Earlier this month on January 21, the original Super Smash Bros. turned twenty years old. With the recent release of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, the fifth (or sixth, if you want to be technical) iteration of the massive crossover franchise, it’s only natural to compare the latest release with the series’ humble beginnings.

Perhaps the largest takeaway from comparing both games is seeing the differences of the respective eras that they were released in. Super Smash Bros. on Nintendo 64 featured twelve playable characters, nine stages to spar on, and a linear single player mode that, while enjoyable, shows its repetitive nature quite quickly. This is in contrast to Ultimate’s volume of content, which features a roster of over 70 playable characters (with more on the way), 103 stages of different shapes and sizes to battle on, a soundtrack that’s over 29 hours long, and various modes to keep players busy, such as with Ultimate’s “World of Light” mode and its “Classic” mode, to name a few. Above anything, the differences between these two games that are nearly twenty years apart illustrates how much the game industry has changed in just a few console generations. The original Super Smash Bros.’s total amount of available content, while considered admirable for its time, would be considered as underwhelming in the current gaming landscape. As costs to develop games have increased, so too have the public’s expectations for the amount of content they acquire upon purchasing a game.

The fighting game genre serves as a great example of this. It’s a genre where each character in a game’s roster dictates how much content and how many hours that game can provide. In the ‘90s with titles such as Street Fighter II, Mortal Kombat, Tekken, and the aforementioned Super Smash Bros., fighting game rosters had characters with vehemently different playstyles that made fighting with one character feel distinct from fighting with another (aside from the existence of clone characters, which were prevalent in some franchises more than others). Learning how to play well with one character takes focus and time from a player. Once they master a character, they have the realization that they have other characters to learn how to fight against and even play as. And so, the player now spends more time learning the other characters in the game.

As the developers of these games look towards evolving and improving upon these franchises, there’s always a key focus. While improved fighting mechanics and quality of life improvements are always appreciated, the real selling point of any fighting game is: Who are we going to play as? How many characters will we be able to play as? And what will the game have to offer beyond standard battling?

As the fighting game genre has evolved over the last twenty years, we’ve seen an influx of developments and inclusions in fighting games that now leave a hole if they aren’t present. For example, when Street Fighter V launched, fans were outraged by the absence of a single player “Arcade” mode - something that arguably would have been considered an acceptable omission in a console fighting game over twenty years ago. But times have changed. For better and for worse, we expect more from games and the experiences they can give to us.

With that said, it’s also important to acknowledge why people value things like “Arcade” modes in games like Street Fighter V. Why did the omission of one single mode leave such a negative impact on the game at launch? To answer this question, it’s best to dive into the perspective of someone new to the Street Fighter franchise - or even fighting games as a whole. They don’t know how to play the game effectively, and referring to a command list for many different characters in a Training mode is only going to make the inexperienced user feel alienated, overwhelmed, and possibly cause them to become too intimidated to learn the game’s mechanics and learn a character’s ins and outs. Something like an Arcade mode provides a context - a reason to use a character and get a general feel for what their playstyle is like in a manner that gives the player some kind of guidance. When I was introduced to the Street Fighter series with Street Fighter IV, the “Arcade” mode gave me beginning and ending cutscenes so that I could understand the personality and story of each character and get attached to them in some capacity. I could sample some of their moves and see who I did and did not enjoy playing as. If only had access to a Training mode and standard matches with AI or other players, I likely would have put Street Fighter IV down very, very quickly.

My point here is that side content matters. One of the most important things that video games have developed in the new millennium is the increase in available side content to players. This isn’t to say that side content is inherently a good thing - filler and padding that exist for the sake of making a game seem longer or bigger than it actually is have plagued far too many games to count -, but when done effectively and as a mechanism to complement the main content of the game, side content can amplify a game’s quality quite substantially. And having played the game for over 120 hours since its launch, there’s one game that serves as a shining example of how meaningful and satisfying side content can significantly improve the game for professional players and casual fans alike: Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

Let’s not kid ourselves; Super Smash Bros. Ultimate’s roster is ridiculous. With one of the largest fighting game rosters to date, accessing the complete character select screen proves a daunting task to any player new to the series. "Who do I choose out of all of these characters? Which one has a playstyle that resonates with me? How will I know if I’ve found a character that I enjoy playing above all of the others?” These kinds of questions are very valid ones, and they’re also ones that Masahiro Sakurai and his team had in mind, so as to never make new players feel overwhelmed nor discouraged from exploring the game’s wealth of available content by offering side content that helps introduce players to each character.

