Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Steve (SSBU)

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This article is about Steve's appearance in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. For the character in other contexts, see Steve.
Steve
in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
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MinecraftSymbol.svg
Universe Minecraft
Availability Downloadable
Final Smash House of Boom
Steve (SSBU)
Steve Rocks the Block!
—Introduction tagline (Steve).
Alex Swaps In!
—Introduction tagline (Alex).
Zombie Spawns In!
—Introduction tagline (Zombie).
Enderman Steps from the Shadows!
—Introduction tagline (Enderman).

Steve (スティーブ, Steve) is an upcoming playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and will be the second third-party fighter from Microsoft after Banjo & Kazooie. He was confirmed as a playable character on October 1st, 2020 as the second downloadable character from Fighters Pass Vol. 2. Alex, a Zombie, and an Enderman will also appear as alternate costumes. Steve is classified as fighter #77, and will be released on October 13th, 2020.

Known Information

  • Steve's model and movement appear nearly identical to that in Minecraft, retaining his same blocky appearance and limited animation that make him stand out from other fighters.
    • Steve and Alex's eyes can blink, which was previously only present in the Bedrock Edition. Otherwise, their facial expressions never change beyond that. The Zombie and Enderman do not blink.
  • Steve can crawl in a manner resembling Minecraft's sneaking mechanic.
  • Steve's weapon stays in his hand momentarily depending on the move he uses.
  • Other alternate costumes are taken from the default selection of skins offered to players on the "Legacy Console" and "Bedrock" Editions of Minecraft, namely "Tennis" Steve and Alex, "Scottish" Steve and "Swedish" Alex.
  • Steve's jump height is extremely low, to the point that it is unable to reach the platforms on Battlefield, but his double jump covers more height, similarly to Snake. This is to match the height of the blocks he can place.
  • If the control stick is tilted upward or downward, Steve will tilt his head up or down respectively, similarly to how the player's model acts while looking around in Minecraft.
  • Steve possesses a unique "resource" mechanic, which allows him to carry resources to build blocks, use certain moves, or upgrade his tools. The resources that Steve can possess are sand, dirt, wood, stone, iron, gold, diamond and redstone, all of which can be obtained through mining (detailed further below). All resources (except for redstone and sand) are displayed above his in-game portrait, with each having a limit; less valuable resources have a larger limit, and iron has a limit of 8 pieces due to its use in multiple moves.
    • Gold and diamond are only shown when avaliable by the right of the gauge, while iron, which occupies the right of the gauge, always displays its exact quantity. Cheaper materials are displayed proportionally and make up the left of the gauge.
  • With continuous use, Steve's sword, axe, pickaxe and shovel will use up durability points. Once all durability points for a set tool have been used up, it breaks apart and Steve can no longer use that tool. If Steve tries to use an attack that requires a weapon he does not have, he will perform a weak punch with minimal range instead. This prevents him from constantly brawling out at close range with his weapons and constantly forces him to mine the ground for resources and craft new tools at a crafting table. The durability varies between tools made of different materials, with wood and gold being the least durable while diamond is the most durable.
  • Five tool materials exist: wood, stone, iron, gold and diamond. Except for gold, each material mentioned is incrementally more powerful and durable than the last. Gold weapons are weak and fragile, but attacks with them are faster than those with weapons made from other materials, making them ideal for combos.

