So hard to watch Sm4sh competitively. It's really unenjoyable for some reason that I can't pinpoint. But I love playing the game.
Don't go in with the mindset of them basically comboing off one another into oblivion and then taking the stock with a good edge hog or smash attack. Melee also has a lot of intricacies most players don't notice at high level, but it is a lot easier to see in Smash 4 and the like.
In Smash 4 it is all about the high percentage kills and how each player is attempting to bait the other into fucking up. Setting up frame traps, manipulating your opponents movements, and just having a good sense of fundamentals are what make Smash 4 matches.
Note Melee has all of that but being able to see it much more easily in Smash 4 along with the different roster, players, and different techniques being employed are what make it hype. It's not for everyone and that's understandable but saying it shouldn't be at a competitive level just cause you don't like watching it is bollocks because thousands of people do. (Also not saying you said or even implied that, just a lot of people do say that and it is really dumb)
Personally, I can enjoy any smash game casually in some 4 player freeforall dumb fun, but taking Smash4/Brawl competitively in any situation turns me off super hard, and I can't stand 1v1 scenarios in them. The thing that kills it for me specifically is the neutral game, Melee and PM have so many options and similarly have the amount of speed to be comparable to FGC footsies in any scenario, but over time Nintendo diluted even the simplest inoffensive options like crouch cancelling a run and over time the neutral game just seems like the limpest interaction of what's supposed to be the most important part of any fighting game.
Honestly I'd rather take 64 over any of the floatier brothers, and does kind of compare to SF2 ST in a way, with insane high risk/reward/damage, but has the combo variance to make it interesting.
Edit: What makes me extra sad is that they added in my boy Roy, and it's the saddest when I cant even be happy using him.
Haven't done the wierdo customs though.
Then you and I aren't playing the same game lol. Just because those techniques aren't there doesn't mean they didn't add new ones.
B-reverses, perfect pivoting, jab locks are all tech that are frequently used in neutral for Smash 4. It doesn't even go into higher level tech such as wavebouncing, pivot grabbing consistently, and character specific stuff like Sheik's wavedash/grounded wavebounce.
Brawl had DACUS and a lot of other tech I don't even know about because I was never that into the scene.
But there is tech for neutral it's just never mentioned as much as L-cancelling or Wavedashing.
