MultiVersus vs Smash Bros Ultimate: Who will lose out?

Reaching the quality of the Super Smash Bros series is an almost impossible task, but that’s exactly the challenge faced by MultiVersus, a new free-to-play Smash-like game from developer Player First Games. Now in open beta on PS5, Xbox Series X, last-gen and PC, it’s a 5GB download that anyone can jump into. Admittedly, the options aren’t extensive – as you might expect from an open beta – but you can play with 17 characters, each with their own voice. Crucially, MultiVersus also launches with a robust online mode, built from the ground up with rollback netcode, giving it an immediate advantage over the online portion of Super Smash Bros Ultimate on the Switch. That’s a good start. However, considering just the visual design of MultiVersus as an Unreal Engine 4 title, how does it compare to Nintendo’s heavyweight? And what seems to be lacking in its open beta?

What is actually included in the 5 GB package? Whole modes still have “Coming Soon” lettering on them, but you get a practice mode to try everything out. The selection of characters in MultiVersus alone is intriguing enough to give it a try. Rather than pitting the mascots of the video game world against each other like Smash does, it’s familiar faces from Warner Bros. A wider net is cast across comics, movie franchises, and TV shows. In all honesty, the result is as eclectic as it sounds: from Batman to Bugs Bunny, and from Arya Stark to LeBron James (in his Space Jam costume). Fortunately, the game is mechanically sound at its core. Smash fans will feel right at home in 1v1 or 2v2 melee combat: standard and special attacks, double jumps, dodges, it’s all there. While the moves take a bit of getting used to – and I still prefer Smash Bros Ultimate on this point – it’s impressive how much MultiVersus gets right.

The technical side of MultiVersus on consoles is showing strong. In short, the PS5 and Xbox Series X are native 4K at 60fps, while the Series S is aiming for 1440p at 60fps. As this is an Unreal Engine title, dynamic scaling is used, but frame rates are rock-solid at 60 frames per second on all three machines, apart from one-off small dips on the PS5 on the Sky Arena stage. All of which lays an excellent foundation for a Smash Bros competitor. To compare the two, I compared the best card in Smash Bros Ultimate to the small selection in MultiVersus. I admit that some comparisons are a little far-fetched. However, as you can see from the images below, some maps – like the Coliseum – have a direct counterpart.

The first point of comparison is the image quality. Multiversus offers a flawless, almost alias-free picture thanks to the 4K resolution on premium consoles. It looks clean in a way that Smash Ultimate just can’t match on Switch where it can’t go past 1080p. Nonetheless, Nintendo’s brawler still scales well on a modern 4K display, where the ambitious character designs make the action legible even in large eight-player games. The overall look of Smash Bros. is very sharp, which helps while MultiVersus opts for a clean, pristine post-processed image. Oddly enough, MultiVersus enables bold, colored outlines for the characters by default to make actions easier to see. An unusual decision, especially given that Nintendo’s approach is readable without such visual aids. But they can be deactivated.

The next topic is the stages themselves. The level detail in Smash Bros. is just so much higher, more imaginative, and there’s more going on. Taking the coliseum levels in each game as an example, the squares in Smash Bros Ultimate are filled with crowds, flags, bonfires and finer stone masonry, it’s packed. And what about MultiVersus? Here we get a simple, sparse arrangement of backgrounds: no crowds in the background and little movement. There is at least some physical destruction, with deforming platforms changing the playing field in the Batcave. Overall, MultiVersus’ stage design is very functional, readable but static in comparison too often. I dare say that more should be possible here in terms of spectacle. Each level should celebrate a theme, especially when you’re looking at brands as vibrant as Looney Tunes. Coming back to Smash Bros. Ultimate, each stage is treated as its own character that feels like an amusement ride and addresses any nostalgia factors one could have for a game.

Finally, there are the character designs. Again, Multiversus uses highly stylized character models in the style of a Saturday morning cartoon, combined with full 3D rendering. The result often works too: all characters, regardless of their origin, move in a similar aesthetic range. It’s almost a cel-shaded look without the high-frequency texture work seen on Smash characters. Materials use the Unreal Engine 4 toolset, with hair, skin, and metal each reflecting and scattering incoming light. There are also detailed shadows and shadow gradients added with Ambient Occlusion. A big highlight, however, are the animations. These are excellent all round and authentically realized in a 3D space, with a good flow in each character’s starting pose, aided by hair physics. Again, it’s not always spectacular, but it all feels authentic.

For Smash Ultimate, Nintendo’s approach to character design is more ambitious in some ways and less ambitious in others. Most of the characters have proper texture maps, giving the impression of more detail. Fox McCloud, for example, has a real fur texture map, as opposed to Taz’s flat texture in MultiVersus, which is the best place to compare this point. The texture resolution isn’t exactly flattering up close, of course, but it works from a distance during Smash gameplay. Mario’s denim dungarees also feature a striking texture, while Wonder Woman – to give an example – is based on a cleaner design. The examples can be continued at will. The advantage of MultiVersus is of course the lighting, the shading and the physics, even if the materials are quite simple. Comparisons also vary by character, but for the most part MultiVersus’ style fits the material perfectly – and sets it apart from Nintendo’s work.

This is not a definitive conclusion on MultiVersus as it is still in development. We have yet to see more maps, characters and modes, the current presentation is pretty lackluster in terms of features. However, what is seen here is surprisingly robust. The rollback netcode is excellent, the character animations are authentic, and the mechanics are generally good. Still, it’s surprising to see that MultiVersus isn’t more ambitious when it comes to leveraging high-end devices like the PS5 and Series X. Although Smash Bros. Ultimate is a Switch exclusive, Nintendo’s console still relies on bigger eight-player battles and more dynamic, detailed maps. The most notable visual advantage of MultiVersus is the 4K picture on PS5 and Series X and the overall better material lighting and shading. Other than that, MultiVersus remains a fascinating project. It feels like a fresh start. Another chance for another developer to reimagine a well-known game in the shape of Smash Bros. and I look forward to seeing how it develops.

Originally written by Thomas Morgan, Senior Staff Writer, Digital Foundry