This article was written by Rango, who can be found on Twitter.
Nintendo’s Super Smash Bros. series roots itself in fighting game competition. Borrowing cues from Mario Kart, it’s a hectic multiplayer romp with various stages and items that can change the outcome of a match. Over the last decade, Smash tournaments have grown and gained more prominence on media outlets, showcasing the best players in the world duking it out 1-on-1 for prizes.
However, for the casual player, it’s not just about the competition. For a game that builds itself from platforming roots, it’s like playing something like Kirby, but with mini-games. You can fight off computer enemies or take on challenges that influence changes within the characters or game settings.
In this article, we’ll go over the importance of single-player modes and what it means for the players. Whether it’s for the competitive fan who wants to take a break or a future world-record holder, we’ll cover the span of the Smash series’ single-player content.
Classic Mode
All titles in the series feature the arcade run, known as Classic Mode. Take on A.I enemy units, fight the boss at the end. However, each game’s Classic Mode is a little different. While the games add “Break the Targets” mode between rounds, the mini-games themselves have changed throughout the years.
64 had Board the Platforms and Race to the Finish, while Melee lost the platforms for collecting Trophies. Brawl dropped them both entirely, while Smash 4 reformatted the targets game. Ultimate only kept Race to the Finish.
The disheartening truth was that, after Melee, each character didn’t get their own unique Target Stages. While Classic Mode itself never lost its charm, one might argue that Melee still had the best run due to its variety.
Adventure Mode
Melee introduced the side-scrolling stages through the worlds of Smash. Brawl capitalized on it with a story, dubbed the Subspace Emissary. While Smash Wii U omitted it entirely, Smash 3DS’ exclusive mode was called Smash Run. This was based off Kirby Air Ride’s City Trial mode, allowing players to collect powerups to boost themselves before a final trial against their opponents.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate featured The World of Light. However, unlike Melee and Brawl, there were no scrolling stages. In truth, it was a sequence of challenges with ever-changing criteria. To be honest, World of Light played more like the Event Mode of past Smash titles, only heavily expanded in number.
Unfortunately, this meant that the joy of time attack Adventure Mode runs or playing Smash Run with your friends would not return.
Single-Player Modes in Fighting Games.
Take the SoulCalibur series. SC I and II featured “Weapon Master Mode.” This would be akin to your Event Mode in Smash. Each one features a different condition that must be adhered to. Contemporary fighting games like Street Fighter and Marvel vs. Capcom scarcely had anything outside of Adventure, Training, and Versus Modes.
Only over the last decade did this become more prominent, such as Super Street Fighter IV adding in Trials Mode and mini-games to make the game more enjoyable outside of playing online or against others. Reading reviews of games like Marvel vs. Capcom 3 and seeing “lack of gameplay mode diversity” after the cons section was not uncommon for other fighting games.
On the flipside, Mortal Kombat has been one of the best examples of strong single-player content in fighting games over the last decade. Not just for the story writing, but you have Tower Challenges and unlockables to chase after as well. MK11 gets regular updates changing the Towers consistently while also adding new challenges and rewards in the process.
Why are single-player modes important?
Despite its heavily competitive atmosphere, not every player wants to be the best. Not everyone is willing to take losses or enter tournament brackets. Some people just want to have fun with the mechanics and characters. That is completely acceptable and warrants enjoying fighting games over, as well as Smash’s variety of modes.
Furthermore, anyone who likes the arcade type challenge of score attacks and time attacks found fun activities to participate in with Smash titles.
Granted, Smash Ultimate’s own single-player content alone dwarfs most of what you would see in most fighting games. However, compared to its own series standards, it feels like they could have added more in that regard. As someone who regularly played through Adventure Mode in Melee, I will always miss that experience in the subsequent Smash titles. There was nothing like it and never will be.
What could have been.
For starters, Nintendo did add Home-Run Contest into Ultimate. The long-missing mini-game returned in full form in a mid-year patch to the game. Unfortunately, it’s only one item out of several that made it into the game. It’s not the same as having the classic All-Star Mode with the pretty stages and music, or Boss Battles mode from Brawl, where you fight Subspace Emissary bosses in succession.
One of the appeals of Classic Mode is getting to try a character without commitment and still earn rewards. You’re not labbing them out in Training Mode, fighting CPUs that range from pitifully stupid to overpowered and button-reading. Classic Mode lets you try out your character against multiple opponents for fun while collecting Spirits or other in-game rewards. That low-level commitment was part of the enjoyment of Adventure and All-Star Modes.
I reiterate, however. Ultimate’s WoL (Event Mode) is still a truly worthy single-player experience. Event Modes in Smash are not unlike the Mission Modes previously mentioned in SoulCalibur, which was a hallmark for the first, second, fourth, and sixth games. We love the joy of challenge and the variety it brings us. But perhaps because of Melee and Brawl, we’re always clamoring for more.
Masahiro Sakurai has already mentioned Home-Run Contest will be the final mode. It’s a bittersweet emptiness that leaves us knowing we won’t get to play Smash Run or Adventure Mode (Melee) again.
I created a thread on r/smashbros detailing the importance of single-player modes. Many players chimed in reminiscing of their old favorite modes. Check out the thread here.
Final Thoughts
For what it’s worth, Smash Ultimate certainly has a bevy of single-player content. But compared to some of the past Smash games, there’s a little less than what many of us are used to. We have Classic, Event, and Stadium Modes.
But we’ve lost Boss Battles, side-scrolling Adventure Mode, Target Test, Board the Platforms, Smash Run, and classic All-Star Mode along the way. Many of these modes defined our experiences outside of the VS. competition and separated Smash from other fighting games. While Smash Ultimate truly brings out the best in the gameplay and roster of the Smash series, we’ll always miss and remember those modes for what they were.
What were your favorite single-player modes? Let us know in the comments below!
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This article hit me where I live.
I play this game rarely. I think brawl offered the most variety in game play.