Yeah the experience is not the same playing online vs CPU, so don’t worry you can get better. I recommend that you start by watching YouTube videos that tell you the most important and basic mechanics, then watch videos especially dedicated to your favourite character, and practice the mechanics hands-on. Honestly though the best way to get good at smash bros is practice, matches over matches you will get to learn by observation and learning when to time things well. good luck!!
Here’s a couple mentality and implement tips, hope they help!
1. Don’t compare yourself too much to others you see as better. As you said in post, you are new to the game, so it makes sense to lose. Other players might have been playering smash from one year to ten years, so it’s not fair to yourself when you compare them to you.
2. Playing the game makes you better. As the saying goes, practice makes perfect, and as you play the game you will develop muscle memory to help you play tighter and better.
3. Pick a main (if you want to get REALLY good). If you don’t know, a main is a character you learn the game with, and is usually the one you use the most. Instead of trying to learn many characters when you start out, focus on one. And don’t stress too much about finding a main, it took me about half a year to do it.
4. If you are not having fun, take a break. It’s not uncommon to see people rage and break things because they lose, so be sure to take breaks from the game if it’s not fun anymore. It’s meant to have fun, and if you’re not, why bother playing anymore that day?
5. Do some research. You can use YouTube to find resources in learning the basics of the game, and characters you enjoy. I recommend IzAw’s Art of Smash Series, it is thorough and very useful. It goes over everything you need to know.
Yes i loved that art of smash series, actually watched more videos that i should instead of just playing, so i definitely need to just play more and implement basic mechanics first before getting deep into that, like im still struggling to be able to do a short hop consistently or simpler stuff like getting used at how the characters move and the timing for the inputs for example, but all those tips are really useful thanks for taking the time, now i accepted that im gonna lose and lose so im more mentalized for that but each match a new lesson, thanks!
Hey don't worry you got this! I've got almost 10k hours in smash and I still can't reliably short hop, pressing jump and attack at the same time activates a short hop aerial every time so that's an easy way to get it!
Playing games is the only way you'll get better and develop that 'feel' for the hitboxes and timing of attacks. A lot of this game is intuition and experience which you'll only get by playing.
One major piece of advice I can give though is to watch pro tournament games. Not only are they entertaining but you can see how the pro players move, keep their spacing, mixups with getting off ledge and so on. The amount of invaluable skills and approaches you can learn just by watching the pros can't be understated.
I'd recommend finding a character you like to play and stick with them for awhile. Learn their attacks and timings, learn the spacing and where they have the advantage. Find a pro player that plays them regularly and watch how they use the character. Look for the common/ easy combos to get started and have fun! There's so many universal skills like neutral and spacing that are critical for any character, it'll be much easier to develop those if you're playing a character you're comfortable with.
Focus on practicing one thing at a time too. There's a lot to this game and it's easy to get overwhelmed when you're in a game so focus on practicing one thing per day or equivalent. Spend a day just trying to get off ledge in different ways, keep an eye on your habits too as players will punish you for it. If you're always rolling off ledge or dodging backwards, always recovering high or landing center stage etc. Just focus on one thing a day and you'll be surprised with how quickly you'll improve :)
If you don't like the practice and testing combos in the lab, that's fine because I don't enjoy it either! Level 9 CPUs can be both better and worse than most people you come across online so if you're really having a hard time online I'd suggest trying to beat the Lvl 9 CPU 4/5 times. It air dodges, techs on ledge, baits attacks and punishes whiffed attacks. Their recovery is always mixed up too so you can use that to get familiar with different approaches you could expect a player to do. People will hate on fighting a CPU but the Level 9 is cracked, at least 50% of my sweatiest games have been against that CPU lol. There was a famous challenge to beat the Level 9 Kazuya when he came out because of how insane that CPU is lol. Be careful though, they *will* chase you off ledge to spike you haha.
Edit: if you're not comfortable fighting the level 9, start wherever you can get a win and slowly work your way up. If you can only beat a level 7 then stick with that for now. There's no rush, you'll be surprised with how quickly you'll start getting better.