Before all of that, though, is the process of unlocking characters. Starting with only eight characters, while perhaps something that’s considered an annoyance by players that just want to immediately start playing as characters they were familiar with in past games, is, in actuality, a brilliant game design decision. Having access to eight characters keeps newcomers from feeling immediately overwhelmed by the options available to them, while at the same time gives them something to look forward to as they play the game more and more. Indeed, the very process of unlocking characters (if you do it naturally and don’t reset the game like many people) ensures that players have access to new playstyles at a consistent pace. You’re given characters at a comfortable pace that allows you to experiment with one character before unlocking another character and getting a chance to experiment with them. Each character unlock occurs in every ten minute interval of playing the game in standard matches, meaning that players can experience the joy of learning a character without the intimidating decision of immediately having to pick a character out of so many options right out of the gate.

But the use of side content makes learning characters as you acquire them feel all the more natural and rewarding. The series’ “Classic” mode returns in brilliant form after an underwhelming presence in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and Nintendo 3DS. For the first time, each character has their own “Classic” mode route that is unique to them. Every route contains some sort of gimmick or theme that relates to each respective character. Playing as Mega Man? Fight against other characters that have similar appearances to robot masters from his series. Playing as Marth? Fight against dragon-esque characters - creatures that are an integral part of Marth’s original game. Playing as Ryu? Every match will be a one-on-one fight on a flat stage to resemble Street Fighter’s approach to fighting. Every route feels distinct from one another, and many even contain a boss fight or other conditions that keep routes feeling fresh.

More so, these routes allow players who are unfamiliar with any given character to have an opportunity to learn more about them. Not only do they have access to a few matches that give them a chance to become accustomed to their fighting style and moveset, but these routes also allow players to learn more about who these characters are and why they’re going through the routes that they are. Moreover, once completing a route with any character in “Classic” mode, the player gets a chance to unlock another character and thus have another route to complete. This gives the player a consistent opportunity to keep learning characters as they become available. This is until they finally receive a notification telling them that they’ve unlocked every fighter in the game.

When the player finally unlocks that last character and has access to the complete character select screen, that feeling overwhelming intimidation simply doesn’t exist. The side content of “Classic” mode (and other modes I’ll discuss momentarily) has allowed players to have, at the very least, a passing familiarity with each character in the game’s roster. The side content allows every character to have a brief time in the spotlight. For every character, there is an opportunity for them to be used in a side mode. This, in turn, allows for players to naturally discover characters that resonate with them. And learning that you love playing as a certain character when playing the game naturally is a far more magical experience than diving into a “Training” mode with every character until you stumble on a character you like. Perhaps that magical experience is captured for most new players with Ultimate’s “World of Light” mode.

Brawl’s “Subspace Emissary” Adventure mode is often referred to as being “ambitious”, but not necessarily great. While that side content definitely allowed you to get accustomed to characters with different playstyles, the ways in which you used those characters was inconsistent with how you would use those same characters in all of the other game’s available modes. To some, this is a positive aspect of “Subspace Emissary” - it allows to use so many different characters in a way that was distinct from traditional battling. At the same time, though, it’s easy to argue this as a negative aspect. While you could become experienced with how a character performs in “Subspace Emissary”’s platforming and beat-em-up action, this experience feels unique to “Subspace Emissary” and doesn’t necessarily translate to how you use the same character in, say, “Classic” or “All-Star” mode. While “Subspace Emissary” is remembered for its length and variety of stages, it’s unique gameplay style that’s distinct from all other modes in the game makes it difficult to assess if it complements Brawl as a whole.

“World of Light” takes a different approach in Ultimate. Instead of having the player embark upon long side-scrolling stages and beating up small enemies and solving environmental puzzles, “World of Light” tasks players with navigating a world map, embarking on hundreds of battles against Spirits based on characters from a plethora of different franchises and games, fighting bosses, and recruiting new playable fighters along the way.

Only starting with Kirby, the player must become reacquainted with every character in the game’s roster as they progress through the mode. After winning a series of battles, completing a small puzzle, or simply exploring the map, the player will have to challenge a fighter in order to unlock them in World of Light (and in all other modes if they haven’t unlocked that character in other modes already). What makes this mode distinct from “Subspace Emissary” and work a lot better than that mode is the prevalence of player agency.

