Super Smash Bros Ultimate Superlative Awards

Author's Note: If you are familiar with the Academy Awards (or Star Awards if you come from Singapore like me), here is a superlative awards ceremony for the best and worst highlights of Super Smash Bros Ultimate after 3 years of hype. These awards are just my personal opinion as nobody from Singapore is eligible for purchasing Super Smash Bros Ultimate's DLC. So do not be disappointed if your favourite character or feature or stage did not make the cut in this awards ceremony.

Best non-DLC Newcomer: Simon Belmont. The original poster boy of Castlevania was believed to have been the runner-up of the Smash 4 DLC ballot that Bayonetta won. To make up for this, Konami decided to have two members of the Belmont Clan join Metal Gear Solid's Snake as Konami representatives. Ridley gets a well-deserved runner-up award because Nintendo had been trying to make him playable in Smash since Melee. He could have been the winner, but his side special being a sacrificial KO move caused him to drop points because most grab-based sacrificial KO moves end with the character performing said move losing under the current last life rules.

Worst non-DLC Newcomer: A tie between Chrom and Dark Samus. Chrom is supposed to be an echo fighter of Fire Emblem Roy, but his up special is a slightly inferior version of Ike's up special. Dark Samus is just an echo fighter of Samus, but with Ridley's victory theme. Daisy and Richter are runners-up in this category, but only because Daisy is better than Peach, who was always lame, and Richter's holy water vials do not instantly detonate Blast Boxes and Bombers, which can also be a good thing as well...

Best DLC Character: Sora. The poster boy of Kingdom Hearts was in very high demand in Japan, North America and Europe. Even Disney wanted Sora to be in Nintendo's dueling tournament. Thankfully, a Disney representative met Masahiro Sakurai at an awards ceremony, and demanded that Sora should be playable in Smash. Banjo-Kazooie and Steve, being Microsoft characters in Smash, proved that Microsoft is willing to take their Console Wars hostilities to Nintendo's territory on the personal level. Therefore, they both get the runners-up award for this category.

Worst DLC Character: Piranha Plant. Remember the data corruption glitch? I am very sure Nintendo has not successfully rectified that glitch as of the Version 13.0.0 Update. Byleth gets the runner-up award for this category because He/She did not introduce a data corruption glitch, but received many dislikes from the community for being bland.

The "He/She should have been playable!" Award: Krystal. Unfortunately, due to Krystal not wearing any panties under her skirt for her skimpy costume, she had to be an Assist Trophy. Pyra had to wear a pantyhose just to comply with the age rating boards due to her tiny shorts in order to be playable. Even the school uniform female Inkling is wearing shorts under her skirt. The runner-up for this category, Klonoa, would have been a better Bandai Namco representative in Smash than Kazuya, but inflating opponents would be a huge problem in Smash, and therefore, he was turned down in favour of Kazuya.

The "You're Not Welcome to Smash At All!" Award: Waluigi. Anybody who has self-pity as the cornerstone of his personality can never become playable in Smash. Also, characters owned by Sony are not welcome to participate in a Nintendo dueling tournament because Sony still can never forgive Nintendo for the betrayal that took place in 1991.

Toughest Level 9 CPU: Kazuya Mishima. When he was introduced, even professional players had difficulty defeating him. The runner-up, Sora is almost as broken. Possibly because he can use his zigzagging side special after using his up special.

Best Kirby Hat: Sora Kirby. Even if Kirby does not get to wield a keyblade, at least he can command the elements to conquer his opponents. Kazuya Kirby can angle beam attacks, while Shulk Kirby harnesses the Monado's power, but still, both are not as impressive as Sora Kirby.

Worst Kirby Hat: King Dedede Kirby. Basically Kirby's Inhaling ability, but more mundane. At least the Mii Fighter headbands that Kirby obtains when he inhales Mii Fighters have better abilities.

Best Alternate Costume (That's not a Mii Costume): Gold Coat Kazuya. Gold palette swaps are among the best alternate costumes in Smash, and Gold Coat Kazuya is no exception, except that it is a recolour of a different alternate costume, and not a recolour of the default costume. The runner-up, Leopard Print Snake was always the best Snake alternate costume because it makes the other Snake alternate costumes, including the default, look mediocre.

Best non-DLC Mii Costume: Lip Outfit. Turn your female Mii Swordfighter into a magical girl. Also, it's available from the start. The Special Forces Set turns Mii Gunners into army personnel, and deserves to be the runner-up.

Best DLC Mii Costume: Doom Slayer Set. Finally, Isabelle and the Doom Slayer are together at last. Sort of. The Travis Set gets a respectable runner-up award because Super Smash Bros was referenced in No More Heroes 3.

