Published , by Ozzie Mejia
Published , by Ozzie Mejia
(Editor's note: Updated November 1, 2018 with new information. Originally posted after the initial E3 2018 announcement)
On Tuesday morning, Nintendo revealed a copious amount of details about its next Super Smash Bros. game. Now titled Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, the game appears to be more than just an update for Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. It looks to be a collection of everything from the series to date.
Having said all of that, there are some major key points to consider when looking at this new Super Smash Bros. game. Shacknews is here to break down everything a Smash Bros. fan should know going into one of the Nintendo Switch's cornerstone holiday releases.
Everybody? Yes, everybody means everbody from the Super Smash Bros. games up to this point. That includes even the most obscure characters from the first games in the series, like Young Link and Pichu. It also includes many surprise return characters, like Snake and Ice Climbers.
Shacknews has the full roster detailed, so check out our full character roster write-up.
Beyond characters, most (if not all) of the past stages in the Super Smash Bros. series look to be back. It's a little early to say that every old stage is back. After all, where are the Poke Floats, right?
But it should be noted that many of the series' stages are back and they look better than ever. For example, classic Melee stages like Big Blue, Princess Peach's Castle, and Great Bay have been visually upgraded with higher-resolution graphics and effects. They now fit in with the new-school Smash Bros. visual aesthetic.
On top of that, every single stage in the game now has its own Omega form, for those that love playing on Final Destination-style stages. For those who love playing on the simplistic, yet multi-platformed Battlefield stages, every single stage in the game now also has a Battlefield variant, which leads into the next point...
The Omega/Battlefield design choice is a huge deal for anyone who loves to play the Smash Bros. games competitively. Beyond the "No items, Final Destination only" crowd, it also offers up an overture to the esports circles, a group Nintendo has been hesistant to reach out to in the past. Furthermore, there's the option to turn off certain options in an effort to create a more competitive space. Stage Hazards and the Rage mechanic can both be toggled on and off.
One other minor change that's going to mean a lot for competitive play is the decision to scale damage between four-player free-for-alls and one-on-one battles. Smash 4 was heavily criticized by competitive players and spectators for being a slow game, compared to its predecessors. Damage scaling and faster overall movement is a response to these grievances. It's still not as fast as Melee (which will likely mean that scene will still carry on, despite everything) but it could also mean that esports sessions won't be restricted to two-stock games.
On top of that, movement mechanics look to be much more fluid. Dashes can be canceled by Smash attacks, for example. Another big change is that directional air dodges have been improved substantially, allowing for greater air dodges and better recovery. Short hops also offer quicker combat options, similar to Melee.
But most of all, Nintendo is aiming to eliminate a lot of the janky elements of the past games. Ice Climbers have had all of their cheesy elements removed, like the wobbling glitch and many of the combos associated with using both characters as a tandem. That's receiving mixed reactions from Ice Climber mains in the Melee scene.
There's also a certain something else that Nintendo may be looking to rein in very soon.
Newer-school players are going to be happy to hear that Nintendo may be more receptive to reining in certain characters who have been crazy out-of-control in these last days of Smash 4's esports run. And yes, a character who still appeared to be broken in this version of Smash Bros. Ultimate.
What exactly are these folks referring to? Well, Leonardo "MkLeo" Perez did God's work during Tuesday's E3 Smash Bros. Invitational and showed just how broken Bayonetta still is. Look at this!
Sakurai witnessed this carnage firsthand and heard boos rain down at the Invitational. And judging by this good-natured quip after the tournament was over, it looks like he's fully aware of the problem at hand.
Bayonetta has been a scourge in not only the competitive Smash 4 scene, but is also a terror in the hands of a marginally good player against casual crowds. She's needed to be brought down a notch for a while and it looks like her time is finally coming.
The competitive scene helps segue into online play. During the November 1 Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Direct, Masahiro Sakurai noted that online game modes would see a bit of an adjustment. Game modes would no longer be separated by "For Fun" or "For Glory." Instead, players can look for games by rule settings, whether they want to play with all items on or with all of the competitive settings on. Players can also choose between Time, Stock, and Stamina battles, as well as set time limits.
Matchmaking will be determined by a combination of Global Smash Power, preferred rules, and proximity. Players in closer regions will be prioritized.
It's possible to search for team battles by playing with a local partner. Private lobbies are also available so that friends can battle amongst themselves. This opens the door to voice chat via the Nintendo Switch Online app.
Speaking of the app, a special section called Smash World will allow players to share replays, screenshots, and more via the Nintendo Switch Online app. More features will be revealed later, with Smash World estimated to launch in 2019.
In the name of picking up the pace, it appears that Final Smashes in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate have been made faster. The flashier finishers appear to have their animations noticeably sped up and many of the finishers that involve manual player control appear to have been overhauled.
The idea appears to be to make everyone's Final Smash a quick, yet elaborate, sequence in order to keep the game going at a quicker pace and also to feel satisfying. One of the bigger examples is the change to Giga Bowser, which no longer has the Bowser player roaming around the stage while opponents flee in terror. Now he goes in the background and just punches everyone from there.
