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Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Super Smash Bros Ultimate Box Art RP.png
Publisher(s) Nintendo
Projected release date December 7, 2018
Genre(s) Fighting

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (大乱闘スマッシュブラザーズ SPECIAL) is an upcoming fighting game for the Nintendo Switch. It was first announced on March 8th, 2018 at the end of the Nintendo Direct released the same day. It will be the fifth installment in the Super Smash Bros. series (sixth if both versions of Super Smash Bros. 4 are counted as two games). The game is scheduled to release on December 7, 2018.

Trailer

The first teaser trailer was revealed at the end of the Nintendo Direct on March 8th, 2018. It suggested that Inklings were newcomers to the game (although this had not yet been explicitly confirmed at the time).

Confirmed elements

All 62 characters from all four Smash Bros. games return as playable characters. Inkling, with Boy and Girl designs from the original Splatoon (as well as Splatoon 2), has been confirmed to appear in the game. Ridley is confirmed to be a playable character with both Meta & Proteus Ridley as an alternate costume. Daisy is confirmed to be a playable clone character (or Echo Fighter (ε)) of Peach.

Veterans (65)
 
Mario
 
 
Luigi
 
 
Peach
 
 
Bowser
 
 
Dr. Mario
 
 
Rosalina & Luma
 
 
Bowser Jr.
 
 
Yoshi
 
 
Donkey Kong
 
 
Diddy Kong
 
 
Link
 
 
Zelda
 
 
Sheik
 
 
Ganondorf
 
 
Young Link
 
 
Toon Link
 
 
Samus
 
 
Zero Suit Samus
 
 
Kirby
 
 
Meta Knight
 
 
King Dedede
 
 
Fox
 
 
Falco
 
 
Wolf
 
 
Pikachu
 
 
Jigglypuff
 
 
Mewtwo
 
 
Pichu
 
       
Pokémon Trainer (Squirtle, Ivysaur, Charizard)
 
 
Lucario
 
 
Greninja
 
 
Captain Falcon
 
 
Ness
 
 
Lucas
 
 
Ice Climbers
 
 
Marth
 
 
Roy
 
 
Ike
 
 
Robin
 
 
Lucinaε
 
 
Corrin
 
 
Mr. Game & Watch
 
 
Pit
 
 
Palutena
 
 
Dark Pitε
 
 
Wario
 
 
Olimar
 
 
R.O.B.
 
 
Villager
 
 
Wii Fit Trainer
 
 
Little Mac
 
 
Shulk
 
 
Duck Hunt
 
 
Snake
 
 
Sonic
 
 
Mega Man
 
 
Pac-Man
 
 
Ryu
 
 
Cloud
 
 
Bayonetta
 
 
Mii Brawler
 
 
Mii Swordfighter
 
 
Mii Gunner
 
Newcomers (24)
 
Daisyε
 
 
Piranha Plant (DLC)
 
 
King K. Rool
 
 
Ridley
 
 
Dark Samusε
 
 
Incineroar
 
 
Chromε
 
 
Byleth (DLC)
 
 
Isabelle
 
   
Pyra/Mythra (DLC)
 
 
Inkling
 
 
Min Min (DLC)
 
 
Kenε
 
 
Sephiroth (DLC)
 
 
Simon
 
 
Richterε
 
 
Joker (DLC)
 
 
Hero (DLC)
 
 
Banjo & Kazooie (DLC)
 
 
Terry (DLC)
 
 
Steve (DLC)
 
 
Kazuya (DLC)
 
 
Sora (DLC)
 

Bold denotes starter characters.
"ε" denotes Echo Fighters.

Stages

New stages (19)
 
Battlefield
 
 
Final Destination
 
 
Big Battlefield
 
 
Small Battlefield (8.1.0)
 
 
New Donk City Hall
 
 
Great Plateau Tower
 
 
Garreg Mach Monastery (DLC)
 
 
Cloud Sea of Alrest (DLC)
 
 
Moray Towers
 
 
Spring Stadium (DLC)
 
 
Northern Cave (DLC)
 
 
Dracula's Castle
 
 
Mementos (DLC)
 
 
Yggdrasil's Altar (DLC)
 
 
Spiral Mountain (DLC)
 
 
King of Fighters Stadium (DLC)
 
 
Minecraft World (DLC)
 
 
Mishima Dojo (DLC)
 
 
Hollow Bastion (DLC)
 
Returning stages (96)
 
  Peach's Castle
 
 
  Mushroom Kingdom
 
 
  Princess Peach's Castle
 
 
  Rainbow Cruise
 
 
  Mushroom Kingdom II
 
 
  Delfino Plaza
 
 
  Mushroomy Kingdom
 
 
  Figure-8 Circuit
 
 
  Luigi's Mansion
 
 
  Mario Bros.
 
