It's a funny one, Ultimate. It's obviously the best Smash viewed on its own merits, and therefore a blinding game; but as the next evolution in the series, there are a lot of areas where the advance isn't as great as one might hope.
- Fewest number of new characters for an instalment of the franchise, whether or not you include clones, at least at this point prior to DLC.
- Fewest number of new stages by far for an instalment of the franchise, unlikely to change (except for the 'by far' bit) following DLC.
- Number of bonus modes whittled down appreciably.
- Granted, that's because there's a massive great one-player mode, but it's definitely lacking in the character and variety that the SSE had.
- Related to the above, Trophies >> Stickers. For a game that's all about fanservice to fob us off with not even a two-line description is a bit much.
Classic Mode's the best it's ever been, the bonus games were never that brilliant anyway, and at least it
has a story mode; and if you're the sort of person who gets a thrill out of seeing Snake and Pichu return, along with Saffron City, you'll be delighted. To have such a full-featured Smash on the go can't be understated either. But it's not the massive step forward that you might hope for from a game calling itself 'Ultimate'.
Were I scoring it, I'd give it 10/10 as a standalone game, but only 8/10 as an evolution of the series. I feel bad for Sakurai in saying that, but not too bad because he'd have to poke his head out of his swimming pool filled with cash to see my stroppy comments.
Also my online doesn't really work.
Meaning finishing the Challenge Board is a struggle.