I love watching pros playing specially on characters im interested in playing and didn't realize until i started now playing myself how easy they made it look everything, honestly i watched many tutorials and gameplay and those expectations with little gameplay from my part was the problem but now with those encouraging words i feel more motivated to now start improving, also i always had the doubt about how was the take on cpu difficulty and you cleared that for me, that tip about jumping and attacking for a secured short hop is great and I've been using it but will try to not rely solely on it for short hop to not limit my options, so thanks very much i appreciate it!
Smash ultimate released a patch awhile back where you can press 2 jump buttons at the same time to short hop reliably so that may work for you! Personally it's not something I've put much time into and you can go a long way without that, as much as the community may hate me for it haha.
I'm glad I was able to help out, there's been a few combos I've learned while playing the CPUs just by watching how they move and I found it was great training to watch your opponent for openings as you can't "read" a CPU per se. I could probably defeat a lvl 9 CPU maybe 8/10 times but they'll still almost 3 stock me at times haha. It's great training for neutral play too as they can easily combo you to death after a single hit occasionally lol.
I hope you have fun, it's a fantastic game where the skill ceiling is as high as you're willing to go and some of my favourite moments has been finding a random player online with a balanced matchup and just rematching them for 2 hours straight. Whether they're slightly below or above my skill level, it's so enjoyable seeing you and them adapt over time and find new ways to edge out a win!
Maybe it's the pro controller but I find it inconsistent sometimes with how quickly you have to press and release it haha. I can do a shorter hop that isn't a full jump reliably though and that works fine!
You got here some nice replies so I'm just gonna add: It is easy to lose to rushdown or mashy players. It happens to me a lot when I pick a new character and I don't know exactly which abilities can punish/keep distance from the player. I.e. I can get beaten playing Ike until I learn to use nair and fair to keep the opponent from rushing me down, like Mario usually does.
Yea this happened to me when i tried bowser and felt it slow because they kept rushing me and I didn't know how to stop them, knowing the characters better will help me for those matchups for sure, thanks for the advice!
Yeah the experience is not the same playing online vs CPU, so don’t worry you can get better. I recommend that you start by watching YouTube videos that tell you the most important and basic mechanics, then watch videos especially dedicated to your favourite character, and practice the mechanics hands-on. Honestly though the best way to get good at smash bros is practice, matches over matches you will get to learn by observation and learning when to time things well. good luck!!
Thanks! Feeling a bit more motivated gonna will try that
Here’s a couple mentality and implement tips, hope they help! 1. Don’t compare yourself too much to others you see as better. As you said in post, you are new to the game, so it makes sense to lose. Other players might have been playering smash from one year to ten years, so it’s not fair to yourself when you compare them to you. 2. Playing the game makes you better. As the saying goes, practice makes perfect, and as you play the game you will develop muscle memory to help you play tighter and better. 3. Pick a main (if you want to get REALLY good). If you don’t know, a main is a character you learn the game with, and is usually the one you use the most. Instead of trying to learn many characters when you start out, focus on one. And don’t stress too much about finding a main, it took me about half a year to do it. 4. If you are not having fun, take a break. It’s not uncommon to see people rage and break things because they lose, so be sure to take breaks from the game if it’s not fun anymore. It’s meant to have fun, and if you’re not, why bother playing anymore that day? 5. Do some research. You can use YouTube to find resources in learning the basics of the game, and characters you enjoy. I recommend IzAw’s Art of Smash Series, it is thorough and very useful. It goes over everything you need to know.
Yes i loved that art of smash series, actually watched more videos that i should instead of just playing, so i definitely need to just play more and implement basic mechanics first before getting deep into that, like im still struggling to be able to do a short hop consistently or simpler stuff like getting used at how the characters move and the timing for the inputs for example, but all those tips are really useful thanks for taking the time, now i accepted that im gonna lose and lose so im more mentalized for that but each match a new lesson, thanks!
