Why Fighters Pass 2 characters Min Min, Steve and Kazuya are so hated in Super Smash Bros. The Ultimate community right now

by Arthur · November 19, 2022

Of the DLC characters in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate feels like most of the “controversial” DLC characters were released with Fighters Pass Vol. 2. Namely, ARMS’ Min Min, Minecraft’s Steve, and Tekken’s Kazuya are among some of the most hated combatants in the Smash Ultimate community at the moment.

Why is this exactly? It’s not just Fighters Pass Vol. 2 that Sephiroth, Pyra & Mythra and Sora tend to get less scorn, so this means there must be something else in common between Min Min, Steve and Kazuya.

In a way, the scenario with these three characters is not unlike the Bayonetta scenario in Super Smash Bros. 4. Back in that game it was unequivocally accepted that Bayonetta was the best character in the game.

What’s funny is that Bayonetta was actually designed well in terms of being a representative of her series and the hack ‘n’ slash genre. This was actually what the problem with Bayonetta was: she represented the Bayonetta franchise in Super Smash Bros. 4 too good.

The Bayonetta series has always been a solo experience that pitted the player against enemies and bosses controlled by AI. It was fine for Bayonetta to combo the enemies endlessly and mercilessly because hack ‘n’ slash doesn’t need to be balanced.

Fighting Bayonetta in Super Smash Bros. 4 was often described as a “single-player experience” due to her emphasis on combo strings and versatile movement options. The Bayonetta user who was able to combo everyone with 0-to-death combos certainly had fun, but everyone else didn’t.

The real takeaway here, though, is that Bayonetta wasn’t a fighter who “played Smash” in the traditional sense. Once again, it was often said that battles involving Bayonetta didn’t feel like a Super Smash Bros. game.

Although Kazuya and Steve have combo options somewhat comparable to Smash 4 Bayonetta, this is actually not the full reason why these Fighters Pass Vol. 2 characters are despised in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Top Min Min players don’t even use combos quite as devastating as Steve’s or Kazuya’s – although it should be noted that Min Min’s combos are also surprisingly volatile, but they require insane execution to pull off, so they aren’t used as often.

The “problem” with these characters is that they don’t allow players to play what is traditionally Super Smash Bros. They don’t really use “Smash fundamentals” the way most other characters do, and actually perform well against them. requires a player to discard the basic.

Of course, this is in addition to these characters being top or high tier candidates in the current meta. Characters like Mega Man and Dragon Quest’s Hero could evoke similar feelings if they were top-level, as their gameplay is also quite different from what is commonly accepted as “Smash fundamentals”.

For many, this results in characters that are neither fun to fight, nor fun to use. While these types of combatants will be fun for some, even they may not necessarily enjoy fighting them.

Effectively, it’s fine that these types of fighters exist, but it usually results in them being hated if they’re also good in addition to being anti-fundamental. Another example of this is Jigglypuff going towards the “fast meta” of Super Smash Bros. Melee.