Moveset

Standard Attacks

  • Neutral attack, forward tilt and neutral aerial - Steve quickly swings his sword in front of himself with short reach. He can repeat this attack by holding down the attack button, and can walk forward and backward, as well as jump, while doing this, making it functionally similar to Mega Man's Mega Buster and Min Min's Punch.
  • Up tilt and up aerial - Steve quickly swings his axe above himself. Similarly to his neutral attack/forward tilt/neutral aerial, Steve is able to repeat the attack by holding down the attack button, and can jump or walk forward or backward while he is doing this. Both moves have low upward knockback, making them useful as juggling tools.
  • Down tilt - Steve uses flint and steel to create a flame with a lingering hitbox in front of himself. The flame is a looping multi-hit attack, with the final hit launching opponents forward, and if Steve uses this move at the end of a platform or near a ledge, the flame travels downward, allowing him to edgeguard and 2-frame opponents. It is also able to absorb projectiles. This move does not use up durability points.
  • Dash attack - a quick running strike with his pickaxe with high knockback.
  • Forward smash - a slower but strong strike with his sword with a short reach, originating from Minecraft Java Edition. It can be jump-canceled into a neutral aerial.
  • Up smash - Steve places a magma block above himself before breaking it with his pickaxe. The move has a flame effect, possesses great vertical range, and hits multiple times, similarly to Roy's up smash. However, it only hits directly above Steve, and despite its animation, Steve cannot move until the move is complete as he automatically breaks the block afterwards. This move does not use up durability points.
  • Down smash - Steve pulls out a lava-filled bucket and pours lava on both sides of himself. Both hits have lingering hitboxes and are powerful semi-spikes, which can be used efficiently for edge guarding. This move does not use up durability points.
  • Forward aerial - a pickaxe swing in front of himself that can meteor smash.
  • Back aerial - a pickaxe swing behind himself with powerful horizontal knockback.
  • Down aerial - a powerful stall-then-fall in which Steve drops an anvil directly below himself while standing on it. The move can be canceled, a first for a stall-then-fall; if it is canceled, then Steve will jump off of the anvil, but it will continue falling. After landing, the anvil remains on the stage for a brief amount of time before disappearing. This move uses up one piece of iron and is likely useless if Steve does not have sufficient iron.
  • Grab - a tether grab using a fishing rod with a wide range. Unlike Isabelle's similar-looking Fishing Rod, it functions as an actual tether grab, as it can grab shielding opponents (though it does not appear to have a grab aerial). Grabbed opponents are trapped within a fence while Steve holds them. This move does not use up durability points.
    • Forward throw - Steve uses a piston to launch the opponent forward. It is a semi-spike. This move does not use up durability points.
    • Back throw - Steve throws the opponent backward with the fishing rod. This move does not use up durability points.
    • Up throw - Steve uses a piston to launch the opponent upward. This move does not use up durability points.
    • Down throw - Steve drops an anvil on the opponent, launching them forward. Without sufficient iron, no anvil will appear, and Steve will simply throw the opponent onto the ground, making it weaker overall. Both versions of the throw are good for use in combos.
  • Steve's edge attack and floor attacks use his sword.

