Rivals of Aether is clearly designed to compete with Smash Brothers in every way except the casual experience. There is a strong emphasis on competitive integrity and efficiency. The online ranked mode, while not flawless, is a seamless illustration of how to battle online. The controls are crisp and responsive. The simplicity significantly adds to the experience as a competitive outlet.
Have you ever played Smash and felt like your controls weren't reacting the way you expected? If so, you should play Rivals of Aether instead. Character control is clean, every input is logically mapped and understand and a strong grasp of executing their functions will scratch the itch of fast-paced platform combat. RoA has streamlined the feeling, and playing anything else will feel clunky.
Online multiplayer is, admittedly, quite low in numbers now that Rivals of Aether 2 is out. However, grabbing someone from online and starting up some friendlies is so seamless and as long as you aren't living too far apart the lag is quite minimal. More important, the clean controls often correct reads your inputs in-spite of the lag and allows the game to continue without too much disturbances. Should you get lucky and be able to encounter some ranked opponents, it's quite satisfying to kick their ass in your climb to the top. Just be aware of GMs, they likely haven't showered in weeks and you can smell them even across the country.
I will admit that I am a little biased against Rivals here, but its casual experience is practically non-existent. The only reason it might be considered viable as a casual game is through workshop, which is a fun niche until the magic of playing Goku, Ronald McDonald, or 6-Pixel-PNG-Pete wears off. Workshop is great, but it's not a casual pick-up party game that Super Smash Brothers is.
Rivals is sweaty, it's competitive, and it's damn near impossible for a beginner to get into. But that's its goal as a game. You pick this up because you realize how ♥♥♥♥ Smash is as a competitive outlet.
