing, and yet he won't give us more hit-stun, less landing lag, and some hidden advanced techniques. Why?

It's like he's put in enough features to make it feel like he gives a damn about being a competitive fighter, but not enough to actually make it a competitive fighter.

What was I saying again in my post above about Nintendo Of Japan failing to completely cater for an audience?

A game doesn't have to be Melee to be a competitive game. While it is preferred due to its speed, there is still a pro scene for Smash 64 and Brawl (That N64 play at Zenith yesterday was far and beyond more fun to watch than Melee). I always hear people playing traditional fighters complaining that so and so mechanic isn't in so and so version of Street Fighter or VS Capcom or Blazblue or whatever. And yet, they all still have enough in them to be competitive. The Smash community is one of very few that I'm aware of that cannot seem to universally grasp that a different competitive game is still competitive.

And we DO have pivot attacks in Smash4, at least in the demos. We've still got 59 days before America gets a full taste, and 39 for Japan.

 

[ImaClubYou]

The best compliment, really.

I mean.. you can take it as a compliment, right?

But is he insulting us? Idk.

 

[Gameboi834]

The fact that people are upset about a poorly translated article that may or may not be calling them maniacs (which is likely just Sakurai's way of saying dedicated that got lost in translation) is pathetic.

 

[Clavaat]

I don't think you play anything competitively. Let's see all your melee combo's then? I'm sure you know how to get max damage in every situation with any character on the roster. Combo's make a game competitive because not only do they add depth, they look good, and that attracts viewers.

Not saying it's easy to make reads on an opponent, i'm saying it's easier to make reads on an opponent, when there is a limited amount of things an opponent can do.

This makes a game defensive, slow, not good to watch etc which makes a game less competitively viable.

I'm saying smash doesn't need combos to be good. Combos aren't fun to watch in most games because it's sitting and waiting for something to happen. Hype moments are based on reads, reactions, etc. See: UMvC3. No one gets excited when they see a combo because it's expected that everyone can do them. Now, reacting to an approach, timing a super, getting a well-timed grab, etc all make for exciting moments. Not the combos themselves. That's what I mean. If everyone knows the combos, it's a whole other skill tier to know when to apply them, and how to get in to use them.

I don't know why you would bring that up anyway, Sm4sh has combos...we've seen a bunch of them already. Why wouldn't you want more people to play in tournaments?

 

[TeaTwoTime]

I like combos, but when matches seem to follow the pattern of land grab > chain aerials > edgehog and repeat, sometimes I find myself wanting the other player to... well... hurry up and break out of the combo already? Combos should certainly be built into the game - they're great to watch when pulled off skillfully - but they shouldn't be handed to you on a platter, which from a spectator's POV seems to often be the case. In my opinion, punishes for missed attacks shouldn't be as easy as they are in Melee - nor should they be as difficult as they are in Brawl. I also don't think combos are the biggest determinant of the game's competitive viability at all.

 

[TheMagicalKuja]

Positioning - SSB4 seemingly offers no advanced movement options so positioning is limited
Defense - Defense seems extremely strong due to the way air dodge works, and the speed of the game, and lag-frames on moves
Offense - No/limited combo game, no quicker movement options, lots of defensive options
Spacing - See the first point

Wait, are we watching the same game?

Like the part where air dodging into the ground gives increased lag? Or how Pivot canceling is more useful thanks to the slide? Or even how heavyweights are finally not fodder for combos in a 1 vs. 1 environment? How about more attacks break shields? Sure, it's not *perfect* thanks to lag lag laaaag and we don't know how the other 30 odd characters function, but you really need to CTFD and not think Sakurai is deliberately ignoring you based on a faulty translation. Oh, and bring up more legit points about 4's issues.

Friendly reminder to the Sakurai white knights is that he doesn't need your protection as he's already married and doesn't need to deal with misogynists.

 

[Pazzo.]

Very happy I read that article. I'm glad Sakurai has decided to make SSB4 it's own game, and not some Melee or Brawl clone.

 

[Deleted member 245254]

But this is what pisses me off about the entire ordeal.

Sakurai doesnt want to cater to the 'competitive' scene, yet he gives us options like turning tap to jump on/off in Brawl.

In SSB4 he's giving us Wii-U GC controller adapters, 'For Glory' mode, Nintendo hosted tournaments, online matchmaking, FD-type stage variations, a promise of better balancing, and yet he won't give us more hit-stun, less landing lag, and some hidden advanced techniques. Why?

It's like he's put in enough features to make it feel like he gives a damn about being a competitive fighter, but not enough to actually make it a competitive fighter.

What was I saying again in my post above about Nintendo Of Japan failing to completely cater for an audience?

If you spent half as much time coming up with ideas that would make Smash 4 a blast, than you did complaining about the stuff it's missing from older versions of the game, they might actually listen to you.

They want to make a new game, not rehash an old one that is perfectly fine on its own.

 

[Hitzel]

oh dont get me wrong, more hitstun is awesome, but I don't think Sakurai really cares about hitstun, and most of the casuals probably don't really care either. "It's a new smash bros with new characters! awesome! let's do a pokeball battle with stocks!"
I play competitively and I know that ATs and hitstun are what makes melee such a good game competitively, but Sakurai has a point with him catering to a more casual audience with the Wii's installed userbase being a majority of casual players. With Nintendos mission statement with the Wii U focusing on bringing the hardcore gamers back in to the fold, it makes sense that the new installment of Smash would have some elements to cater to the hardcore gamers, but not a whole game dedicated to that group of players.

Hitstun is not something that only matters to the competitive audience, IMO. It's like saying that aiming doesn't matter to the casual audience in a shooter. It's too much of a core game mechanic. Attacks need to function properly for the game to be fun.

No one likes hitting a button, only to get automatically punished for making it work instead of rewarded. You know how casuals feel when they hit someone with Brawl Luigi's dash attack, only to have the last hit magically blocked and then get grabbed? ****ty. The same applies to being able to perform a simple one-two combo without getting hit back automatically.

Enough hitstun to make basic button pushing safe on hit is a good thing for everybody. Safe on block? Not always, but enough things need to be safe enough. If attacking in general doesn't function properly, people are going to get frustrated really quick when they play other people.

 

[Mr. KoopaTurtle]

I don't even care about this anymore. I just need my Smash Bros. 3DS.

 

[Bladeviper]

Hitstun is not something that only matters to the competitive audience, IMO. It's like saying that aiming doesn't matter to the casual audience in a shooter. It's too much of a core game mechanic.

No one likes hitting a button, only to get automatically punished for making it work instead of rewarded. You know how casuals feel when they hit someone with Brawl Luigi's dash attack, only to have the last hit magically blocked and then get grabbed? ****ty. The same applies to being able to perform a simple one-two combo without getting hit back automatically.

Enough hitstun to make basic button pushing safe on hit is a good thing for everybody. Attacks need to function properly for the game to be fun.

this must have agreed too cause the hitstun in smash 4 is much better and you can't cancel it anymore

 

[Gunla]

This has turned into a Melee VS Brawl VS Smash 4 thread and complete gone off the main point of the article. As a result, this thread is getting locked.