The online mode of Smash Ultimate is even more unacceptable 14 months after its release

[Devil]

I haven't noticed any lag after using the LAN adapter, but I also only play online with people who also have LAN adapters lol.

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It's better that way, but still a trash system. There are no f'ing filters for matchmaking if you play randoms casually or ranked so you are bound to get crap connections. No connection strength is given, not if it's wifi or wired etc.

Also, even the best wired connections online are nowhere near as good as in games with better netcode.

 

[MegaRockEXE]

local wi-fi matches somehow have terrible lag

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Oh man, this too. One time, when I was waiting in a long line, a group next to me tried a local 5 player match. And it was a slideshow! I don't know how they mess that up. Actual online is better than local wireless.

 

[Socivol]

It really is unacceptable. I got Switch online for myself and my nephew last year so we could play Smash. It was so laggy we couldn't even play together. Since that's the only game I own online for the Switch it's the only reason for me to have Switch Online. I am really hoping that they give some resources to making online better. Having a flawless customizable online experience really would make this the ultimate version of Smash.

 

[NotLiquid]

Oh man, this too. One time, when I was waiting in a long line, a group next to me tried a local 5 player match. And it was a slideshow! I don't know how they mess that up. Actual online is better than local wireless.

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Switch's local wireless is kind of notoriously bad, that one's a non-Smash exclusive problem. Even Mario Maker 2 was terrible when me and some friends tried to set up a local. Internet is somehow more stable.

 

[Durden]

It feels like a completely different game offline vs online. Yes this is kind of a thing with all fighting games but it's crazy apparent with Smash. More than almost any other fighting game. Even third party offerings I've had better luck with on the Switch, such as DBFZ, (although not by much), which is especially amazing as it's netcode is notoriously shit.

 

[Aswitch]

They'd never do it. That would mean "exposing" and ostracizing everyone playing on a Switch Lite.

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True. There's just got to be some solution. Like netcode rework or something. It's just a real shame for a game this great to be bogged down by it's online.

 

[Kor of Memory]

I almost exclusively play online. Like, I'm in the midwest. I always play like 30 minutes before work every day. Then usually a bit over lunch, and some evenings. If I'm lucky I get a solid 2-3 hours on a Friday or Saturday on it.

I have a laggy match about 1 in every 15 matches. And usually they're still playable, just slow and annoying. I have a wired connection to my switch with a fiber internet connection.

I've gotten Little Mac and Bowser up to Elite Brawl with Kirby on his way (around 5.5M GSP right now)

As for your issue with what you're playing against. Byleth is still pretty new and therefore the diversity in opponents has been pretty small. That said, sometimes your character has a hard counter that you can't do much against. So you either need to learn how to play against your hard counters, or learn another character that can better handle those scenarios.

 

[Dyle]

Yup it's still pretty awful. A decent chunk of matches are ok but there are enough painfully laggy matches that it feels bad overall. I wouldn't be as bothered by it if there were decent matchmaking options, a better ranking system, and more interesting rulesets, but online play is so bare bones that the connections issues exacerbate an already weak system.

 

[Odeko]

At least with ArcSys you can yell about it enough and there's a chance the desire for rollback will get through.

For Smash I've just completely given up. It'll be terrible forever.

 

[awake4ages]

The matchmaking options especially are abysmal. The fact that you can't opt out of certain match types altogether is so incredibly baffling. Sure most people play 3 stock but every now and then a 2 stock or timed game pops up and I'm just sitting there wondering why the game works like this. It's like a slot machine determines your rulesets

 

[Jaded Alyx]

It feels like a completely different game offline vs online. Yes this is kind of a thing with all fighting games

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Eh.........not all...

 

[Ehoavash]

Eh maybe 1 in 12 matches I lag on wifi btw

I do mostly play 1 vs 1 anyways

But I agree that online needs more modes where the fuck is Squad Strike T.T

 

[Spinluck]

Very weird. My matches are great, but the functionality and options online are my problem. Should be as robust as the local component at this point. Instead there has been no real worthwhile improvements since Brawl.

