I'm just staring to learn about the depth of Smash Bros and I've been a fighting game fanatic since SF2 and I'm starting to believe Smash might have the most depth of any fighter, period. I fully agree not everyone is making a strong case for Smash's technical side yet, so I'm gonna make an attempt to help out...
Its not just about memorizing button combinations and timing like most fighters, its about controlling space, knowing how all of your moves effect opponents (and yourself) depending on the damage percentage, map awareness, knowing what each map can do to help and hurt your changes (unlike most fighters, the stage can have a great impact on the outcome of a match).
Just wavedashing alone (which is incredibly hard to do for even pros) gives you the effect of phasing (like Shadowcat from the X-Men) thought attacks. How can you beat an opponent you can't hit or touch? Well when you see two pro's go at it, they are basically meeting each other on this level. Also look at the survivability of the game, in most fighting games, you die when your health bar is empty, not the case with Smash. You, with a lot of skill, can essentially stay alive forever if you can best your opponent before he KOs you. If you can read your opponent and understand the arena, you can avoid the killing blow and stay alive no matter how much damage he deals. In MvC you can get pressured or rushed down into blocking and there is nothing you can do about it and just get chipped away, in Smash I can grab you out of my shield if you get too aggressive.
Yes, extremely. If Chun Li catches you with the first hit of the combo, its a wrap for you until it ends or your health bar empties. In Smash, you can keep fighting until your opponent forcibly removes you from the stage. The most skilled person almost always wins in Smash.