Most Agonizing Star KO Death Scream: Fire Emblem Roy. His Star KO death scream really sounds like a proper death scream. Snake's Big NO!!!!! also makes a comeback, and now Pit yells "I never learned how to read!" But Snake's and Pit's Star KO death screams are not really death screams.

Best New Item: A draw between Healing Field and Healing Sprout. Both are healing items introduced in Super Smash Bros Ultimate. The Staff gets a runner-up award as it is a shooting item that works like a sniper rifle when fired from long distances. The Bomber gets a 2nd runner-up award because it can be deployed to blast nearby enemies and objects. However, when it falls of a ledge, should it land on solid ground, it will explode upon impact. It can explode by itself like the Bob-omb when left alone or if it was held in hand for too long.

Worst New Item: Fake Smash Ball. This item looks like a Smash Ball but it explodes in an X-shaped explosion, similar to X Bombs. Whatever you do, do not attack the Fake Smash Balls. The effects of Ramblin' Evil Mushrooms are so nasty you wouldn't want to attack them if it means avoiding getting your directional controls reversed by their spores. It can, however, be used like a Fire Flower, to sabotage enemies' directional controls by spraying spores at them.

The Item that should be retired for the next Smash: Poison Mushroom. The most hated item in Super Mario Bros: The Lost Levels is so unlikable it should never have been added into Super Smash Bros in the first place. The Fake Smash Ball is obviously a regrettable addition to the items list, and Smoke Balls do nothing other than as a marker for enemy targets. Therefore, all three items should be retired from the next Smash Bros title.

The Item that we would like to have in the next Smash: Mega Mushroom. Grow even bigger than you normally would with this superweapon. Also, the Mega Mushroom theme plays when someone consumes the Mega Mushroom. 1-Up Mushrooms would have been basically the Rally-X Special Flag, except it can be consumed similarly to a Super Mushroom. In timed battles with unlimited lives, the 1-Up Mushroom would instead reset the damage counter to 0% for whoever consumes it.

Best New Feature: Spirits. They work like the equipment in Smash 4, but with mostly positive perks. For the features that got the runners-up awards, we have 8-Player Battles available in all stages and Final Smash Meters. Back when 8-Player Battles were introduced in Super Smash Bros for Wii U, only certain stages can have that feature. But Ultimate change that and now, 8-Player Battles are available on all stages. The Final Smash Meter gives characters a chance to activate a Final Smash when Smash Balls are hard to come by.

Worst New Feature: Small Battlefield. It would definitely not be suitable for anything more than 2 players, although the only reason it exists is for 1 vs 1 matches. While it's understandable that Final Smash Meters need to have a time limit, but why do they need a use it or lose it situation? 8-Player Battles make sense in Ω form stages, but Battlefield form stages? There's not enough room for that!

Most Improved Feature: Stage Builder. This version is a large improvement from the Wii U Smash Bros Stage Builder, although it still does not really meet the expectations of some players. Maybe we will get a better one when Smash Bros takes the Super Mario Maker path regarding the series' future after Masahiro Sakurai. The campaign mode, World of Light, while not as great as The Subspace Emissary, has a navigation feature simpler than the navigation in Brawl's campaign mode. The Classic Mode in Ultimate is now more focused on recurring themes, some of which focus more on lore.

The Feature that will be sorely missed: Trophies (and Trophy Rush). Saying goodbye to trophies, and with it, Trophy Rush, was perhaps the biggest omission in the game. Perhaps this is due to spirits lacking lore descriptions that trophies have. This means no more Trophy Rush, and Trophy Rush was actually one of my favourite mini-games in the 3DS version of Smash 4. Target Blast was also one of my favourite mini-games in the 3DS version of Smash 4. But it did not return for Ultimate, unlike Home-Run Contest.

Best New Stage: King of Fighters Stadium. While it is harder to score KOs by smacking opponents towards the blast lines on the left or right sides of the stage due to invisible barriers, judging by the need to deal enough knockback on opponents to penetrate the invisible barriers, said barriers can actually be a lifesaver. Also, Metal Slug music is available on this stage. The Minecraft World, Mishima Dojo and Hollow Bastion stages all get a runner-up award for this category because people actually want Minecraft, Tekken and Kingdom Hearts to be represented in Smash.

Worst New Stage: Small Battlefield. The only reason Small Battlefield exists is solely for 1 vs 1 matches. Nothing more, nothing less.

The Stage that should not have been omitted: Pac-Maze. This stage is more synonymous with Pac-Man than Pac-Land. Mario Kart 7's version Rainbow Road was added in Super Smash Bros for 3DS, but was cut from Ultimate, in spite of Rainbow Road themes being included in the game.

So there you have it. These are my opinions on who the award winners for the Super Smash Bros Ultimate Superlative Awards are. Your opinions may vary. So let me know if your choice was not on my list.

Super Smash Bros Ultimate © Nintendo.