Special Moves

  • The functionality of Steve's neutral special varies depending on whether he is on the ground, near a crafting table or in the air:
    • Mine (ground): Steve mines the ground or wall in front of himself to gather resources using an axe, pickaxe, or shovel. As with using a sword, axe, or pickaxe during standard attacks, mining uses up the durability of the weapon used. The weapon used and the speed of mining are determined by the type of terrain being mined, and the longer it is mined, the higher the quality of materials collected, such as diamond. If Steve has no tools available, he will use his bare hands instead; however, this causes him to mine more slowly.
      • Steve can mine wood, sand, dirt, stone, iron, gold, diamonds and redstone. Similarly to Olimar's Pikmin Pluck in Brawl, the resources that Steve obtains most often with this move are dependent on the type of terrain being mined, though there is a set order to the materials mined from each terrain. However, on Battlefield form and Ω form stages, materials will appear at a pre-determined rate regardless of the type of terrain. This was done in order to prioritize match quality for more serious players due to the popularity of both forms for competitive battles, and to reduce the factors of randomness.
    • Craft (crafting table): Steve uses his resources to craft a full set of tools (sword, axe, pickaxe and shovel), restoring their durability or replacing them as needed. Steve starts the battle with wooden tools, with a crafting table appearing at his starting point. The most valuable resources are prioritized when performing this move; for example, if Steve has both iron and stone, then his tools will be upgraded to iron. A Minecraft-styled progression bar appears above Steve while he is crafting, and Steve will flourish a new weapon after crafting completes, though he is vulnerable to attacks throughout the entire animation. The crafting table itself can be damaged and destroyed by Steve or his opponents, but it will respawn at Steve's location following a few seconds. Steve can also summon the crafting table to his location by pressing the special move button while shielding. If multiple Steves are present, then they can use each other's crafting tables as well as their own.
    • Create Block (midair): Steve places a block directly beneath himself, which functions as a platform. If the special move button is held down while Steve is walking on a block or jumping, he can continue placing blocks directly beneath himself as he moves. He can only place blocks a certain distance around the stage, signified by a pink barrier that appears while placing blocks adjacent to the limit. Behaving similarly to the Frost Walker enchantment, the blocks break slowly over time, but touching them or hitting them (including hitting the block on the underside while jumping) speeds this process up. Blocks placed near the build limit break faster than they would otherwise. Placed blocks can absorb incoming attacks, including projectiles, and can also be used to aid Steve's recovery or to edgeguard opponents. Blocks also have no ledge, meaning if the stage ledge is blocked, opponents need to go over or through the blocks. Only eight blocks can be onstage at a time; attempting to add a ninth will cause one block to automatically disappear. Blocks can be made using dirt, wood, stone, or iron, and will break more slowly the more valuable the material they are made of is. Unlike Craft, the least valuable resources are prioritized when performing this move.
  • Steve's side special is the Minecart, where he hops into a minecart and rides around the stage, placing rails as he does so. If Steve has redstone and gold, he can use it in order to lay down powered rails (powered via a redstone torch), making the minecart faster and more powerful. Steve can jump out of the minecart at any time, but it still moves forward a short distance afterwards, trapping other fighters within it should they make contact; a trapped fighter will be stuck in the minecart for longer the more damage they have, but can escape by button mashing. Steve needs sufficient iron to place the minecart, and sufficient wood and stone to place rails. Each rail placed uses 1 unit of stone/wood and the minecart itself consumes one piece of iron. During Steve's showcase, Masahiro Sakurai is shown making a track in an enclosed space and driving forwards and back, which appears to confirm that the rails last for some time. The cart itself is reasonably fast, but it cannot travel uphill very well without sliding back down.
  • Steve's up special is the Elytra, in which he dons an elytra and propels himself forward, upward, or downward with a firework rocket. During his initial burst, Steve has a damaging hitbox. The mechanics of this move appear similar to Brawl's gliding mechanic, with Steve being able to control his trajectory while gliding, though he travels a larger horizontal distance than vertical. He is also able to turn around during the startup of the move. The elytra falls off after a short while, leaving Steve helpless. This move does not use up durability points.
  • Steve's down special is TNT, in which he lays a TNT block on the ground; this uses up less valuable resources such as sand, dirt, and stone. The TNT acts similarly to a Blast Box; it can be detonated if hit by a sufficiently strong attack and is more likely to detonate from flame attacks (though not immediately like the Blast Box). Its explosion is extremely powerful and triggers Special Zoom on a direct hit. Players hit from further away receive less damage and knockback. Steve can also place a pressure plate next to the TNT, or further away if he has sufficient redstone to create a trail between the TNT and the pressure plate, which will manually detonate the TNT if stepped on. The TNT affects both Steve and his opponents; however, if the TNT is triggered via a pressure plate, then the fighter who triggered the TNT takes reduced knockback from the explosion, allowing for creative traps. The TNT block will also explode on its own if nothing interacts with it.
  • Steve's Final Smash, House of Boom, begins with Steve placing a giant piston in front of himself, which extends to catch his opponents in the attack. A cinematic plays where the affected fighter is launched into the House of Boom. a structure filled with TNT, where they are attacked by Creepers and Zombies, resulting in the entire building exploding as Steve comically eats a victory steak. The piston can hit multiple fighters, but only the first one hit will appear in the cinematic, other fighters just get launched away. This attack does not use up durability points.

