From the beginning, Super Smash Bros. was always intended to be a party game that allowed people to play as their favorite Nintendo characters and duke it out to see who comes out on top. While it was originally meant to provide a casual experience that everyone can enjoy, dedicated fans have shown that it can be more than just that.
From the first entry to the most recent one, players have utilized mechanics and features in ways that let Super Smash Bros. have its own competitive realm, one that's just as good as or better than that of even the most well-known fighting games. However, as popular as it may have gotten, it feels like it could have done even better.
While there are many factors contributing to Super Smash Bros. missed opportunity of becoming the most recognized party-fighting game of all time, a significant one stands out to me: not following its peers in having a standardized single-target super. I believe that if the next entry in the series has that, there is potential for it to be a game that offers the best possible experience, to both players and spectators.
You may argue that Super Smash Bros. already has supers, given that Final Smashes were introduced in Brawl in 2008. While they are certainly entertaining and can affect the tide of battle, they have no business being used in any competitive matches.
The reason for this is that every character has a unique Final Smash, and most of them cannot or are close to being impossible to block, cover the entire screen, guarantee instant death, and have other effects that ensure a victory for its user. Final Smashes essentially provide an instant win scenario, and having something like that removes the unpredictability and thrill that should come with two skilled fighters duking it out in a serious competition.
That's not a problem in popular fighting games like Tekken, Street Fighter, and Mortal Kombat, as every super move of their characters was designed in a way that made them fair. What that means is that they're single-target and lock whoever's on the receiving end in place when they connect, deal a large but not absurdly large amount of damage, and can easily be blocked if the opponent knows it's coming.
Such supers are essentially high-risk, high-reward moves that reward a person for playing fantastically, or can be used by someone as a way to come back from a losing situation. That is what Super Smash Bros. is currently lacking, and what the next entry should definitely have.
By introducing fighting games' standardized single-target supers in the next Smash title, it will undoubtedly make its already intense and fun-to-watch matches even more so. This results in Super Smash Bros. broadening its appeal and drawing in more fans, which is something that all fans of the series would want, as it would mean a much bigger and healthier community.
Implementing it would be possible, but perhaps the reason why it hasn't yet is due to Nintendo's hesitancy to cater to the competitive crowd and risk losing those who are looking for a fun and party-like experience. While it's essential to ensure that the game is accessible to everyone, that does not mean it should forego the more serious crowd, especially since they're one of the biggest reasons why Super Smash Bros. is still relevant to this day.
Besides, there is one thing that Nintendo can do with the next entry to ensure that both the casual and competitive sides are appeased, and that's to introduce separate modes where one utilizes only the regular Final Smashes, and the other where it's only the new single-target ones. By doing this, it means the next Smash title can still be the fun party game it was meant to be, while also allowing itself to provide an amazing competitive experience.
Although it may be hard to implement, given that you'd have to consider the many different characters and how each would need their own unique finishers, it would be a worthwhile effort, considering what it can do for the series.
Super Smash Bros. has become a phenomenon in the gaming industry, and if it wants to remain as one, it will need to continue evolving and keep up with or surpass its competitors. That's why the next step must be for Nintendo to bite the bullet and introduce single-target supers in the next entry.
For now, the only thing we can do is wait for the highly likely Switch 2 title and hope that the game has it. If it does, then not only would that make the next entry one of, if not the absolute best in the entire series, but it would also allow Smash to become an even bigger hit than it already is, which it should, given that it deserves to be with what it has done for gaming.
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