Items
By AlphaZealot | Published: January 22, 2009 8:47pm EST
 Items! Items have been, in both Melee and Brawl, heavily debated upon in the Smash community. The standard that has been settled upon and is used at nearly all Smash tournaments around the country is no items play. For this, the items are turned off, and the frequency is set to none. This is key, because if the frequency is set to none (so no items will spawn) but the items are still set to on, then its possible for a character like King Dedede to throw Smashballs, or other items, during a match (his Side-B, which typically throw’s Waddle Dees, can also throw items randomly). Why are items typically turned off in competitive play? Most point to items being a random element that is inserted into the game, causing the chance of a lesser player winning to be higher. While there is some truth to this, it is often exaggerated and the random spawns of items will usually not be so imbalanced that a novice player will win over an experienced player. The key to items is knowing the spawn window, which on Medium is every 10-14 seconds. Control the stage as this window approaches and you are guaranteed every item spawn. If you fail to control the stage then there may be some amount of luck inserted, as a spawn could occur closer to the opponent even if you are both control equal amounts of the stage. The key to items is simply the perception of why they were included in Smash. Many feel items were included to give Smash a party-game like feel, and under this perception removing items makes the game more competitive. The truth though is that both items and no items play can be competitive; yet for the competitive community the standard has been to use no items play. |
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