 

[Deleted member 38706]

I love Sakurai, but he really needs to learn how to implement rollback netcode into Smash.

 

[Durden]

Eh.........not all...

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I haven't played too much online this gen, aside from SFV, DBFZ, and Smash. So I guess I'm mainly goin off UMvC3 which definitely felt like you were playing a different game sometimes, and DBFZ still now which still does often. SFV was pretty shit sometimes but I was always of the opinion that it ran rather well.

MvC:I was a really nice standout though. That game felt amazing online.

 

[Orbit]

Hey guys ! I just played one hour of Smash Ultimate online with my boy Chrom. Now I hate the game.

I stopped played online for 5 months since I was living abroad and only got to play Smash offline during that time. When I came back, replaying online mode was not even fun anymore, it was an ordeal. Fights that would have been easy to win offline become so difficult online due to the horrendous input lag (which is already not great offline). Zoners are a nightmare to fight. Besides, a lot of these guys have decided to play 3 stocks matchs with a timer of only 4 minutes, why ? Because these people want you to suffer, I guess ? Matchmaking is still a disaster. Some BASIC options don't exist after one full year of patches. About patches, the only thing we got was slighty more accurate matchmaking but it is still not good. Arenas are slighty better but still far from perfect. Global Smash Power still sucks. There are so many things wrong in this online mode that has been pointed out day one and Nintendo doesn't seem to care, I guess releasing another Fire Emblem character makes more money so I don't blame them.

But honestly, the lag. The damn lag, it's just too much. I feel like I don't even play the game sometimes. Like I know the opponent will use a smash attack but the game is just too fucking laggy that I can't react to that and lost too many stocks because of that. I am on ethernet, my connection in other fighting games is great, but still, Smash is a lagfest. I mostly play the game online and it's killing my enjoyement of a, otherwise, really good game. It baffles me how nothing has been done after one year of patches. I am really pessimist for the future since Nintendo seems only to allocate ressources towards developping new characters and doesn't seem to care about the ingame issues. A shame, really.

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dang sucks to hear this. i just bought the switch ethernet adapter thing and the fact that even with that i still won't get a quality experience is a bummer. but at the end of the day, i am more of an offline gamer anyways, so improved game download time etc. still made purchase worth it.

 

[SmartWaffles]

100% expect Animal Crossing to be the next victim.

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It already happened with the lack of effort to offer cloud save.

 

[Jaded Alyx]

I haven't played too much online this gen, aside from SFV, DBFZ, and Smash. So I guess I'm mainly goin off UMvC3 which definitely felt like you were playing a different game sometimes, and DBFZ still now which still does often. SFV was pretty shit sometimes but I was always of the opinion that it ran rather well.

MvC:I was a really nice standout though. That game felt amazing online.

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Well there you go. Of those you mentioned, SFV and MvC:I use rollback netcode. SFV's version has been poorly implemented since the beta and is finally being adjusted next week. MvC:I is Capcom finally grasping rollback netcode and getting it right.

Smash, DBFZ, and UMvC3 all use archaic delay-based netcode.

 

[Spinosaurus]

Quick Play is the most mind boggling thing and lobbies suck, nevermind the netcode itself.

 

[ShinobiBk]

I'm not saying the netcode is good or that I don't want it to be better, it's just not my main priority for what I'd want them to change. Let friends play together locally while online, give us Squad Strike online, let us switch characters in Arenas without backing out, etc. I'm more disappointed in the feature set (or lack of features) rather than how it runs (which is admittedly not very good)

In terms of functionality maybe, but at least there's no PvP type interaction. Mario Kart might be their best because of how the game works.

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It's Arms by a mile. That ran great, plus Ranked and Casual modes were handled excellently.

Tried to play with Byleth recently and man. Just painful overall. I think at least incorporating connection information of whether the opponents have a wired connection or not would help a ton so you can deny playing against them. At the very least, they could patch that in to help factor that out of the equation of connection quality issues.

