The Super Smash Bros. series has seen its fair share of clones throughout the years, all attempting to replicate the gameplay of the beloved crossover franchise. The gameplay is simple enough to be applied to virtually any cast of characters but complex enough to create entirely unique experiences.
Arguably the most popular of the Smash clones is the indie game Rivals of Aether, created by Dan Fornace and released in early 2017. While we await the much anticipated Nintendo Switch port, what aspects of both series can we look at to determine which does them better?
10 RIVALS: Character Customization
While we now have the ability to play Sans, Cuphead, Morgana, and Knuckles in an all-out free-for-all, the 70+ main characters in Smash Ultimate are only limited to their eight unique color options for eight-player Smash. Rivals of Aether also has distinct color options, except this time they lie in the hundreds.
Alongside the basic preset colors for each character, there are also two slots for completely customizable colors for each part of the characters’ bodies. This allows players to craft their own personal color palettes, or make characters like Falco over Wrastor. Looking at the modding community for Super Smash Bros., it isn’t out of the question to see something similar appear in the future to fill our customizable needs.
9 SMASH: Items
In terms of pure, chaotic, casual fun, Smash’s items add a wide array of insanity into the fray. Ever since the original N64 title, items have been a key feature in every game since, adding an element of unpredictability not usually seen in fighting games.
These are turned off for competitive play, of course, and Rivals of Aether being the more competitively centered game doesn’t feature them at all. However, to bring more of a casual aspect, stage hazards were added and can be toggled on and off similarly to Smash Ultimate.
8 RIVALS: Character Creation
Beginning in Smash for Wii U and 3DS, and proposed during the development of Brawl, the Mii Fighters were a perfect way to make character customization accessible, fun, and diverse. Though, at the end of the day, there are only so many variations of Hank Hill to create before it starts to become stale.
Rivals of Aether utilizes the Steam Workshop to allow fans the luxury of creating their own fully customized character in terms of graphics, moves, frame data, sounds, and just about anything one can imagine. Browsing the extensive workshop list shows completely original fighters, tons of characters from various game franchises, and a plethora of meme characters like Ronald McDonald. They do require knowledge of spriting and coding, but the end result is much more in-depth and way more hilarious.
7 SMASH: Game Modes
One of the biggest reasons that Smash makes for both an amazing casual and competitive experience is the sheer amount of ways to play the game. There’s normal Smash, teams, Squad Strike, Smashdown, Special Smash, and customizable rulesets to play in the silliest ways possible.
Rivals of Aether really only has one main mode, being versus mode, albeit with a few tweaks to change it up. Rivals does what it was intended for extremely well, but Smash’s sheer amount of options to increase replayability definitely keeps players coming back for more.
6 RIVALS: Unlockables & Currency
Not counting characters, as comparing Ultimate’s massive amount of unlockable characters to Rivals would be a bit unfair, Rivals has some really unique unlockables to spend your hard-earned coins on. Buddies are possibly the coolest introduction, appearing next to your character during gameplay to show off just how cute they are.
In Ultimate, money is obtained from World of Light and normal play fizzles out in usefulness quite quickly, as items in the shop essentially become free with the sheer amount of coins players end up with. Rivals’ coins can also be used for money-matches to show your friends who the better player really is.
5 SMASH: Single-Player
Super Smash Bros. has always had a huge emphasis on making sure every player has something up their alley, even those who prefer riding solo. Break the Targets, Classic Mode, Home-Run Contest, Story Modes, Challenges, the list goes on.
Rivals of Aether does have a story mode, but it pales in comparison to the length of modes like Subspace Emissary and World of Light. Rivals would also be a great game to add single-player mini-games, and they could even make their way onto the online mode.
4 RIVALS: Better Tutorials
Without Smash community members to test and lab various hidden game mechanics that, for the most part, were never brought up in the actual games for years, we’d be left in the dark about all the mechanics the game has to offer. Besides the short videos on the title screen, Smash has a serious lack of tutorials.
Rivals, on the other hand, provides an amazing tutorial mode that covers every single aspect of gameplay. From beginner to advanced lessons, a player with zero experience in either game can learn the ins-and-outs in a short amount of time. There are even character-specific guides for your favorite fighters, and by the time you’re done with all of them, you’ll have a great grasp on competitive Rivals.
3 SMASH: Character Costumes
To make up for the limited color selections in Ultimate, Nintendo had the amazing idea to give some characters their own unique costumes instead. While not every character has these, they add a whole new layer of personality to these fighters.
Mario, Link, Shulk, and Hero are all great examples, containing entirely new outfits, or in Shulk’s case, the lack of one. Rivalsof Aether has far fewer characters in its roster, and it would be amazing to see each one of them get at least one alternate costume.
2 RIVALS: Online Mode
Compared to other companies, Nintendo is still a bit behind in terms of implementing online play into their games, even with the improvements on the Nintendo Switch. In Smash Ultimate, there is the option for single-player or co-op, and Elite Smash takes the place of a sort of “ranked-mode”.
Rivals of Aether, on the other hand, has a true ranked mode alongside rooms for friends and plain casual matches. The ranked mode is particularly well done, with ranks placed on each individual character. The online mode shows both users’ ping and connection strength, enables simple chatting, and the option for money-matches and rematching with character switching.
1 SMASH: Stage Builder
Stage Builder has been a creative way for players to make their own battlegrounds of epic proportions ever since Brawl, such as one long platform filled with nothing but death-inducing canons or making your favorite anime character.
Rivals does have the ability to utilize custom stages through the Steam Workshop, but adding an in-engine stage builder would be a great way to include those who are intimidated by the learning curve of modding the game.
NEXT: The Top 10 Final Smashes In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
