All Super Smash Bros. games, ranked

The Super Smash Bros. series was at first a love letter to Nintendo fans, but it grew into a celebration of video games in general with later entries. This fighting game franchise in and of itself has a storied history, starting with mascots brawling in a field and leading all the way up to Nintendo’s infamous “Everyone is here!” cry with the marketing of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

Here are all of the Super Smash Bros. games ranked based on content, gameplay, and character selection, among other factors.

6. Super Smash Bros.

The first Super Smash Bros. laid the groundwork for the incredible fighting game series we have today, but unfortunately, due to its age, it is the worst entry. There aren’t as many characters or stages, and the controls on the Nintendo 64 controller feel stiff in comparison to later consoles’ entries.

Most of the stages, despite a lack of them, all stand out. Saffron City is an exciting stage for Pokemon fans as it brings out random pocket monsters into the fray, like the exploding Electrode. The Donkey Kong-inspired stage, Kongo Jungle, is also thrilling as you can be sent to your demise or saved by the barrels below, just like the original game Donkey Kong Country (one of the best SNES games ever). The single-player content, however, is lacking, with no adventure mode to speak of, just the arcade-style Classic Mode. It’s always fun to break the targets and launch the Polygon Fighters out of the arena, though.

5. Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS

At first, some were skeptical that a portable Super Smash Bros. would even work, but it flourished on the Nintendo 3DS. I remember playing against my friends on the bus while heading to college, taking them down with a Mario fist spike. It ran well and even had its own stages separate from the Wii U version. The roster is absolutely stacked, with characters like Pac-Man, Shulk, and Palutena joining the mix. Cloud Strife and Bayonetta also participated in the battle as DLC.

Unfortunately, just like the Nintendo 64 version, the game suffers from a lack of single-player content. It has a Classic mode of course, but it also had an unsatisfactory selection of 3DS exclusive modes called Smash Run and StreetSmash, which lacked engaging gameplay and replayability. All-Star mode is also included but feels too similar to the Classic Mode (Arcade).

4. Super Smash Bros. Brawl

This game arguably gets too much hate from the fanbase and added a lot to the Super Smash Bros. format we know and love today. It made the game slower, making it more accessible for newcomers to the series. There is a cool Stage Builder mode, which was basic but began our sense of creativity as to where these fighters could bring their next battle. It introduced the Final Smash and Assist Trophies into the mix. Final Smashes look incredible on screen as Mario blasts the screen with an astonishing wave of fire. Assist Trophies allowed for more obscure characters to show up that wouldn’t have a chance to make it on the roster, like Waluigi.

What took our breath away was The Subspace Emissary, which features elaborate CG cutscenes and branching paths where players choose which characters to continue with. It was so cool to see characters like Snake, Pit, and Mario interact with each other and form relationships. It also had a sense of drama, especially between Ness and Lucas, as one gets taken in as a trophy by the bad guys. It’s a shame we’ve never had a story mode like this again, which series director Masahiro Sakurai says is due to players uploading cutscenes to YouTube.

3. Super Smash Bros. Melee

To be completely transparent, Super Smash Bros. Melee has never been my personal favorite. The physics feel too loose and fast for my liking, making it hard to play. I did grow up playing Super Smash Bros. and Super Smash Bros. Brawl, so that could be why. However, I can’t deny that it has a strong lineage within the competitive community. Many enjoy the fast-paced combos, and the stages are undeniably fantastic. It’s exciting to watch players compete in this game as they make wombo-combos and let loose on each other.

Some of the most iconic stages derive from this GameCube game. The Fountain of Dreams is still one of the most beautiful stages to exist in a fighting game, while Hyrule Temple is perfect for four-player matches with its grand set-up. Super Smash Bros. Melee also introduces players to the Adventure Mode, which has you exploring a platforming section based on the Mario series. This later inspired the Subspace Emissary we know and love today.

It’s exciting to watch players compete in this game as they make wombo-combos and let loose on each other. I also have to give a shoutout to the incredible introductory cutscene that showcases all of the major characters.

2. Super Smash Bros. for Wii U

Super Smash Bros. for Wii U is when the series really got a handle on its identity despite it lacking an original name. It had the perfect balance between Super Smash Bros. Brawl‘s slower but precise controls and Super Smash Bros. Melee‘s speed. The roster expanded to more third-party characters, including iconic heroes like Final Fantasy VII‘s Cloud Strife and Street Fighter‘s Ryu. The upgrade to full HD was like night and day, really making each of the character models and stages shine. Additionally, the online was smoother than the pitiful attempt that Brawl made.

This Smash Bros entry also added the ability to play with eight players at once, which was a thrilling chaos that only this series now provides. You could even connect a 3DS and play games that way if you so wanted, in addition to Wii remotes and GameCube controllers. It’s honestly very accessible to play, and I played a lot of this during college between classes.

The hype behind who will join the roster next in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U was so exciting, and Nintendo even let us vote for who we want to see in the game. Bayonetta ultimately got called up, but Sora was the #1 pick by fans, who was later added as the last Super Smash Bros. Ultimate DLC. The amiibo support that was introduced with this version also brought a new collectible element and has you training them by fighting them.

1. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate truly lives up to its name. Every character from the series’ past joined, even including Metal Gear Solid‘s Solid Snake, who was absent from the Wii U entry. The roster is so huge! Now, you could have Pichu fight Mega Man while Pac-Man chomped away at Mario. It is a true love letter to video games as you play on iconic stages like Kingdom Hearts’ Hollow Bastion and Mega Man‘s Wily Castle. It has more than 100 stages available, and all of them could be changed to Final Destination or Battlefield versions, making them tournament-legal.

There is so much content to find in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. You could finish the World of Light adventure mode that will take you hours upon hours to complete with a fun premise of getting new gimmicks to each fight with the spirits you find and unlock. Classic Mode has a scaling difficulty, giving you more rewards for harder runs. 1,068 tracks are available in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, letting you customize the music in the background. Player-created Mii skins and stages are also in abundance.

The online wasn’t perfect when it came out, but has made improvements since then. Unlike Brawl, games were finally playable, especially if both players had solid internet speeds. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is nearly a perfect game, and it’s hard to imagine how Nintendo will top it. I haven’t even scratched the surface with the other content there is in this 9.5/10 rated game from our review. Nevertheless, it would be great if Subspace Emissary returned in the next entry with a more involved storyline than World of Light, so fingers crossed.