I've played TONS of fighting games and I can say... yes, it IS THE fighting game. Anything else fails.

And I don't understand Riot's complains :/

I haven't played the current smash as it still isn't out in my country (bloody Nintendo) but the smash games are the only fighting games I've ever really enjoyed for a protracted period of time. So yes.

 He wants a game where he can memorize a couple different sets of button sequences and then beat everyone he knows with it. He wants a good easy win over a hard fought match that requires you to adapt on the fly. If he can't find a cheap and repeatable way to win everytime he will not be happy.

The way I see it, there are three main types of fighting games:

- Street Fighter clones (Mortal Kombat, Killer Instinct, Guilty Gear etc)

-Virtua Fighter clones (Dead or Alive, Tekken, Soul Calibur etc)

-Super Smash Bros.

Lots of the most dedicated fans of the other two types have trouble accepting the third as a fighting game because they feel it's too different. All I can say to this is tought luck, because reality doesn't care.

The weird thing is that there are millions of imitators for the other types, but the only even remotely Smash-like games I can think of are the Shounen Jump games for the DS, and that weird game for the PS2 that had ridiculous characters like Optimus Prime and Batman. Maybe that's one of the reasons some people don't like it?

Tekken 3 is the best ever

I never said I never played other fighting games. I've played them, but really, I just don't like them. Why? Because Super Smash Bros. exists. I mean, why play any other characters, when you can play your favorite Nintendo characters, have have such a long history behind them, instead of playing new characters, or characters that only exist in the fighting games? Besides, all those other fighting games, you can only play as 2 players. Smash = 4, and the maps are ginormous, while in the others, they're so small, and bland, and have no platforms, or anything like that. Also, in other fighting games, you have combos, which are outrageously cheap, and you have to memorize button combinations, which ruins the game. In Smash, you don't, and it's all skill. Also, in other fighting games, you have the whole HP thing, but in brawl, more skill is involved, because you have to knock the other guy off, and the only thing more damage does, is make you fly farther. Really, I just can't stand any other fighting games. They're just so boring. Maybe it's because I grew up with Smash, but really, what do other fighting games have, that Smash doesn't?

Brawl can only be surpassed in epicness by the next Smash Bros.

In fact, when referring to this type of game, we will no longer say 'fighting game', but 'brawling game'.

Melty Blood:  Act Cadenza is probably my favorite non-SSBB fighting game with Soul Calibur coming in second and probably one of the Dead or Alive games a distant third.

Honestly though, SSBB just blows the old technical fighters out of the water in terms of freedom and sheer fun.  ^_^ 

i would say yes. there is just so much in this game. traditional fighters just seem so limited after this game. this game will be played forever.