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The addition of Kazuya to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate has been one of the most exciting developments for the fighter and has sparked discussion amongst casual players and veterans alike.
How the game’s high-level gameplay will be affected by this iconic crossover event has been the subject of speculation amongst many professional players and commentators of the game.
Abhiroop “LionHeart” Verma is India’s top Super Smash Bros. Ultimate player and is one of many said professionals who has been actively analyzing and experimenting with Kazuya’s impact on the game.
In a conversation with Sportskeeda Esports’ Prahlad Siddavatam, Abhiroop talks about what he thinks Kazuya’s impact will be on Super Smash Bros. Ultimate in both tournament play and for the community in general.
Here is an excerpt of the conversation:
Abhiroop “LionHeart” Verma talks about Kazuya
Q. Super Smash Ultimate is undoubtedly the most experimental installment in the franchise. Do you think the addition of Kazuya Mishima will significantly impact the META in both high and low levels of gameplay in Smash Ultimate just like Ryu and Terry did?
Abhiroop: Yes, I think Kazuya is going to affect the meta in high-level play because of his raw power, high damage output, and his learning curve with combos, and optimized usage of Invincible Crouch dash & Electric Wind God Fist.
Q. Masahiro Sakurai expressed that there was a lot of trouble translating Kazuya into a Smash character. Do you think that he and his team were successful in bringing the Tekken flavor to Smash while also preserving the core ideas of Super Smash Ultimate?
Abhiroop: It makes sense due to how differently Tekken & Smash Bros. play but I still think they did a good job with integrating Tekken aesthetics into him through close-up animations, sparks, and the announcer’s voice on his victory screen. They of course tweaked his frame data for Smash Ultimate and overall it’s very cool to see a collab between the two!
Q. The addition of Terry and Ryu to Super Smash Ultimate was mildly polarizing, to say the least, due to their motion inputs and playstyle. Do you think that Kazuya will bring about the heated debate in the community in a similar fashion?
Abhiroop: Yes, I’ve seen heated debates on Kazuya’s gameplay since the day of his release. His damage output and kill power are very good, and I think the most contentious mechanic that fighting game characters like Terry, Ryu & Kazuya bring to Smash is the “Auto-turn around” mechanic, which allows them to always face their opponent. It discourages cross-ups against them and it’s a mechanic that’s quite unlike anything in Smash.
Q. Are crossovers like Tekken X Super Smash Ultimate effective in drawing fans of different series to Super Smash Ultimate?
Abhiroop: I think they are quite effective in appealing to many different fans, especially if the character is fun to play, in which case fans will take even more interest in them and the series they are from and that’s the beauty of Smash! These collabs are what create hype and even though I am not a Tekken player I still enjoyed seeing Kazuya come to smash.
Q. Do you see yourself picking up Kazuya in high-level play?
Abhiroop: He feels a lot like my old main Ganondorf but leagues better. He has several similar mechanics to my current main – Bowser. I am intrigued by him and he is fun to play, but I will probably not main him.
