Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, here's Steve

Index

Main actions Secondary actions and stage Certainties and Doubts Steve, taken from Minecraft, will be the 77th fighter in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, and the second in Fighter Pass number 2: he will arrive on October 14, and it can be purchased individually for 5.99 Euros (stage and music included), or in the overall package of six wrestlers, four of which are still unknown (for 29.99 Euros).

Although the announcements of the new characters of Super Smash Bros. are always an event, no new entry - in our memory - has had a media impact similar to that of Steve. The reactions were not unanimously positive, indeed, some argued that it was too far from the Sakurai universe: despite being the first (Rare and Retro Studios excluded) western fighter to appear in the work, there is no doubt that the latter is from always characterized, in particular from Brawl (for Nintendo Wii) onwards, by a non-amalgamated collection of characters and styles.

If on the one hand it is true that Steve - perhaps - is the fighter who "clashes" the most when compared to the others, due to his rudimentary forms, it is equally true that the series has always (or almost ) a fruit salad of characters. Also, an element captured by everyone (including opponents), Steve has given enormous visibility to the series, and could bring it new fortunes. We're talking about the rest of the best-selling title ever, with 200,000 million copies circulated, and the one that introduced an entire generation to the world of video games.

It's hard to speculate how much this synergy can reinvigorate Super Smash Bros. Ultimate sales, which are still excellent today: in fact, it could far exceed the success of any previous DLC in the series. For sure, Sakurai is doing everything possible to stay true to the game title: the more Ultimate expands, the more it seems to become a once-in-a-lifetime operation. Both for the duration and quality of development, and for the commercial agreements in place, which allow the simultaneous presence of radically distant universes.

Main actions

Even those who have not appreciated the introduction of this character, can not deny the exceptional care with which it was created. It's something we repeat often, practically every time we introduce each new fighter, but this time Sakurai has really given his best: Steve is extremely different from any fighter seen before, so different that he forced the developers to modify, or update, all the internships previously entered.

Let's start with the different skins of the character, which between them should only vary in appearance. The main version is, in fact, Steve. Which in turn has two alternative customs. Then there is a secondary version (Alex), itself available in different outfits (and ethnicities). Finally, you can alternate Steve with a Minecraft Zombie, as well as the creepy (and black, and sombre) Enderman.

Before describing the moves, we would like to report what Sakurai said during the movie: Steve's actions are so distant from those of any other fighter that, for balance reasons, in the final version (which will arrive in ten days, in fact) could be different from those admired during the presentation. A presentation that, we remember, was recorded some time ago.

In short, what makes Steve and his allotropes so distant from the wrestlers already present? The right - and necessity - to extract materials from the pitch. Wood, copper, diamond. They are important because, without them, many of Steve's attacks cannot be carried out: he uses tools (swords, pegs ...), objects that must be built - or rebuilt, following their breakage. Impressive that not only the new thematic stage, but also every previous arena has been updated to generate different materials based on the surface the character digs (rock, lawn, etc ...).

The most important and variable action is the one generated by the B key. If carried out near the toolbox (summoned in case it is destroyed, but only from a defensive position) it updates or springs new tools, in relation to the materials collected. If pressed in contact with the ground, the B key allows the character to dig on the ground; if pressed in the air, however, it generates a block. Blocks that can be built in series, so as to build a path (for oneself) or a trap (for the opponents), with the only limits represented by the quantity of materials, and by the distance from the playing area. In short, it is not possible - for obvious reasons - to stay in the air, far from the arena, so as to be unreachable by the contenders.

In addition to this strangeness, in addition to this dependence between collection and feasibility of the moves, Steve is unique, or so it seemed to us, even when traveling. We are not referring so much to the animations - however quite out of context - as to the heaviness of the wrestler, who seems slow and heavy, decidedly heavier than his size suggests. The jumps he performs, taken to the maximum, are comparable - as Sakurai himself said - to the short hops of the other characters.

Secondary actions and stages

concerns the attack power, Steve's shots seemed strong but of low range. Curious is the choice of attributing to him, as basic actions, some moves that in other characters are considered special: we refer in particular to the anvil (aerial attack downwards), very similar to the down special (B + stick downwards) of Kirby.

The side and down special moves are also intriguing. The latter generates a dynamite, dynamite that can be enriched with a wire and a detonator, which activates the mechanism once someone walks on it. The lateral special instead - always dependent on the materials collected - produces rails that, faithful to the original Minecraft, can be crossed with a mine cart. The longer the path, the more devastating the damage will be. The special upward move, as always attributed to recovery, generates the Elytra wings on Steve's back: the glide movements, influenced by height and speed, are controlled in real time. Honestly, it would be nice to have a Mario with a shot like this (with the Super Mario World cape, possibly). There is so much more to say, but these are our most important impressions.

Before concluding, let's talk a little about the thematic stage, taken from the world of Minecraft. It reproduces six of its biomes - all made up of scalable and, largely, destructible blocks. They differ a lot, they have a morphologically dissimilar layout, not only for the different climatic conditions. The settings are: plain, forest, savannah, taiga, tundra (snowy) and the coast, typical of the series. In the omega version there are not six versions of the arena, but only one, which mixes them together; to make the character more readable and coherent, as well as more usable in tournaments, in these stages (not only in his then, but in each stage version omega), Steve will generate materials randomly, without the type of terrain affecting the result. >
Steve's introduction to the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate roster has caused a lot of discussion, for better or for worse. Although this character is perhaps the most detached from the rest of the cast, it should be remembered that for many years now Super Smash Bros. has been offering a fruit salad of different styles: if it has never bothered you before, we doubt that Minecraft can alter the current balance. Many children and adolescents will also be enormously happy to have him as a fighter, because they approached video games thanks to this series. Finally, and perhaps this is the most important aspect, Sakurai has given life to a character so different from the previous ones that it is impossible not to feel a minimum of curiosity.

CERTAINTIES Broaden the cast an icon of video games The character is very different from the previous ones Manic care of the actions DOUBTS Sakurai, given the diversity, will he be able to balance it? Will it visually be too different from the others? Will the stages be less interesting than the fighter?