One of the biggest complaints fans have had with Super Smash Bros. Ultimate has been its online functionality, which is a bit of a train wreck. To be specific, if you play with friends, it’s fine, and you get a pretty full featured suite of options. The issue is if you play against random opponents online, because the game has done away with the separation of ranked and unranked play, and instead just throws you into matches against other players with seemingly little regard for what kinds of rules you prefer under.
The newest update for the game, patch 1.2.0 which was announced earlier this week, addresses this problem, at least to some extent. It is available to download now, and prioritizes your preferred rules much more strongly in online matchmaking. It is important to note that your preferred rules aren’t guaranteed, but at least they are placing more emphasis on them, if nothing else.
This may cause you to find matches a bit slower than usual. There are also gameplay balance changes that have been made, with several characters—Link, Donkey Kong, Kirby, Luigi, Ice Climbers, Young Link, Olimar, Toon Link, Villager, Greninja, PAC-MAN, Duck Hunt, and Isabelle. What the changes are is unclear, but surely the community will figure them out soon.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is available now, exclusively on Nintendo Switch. In spite of the problems with its online, it remains an incredible game, and I urge you to check it out. Make sure to see the full patch notes below.
Version 1.2.0
You can confirm your current version by checking the upper-right corner of the title screen.
Offline Gameplay
- Adjusted difficulty of approaching challengers.
Online Gameplay
- When matchmaking in Quickplay, the Format setting of your Preferred Rules will be prioritized more. This may cause matchmaking to take more time. Also, there is no guarantee that matchmaking will be done exactly as shown in the set Preferred Rules.
- Increased the stability of the synchronous connection within Battle Arenas.
Misc.
- Game balance adjustments.
- Various gameplay fixes.
- Link, Donkey Kong, Kirby, Luigi, Ice Climbers, Young Link, Olimar, Toon Link, Villager, Greninja, PAC-MAN, Duck Hunt, and Isabelle