How does one balance a video game? That answer is far more complicated than we can answer in one simple article, as it’s a different answer for every video game that you play. As Masahiro Sakurai and others would note to you, game design is based on the personal preferences of both the player and the developer. As such, no two developers are likely to balance a game the same way, as they’re trying to invoke a certain kind of feeling as you play. In the case of Sakurai’s beloved Super Smash Bros franchise, it’s all about emphasizing the peaks AND the valleys of each character.
He talked about this in his latest video, where he emphasized that initially when they would get player feedback from the global tests, some of his team would go and minimize some of the strengths and weaknesses of a character that “tested too well” in certain areas so that it would be “balanced.” But, as Sakurai reveals, that’s actually a trap waiting to happen, and that’s not something you should ever do.
Instead, what he prefers is to enhance the strengths of a character but also enhance the weaknesses. That way, no matter who you play as, there are perks to playing them, but there are also downsides you’ll have to compensate for.
Two examples of this that aren’t revealed in the video are the characters of Marth and Ike. Marth is an incredibly fast swordsman, meaning you can overwhelm foes if you play him right. However, his speed ensures a smaller hitbox at times, and you don’t have as much power to deliver KOs to your opponents. In contrast, Ike is a powerhouse that does massive damage with each strike and can easily KO a foe if they do certain attacks and their opponent has just enough damage to them. But, it comes at a cost to his speed and reaction time. He’s one of the slower characters in the game, so you have to account for that.
That’s the “peaks and valleys” notion that Masahiro Sakurai was talking about. Characters have great strengths, but they also have great weaknesses. He also notes that this isn’t his philosophy alone, as other games do have this kind of notion because they want players to “feel the variety” while also feeling like they could do well no matter what they pick.
It’s when this kind of balancing isn’t applied that certain classes or characters in games are ignored because they are “garbage-tier.”