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Why would they do that? The Switch does not even have a LAN line built into the console, do not forget that

 

[Civilstrife]

I play from Ecuador. The third world. With garbage internet and offensive ping. Most of my online matches are flawless. I'm on elite smash now.

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Yeah, obviously there's something weird going on in some regions.
I'm in Canada with fairly decent but not amazing internet.

99% of my matches are flawless.

I feel like the people who are saying it works perfectly are the people whose point of perspective is just other Nintendo Online games. Like, sure, it works fine, next to Mario Kart DS.

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Please don't.

I play all kinds of other online games on every platform.
There may well be something going wrong with some connections, but don't infantilize people who say they aren't having problems.

 

[Durden]

Well there you go. Of those you mentioned, SFV and MvC:I use rollback netcode. SFV's version has been poorly implemented since the beta and is finally being adjusted next week. MvC:I is Capcom finally grasping rollback netcode and getting it right.

Smash, DBFZ, and UMvC3 all use archaic delay-based netcode.

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That's awesome to hear about SFV. Are they going to adjust it kind of in line with that mod I've heard about? I'm hoping to get back into the game soon with CE so that's baller.

 

[Maple]

It's not just online. Wireless play, even local when you're sitting a few feet from one another, is atrocious.

My brother and I visited some family back in December for the holidays. Every single time we booted up Smash and played locally, there was immense lag. And we were sitting just a few feet from one another.

It was pathetic, although at this point I'm not sure if it's just poor network code or if the internal hardware of the Switch is to blame.

 

[manzoman96]

I really don't get how they keep managing to make Smash's online terrible while they always do a great job with Mario Kart.

 

[Jaded Alyx]

That's awesome to hear about SFV. Are they going to adjust it kind of in line with that mod I've heard about? I'm hoping to get back into the game soon with CE so that's baller.

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That's the hope. But who knows really.

I really don't get how they keep managing to make Smash's online terrible while they always do a great job with Mario Kart.

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Not really a fair comparison. One is a racing game, the other is a fighting game. One is developed internally at Nintendo, the other at Bandai Namco.

 

[1000% H]

Smash Ultimate has an online mode?

 

[Professor Beef]

"iT wOrKs fOr mE jUsT FiNe"

cool, thanks for letting us know how self-absorbed you are

 

[Phatmanny]

100% smash suffers from the same problems I noticed all japanese fighters have. It plays great as long as you aren't playing anyone too far. Two players in japan? Plays great
I live in SoCal and so my games Are great since there is a healthy community.
people with issues online, I'm curious where you all live

 

[Dest]

yeah it sucks shit. it turned me off from playing the game almost entirely

 

[BlueManifest]

I wish they would change the way GSP is handled with Rage Quitters. Why do I not net GSP for winning due to the person quitting? Sure, the person quitting loses some GSP but I guess the effort put into making them rage quit isn't worth a net gain. Stupid.

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I didn't know you played smash Nate, let's vs sometime

if I win you give me a hint of some inside info 😂

 

[banter]

Yeah the complaints are baffling to me. I'm on WIFI and I'd say 80% of my matches are flawless. Honestly truly don't get the hate.

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Same, that's not to say I'm making light of other peoples problems or anything, just that it is baffling to me.

 

[Blackquill]

I play on Ethernet, I put all odds on my side and it still is far from the offline experience. Maybe I can feel the difference because I didn't play online for so long.

Guys if you play with wifi and don't have any trouble I will have a hard time believing you honestly.

 

[ThisOne]

The online is bad. Lag and the lack of options are the biggest offenders. Ultimately, the poor online components are what led me to stop playing the game.

 

[BlueManifest]

I play on Ethernet, I put all odds on my side and it still is far from the offline experience. Maybe I can feel the difference because I didn't play online for so long.

Guys if you play with wifi and don't have any trouble I will have a hard time believing you honestly.

