14. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (2018)
- Final score: 29 points
- Total placements: 3 lists
- Highest placement: #1, Q
Casey writes:
By all objective measures Super Smash Bros Ultimate achieves what it set out to do: free Masahiro Sakurai from his self-made prison make The Authoritative Smash Bros franchise entry. It’s maximal in all the best ways and the character reveals both in the run-up to launch and during the DLC era were an iconic part of gaming culture. Its online offering was the best effort yet in the franchise, though it’s far from perfect, and the balance of its roster is pretty solid, with most fans seeming to think that only the original game’s lineup surpasses it–though the work involved to match 12 characters seems almost trivial compared to Ultimate’s 89. It looks good, it plays with up to 10 people at once, it’s got a killer soundtrack. If this game had come out at a time when more of this group saw each other in person more regularly, it very well may have cracked the top 10… even the top 5?
Q writes:
I played this nearly weekly with local peeps for years 2020-2024. Great balance and fun.