Not even the official online play in Smash Bros. community is, at this time, it’s actually the best way to play Smash Bros. The craziest thing about Slippi for the Smash Bros. Due to the world events of 2020, this was necessary to keep the scene alive. The input lag is greatly reduced to the levels SSBM players are used to. What Slippi adds to the equation is something called “rollback netcode.” This means Melee under Slippi now functions like a game that’s properly made for online play. Dolphin’s Netplay solution simply wasn’t good enough for competitive players, but Slippi has changed that! What Is Slippi, and How Does It Beat Regular Dolphin Netplay? This requires a great deal of reflex and precision. Melee for Nintendo GameCube is still being played after all these years because of its vibrant competitive scene. While this is fine for some games, Super Smash Bros. Since the original console being emulated wasn’t made for online play (and netplay is a hack on top of it), what’s happening is the emulator’s “state” is constantly being synced between players.
Netplay enables online play in emulators, but it isn’t quite the same as traditional online play in video games.