Until the final area of “Subspace Emissary” players were forced to play as characters in a linear order, with available characters being dictated by who you were following in the story. While you could make some slight alterations along the way (such as choosing to save Peach or Zelda at the beginning), the characters you had access to throughout the adventure were significantly limited until you neared the end of the adventure. “World of Light”’s approach of having you unlock characters as you progress throughout the map works so well because of how vast and non-linear the map is. Exploring the game’s map satiates a curiosity of uncovering what a certain part of the map may entail.

Moreover, the way in which you explore the game’s world is, for the most part, entirely up to you. In addition to having a large map, “World of Light” allows you to go anywhere you please, so long as you have flipped a switch or have a Spirit in your inventory that allows you to pass a certain obstacle. This freedom allows you to attain the game’s large roster in any way you please. Roaming through the world in a certain way will have you unlock characters in an order that’s completely different from another player who traverses the game’s world in a different way. So not only are you unlocking characters in an order that feels unique to your individual path through the game’s world, but you are also utilizing the unique characters in your arsenal to compete many battles that vary in difficulty depending on the path you’ve decided to take.

“World of Light” boasts hundreds of battles, and this may cause players to become fatigued with the mode. However, this seems by design. You unlock characters fairly steadily throughout the mode - one per every 15-20 minutes or so -, so you gradually have access to a larger pool of fighters as you progress. However, since the mode features so many battles, you may start to become bored with a certain character’s playstyle or feel that your current character’s playstyle doesn’t mesh well with the battle conditions for a Spirit battle. This is where you become encouraged to switch fighters.

“World of Light” became the mode where I became acquainted with fighters that were either new to Ultimate or were returning from Melee or Brawl. Having a mode in which I unlocked new characters frequently and had an incredible amount of battles to experiment with each character meant that I had a mode where I could freely experiment with different characters. Given that Spirit battles aren’t usually that long too, “World of Light”’s many battles let me quickly get an idea of what kinds of situations that different characters excelled at and which kinds of situations that different characters struggled in.

Additionally, Spirit battles - while having various different gimmicks and battle conditions that make it feel distinct from standard battling - will ultimately give you the same fundamentals that you can apply in the other game’s modes. “World of Light” puts into a different context of unlocking, experimenting with, and using different characters, but unlike with “Subspace Emissary”, “World of Light” is a lengthy offering that, in turn, teaches you how to use these characters in traditional battles and other modes such as “Classic”. Therefore, “World of Light” does a better job at being a complementary mode that enhances the overall package than Brawl’s single player offering did. It could be argued that the mode overstays its welcome, but “World of Light” ultimately (heh) assists with making the game’s massive roster become introduced to the player in a way that feels unique to their choices and curiosity, in addition to allowing them to become familiarized with each character’s nuances in an environment that is different from traditional battling, yet gives them strong fundamentals that can be carried over into other modes.

It is clear that Ultimate’s primary concerns are to ensure that it’s player’s are never overwhelmed by the size of the roster and to give the player freedom in how they get introduced and become familiarized with the roster. Whether in “Classic” mode, in “World of Light”, or in “Mob Smash”, a mode where players have to fight against a large number of AI opponents, players constantly find themselves in an environment where they can learn more about the game, its mechanics, and its characters without the player feeling like they’re doing homework to acquire this information.

Ultimate’s use of side content is strategically formatted in a way that allows the game to be welcoming to first-time players and allow players to find themselves in environments where they can improve at the game at their own pace. This use of side content and its focus on accessibility has been always been part of the series’ identity and has clearly been a core part of Masahiro Sakurai’s game design philosophy. This focus on side content accessible and complementary to the core gameplay experience makes Ultimate the best game in the series to date. Previous Smash games were guilty of filler content that didn’t necessarily enhance the game as a total package. Sure, “Home Run Contest”, “Smash Run”, and “Smash Tour” were fun distractions, but they didn’t offer experiences that helped you achieve a greater understanding of the game’s mechanics. Ultimate omits the unnecessary side content, and focuses on delivering meaningful side content that works to complement the core Smash gameplay.

I feel that this conversation about side content is necessary to have because it seems to be something that many gamers take for granted. Meaningful side content goes a long way at making a game more accessible, more enjoyable, and have greater gameplay variety. When a game stumbles with its side content, it can make for lackluster experiences that could severely impact one’s impressions of a game. Case in point: Tekken 7.