 
  3D Land
 
 
  Golden Plains
 
 
  Paper Mario
 
 
  Mushroom Kingdom U
 
 
  Mario Galaxy
 
 
  Mario Circuit
 
 
  Super Mario Maker
 
 
  Super Happy Tree
 
 
  Yoshi's Story
 
 
  Yoshi's Island (Melee)
 
 
  Yoshi's Island
 
 
  Kongo Jungle
 
 
  Kongo Falls
 
 
  Jungle Japes
 
 
  75m
 
 
  Hyrule Castle
 
 
  Great Bay
 
 
  Temple
 
 
  Bridge of Eldin
 
 
  Pirate Ship
 
 
  Gerudo Valley
 
 
  Spirit Train
 
 
  Skyloft
 
 
  Brinstar
 
 
  Brinstar Depths
 
 
  Norfair
 
 
  Frigate Orpheon
 
 
  Dream Land
 
 
  Fountain of Dreams
 
 
  Green Greens
 
 
  Halberd
 
 
  Dream Land GB
 
 
  The Great Cave Offensive
 
 
  Corneria
 
 
  Venom
 
 
  Lylat Cruise
 
 
  Saffron City
 
 
  Pokémon Stadium
 
 
  Pokémon Stadium 2
 
 
  Spear Pillar
 
 
  Unova Pokémon League
 
 
  Prism Tower
 
 
  Kalos Pokémon League
 
 
  Big Blue
 
 
  Port Town Aero Dive
 
 
  Mute City SNES
 
 
  Onett
 
 
  Fourside
 
 
  New Pork City
 
 
  Magicant
 
 
  Summit
 
 
  Castle Siege
 
 
  Arena Ferox
 
 
  Coliseum
 
 
  Flat Zone X
 
 
  Skyworld
 
 
  Reset Bomb Forest
 
 
  Palutena's Temple
 
 
  WarioWare, Inc.
 
 
  Gamer
 
 
  Distant Planet
 
 
  Garden of Hope
 
 
  Smashville
 
 
  Tortimer Island
 
 
  Town and City
 
 
  Wii Fit Studio
 
 
  Boxing Ring
 
 
  Gaur Plain
 
 
  Duck Hunt
 
 
  Shadow Moses Island
 
 
  Green Hill Zone
 
 
  Windy Hill Zone
 
 
  Wily Castle
 
 
  Pac-Land
 
 
  Suzaku Castle
 
 
  Midgar
 
 
  Umbra Clock Tower
 
 
  Hanenbow
 
 
  PictoChat 2
 
 
  Balloon Fight
 
 
  Living Room
 
 
  Find Mii
 
 
  Tomodachi Life
 
 
  Wrecking Crew
 
 
  Pilotwings
 
 
  Wuhu Island
 

Development

Towards the end of Super Smash Bros. 4's post-launch development, Masahiro Sakurai announced that his next project had been decided and that he would be taking a small vacation following the end of development.[1] Prior to leaving Bandai Namco, presumably sometime in 2016, Tiago Sonobe, then a software engineer and graphics programmer for the company, started development on the game's rendering engine. On November 12th, 2017, Nintendo filed a number of trademarks, notably including a Japanese Super Smash Bros. logo.[2]

A Super Smash Bros. title for Nintendo Switch was later officially revealed on March 8th, 2018 via a Nintendo Direct. Shortly after, Sakurai confirmed in a tweet that he had been working on the game "in silence, day after day".[3][4] On March 22nd, 2018, Nintendo announced the Super Smash Bros. Invitational 2018, a tournament taking place on June 12th where invited professional players will play the upcoming game. This will likely be the first glimpse of actual gameplay, alongside other footage that will be taken at Nintendo's E3 event. In volume 542 of his Famitsu article, Sakurai revealed that his work schedule had been cut down significantly, citing strict regulations regarding work hours.[5] On April 18th, 2018, Nintendo again filed a number of trademarks for several game logos, including the Super Smash Bros. logo. Most of these game logos originate from games with some relationship to the Smash series, including Pikmin, Star Fox, and F-Zero. These trademarks were approved on May 14th, 2018.[6]

As of Day 1 of Nintendo's E3 presentation and the completion of the Super Smash Bros. Invitational, Nintendo has released an Official Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Website, where information and updates to the game can be found. These include lists of future stages and items, alongside previews of music created for the game.

