Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Beginners Guide

This game is special in the vast fighting library - not only because you can play it only on the Nintendo Switch but mostly by its unique atmosphere and breathtaking variety of content. 

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate invites you to powerful, splashy, and a bit chaotic fights. It’s quite easy for making the first steps, and players of any level have here a super fun experience. Still, the game is surprisingly deep and offers almost endless possibilities for improving your skills.

Why not take a look at various basic aspects of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate? This tutorial will be helpful for all newcomers to this amazing title. And probably, even experienced players could find something interesting here.

What’s that Smash?

Unlike many other fighting games, Super Smash Brothers don’t have their own characters - all of them originate in other franchises. This is true for all the five games in the series:

1. Super Smash Bros. - released in 1999 for the Nintendo 64 consoles;
2. Super Smash Bros. Melee - the second and much more successful installment, released in 2001 for the GameCube;
3. Super Smash Bros. Brawl - a version for the super popular console Wii. The game was released in 2008;
4. Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and for Wii U - for the first time, players could get Smash on a handheld gaming system. An enhanced version for Wii U has some additional features and obviously better graphics. Both were released in 2014;
5. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate - arguably, the best game in the series. The fighting game community has been enjoying it since 2018 on the Nintendo Switch consoles.

And, why is Super Smash Bros. so special? Well, to make s long story short, let’s emphasize just two the most specific things in this fighting series:

• Instead of wearing down the health of your opponents, you increase the percent number of their vulnerability. It’s a small feature but it makes a big difference. Instead of killing (hurting) someone, you knock them out of a map.
• Playable characters are awesome! They come from many different gaming universes, which many players know and love. You don’t have to get familiar with the fighters and discover their story - and this is a big accessibility barrier removed.

Are you interested in the whole franchise? Then take a look at our article Ultimate Story of the Super Smash Bros. series!

All come to Ultimate

Everyone is here! Nintendo has added lots of heroes to the previous Smash installments - from their own games and from the titles of their partners. And all of them return to the fighting scene in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. 

The Smash Ultimate Tier List contains lots of fighters. They come to the game with unique stages and soundtracks. Furthermore, Nintendo regularly makes updates, so the game gets even more content. We can see Super Smash Bros. Ultimate supported for a very long time, as a game as a service - this is good motivation to burst into it even a few years after the release.

Check out the full list of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate characters in this post.

SSBU Ultimate modes

The game has quite a few modes:

• Adventure Mode or World of Light - players delve into a story. They got only Kirby to start with and meet various spirits that control virtual fighters. Defeat them all, unlock characters, and add spirits to your collection.
• Spirit Board - a mode to get more spirits beyond the primary adventure.
• Classic Mode - something from the earlier games. You choose a fighter and face a few opponents. New ones are stronger, and a boss awaits you in the end.
• Smash - a multiplayer mode where you fight against friends or CPU.
• Special Smash - it’s similar to the Smash mode but with specific conditions.
• Squad Strike - 3v3 or 5v5 team battles.
• Training - to try out a new fighter or work on some tricks.
• Tourney - here, you can organize your own tournament.
• Mob Smash - some fun and challenging modifications of the fights.

For more info, check out the article Ultimate modes of Super Smash Bros.

Fighting matches in Smash

Most of the modes have similar rules for matches. You don’t kill opponents, so they return to the map after being knocked off. A bigger number of eliminations during a time-limited fight makes you a winner. Also, fighters may have a limited number of attempts - they lose when attempts are finished.

Want to win more matches? Check out these SSBU Tips and boost your successes in the game!

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Guide on attacks

Here is when the real fun begins - if you wonder how to play Super Smash Bros, you should learn how to attack opponents.

There are four types of attacks for each character: basic, special, smash, and air.

Basic attacks:

You activate it by pressing the A button. It’s fast and quite effective but not the most powerful.

Basic attacks can be neutral or combined with the left stick movements: up-down-left-right. You have to tilt the stick just slightly (halfway). Players often use such terminology for these moves:

• Up Tilt, or U-Tilt
• Down Tilt, or D-Tilt
• Forward Tilt, or F-Tilt (or Side Tilt)
• Back-Tilt, or B-Tilt (or Side Tilt)

Sometimes, the word Tilt is changed to A, so we have Up-A.

Constant hitting the A button may activate a series of fast attacks. The result depends on the character.

Special attacks:

Press the B button and activate stronger hits or some unique tricks. Special attacks of different characters differ from each other quite significantly, so you should learn them directly in the game.