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I play on 5ghz WiFi no problems, 9 out of 10 matches flawless

 

[Deleted member 49438]

It's hit or miss. I haven't touched the online in a while but I remember playing 5-player lobbies with people around launch & it working great, but trying to do something similar a couple weeks later & it being trash. Definitely the worst part of Smash & there's no good excuse for it. Nintendo deserves all the flak they get for Smash online.

 

[Aswitch]

Why would they do that? The Switch does not even have a LAN line built into the console, do not forget that

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You can. There's also the obvious and super cheap usb to ethernet adapters(literally like $10-$12 or cheaper) when docked which sakurai himself recommends to use to ensure quality online play clearly acknowledging how much of a pain it is to play with Wifi players before ultimate was even released. It would be so players that have an ethernet connection can avoid people that are playing wireless. Doesn't inhibit wifi players as there are plenty that can play against others and ethernet folks that choose to play with everyone still, it would just give players an informed choice regardless. Sure that's a good majority of folks, but for the seemingly few people that do use an ethernet adapter it would be welcomed and I think folks that are wired would rather wait longer to match with someone wired than to join a wireless connection and have a horrible time. Then from there, you can choose to prefer Ethernet players over wifi which would provide a better experience. Doesn't alienate wifi players since they are obviously numerous and can play amongst themselves (and ethernet folks who choose to play with everyone) and rules out super sporadic inconsistent nature of wifi factoring into connectivity issues for people that do care about it. If Mortal Kombat 11 can do it, I don't see why Smash Ultimate can't.

 

[HylianSeven]

I play on Ethernet, I put all odds on my side and it still is far from the offline experience. Maybe I can feel the difference because I didn't play online for so long.

Guys if you play with wifi and don't have any trouble I will have a hard time believing you honestly.

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I have a capture device and can capture myself playing on my 5GHz wifi if you really want proof.

 

[Jaded Alyx]

I have a capture device and can capture myself playing on my 5GHz wifi if you really want proof.

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That's not going to prove anything though.

 

[Lua]

It's complete garbage. I can only imagine people saying that had good connections are either not sensitive to lag(idk how) or have really, really lucky matchmaking with people with strong connections, because my god, it's unplayable. At worst is a slide presentation.

And yes, i am in elite smash(which anyone can do, is not hard) and i have a good ethernet connection. It's just horrible.

 

[Lulu]

Flawless? Y'all lying or having a very loose definition of flawless. Stop playing.

 

[lvl 99 Pixel]

I have a capture device and can capture myself playing on my 5GHz wifi if you really want proof.

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Heres my proof
It should be much easier to blacklist players so you don't queue against them again

 

[Jaded Alyx]

Heres my proof
It should be much easier to blacklist players so you don't queue against them again

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Things should never get to such a state. That's beyond terrible.

 

[udivision]

This is a weird thread. Some people need to dial it back, everyone is going to be speaking from their own experience. It's not like they'd just start telling lies for the heck of it.

 

[HylianSeven]

Heres my proof
It should be much easier to blacklist players so you don't queue against them again

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I pretty rarely get matches like that.

 

[Professor Beef]

I play online because I have to since my closest local scene died out, and I just do not have the time or energy to travel to Seattle all the time.

 

[ZeroCDR]

I just wonder like, if they ever actually implemented rollback netcode, would the people saying it's perfect today start complaining that their buttons are now working exactly when they pressed them?

 

[lvl 99 Pixel]

I pretty rarely get matches like that.

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I guess its my fault for living in a region with barely anyone queuing/apparently OCE has a lot of laggy wi-fi players.

 

[ShadowFox08]

I suggest adding people in your country and playing with them.. I've medium between offline and playing with randoms.

 

[Kingpin Rogers]

I've never had that much issue with lag. Is it good enough if you want to train at a competitive level? No, offline is the way to go but if you're just looking for some smash online action it works fine. The rest of Smash online is pretty meh though I have to agree. GSP sucks.

 

[Negator]

Its total shit. I dont bother playing smash online at all. Local only