Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is a 2018 crossover fighting game where players combat with their unique skills to smash their opponents off the stage. The game offers both multiplayer and single player mode, but I will be focusing more on the (main) multiplayer mode. This game can be played both by chaotically pressing all the buttons, or with a careful and precise combination of skills. It caters to all age groups.

Lenses

The Lens of the Elemental Tetrad:

• Mechanics: The goal of the game is to smash off your opponent as many times as possible, by using skills and powers of the character you chose. Each character has a unique set of skills which caters to different players’ playing styles.
• Story: Super Smash Bros. Ultimate offers a new single player adventure mode called World of Light, where all characters except for Kirby die after being attacked by a series of Master Hands. Although the story is not as intense as other story-driven games, it’s still a fun adventure mode which serves to explain how the spirits of Spirits Mode (which is Super Smash Bros. Ultimate’s newest feature) came to be.
• Aesthetics: Visually, the game is very vibrant and “cartoony”.
• Technology: Information is not readily available but Nintendo has used primarily assembly, C, and C++ in coding their games. The game is played on Nintendo Switch.

The Lens of Surprise:

Throughout the gameplay, there will be random power ups which players can compete to get. This spices up the game as there may be an unexpected turn of events due to the random power ups.

The Lens of Pleasure:

It is very satisfying to see your combination set of skills work and throw off the opponent off the stage, and players get a sense of constant excitement to see what events will happen next and how they should react as they anticipate for their opponents’ attacks.

The Lens of Action:

The game encourages a lot of combination of skills as a strategy, and the freedom and flexibility of choosing a set of skills (by choosing characters) which suits different players.

The Lens of Goals:

The goal is to win the game, by being the player who fell of the stage the least, and kick the most enemies off the stage.

The Lens of Fairness:

Each player is given the same set of characters to choose from, starts at the same time, given the same restrictions and instructions, such that each player has roughly the same chance to win the game.

The Lens of Skill vs Chance:

Although skills can be very useful in the game to get the proper strategy to win, there is still a fair bit of randomness which gives chance to players who do not possess equal skills. The constant random pressing of all buttons can also sometimes randomly lead to the ultimate move to kick off the opponents.