The refined Final Smashes are likely going to elicit some mixed feelings, as they still turn the tide of games, but now feel a lot more automatic, compared to the old system. Another example aired during the post November 1 Smash Direct Nintendo Treehouse stream, where Yoshi's Final Smash was shown to be a Yoshi Stampede. Again, it was more automatic compared to his previous Final Smashes, which had its effectiveness tied to player inputs.
A lot of fighters have had their Final Smashes adjusted, which leads to the next point...
Many individual characters have undergone changes. They range from cosmetic changes, visual changes, Final Smash changes, or even mechanical changes. Here are the changes that were detailed during the Nintendo Direct:
There are new Assist Trophies, Pokemon, and items joining the fun. The difference with the Assist Trophies this time around is that certain ones can now be KO'd and that KO will count in a Timed battle. Here are the new Assist Trophies debuting in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate:
There are also new Pokemon contained in Poke Balls. Here are the new Pokemon joining the battle so far:
And lastly, here are the new items:
Citing a strain on developers, the Trophy system that has been a part of the Super Smash Bros. series since Super Smash Bros. Melee is being retired. It is instead being replaced by a new system called Spirits.
Spirits are game characters with abilities that can be used to enhance your fighter in various game modes. These Spirits are represented by game characters from numerous franchises. That includes the franchises of the core cast and beyond. Primary Spirits can be equipped to help boost a character's strength, while Support Spirits can be used to grant characters new skills.
These boosted characters can be used in Spirit Battle mode to take on powerful opponents, where players can then attempt to capture more Spirits. The Spirits are captured via a post-battle skill game, similar to the way Pokemon trainers attempt to catch Pokemon. There are hundreds, potentially thousands, of Spirits, all of which grant their own unique bonuses.
If players don't want to use Spirits to boost their characters, they can also use them to power up Amiibo Fighters. Or they can simply keep them as part of a giant collection, the way they would for the old Trophies.
The concept of Spirits leads to...
This was one of the most stunning announcements of the final Super Smash Bros. Direct, as Masahiro Sakurai revealed that a whole new single-player campaign would round out the Smash Bros. package. This game mode builds on the concept of Spirits and creates what's essentially Nintendo's version of Marvel's Avengers: Infinity War, bringing together gaming's greatest characters for a battle against an ultimate evil.
That evil is Galeem, a sinister force that has amassed an entire army of Master Hands to do its bidding. Galeem has turned the entire cast of characters in Spirits, essentially killing them all. The only one left alive is Kirby, who must begin the arduous journey of bringing all of the fighters back to the land of the living and helping vanquish Galeem for good.
Sakurai is not going so far as to say this story is on the scope of the Subspace Emissary, but players can count on a full Adventure Mode that features a multitude of overworld maps. This may not be as long as Brawl's classic Adventure, but it doesn't look to be a short journey, either.
"We've made including every single fighter ever our number one goal," Sakurai said during Tuesday's Nintendo Direct. "So we're kind of hoping you aren't expecting too many new challengers."
Sakurai originally stated this during Super Smash Bros. Ultimate's E3 reveal, implying that Ridley might be the end of the road. This has since proven to be far from the case.
On August 8, Nintendo held a special Smash Direct that unveiled new fighters Simon Belmont from the original NES Castlevania (along with Echo Fighter Richter Belmont) and Donkey Kong Country nemesis King K. Rool. New Echo Fighters Chrom from Fire Emblem and Dark Samus from Metroid Prime were also added to the fray.
A later Nintendo Direct added Isabelle from Animal Crossing. At this point, it was clear that there were still a few characters left to go before the roster was finalized.
On November 1, the roster was rounded out by Echo Fighter Ken from Street Fighter and Incineroar from Pokemon. Sakurai explicitly stated that these were the final characters of the starting roster. Going back to his original E3 statement, surely this meant that would be it for the game's characters, right?
No! As it turns out, Sakurai has had a change of heart since that date and revealed that the team will be moving forward with a full Fighters Pass worth of new characters. The first of the post-launch characters is not a part of the Fighters Pass, since it'll be available for free through January 31. That character is Piranha Plant, the most bizarre character choice this side of Duck Hunt.
Sakurai amusingly quipped that he wasn't sure when he'd ever get time to rest. That time might be coming soon, which brings us to...
Masahiro Sakurai's return to Super Smash Bros. was a surprise. Development on the Wii U and 3DS versions of the game had taken a physical and mental toll on him, which he had spoken about on many occasions. Development on Super Smash Bros. is not an easy thing. As he noted during the Nintendo Direct, even something as simple as Kirby's copy powers can become a major process.
So with Super Smash Bros. Ultimate acting as the ultimate collection of everything from the past Super Smash Bros. games, it may very likely spell the end for Sakurai's tenure as series director. There's a very real possibility that Sakurai could look at Ultimate as every single item under his tenure all wrapped up in a bow, leaving him free to move on from the series, once and for all.
Sakurai's status in relation to Super Smash Bros. may remain unknown for a long time, even long after Ultimate hits store shelves. But don't be surprised if the series director looks at this newest game, which packs in everything from all five of his Super Smash Bros. games (the N64 original, Melee, Brawl, 3DS, and Wii U) and decides that there are no kingdoms left to conquer in this particular world.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is set to release on Nintendo Switch on December 7.