In the past year, I’ve grown to adore Tekken 7’s gameplay and have been a devout Master Raven main for about nine months. However, my first impressions of the game in early 2018 painted a very different picture. I was reintroducing myself to the Tekken franchise after having watched my older brother play Tekken 2 and 3 as a kid. Tekken 7 was really my proper introduction to the series, and as such, I didn’t really know the game’s mechanics, how each character worked. All I really knew is that the game looked fun to play, and that I was willing to give it a shot.

Upon booting the game, I was immediately unsure of where to start. With a roster with over 30 playable characters, I blindly went into the game’s “Arcade” mode, hoping to find a character that I enjoyed using. To my surprise, though, Tekken 7’s “Arcade” mode was quite anemic, with no cutscenes or consistency to speak of. The game’s “Arcade” mode was underwhelmingly bare bones, and as a result, I didn’t feel that the mode helped me in learning more about each character. The game’s “Mishima Saga” Story mode similarly underwhelmed, given that it only allowed me to play as a small handful of characters, only a few of which clicked with me in any capacity. Characters that aren’t featured in the main story (ergo, most of them) are given brief episodes that are, quite literally, one fight with a brief cutscene at the end. Needless, these fail at giving me any meaningful understanding of who these characters.

It wasn’t later that year that I randomly decided to pick up the game and hop into “Treasure Battle” (a mode of an endless stream of AI opponents that, while also bare bones, does help with getting used to playing as different characters) and Training with various different characters in hopes to find a character that I enjoyed using. I eventually stumbled onto Master Raven and fell in love with her playstyle and began really enjoying Tekken 7 as a whole after that, but it’s so important to note that m enjoyment of Tekken 7 was born out of a negative first impression of the game due to its lackluster side content that didn’t help me get introduced and familiarize with the game’s mechanics and characters.

Tekken 7’s other side content offering don’t help much either. Customizing characters is an entertaining thing to sink some time into, but it’s ultimately cosmetic and nothing more. “Ultimate Tekken Bowling” is absurdly amusing, but its significantly different gameplay style doesn’t make you better at the core gameplay by any means.

Tekken 7 illustrates how poor implementation of side content can negatively impact someone’s experience with a game. If I didn’t return to the game in spite of my poor first impressions, Tekken 7 would have ultimately failed to resonate with me. Tekken 7 focuses on side content that’s axiomatically superfluous. Meanwhile, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate’s frames its side content in such a way to ensure that a player’s first impressions are positive and not filled with intimidation. Moreover, Ultimate’s side content structure ensures have a variety of different modes that feel different from one another, yet contribute to making the player feel like they’re learning about and improving at the game.

What both of these games have in common is the wealth of content they offer, but the ways in which that content is offered dramatically impacts the impressions and overall experiences both games create. In a gaming landscape where many companies try to offer filler content for the sake of having more stuff to do in their game, side content has often been given a negative connotation with it. But it doesn’t need to be that way. Now just as ever before, side content is about experiences that don’t need to be experienced by everyone who plays a game - about experience that don’t demand time and attention away from the main attraction of a game’s offerings. Side content, when done effectively, can be framed in such a way that allows a game’s mechanics, its world, its characters, or its story to be understood and appreciate at a greater capacity. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is a refreshing reminder of how side content can complement and enhance the entire experience of playing a game. So as you invite your friends over to play a few stock matches, play timed matches with items at a party, or attend a tournament as you hope to keep improving at the game, keep in mind how Ultimate’s side content has impacted your overall experience with the game.

The best offerings of side content - of which, Ultimate has - are the ones that have a hand in helping us discover what we love about the games we play, whether we’re conscious of it or not. “World of Light” made me appreciate and admire Ultimate to an accelerated degree - something that I didn’t realize was happening until I had completed the mode. Whenever we judge any kind of experience - a movie, for example - we judge its value off of the core experience of watching that film, but with video games, it’s not as easy to do so. While many certainly do judge a game purely off of what it offers in its core gameplay (i.e. the story in a narrative-driven game, a combat system in an RPG, etc.), the side content of a game is something that I feel deserves more attention and credit. And when side content is delivered in a way that is as well-executed as Super Smash Bros. Ultimate’s offerings, it’s hard not to stop and appreciate the smaller, side-experiences that help elevate a good game into a phenomenal one.

Thank you so much for reading! What are your thoughts on how side content ought to be structured? Are you a fan of Smash Ultimate’s approach to side content? What other games do you feel handle their side content well? Whether you agree or disagree, feel free to share your thoughts. Let me know your thoughts on Twitter @DerekExMachina.