Language: Difference between revisions

The original ''Super Smash Bros.'' is available in five languages: Japanese, English, French, German, and Simplified Chinese. The Simplified Chinese version of the game is available on the {{s|wikipedia|iQue Player}}, the Chinese export of the [[Nintendo 64]], and was released a few years after ''Melee''.

''Super Smash Bros. Melee'' is available in six languages: Japanese, English, French, German, and two languages making their debut: Italian and Spanish. Japanese is only available in the NTSC versions while French, German, Italian, and Spanish are only available in the PAL versions. When the English language setting is active in NTSC versions, the "Language" option is written in Japanese.

Both versions of ''Super Smash Bros. 4'' are available in nine languages: Japanese, English, French, Spanish, German, Italian, and for the first time Dutch, Portuguese, and Russian. {{for3ds}} is additionally available in Korean while {{forwiiu}} lacks the option because the Wii U console was never officially released in South Korea. The NTSC version of both the Wii U and 3DS versions supports three languages: English, French, and Spanish while the PAL version supports eight, adding five other languages: German, Italian, Dutch, Portuguese, and Russian. Like in ''Brawl'', the language used by the game depends on the language set on the system itself and cannot be changed in-game.

While the French, Spanish, German, and Italian versions continue to dub over the announcer, crowd cheers, and some character voices, the other versions do not. The voice tracks in the Dutch, Portuguese, and Russian versions are from the PAL English version while those in the Korean version are from the Japanese version. {{SSB4|Lucario}}, {{SSB4|Sonic}}, [[Shadow the Hedgehog|Shadow]], and {{SSB4|Wii Fit Trainer}} can speak French, German, Italian, and Spanish in addition to Japanese and English. Meanwhile, {{SSB4|Marth}}, [[Takamaru]], the [[Prince of Sablé]], {{SSB4|Roy}}, and {{SSB4|Cloud}} only speak Japanese in every version. The returning {{SSB4|Mewtwo}} is the same as it was in ''Melee'', language-wise.

''Ultimate'' supports 11 languages regardless of region: Japanese, English, French, Spanish, German, Italian, Dutch, Russian, Korean, Simplified Chinese, and Traditional Chinese. Simplified Chinese is available for the first time since the original ''Super Smash Bros.'', and Traditional Chinese is entirely new to the series. However, Portuguese, which was present in ''SSB4'', is no longer available, despite the Nintendo Switch system still having a Portuguese-language option. For the first time since ''Melee'', language selection is available from an in-game menu rather than being automatically selected based on the system's region and language settings. This is due to the [[Nintendo Switch]] not having region locking, necessitating every language to be available on the same physical Switch cartridge.

The Western-language versions tend to use characters' English voices, while the Asian versions typically use their Japanese voices. Exceptions in the Asian versions include {{SSBU|Snake}}, {{SSBU|Ryu}} and {{SSBU|Ken}} being voiced in English in the Chinese and Korean versions, and {{SSBU|Simon}} and {{SSBU|Richter}} being voiced in English in the Korean version. [[Knuckles the Echidna|Knuckles]] joins {{SSBU|Sonic}}, [[Shadow the Hedgehog|Shadow]], {{SSBU|Lucario}}, {{SSBU|Pokémon Trainer}}, and {{SSBU|Wii Fit Trainer}} in being able to speak French, German, Italian, and Spanish. Meanwhile, [[Takamaru]], the [[Prince of Sablé]], {{SSBU|Cloud}}, [[Yuri Kozukata]], [[Akira Yuki]], {{SSBU|Sephiroth}}, and {{SSBU|Kazuya}} only speak Japanese in every version. Newcomer {{SSBU|Hero}} is similar to {{SSBU|Mewtwo}} in that they speak Japanese in the Japanese version, but don't speak in other versions. The English/Japanese announcer, [[Xander Mobus]], provides unique voice clips for the Korean version, while a mixture of his voice clips from both the English and Japanese versions are reused for both Chinese languages. New announcers also provide voice clips for the Dutch and Russian languages.

English, French and Spanish each have two different variants: an NTSC variant (American English, Canadian French, and Latin American Spanish) and a PAL variant (Commonwealth English, European French, and Castilian Spanish). The difference is affected by the system's region and language. The NTSC variants are used if the system's region is set to "the Americas", "Japan", or "Hong Kong/Taiwan/South Korea", or if the system's language is set to Japanese, Korean, or Chinese; the PAL variants are used if the system's region is set to "Europe" or "Australia/New Zealand", or if the system's language is set between four different languages: German, Dutch, Italian, or Russian. In these cases, the system's language takes priority over its region. This effectively gives ''Ultimate'' a total of 14 language choices compared to the 11 selectable in the menu. Players can change the region in the Switch system settings to access these regional variants. In English, unlike in the previous game, only a few regional differences are still present, such as the name "Duck Hunt Duo" for {{SSBU|Duck Hunt}} in PAL languages, the voices of {{SSBU|Wii Fit Trainer}} depending on the region, [[tips]] describing characters' first appearances being accurate to the release date in the region, the [[Super Scope]] item being called the ”Nintendo Scope", some slightly different music track names, [[Find Mii]] being called "StreetPass Quest", some spirit names being different, and games mentioned in the names of certain [[spirit]]s and music tracks being named differently based on the region (such as "Wandering Samurai (Rhythm Heaven Fever)" in the NTSC version differing from "Wandering Samurai (Beat the Beat)" in the PAL version). Other former differences, such as [[Boxing Ring]] character titles, spellings (such as color/colour and armor/armour), move names (such as [[Hammer Flip]] and [[Duck Jump]]), and text differing drastically have been standardized between English regional versions. The two Spanish and French versions, however, continue to exhibit significant text and character name differences, in addition to the Spanish voices for Wii Fit Trainer still differing between regions similarly to the English ones.

*In ''SSB4'' and ''Ultimate'', [[R.O.B.]]'s default costume depends on the language the game is set to. The Famicom colors are the default costume if the language is set to Japanese, Korean, or Chinese; otherwise, the NES colors are used, referencing how his real-life counterpart had different coloring between regions to match the NES/Famicom's body color.