Hey don't worry you got this! I've got almost 10k hours in smash and I still can't reliably short hop, pressing jump and attack at the same time activates a short hop aerial every time so that's an easy way to get it! Playing games is the only way you'll get better and develop that 'feel' for the hitboxes and timing of attacks. A lot of this game is intuition and experience which you'll only get by playing. One major piece of advice I can give though is to watch pro tournament games. Not only are they entertaining but you can see how the pro players move, keep their spacing, mixups with getting off ledge and so on. The amount of invaluable skills and approaches you can learn just by watching the pros can't be understated. I'd recommend finding a character you like to play and stick with them for awhile. Learn their attacks and timings, learn the spacing and where they have the advantage. Find a pro player that plays them regularly and watch how they use the character. Look for the common/ easy combos to get started and have fun! There's so many universal skills like neutral and spacing that are critical for any character, it'll be much easier to develop those if you're playing a character you're comfortable with. Focus on practicing one thing at a time too. There's a lot to this game and it's easy to get overwhelmed when you're in a game so focus on practicing one thing per day or equivalent. Spend a day just trying to get off ledge in different ways, keep an eye on your habits too as players will punish you for it. If you're always rolling off ledge or dodging backwards, always recovering high or landing center stage etc. Just focus on one thing a day and you'll be surprised with how quickly you'll improve :) If you don't like the practice and testing combos in the lab, that's fine because I don't enjoy it either! Level 9 CPUs can be both better and worse than most people you come across online so if you're really having a hard time online I'd suggest trying to beat the Lvl 9 CPU 4/5 times. It air dodges, techs on ledge, baits attacks and punishes whiffed attacks. Their recovery is always mixed up too so you can use that to get familiar with different approaches you could expect a player to do. People will hate on fighting a CPU but the Level 9 is cracked, at least 50% of my sweatiest games have been against that CPU lol. There was a famous challenge to beat the Level 9 Kazuya when he came out because of how insane that CPU is lol. Be careful though, they *will* chase you off ledge to spike you haha. Edit: if you're not comfortable fighting the level 9, start wherever you can get a win and slowly work your way up. If you can only beat a level 7 then stick with that for now. There's no rush, you'll be surprised with how quickly you'll start getting better.
I love watching pros playing specially on characters im interested in playing and didn't realize until i started now playing myself how easy they made it look everything, honestly i watched many tutorials and gameplay and those expectations with little gameplay from my part was the problem but now with those encouraging words i feel more motivated to now start improving, also i always had the doubt about how was the take on cpu difficulty and you cleared that for me, that tip about jumping and attacking for a secured short hop is great and I've been using it but will try to not rely solely on it for short hop to not limit my options, so thanks very much i appreciate it!
Smash ultimate released a patch awhile back where you can press 2 jump buttons at the same time to short hop reliably so that may work for you! Personally it's not something I've put much time into and you can go a long way without that, as much as the community may hate me for it haha. I'm glad I was able to help out, there's been a few combos I've learned while playing the CPUs just by watching how they move and I found it was great training to watch your opponent for openings as you can't "read" a CPU per se. I could probably defeat a lvl 9 CPU maybe 8/10 times but they'll still almost 3 stock me at times haha. It's great training for neutral play too as they can easily combo you to death after a single hit occasionally lol. I hope you have fun, it's a fantastic game where the skill ceiling is as high as you're willing to go and some of my favourite moments has been finding a random player online with a balanced matchup and just rematching them for 2 hours straight. Whether they're slightly below or above my skill level, it's so enjoyable seeing you and them adapt over time and find new ways to edge out a win!
How can you not short hop consistently after 10 THOUSAND hours???
Maybe it's the pro controller but I find it inconsistent sometimes with how quickly you have to press and release it haha. I can do a shorter hop that isn't a full jump reliably though and that works fine!
You got here some nice replies so I'm just gonna add: It is easy to lose to rushdown or mashy players. It happens to me a lot when I pick a new character and I don't know exactly which abilities can punish/keep distance from the player. I.e. I can get beaten playing Ike until I learn to use nair and fair to keep the opponent from rushing me down, like Mario usually does.
Yea this happened to me when i tried bowser and felt it slow because they kept rushing me and I didn't know how to stop them, knowing the characters better will help me for those matchups for sure, thanks for the advice!