What's interesting with this game is how spot on they were with the evolution of winning and moves. I grew up with the power bar, and the idea that the percentages were not an indicator of winning or losing confused the heck out of me. However, it made total sense to my son, who proceeded to destroy me. All the moves were based upon mechanics I couldn't get used to... also pleasing my son a great deal 😂
The percent system is definitely confusing to first time players. I feel like Smash Bros's simplicity is sometimes overstated because of that. You have to focus on getting around the stage and attacking simultaneously, and battles have an uncertain length. Traditional fighting games are infamously complicated, but the health bars make it clear who's winning and every attack can win, plus you can focus on combat rather than how to get around the stage.
Glad it's not just me then. The most recent Smash Bros on Switch is the first one I've played and it's confused me a lot with the percentage bar, which is largely unexplained and seemingly quite random compared to other fighting games. Reading William's article has actually clarified how the heck the game works for me. :D
The tutorial video for the game is oddly hidden. You either have to wait on the title screen (and might get a random ai vs ai fight instead) or pull it up in the movies section. In both cases I doubt most people find it when they need it unless they already looked up where it is. Glad my article could double as a tutorial for you.
Also it might be worth trying out the game on stamina mode, it's one of the rule settings in the same category as time and stock. In stamina mode you have normal health meters that go down when hit. Truth be told I've come to prefer that mode after having a few too many matches where heavyweights refuse to die at 130% and then breathe on me, deleting me at 60%.
Thank you. If you have any interest in Diablo I know that design doc is floating around on the internet and has some interesting details. I have a similar enjoyment for reading old game news coverage. Growing up playing Sonic Adventure 2 makes it so weird reading pre-release coverage of it, before people knew the entire playable cast and all that was known about Shadow was his design.
I have a bit of a blind spot for Diablo, having never played it. Always been very aware of it, and played a lot of Warcraft and Starcraft back in the day. For some reason I never checked out Diablo!
I received a wonderful book for my birthday last year all about visual design in games which might interest you. 'Making Videogames: The Art of Creating Digital Worlds', by Alex Wiltshire and Duncan Harris.
I'll look into that, thank you. Diablo is also a blindspot for me despite playing the other big Blizzard series, only played a bit of III and as some of the characters in Heroes of the Storm.
What's interesting with this game is how spot on they were with the evolution of winning and moves. I grew up with the power bar, and the idea that the percentages were not an indicator of winning or losing confused the heck out of me. However, it made total sense to my son, who proceeded to destroy me. All the moves were based upon mechanics I couldn't get used to... also pleasing my son a great deal 😂
The percent system is definitely confusing to first time players. I feel like Smash Bros's simplicity is sometimes overstated because of that. You have to focus on getting around the stage and attacking simultaneously, and battles have an uncertain length. Traditional fighting games are infamously complicated, but the health bars make it clear who's winning and every attack can win, plus you can focus on combat rather than how to get around the stage.
Glad it's not just me then. The most recent Smash Bros on Switch is the first one I've played and it's confused me a lot with the percentage bar, which is largely unexplained and seemingly quite random compared to other fighting games. Reading William's article has actually clarified how the heck the game works for me. :D
The tutorial video for the game is oddly hidden. You either have to wait on the title screen (and might get a random ai vs ai fight instead) or pull it up in the movies section. In both cases I doubt most people find it when they need it unless they already looked up where it is. Glad my article could double as a tutorial for you.
Also it might be worth trying out the game on stamina mode, it's one of the rule settings in the same category as time and stock. In stamina mode you have normal health meters that go down when hit. Truth be told I've come to prefer that mode after having a few too many matches where heavyweights refuse to die at 130% and then breathe on me, deleting me at 60%.
This was a fascinating deep dive! Love seeing early design docs for well-loved things.
Thank you. If you have any interest in Diablo I know that design doc is floating around on the internet and has some interesting details. I have a similar enjoyment for reading old game news coverage. Growing up playing Sonic Adventure 2 makes it so weird reading pre-release coverage of it, before people knew the entire playable cast and all that was known about Shadow was his design.
I have a bit of a blind spot for Diablo, having never played it. Always been very aware of it, and played a lot of Warcraft and Starcraft back in the day. For some reason I never checked out Diablo!
I received a wonderful book for my birthday last year all about visual design in games which might interest you. 'Making Videogames: The Art of Creating Digital Worlds', by Alex Wiltshire and Duncan Harris.
I'll look into that, thank you. Diablo is also a blindspot for me despite playing the other big Blizzard series, only played a bit of III and as some of the characters in Heroes of the Storm.