Project NX: The true Project M sequel?

Project M was a major hit within the Smash community. It brought back the competitive nature of Melee, while providing fanservice for Nintendo fans. In late 2015, the creators would cease development of Project M, with the release of v3.6b, the final official update. The would later form Wavedash Games and create a…less then stellar spiritual successor. The community would keep the project alive with fan updates, and a short lived fan sequel called 4xM, which came out near the end of Sm4sh’s life.

However, very recently the community would see the start of a new Project M inspired mod. Smash player NyxTheShield would start development on Project NX, a mod that makes Smash Ultimate play more like Smash Bros. Melee. Just recently, a tournament was held showing the mod in action.

New Mechanics

Project NX, shown off at Smash N’ Splash 2019

Project NX sees a return of iconic Melee mechanics, such as Wavedashing and Wavelanding. The reintroduction of these mechanics brings back Melee’s movement options and combined with Ultimate’s engine, makes pulling these off a bit easier than in Melee. More recently, Nyx’s team has integrated mechanics like ledge-hogging, moonwalking, shield drops, and an entirely new mechanic called Air Dashing. The new mechanic would most likely hugely improve aerial combat in Ultimate, and allow for more unique combos.

New Content?

One of the things that made Project M special was the new content added to the game. Aside from the multitude of cosmetic changes, Project M also saw the return of Roy and Mewtwo in the mods 3.0 update. Some characters like Zelda, Ganondorf, and more notably Samus even received alterations to their move sets. Before the project ended, there were even plans to add 3 entirely new characters to it.

Nyx(Falco) vs Freakzoid(Ganondorf)

Many players have been wondering if Project NX will do the same. Both the project and Smash Ultimate modding are in their early stages however, and at the time of writing, there is no public download to the mod. In an interview with David O’Keefe on Red Bull, Nyx himself claims that Project NX was really meant to be a personal project that he would bring to tournaments every so often. Whether or not Project NX will become the next Project M remains to be seen.

Project NX looks like it could really be a huge hit within the competitive Smash community. The work put in by Nyx and his team has already drastically changed the game, its speed, and potentially its meta. This project has the potential to grow its own community, just as Project M did. However, whether or not that will happen, is up to the creator of the project.

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Source of featured image: https://www.eventhubs.com/news/2019/jan/12/super-smash-bros-ultimate-reportedly-has-project-m-style-mod-development-project-nx/