Have your Smash Bros. skills gotten a bit rusty? If you want to play
Smash with your bros, but don’t feel like you can keep up, you’ll want to choose your fighter with care. If you select one of the easiest characters to play in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, you’ll be knocking out your opponents and winning matches in no time!
It’s important to note that these characters aren’t necessarily the strongest characters in Ultimate; they’re simply characters that are easy to master. If you feel like you don’t know what you’re doing when you play Smash Bros., you’ll want to give these fighters a closer look.
Mario
Mario is designed to be a solid all-around fighter. He’s not the strongest character in the game, nor is he the fastest, but he’s easy to pick up and he doesn’t have any glaring weaknesses. Mario can wall-jump, which gives him extra recovery options, and his standard jumps are also quite high. If you’re in a pinch, Mario’s up-special, the Super Jump Punch, can bring you back to safety. Mario offers a little bit of everything, which is why playing as “Mr. Video Game Himself” is a terrific way to master the fundamentals of Smash.
Marth and Lucina
If you’re looking for a solid all-around fighter but prefer swords to fists, you can’t go wrong with either Marth or Lucina. They both have simple but effective
Lucina is Marth’s Echo Fighter, which means the two characters are essentially clones of each other. That said, there are a few minor differences between the two. Marth can deal impressive damage if you manage to hit with the tip of his attacks, while Lucina is more consistent overall. No matter who you select, you’ll find that both fighters are perfect for novice
Palutena
If you’re brand-new to Smash, we can’t think of an easier character to start with than Palutena. She may not be a physical powerhouse, but she has a high defense, which means she can soak up plenty of hits without getting knocked out. Palutena also has plenty of ranged attacks in her repertoire, which means she can deal damage while avoiding her opponents entirely.
Palutena also has plenty of ways to recover when things look dire. Her up-special, Warp, allows her to teleport to a safe location on the map. The move also grants her a split second of invincibility, which means it could save you in a sticky situation.
Link
Smash‘s most versatile characters are typically among the more complex characters in the game’s roster. When a character has a deep and varied toolkit, they usually also have a steep learning curve. Thankfully, Link offers the best of both worlds. He’s easy to pick up and play, but he also has an impressive variety of moves at his disposal.
Stat-wise, Link is fairly well-rounded. He’s received a few buffs in Ultimate, including faster movement speed and wider reach. He has both close- and long-range attacks, and he has excellent recovery moves like his up-special, Spin Attack. While it might be a while before players figure out everything that he can do, they should be able to do a lot with him right out of the gate.
Mii Gunner
All three of the customizable Mii Fighters are fairly easy to play, but the Mii Gunner is the simplest of the bunch. The Gunner shares many moves with Samus, but their small size makes it easier for them to avoid attacks. They have plenty of ranged moves in their arsenal, which means you can hole up and attack your opponents from a distance without taking much damage to yourself.
The Mii Gunner is slightly heavier than the other Mii Fighters, which makes them a little trickier to knock out. Because the Gunner is a customizable character, they have several options for special moves, including excellent recovery moves like Lunar Launch and Laser Blaze. With just a smidge of effort, you can mold the Gunner into a character that meshes perfectly with your playstyle.
What About _______?
Smash Bros. Ultimate has a massive 70+ character roster, which means someone will be left off of any list. It’s simple to see why certain characters aren’t easy to pick up and play. Mastering Isabelle’s side-special, Fishing Rod, takes practice. If you want to play as a character like Pokémon Trainer, you’ll have to learn three fighters, not just one. Other characters, however, like Kirby or Cloud, might look like an easy choice at a glance, but they’re a bit more difficult than they seem.
Kirby is a lightweight, floaty character, which can make it easy for him to recover from a tough hit. However, Kirby’s neutral-special, Inhale, allows him to copy the neutral-special of the character he’s fighting. If you want to play well with Kirby, you’re going to have to learn every single character in Ultimate!
Sword-fighters like Cloud, Ike, Roy, and Chrom aren’t bad for beginners, but they do have some hidden complexities. Cloud’s down-special, Limit Break, requires some light resource management. Ike, Roy, and Chrom all have slow smash-attacks, which puts them at a disadvantage against faster characters.
At the end of the day, the best Smash character to play is the one that you like the most. If you want to become a great Smash player, you’re going to have to do a lot of
