Who's the best Smash Bros. fighter? They all are, Sakurai says
"They're best off settling it in an actual match."
Smash Bros. fighters have an almost equal chance of winning a match, creator Masahiro Sakurai has said.
Sakurai's YouTube series is still going strong, with his latest video discussing balance in fighting games - something the Smash Bros. games have seen their fair share of controversy around.
The video includes win rate data from across the globe, revealing the highest win rate is 51.43 percent and the lowest win rate is 47.18 percent. It means all 87 characters sit within this win/loss ratio, hovering around an equal 50 percent chance of winning.
Sakurai doesn't reveal which characters are at the top and bottom of this scale - this remains top secret - but, in his words, "any fighter has a shot at winning".
As he explains in the video, creating fighters is a balance between uniqueness and competitive balance. Should all characters be too similarly balanced, the game would be boring. "Average and mediocre are the same thing," says Sakurai. Equally, too much uniqueness means "you'll naturally end up with mixed reception".
"If you balance purely based on fighter strength, their abilities quickly start to level out," says Sakurai. "Hence, I advise our team to keep fighters unique by amplifying shortcomings to offset advantages."
Smash Bros. has certainly been accused of imbalance in the past. GameCube title Melee included Kirby character Meta Knight, who was deemed too powerful and banned from professional tournaments.
Similarly, when sassy witch Bayonetta was introduced in Super Smash Bros. on Wii U and 3DS, many found her to be overpowered.
Still, Sakurai notes the internet can be "an echo chamber of sorts" that perpetuates opinion. "If people want to prove their point, they're best off settling it in an actual match," he says.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is the latest game in the series, released on Switch back in 2018. It's the third highest-selling game on the system, behind Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
You can check out our Super Smash Bros. Ultimate tier list to see where your favourite lands, but as Sakurai says - they're all about equal.