Shack Chat: Who is your Super Smash Bros. Ultimate main?

Shack Chat is back once again, our weekly feature where each Friday where we’ll ask the Shacknews staff to give their opinion on a particular topic, then open the floor to our dedicated Chatty community to provide a diverse mixture of thoughts on the subject. It’s a great way for us to get to know one another better while inspiring healthy debates with all of you passionate gamers out there. 

With Super Smash Bros. Ultimate finally out for everyone to play, we thought it'd be fun to discuss the staff's favorite characters from the entirety of the series. We're missing our mighty Australian editor Sam this time around, but the rest of the gang's all here!

Question: Who is your Super Smash Bros. Ultimate main?

Kirby - Asif Khan, Actually Plays Nintendo Games

He’s the best boy. Kirby is the lone survivor in the World of Light trailer for Smash Bros. Ultimate, so he is clearly our lord and savior. All the other answers are incorrect, and I look forward to wrecking everyone with the best character in the history of fighting games. You may think that this is hyperbole, but you’re just wrong. Kirby can eat anyone else in the game and gain their powers. Can some dumb plumber do that? I didn’t think so.

Duck Hunt - Bill Lavoy, Misses Playing Duck Hunt

I’m going with Duck Hunt. I chose this because I know nothing of Smash and Brittany told me to just pick one. I considered Mario or Luigi. Not because of Nintendo, but because in Hitman 2016 you could kill a red and green plumber in Sapienza and that brought back fond memories. However, playing Duck Hunt is one of my fondest gaming memories ever, so I’m going with Duck Hunt. I’ll probably change my answer once I download a play Smash and find out I made an awful selection.

Pac-Man - Blake Morse, Reviews Editor

I haven’t really played too much Smash Bros ever. I remember going over to a friend’s house after school one day when the original N64 title came out and I could not for the life of me get into it. Maybe it was all the Pokemon, maybe it was the control scheme, or perhaps it was because I had no clue what the hell was going on, I couldn’t tell you for sure. Since then, I’ve played Smash titles only a handful of times.

If I did have to pick a character I liked more than the others though, it would almost undoubtedly be Pac-Man. What can I say? I just like Pac-Man a lot. While I may not be into Smashing with my bros I can at least appreciate that I got a cool looking Pac Amiibo out of the deal. So thanks for that, Smash Bromies.

Link - Kevin S. Tucker, Suspicious of Birds

I’ve played Super Smash Bros. maybe twice in my life, and I believe both times I used Link. For all the great characters in Nintendo’s history, the Hero of Time is the one that held the most appeal for me personally. Plus, he has a sword, and that seemed like a distinct advantage at the time.

Bayonetta - Brittany Vincent, Senior Editor

I don’t really play Smash often, but if I did Bayonetta only because I love her and she is Bae-onetta. I play it sometimes, but honestly I choose a different character most of the time because choice paralyzes me. I don’t have enough IRL friends to come over and play because I am always working.

King K. Rool - Ozzie Mejia, Senior Editor

Having been on board the Smash Bros. train from the very beginning, there's no character that's gotten more playtime from me than Luigi. It's not just that he's the underappreciated brother, but it's also that his Up-Special is such an all-or-nothing gamble, it feels great whenever it hits and you wipe out a fighter in a single hit. Hitting the rising punch's sweet spot is still as satisfying as ever, even if it doesn't KO quite as frequently as it used to.

But lately, I've been drawn in by a newcomer. King K. Rool is as fun as he is scaly and slimy. He's got a lot of fun moves for a super heavyweight and his Down+B counter is delightful, using his fat belly to send physical blows right back at his opponents. His Up-smash is a plank, if you remember planking! He's enjoyably quirky and he packs a punch. That punch is wrapped in a boxing glove. As soon as I master his musket, I might have a new main on my hands.

Cloud - Charles Singletary, AVALANCHE Prospect

RIP Zack Fair. All who have played Final Fantasy 7 know at least one thing to be true: Cloud Strife is the ultimate Echo Fighter of the gaming world. Nearly his entire existence is built upon false memories from Zack, but that doesn’t change that he’s still one of my favorite heroes.

Cloud being added to the Super Smash series was a euphoric moment for me. I love Nintendo, no doubt, but Cloud and the Final Fantasy series in general are mainstays in my gaming experience. It also helps that he’s a complete badass in the game. In Ultimate, my aim is to completely dominate all competition and defend the legacy of Final Fantasy. It surely needs it after FFXV.

Ken Masters - Chris Jarrard, Has Been In A Fight or Two

I haven’t played Smash Bros. in more than fifteen years, so my familiarity with the roster is limited at best. I was presented with the roster for Smash Bros. Ultimate and noticed that my boy Ken Masters would be in the game. Ken is the hetero life mate of Ryu in the Street Fighter II universe. They largely share the same moves and sprites, but clearly, Ken is cooler, for a few reasons.

First up, Ken has a sweet 80s haircut and I am a sucker for great haircuts. Second, based on my time spent in Street Fighter II, I assume that Ken spends lots of his free time down at the docks putting hands to lots of random guys while faceless men in trenchcoats look on in enthusiasm. This is clearly my kind of scene. Third, and obviously the most important reason that Ken is the coolest is his theme music. This shit pops in any form and always has me ready to fight. Smash Bros. is about inflicting pain, and nothing gets me all geeked up and ready to hurt someone like Ken’s Theme. Don’t be surprised if Ken Masters wins this sham Kumite tournament that Nintendo is hosting. What chance to cartoon monkeys a two-foot tall plumbers stand against the power of the flaming dragon punch?

Pokemon Trainer - Greg Burke, The Video Jerk

Pokemon Trainer! Three different characters in one! [Ed. Note: Greg is just learning to speak, but as his Senpai I will teach him.]

Lucario - Donovan Erskine, Intern

Lucario. He may not be the most viable option in a competitive sense, but I can’t help but pick one of the most badass Pokemon there ever was. Plus, I love hiding in the corner of the map and charging up his Aura Sphere, firing it at unsuspecting smashers.

Link - David Craddock, Long Reads Editor

The Hero of Time. The elvish-looking dude. Or, as he humbly refers to himself, “HAI-HAI-HAAAIIII!” (Only while swinging a sword.)

Link is the Ryu of Super Smash Bros. Every time a new Smash comes out, he’s the first character I pick. I know his attacks, how he moves. And neither of us is big on conversation. We just click.

Hismix of power moves like the downward thrust, and quick-as-a-blink special attacks such as arrows, bombs, and a flurry of slashes with his sword, make him one of the most versatile characters on the roster. He’s also quick enough to leap back to safety should he get bopped far off the platform where the action is happening. (I love you, Mac, but you’ve got no ups, bud.)

HAI-HAI-HAAAIIII!

Disagree with our picks? Think we're a bunch of clowns? Let us know in the Chatty below.

Shack Staff

Shack Staff stories are a collective effort with multiple staff members contributing. Many of our lists often involve entires from several editors, and our weekly Shack Chat is something we all contribute to as a group.