Aesthetics

  • One of Steve's victory poses has him build a house similar to ones found in villages and stand outside of it, then close the door.
  • In one of Steve's taunts, he eats a cooked steak. His other taunts are jumping while punching the air and repeatedly crouching towards the camera, both of which are based on common actions that Minecraft players make while interacting with others online.
  • While asleep, Steve will place a red bed on the ground and proceed to lie on it. When waking up, he collects it back in his inventory.
  • If a perfect shield is performed, Steve will use an equippable shield to block the attack, like in Minecraft.


Spirit Battles

As the main opponent

Spirit Battle parameters
No. Image Name Series Enemy Fighter(s) Type Power Stage Rules Conditions Music
None.png
Zombie Minecraft Series Zombie Team Steve (SSBU) (20 HP) (×10)
Attack
1,700 Minecraft World (Savanna) N/A •The enemy has super armor but moves slower
•Stamina battle
•Defeat an army of fighters
Clockwork Crafter

As a minion

Spirit Battle parameters Inspiration
No. Image Name Series Enemy Fighter(s) Type Power Stage Rules Conditions Music Character
None.png
Ender Dragon Minecraft Series Ridley Ridley (SSBU)
Enderman Steve (SSBU) (×2)
Neutral
12,700 Find Mii •Health Recovery •Defeat the main fighter to win
Stamina battle
•The enemy is healed significantly when the enemy's at high damage
Enderman

Alternate costumes

Palette swap (SSBU)

Gallery

Reveal trailer

Trivia

  • According to Masahiro Sakurai, Steve was largely easy to develop conceptually, but the programming work required to "bring the fighter to life" was very difficult.
    • He also revealed that every stage in the game had to be reworked to make use of Steve's mining and block-placing abilities.[1]
    • Sakurai stated that when Nintendo approached him about adding Minecraft content, he was at first skeptical of the idea, before deciding to go through with it. This has been misinterpreted by some to mean that he did not desire to do so.
  • According to former Minecraft production director Daniel Kaplan, it took at least 5 years of negotiating between Nintendo and Mojang for Steve to appear in Smash.[2].
  • Steve is the third fighter to have one of their victory animations shown in their reveal trailer, the first two being Joker and Terry.
  • Steve and Byleth are the only characters in Ultimate whose alternate costumes are displayed alongside their default costumes on the official Ultimate site, similarly to Robin's page on the official SSB4 site.
  • Steve is the first character with other characters as alternate costumes where each character does not have the same amount of costumes. Each character with multiple genders has four costumes for each gender (excluding Pikachu), Bowser Jr. and each Koopaling have one costume, Olimar and Alph each have four costumes, and each Hero has two costumes. In this case, Steve and Alex have three costumes while Zombie and Enderman have only one (their default appearance).
  • Several of Steve's abilities were slightly modified for gameplay purposes compared to his original game:
    • TNT blocks are crafted with dirt and stone instead of sand and gunpowder, as gunpower is not available to mine in Smash (it is normally obtained from hunting Creepers).
    • None of Steve's melee weapons are affected by the swing speed meter (introduced in Java 1.9, which penalizes spamming attacks in the original game), nor feature a "critical hit" system when the user is falling. This is presumably due to these mechanics making combat inconsistent in a fast-paced brawling game.
  • Steve is the only character to date with a unique tumbling animation where he performs his running animation midair while staying upright, reflecting the same damage animations from Minecraft.
    • He also falls to the side when his HP is depleted in Stamina Mode, referencing the death animations of said game.
  • Steve is the first playable third party character in the Super Smash Bros. series to have originated from an indie game. In this case, Minecraft started off as a game developed by one person during its inception.
    • Prior to this, indie characters were oft relegated to being Trophies, Spirits, Assist Trophies or Mii Costumes.

References