Changes from SSB4

Gameplay changes

  • The stage selection screen now appears before the character selection menu, making players select a stage before selecting characters.
  • All stages now have a Battlefield form. Ω forms are also standardized to have the same underside shape akin to Final Destination, with none of them having vertical walls.
  • Stage hazards can be turned off.
  • Fighters inflict more damage during one-on-one fights to increase gameplay speed.
  • In timed matches, characters in the lead will occasionally flash gold.
  • Characters no longer turn around when taking a hit from behind, with multi-hit moves keeping the victim's back turned during each hit. The fighter will only turn around once they are launched by the attack.
  • Smash attacks can be charged in a much longer duration compared to previous iterations.
  • Screen KOs are much faster, making them once again faster than Star KOs.
  • Rolling or Sidestepping often will slowly cause grounded dodges to lag and lose intangibility frames, leaving fighters more vulnerable.
  • Airdodges now act as a combination of Melee and Smash 4: airdodging to the left and right grant fighters a quick momentum boost in said direction, but without making them helpless. Fighters still suffer from landing lag should they attempt this too close to the ground. Unlike Melee, performing Wavedashing is impossible due to the new mechanics added to directional airdodge as well as increase endlag. Like Melee however, Wavelanding can still be performed but it is nerfed in comparison.
  • Perfect shields are performed in reverse: instead of pressing the shield button several frames before an attack connects, players have to release the shield button when an attack connects on their shield instead. This also causes the screen to pause briefly, with the fighter's eyes flashing to signify a perfect shield.
  • Final Smashes are quicker, with versions granting a controllable transformation being removed, so players can return to fighting quickly. As a result, many fighters receive new Final Smashes or have returning Final Smashes with altered functionalities, such as Landmaster being replaced by an Arwing cutscene, and Octopus dragging opponents offstage immediately after transforming.
  • Knockback functions much differently than previous games: fighters "speed up" for several moments after being hit, before losing significant momentum and returning to normal. While this initially appears aesthetic, it also appears to increase the overall survivability of fighters, with characters commonly being able to survive to percentages as high as 140%.
  • Edge sweet spots have become smaller.
  • Footstools have been nerfed, with opponents being able to tech on the ground during the footstool animation.
  • Instead of Bob-ombs falling, Sudden Death consists of the screen slowing zooming in, making the blast zones gradually shrink.
  • Non-storable charging neutral specials can now be reversed right before they are unleashed.
  • The damage counter now displays tenths of a damage percentage (i.e. 10.5%).
  • Dash-dancing is now easier to perform and functions similarly to how it did in Melee.

Aesthetic changes

  • The particle effects of the game are significantly more cartoony, with a solid-color or cel-shaded aesthetic. Compared to Smash 4, hits are signified by spark-like blows instead of colorful stars.
  • Melee blows sound harder-hitting compared to the previous game.
  • Fighters sent flying now leave a colorful, lingering trial of solid-colored smoke behind them.
  • While a fighter is knocked off the stage, a minimap which shows the character locations, blast zone, and camera zoom will appear on the corner of the screen.
  • The closer a fighter is to a blast zone, the smaller their "magnifying glass" camera becomes.
  • The game camera is presented more dramatically, slowing down time with a colorful overlay upon landing very strong hits such as a fully-charged Giant Punch. Similarly, potential final hits of a match will dramatically pause the camera while zooming in.
  • Star KO'd characters now use a tumbling animation similar to Brawl's Screen KOs, rolling away from the screen as they fly away.
  • Many Assist Trophies and Final Smashes now affect the background of the stage.
  • Before the start of every match, a versus splash screen will appear, showing the combatants for each match.

Item changes

  • There can now be more than one Assist Trophy active at any given time. Additionally, characters summoned by an Assist Trophy can be KO'd, granting a point to whoever KO'd said character.
  • Smash Balls have a chance of spawning with Soccer Ball physics, rolling around the stage and respawning once it drops offstage. These despawn after a set time.
  • Fake Smash Balls were introduced, with inverted lines as its design. When broken, these explode into a colorful X-shaped explosion, causing heavy knockback and damage to nearby fighters.
  • The Boss Galaga causes a black background to cover the screen, complete with pixel stars.
  • The Golden Hammer now has a unique hit particle, resembling the particle effect used when Mario destroys a barrel in the original Donkey Kong.

Gallery

Trivia

  • This is the first Super Smash Bros. game since the original Super Smash Bros. to not be announced alongside new hardware. Super Smash Bros. Melee was revealed alongside the final retail version of the Nintendo GameCube at E3 2001, Super Smash Bros. Brawl was announced alongside the Wii itself, then-codenamed Revolution at E3 2005, and Super Smash Bros. 4 was announced alongside the Wii U at E3 2011. Moreover, unlike the latter two games, this is the first time since Super Smash Bros. Melee that a Smash Bros. game is not announced years in advance, as Super Smash Bros. Brawl was announced in 2005 and revealed a year later, and Super Smash Bros. 4 was announced in 2011 and revealed two years later, with both released in 2008 and 2014 respectively.
  • This is the first Super Smash Bros. game to not feature the involvement of Satoru Iwata as he passed away in July 2015.
    • The release date for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate pays respect to Satoru Iwata, releasing a day after his birthday, which falls on December 6, 1959.
  • This is the first Smash game since Melee where no veteran characters were cut. This game also brings back the greatest number of cut veterans, with the total being seven (Ice Climbers, Young Link, Pichu, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Wolf and Snake).
  • This is the first Super Smash Bros. game to have a planned simultaneous worldwide release.
  • This is the first Super Smash Bros. game where the announcer's voice isn't changed, with Xander Mobus reprising the role from Super Smash Bros. 4.

References

External links