Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, the fifth game in the Super Smash Bros. series, became the fastest-selling edition in the series with over three million units sold since its United States release on Dec. 7, 2018.

Ultimate is intended for the Nintendo Switch console and normally costs $59.99, but the price can fluctuate depending on where the game is purchased or if it includes downloadable content (DLC).

Smash Ultimate is a party and fighting game that shares similar characteristics with the previous Smash titles such as Super Smash Bros. Melee and Super Smash Bros. for the Wii U. The mechanics of the game are alike to previous titles, establishing a competitive scene for the Smash Bros. community; however, Ultimate’s techniques like dash dancing/foxtrotting and dodging mechanics are different.

Ultimate has a roster of 74 characters from various well-known video games such as Super Mario Bros, Pokemon, The Legend of Zelda, etc. Ultimate has added seven new characters to the roster and reintroduced all previous characters. There are now over 100 stages to fight on, which feature scenes from different video games.

Cam High’s Esports club plans to host Smash Ultimate tournaments, competitions, and practices for students to participate in. The club president and senior, Jadyn Favis, said, “We are planning on setting up a 2v2 tournament, open to all students. There will likely be a paying entry that contributes to an overall prize pool. However, things could change during the planning process, so we will have to wait and see.”

Joey Nishimori, junior, said, “The responsiveness of the game does feel a little laggy and I have a feeling it is due to the sensitivity for the joystick.” Pro Smash players recommend either a pro-controller or GameCube controller set to high sensitivity in order to optimize gameplay.

“For the graphics, I honestly thought looked very polished, but it felt clunky at first due to all the pauses for every hit. After a while, I got used to it and now it feels very smooth and satisfying. I enjoy how Ultimate has the cinematic finishing blow effect…” said Nishimori. Personally, I love the graphics as well as Ultimate’s flashy gameplay.

I would say that Ultimate’s variety of characters and stages is one of its greatest strengths. Additionally, characters feel significantly more balanced in terms of tiers and every character has a fighting chance. The additional story modes such as Classic Mode and the World of Light are great for casual and solo play.

However, I am disappointed with the online mode, which includes a great deal of controller-input lag that makes technical plays harder to perform. Also, the online match-ups are not always in my suggested format, whereas Smash Bros. for the Wii U and Nintendo 3DS included definite formats for online play.

Despite these few issues, I enjoy Ultimate profusely and the long wait for its release was entirely worth it.