Best Smash alternative on PC
Mentioned in ~1 in 3 positive reviews
“a very well thought out smash clone that makes it so I don't have to play terrible netplay ultimate or worry about getting romhack melee to work”
Steam review · 660.9 h played ↗
Rivals of Aether II
Worth buying? What 300 Steam reviews say.Worth buying? Here’s what 300 Steam reviews actually say.
Mostly Positive · 78%Mostly Positive · 78%Aether Studios2024Fighting · 2D Platformer · Action
$29.99
Open on Steam ↗US Steam price, checked 2 h ago
The verdict
A deep, polished Melee-style platform fighter with great movement, varied characters and generous free cosmetics. Skip it if you're casual, a Rivals 1 purist, or hate floorhugging.
Great for
Smash/Melee fans who enjoy learning deep mechanics, ranked play, and playing with friends
Main risk
Getting stomped by veterans and annoyed by floorhugging, with little casual or solo content
What changed in the last 30 days
75 recent reviews
Recent negatives mention being unable to play online, bad servers after the workshop update, broken controller detection and AI-mod moderation complaints. Floorhugging complaints continue. Moderate confidence.
75 recent reviews
What players love
Unique, well-designed and balanced characters
Mentioned in ~1 in 5 positive reviews
“All the characters are so well designed. Not only do they generally just lack useless moves, but most moves are themselves multifaceted in application.”
Steam review · 58.1 h played ↗
Workshop and casual update added fun
Mentioned in ~1 in 6 positive reviews
“The Fun-for-all update was exactly what this game needed - a way to play the game and still have fun without having to be fully locked in all the time.”
Steam review · 111.5 h played ↗
Smooth, expressive movement and gameplay
Mentioned in ~1 in 7 positive reviews
“Essentially an extremely polished SSB Melee with way less jank and super responsive controls.”
Steam review · 39.1 h played ↗
Responsive devs and frequent updates
Mentioned in ~1 in 9 positive reviews
“Since launch they have been dropping two patches a month, a new character every 3 months, and actually listening to feedback from the players.”
Steam review · 571.9 h played ↗
Fair monetization with free battle passes
Mentioned in ~1 in 12 positive reviews
“the game has seasonal events, which are basically battle passes, BUT all of the events are 100% free for every player AND at any point you can switch between any of the previous events”
Steam review · 55.6 h played ↗
What players complain about
Worse sequel than Rivals 1
Mentioned in ~1 in 4 negative reviews
“much worse microtransactions, more move lag, slower gameplay, less clear visuals, much more similar to smash, etc.) it feels like the game that came before Rivals 1 and not a sequel.”
Steam review · 88.7 h played ↗
Floorhugging and crouch cancel ruin neutral
Mentioned in ~1 in 5 negative reviews
“It makes the game really unenjoyable when your opponent can just hold down, wait for you to try to hit them, and then punish you for it.”
Steam review · 248.8 h played ↗
Hostile to newcomers; sweaty, small playerbase
Mentioned in ~1 in 5 negative reviews
“the only people playing it are people who have been grinding melee for 25 years. It's miserable to play against these people”
Steam review · 1.4 h played ↗
Buggy menus, controls and poor optimization
Mentioned in ~1 in 6 negative reviews
“I don't know how you can make a fighting game with 2 characters on screen run this bad.”
Steam review · 132.4 h played ↗
Lacks single-player and casual content
Mentioned in ~1 in 8 negative reviews
“Casually, there is nothing here.”
Steam review · 958.3 h played ↗
Laggy servers, long queues, desync
Mentioned in ~1 in 9 negative reviews
“Online experience is just atrocious: frame drops, teleporting opponents.”
Steam review · 22.4 h played ↗
System requirements
From the Steam store page
Steam Deck: VerifiedController support20 GB
Minimum
OSWindow 10+ 64 Bit
Processor3.0 GHz Dual core
Memory8 GB RAM
GraphicsNVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060, AMD Radeon RX 470, or better
Storage20 GB available space
Recommended
OSWindow 10+ 64 Bit
Processor3.5+ GHz Quad core
Memory16 GB RAM
GraphicsNVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060, AMD Radeon RX 470, or better
Storage20 GB available space
OSWindow 10+ 64 Bit
Processor3.0 GHz Dual core
Memory8 GB RAM
GraphicsNVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060, AMD Radeon RX 470, or better
Storage20 GB available space
More games to check
Other games we’ve read the reviews for
GORN
Very Positive · 94%
+ Immersive 1:1 melee that makes you swing for real
− Outclassed by Blade & Sorcery and GORN 2; abandoned
analyzed 3 h ago
WWE 2K22
Mostly Positive · 74%
+ Fun, smooth gameplay and new controls
− Online servers and content shut down
analyzed 4 h ago
GUILTY GEAR Xrd REV 2
Very Positive · 94%
+ Large, unique, charming roster
− Dead or tiny online playerbase
analyzed 1 d ago
Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee Remastered
Very Positive · 96%
+ Faithful remaster that nails nostalgia
− No rebinding or poor keyboard/mouse support
analyzed 1 d ago
Weekly digest
Fresh games worth a look, in your inbox
The most interesting games we’ve just analyzed, once a week.Once a week we send the most interesting games we’ve just analyzed: the verdict, top pros and cons, and what changed. No spam.
One email a week · unsubscribe in one click