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Minecraft Steve & Alex in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate - Everything we know

We watched the full Mr. Sakurai Presents stream on Saturday to learn everything there is to know about MInecraft's Steve and Alex in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

Ozzie Mejia

October 3, 2020 8:20 AM

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Nintendo and Super Smash Bros. series lead Masahiro Sakurai shocked the gaming world on Thursday when they revealed the next Super Smash Bros. Ultimate DLC character. It's Steve from Minecraft. It's also Alex, Zombie, and Enderman from Minecraft. There have been a lot of questions (questions besides "Why?") that have surfaced since that initial reveal and Sakurai looked to answer them during Saturday morning's Mr. Sakurai Presents 45-minute showcase. Shacknews watched the whole thing and here's everything we learned about Steve and Alex.

To add to the sense that the Minecraft characters had been in the works for a while, Sakurai began his presentation by noting that it was recorded in mid-August. He does note that Steve and Alex may look different at final release, citing continuing development.

Steve and Alex retain their movements from Minecraft, including the manner in which they look up and down. They have a lower jump than most characters, unable to even reach the lowest Battlefield platform. The characters will need to use their blocks to help them reach greater heights.

What are Steve's moves? Sakurai revealed those, too. He attacks with his sword, which he can use to hit his opponent repeatedly. He doesn't have a long reach, but if he manages to get to you, he can chain together hits or whack his opponent with a smash attack. He can also use his axe, which attacks slightly slower, but can juggle opponents. The pickaxe can be used to mine for items, but also makes for a good dash attack and also has a meteor attack. The Craft function can strengthen each weapon all the way up to Diamond. Weapons will break after extended use, so be careful.

Steve's down tilt will create flint and steel to ignite his opponents. It can also be used to block projectiles and edge guard. The up smash is magma block, which can be used to break opponent falls the hard way or act as a finisher for a juggling axe combo. The down smash attack is the lava bucket, which can send opponents flying. Steve's down-air is the anvil, which can act similar to Kirby's Stone attack and send players flying. Steve's grab is the fishing rod, which can not only lure in opponents, but can also fence them in briefly.

As for special moves, here's what those look like:

• Mine/Craft/Create Block (B): Mine lets players dig for materials, allowing to dig through the ground and through walls. This lets players find the materials they need to upgrade their weapons. The material you find will depend on the stage you're playing. It's possible to hit your max carrying limit, at which point you'll discard what you have. Craft puts your materials to use. A crafting table will automatically appear in each stage and this is where players can upgrade their tools from Wood, to Stone, to Iron, to Gold, to Diamond. Just be careful not to break the crafting table, because it will take time for it to respawn, though Steve and Alex can use Shield + B to summon a crafting table, if necessary. Create Block is the primary way for the Minecraft characters to take to the air. If you hold the button down in mid-air, you'll continue to make blocks in order to create platforms. The blocks are extremely fragile and can be broken by attacks or by opponents bashing them, Mario-style. Blocks can only go so far off the edge of the stage, so don't think that you can create a path off the screen.
• Minecart (Side + B): The Minecart lets players jump into a cart and roll from side to side. It won't climb hills easily, but players can use gold and redstone to create powered rails that gives the Minecart a little more boost. Opponents can get trapped by empty Minecarts.
• Elytra (Up + B): This lets players take to the sky and is Steve's primary recovery tool. Players can control Steve's flight path, allowing them to escape edge guarding opponents. Players can also light firework rockets and combine that with Elytra to attack.
• TNT (Down + B): Players can use lower-quality materials to build TNT blocks. It's a powerful explosion and has a greater impact if the block is struck by an attack. TNT blocks will consume redstone. Pressure plates will also blow up the TNT, but be careful where you place it, because it can also blow you up.
• House of Boom (Final Smash): Opponents are sent into a house filled with Creepers and explosives. Everything explodes, as Steve/Alex/Zombie/Enderman enjoy a steak.

The Minecraft World stage brings together six biomes and will be determined at random. In the Plains biome, onsters will come out at sunset, so watch out for skeletons and zombies. At dawn, the monsters all burn up and the villagers come back. The Birch Forest is filled with trees and platforms, all of which are destructible. The Savanna has its own trees and platforms. The Taiga biome places trees in a different location, while also adding mossy stones. The Snowy Tundra is filled with snow and has an igloo in the center. Finally, the Stone Shore biome has a stone structure along the center of the map that players can either climb or destroy. The Minecraft World stage has a day/night cycle across all biomes and retains this element in its Omega and Battlefield variants.

The special Minecraft Spirit Board will feature a number of Minecraft-themed spirits, including Zombie, Creeper, Skeleton, Enderman, Villager & Iron Golem, Ghast, and Piglin. A Steve route is also available in Classic Mode.

While Super Smash Bros. celebrates original songs from gaming soundtracks, all of the Minecraft tracks will either be remixes or pulled from spin-offs, like Minecraft Earth and Minecraft Dungeons. There will be seven tracks total.

New Mii Fighter costumes are also on the way. Look for Creeper (Brawler), Pig (Brawler), Diamond Armor (Swordfighter), Gil from The Tower of Druaga (Swordfighter), Bomberman (Brawler), and Travis Touchdown (Swordfighter). They'll be available for $0.75 USD each.

New Amiibo are also on the way. The Banjo-Kazooie, Byleth, and Terry Bogard Amiibo were unveiled for the first time. They're set to release in 2021 will round out the Amiibo line for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate's Fighters Pass 1.

Finally, Steve and Alex's release date is much closer than players may think. They'll be available on October 13 for $5.99 USD or as part of the Fighters Pass Vol. 2.

Ozzie Mejia

Senior Editor

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?