It’s fun Friday! Today, I thought it would be a cool idea to take a break from ranking things in sports. So today, we are going to take a look into the Super Smash Bros series. With Ultimate (the most recent game in the series) being in the news this week with the addition of Sephiroth from Final Fantasy VII, we should look into who are the best and worst fighters in the game. As usual, there will be a top five and worst five list from me. Let’s get into it!

The Best

These are the fighter’s that I use anytime without even thinking about it. Whenever these fighters are used, they typically are on the winning side of any fight they are selected for.

1. Min Min (Arms)

Min Min joined the fight as a DLC fighter this year back in June. Smash fans got a treat during quarantine. Up until then, it was being speculated that potentially all announcements from Nintendo were being postponed until 2021. For those who aren’t aware, fans for this game go nuts when something is announced. Don’t believe me? Look up Sephiroth’s name on Twitter and just look at the chaos smash fans produce online. Anyways, as for Min Min she specializes in range with her crazy arms. You can change her arms mid battle to give an advange, and her grab attack has ridiculous range in itself. So does her final smash. Some say she’s the queen of range because she can hit anyone from basically any distance.

2. Banjo and Kazooie (Banjo and Kazooie)

Banjo and Kazooie announcement trailer came in 2019 during E3 (The biggest gaming convention of the year). This was completely unexpected since Banjo and Kazooie are property of Microsoft. By far, Banjo and Kazooie were the number one requested fighter by fans. If you go on to Youtube and look up reactions to the trailer, fans are freaking out to extreme levels. As for Banjo as a fighter, he’s a combat fighter. He uses Kazooie as a combat weapon and as a gun. His neutral attacks are basic kicking and punching. This bear and bird combination are arguably one of the best in the game because of how smooth their moves are, and because of how much everyone wanted them in this game.

3. Dark Samus (Metroid Prime)

Dark Samus was brought into this game as an echo fighter. What’s an echo fighter? An echo fighter is a clone of an original fighter. In this case, Dark Samus is an echo to Samus. So what’s so special about Dark Samus? Dark Samus moves swiftly across the battle stages and has range. When the gun is fully charged, shooting it off will cover the entire stage and possibly can hit someone with a powerful blow. Plus, the final smash for Dark Samus literally covers the stage and is almost impossible to avoid. Dark Samus’ recovery too is one of the best because of how much damage that can be dealt from it.

4. Young Link (Legend of Zelda)

Finally a character from a previous Smash game! Young Link was in Super Smash Bros Melee, which many fans have dubbed Melee being the best game in the Smash Bros series. That discussion is an article for another day. However Young Link returns with an updated look, and more power. Young Link is one of the best swordfighters in this game and can land some crazy combo’s that can deal a lot of damage to others. To me, Young Link is the complete package of a fighter. Every type of move he does leads to damage on other enemies.

5. Kirby (Kirby)

I’d be remiss if Kirby wasn’t part of this list. Kirby is from the original Smash Bros game on the Nintendo 64. Kirby has the most unique ability out of all the fighters. He can suck up an opponent and copy one of their abilities. His jump is insane too because he can basically fly acorss the stage or if he’s knocked away from the stage he just has to simply fly back without having to use the normal recovery. As a fighter, Kirby is an all around fighter who basically just punches and kicks his way to victory. His final smash has changed from cooking his opponents in a giant pot to unleashing a giant sword on whoever is caught in his way.

The Worst

These fighters are awful. It’s rare to see anyone use these fighters because of how little damage they do to anyone, or how difficult they are to use in general.

1. Pichu (Pokemon)

Pichu makes a return from Super Smash Bros Melee. Out of all the characters in this game, Pichu got the short end of the stick. In Melee, Pichu was usable and could land some insane combos for high damage. In Ultimate, Pichu is slower, and more vulnerable to taking damage. Plus, just like in Melee, every time a smash attack is used, Pichu takes damage from it. With how powerful everyone else is, Pichu is quick to lose lives and fights. It’s sad to see since everyone was very excited to see Pichu come back into the series.

2. Jigglypuff (Pokemon)

Jigglypuff has been around since the original game and has been useless in all of them. There’s nothing good about this fighter. There’s no recovery, only jumping saves Jigglypuff. Jigglypuff can put opponents to sleep but that’s really about it. There’s no power in any of the attacks except for when they are rolled over by Jigglypuff. The counter move is the hardest counter move to land, and if it isn’t landed, Jigglypuff goes to sleep. By far Jigglypuff is the biggest let down in Smash Bros history.

3. Meta Knight (Kirby)

The fighter that everyone forgets about, Meta Knight! Meta Knight made his debut in Super Smash Bros Brawl for the Nintendo Wii and that’s basically the only highlight about him. When I say there’s nothing speical about Meta Knight, I’m not kidding there’s nothing special. He’s kind of just… there. His recovery isn’t always useful, he has slowly became worse and worse of a fighter, and is one of the least popular fighters in the game. It’s tough to win any fight with Meta Knight. None of his attacks give off any good damage either. Meta Knight is just another huge disappointment.

4. Mr. Game & Watch (Game & Watch)

Now, I know what you’re thinking. Don’t worry, I’ll tell you who this is. This is Mr. Game and Watch, from the Game and Watch series. Game and Watch was a series of handheld games that Nintendo released starting in 1980. So yes, this character is old. Mr. Game and Watch made his first appearance in Melee and wasn’t great in that game. In Brawl he was a whole lot better, but has since became useless. Just like the others, there’s nothing special about him and he’s not powerful. Some say he’s actually the worst in the game. I wouldn’t say he’s the actual worst, but he certainly is one of them.

5. Inkling (Splatoon)

Out of all the characters, these guys are a disappointment. The Inkings are from the Splatoon series, basically Nintendo’s version of Call of Duty. They were part of the announcement trailer for Smash Bros ultimate as it was revealed that the Inklings were the first new characters in the game. I honestly expected more from this character. On a technical stand point, it takes awhile to understand how to use them to their best. Their final smash can also be confusing to new players as well. They’re really only good at trapping opponents in the ground with their splat roller but thats about it. For the most part, Inkling was overhyped.

Final Thoughts

Well there’s the list. Super Smash Bros is by far one of the best if not the best fighting series in the history of gaming. With the addition of Sephiroth, only three more fighters are expected to be announced sometime in 2021 and at last the roster will be complete. What do you think of this list and who should have or shouldn’t have been included? Let me know your thoughts!

-Matt Burnett (@mattthew_jordan on Twitter)