Special attacks also can be combined with the left stick movements and they have their terms as well:

• Up Special, or U-Special
• Down Special, or D-Special
• Forward Special, or F-Special (or Side Special)
• Back-Special, or B-Special (or Side Special)

Here you can also use B insted of Special - like Up-B.

Air attacks:

Jump and press the A button - this will be a neutral air attack. Jump and perform a tilt attack, this will be:

• Up Air, or U-Air
• Down Air, or D-Air
• Forward Air, or F-Air (or Side Air)
• Back-Air, or B-Air (or Side Air)

Special attacks can also be performed in the air.

Smash attacks:

These are the most powerful hits. Players use them to knock weak opponents off and score elimination. 

To perform smash attacks, you can:

• Press the right stick in any direction; 
• Press the left stick in any direction and the A button simultaneously.

The second variant allows charging a smash attack - just hold A for a bit longer. But beware, opponents will not wait for the full charge.

How to play Super Smash Bros. Ultimate  - Moves and actions

The positioning of your characters and their movements are very significant Smash Ultimate basics.

To walk around the map, you should tilt the left stick - press halfway to a chosen direction. For running, press the stick fully. To jump, you can press a jump button (X or Y) or press the left stick up.

There are two types of jumping in the game:

• Short Hop - light pressing of a jump button, the character jumps slightly
• Full Hop - you hold the jump button longer, so the character jumps higher

Sometimes during matches, you will need to fall down faster. For example, to avoid attacks or reach an opponent. To do so, press the left stick down whilst in the air.

Spacing - while practicing how to play Super Smash Bros with a fighter, notice how far their attacks reach. In the future, you will understand the safe distance from different opponents while still having the possibility to attack them.

To protect from attacks, you can activate your shield - press the ZL or ZR buttons. With the L or R trigger buttons, you perform grab, so your attacks will pass through the shield of the opponent. It’s a tricky technique because it may cause taking damage if the opponent is attacking at the same moment.

Any Smash Ultimate guide would be insufficient without mentioning the possibility to dodge. Press the shield and move left or right at the same time. It’s a good technique to avoid attacks. 

To not fall from the platform, use Up Special. This attack is similar for most of the characters - they fly into the air. Just a few fighters require some additional actions for such a rescue.

An ultimate choice - pick up your character

The variety of in-game content in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate means much more than various visuals and sounds. Some choices change the game drastically and make players act differently One of the most important among them is the choice of your fighter.

They all are unique. Small characters (like Sonic) have lighter weight and you feel them differently during a match. All sorts of special attacks change everything on the fighting ground. And let’s not forget about combinations of fighters - you should really know features of Smash Bros Ultimate full roster to defeat your opponents .

So, what are the best Smash Ultimate Characters? We are preparing for you an article with Smash Ultimate Starting roster - the best Smash fighters for beginners. But it's worth understanding - there is no such thing as the absolute best guy in this game! A lot depends on your style and personal preferences. Just dive into the fights and find your own best partner.

Here are some pieces of advice on the character choice:

• Start with the Adventure mode - it’s a very good way to get to know fighters in the game.
• Play with all the starter characters and then take some time to play with everyone you unlock. At least, you will know them as potential opponents. And who knows - someone may become your favorite one.
• Don’t try to master all the fighters. At some point, you should choose just a few or even one and then invest quite a lot of time in playing with them and improving your skills.

Get used to different stages

The importance of this choice is not so obvious, but here we have a similar situation to the variety of characters. Each stage in the game is different and this affects your behavior in matches.

Be inquisitive. Take your time to play on many maps and find something you like the most. Practice everywhere to be ready for all sorts of fights.

Great hardware for Smash fighters

For playing Smash Bros, you need only the Nintendo Switch (and the game, of course). You can choose the Lite version of the device if you plan to play only in the handheld mode. The classic Switch allows players to fight on a big screen with the possibility of couch multiplayer - so, it may be a much better choice for such a game.

If you are enthusiastic about the fights and know not only how to play Smash Bros but also how to win, consider purchasing the Switch Pro Controller. It will remove all the physical inconvenience in controlling the fighters. Those who used to play older games may prefer the GameCube controller - it is also supported by SSB for Switch.

If you love the game, you can buy a special console for it - Super Smash Bros Switch. It has a unique design of the dock, tablet, and Joy-Cons. There also is the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Edition Pro Controller.

By the way, did you know that the developer of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is Bandai Namco, the same company that develops Tekken 7? Nintendo is a publisher of the Super Smash Bros. franchise.

No Super Smash Ultimate guide can be good enough to replace the actual practice in the game. So why are you still reading this article? Turn on your Switch and jump into the powerful fighting action. And then return to DashFight - to get more helpful advice and interesting articles on Smash and other popular fighting games.

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