Challenger's Approach

“	A rematch against a fighter you couldn't defeat before. Pull off victory this time!	”
—Description from Ultimate's Mode Guide

Challenger's Approach is a mode in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate where the player can rematch an unlockable character they previously failed to unlock. This mode is available in the Games & More menu after its conditions are met.

When the mode is selected, the Challenger Approaching screen will appear for the unlockable fighter that has been lost to, then the player can choose any available character to rematch the unlockable fighter.

The fights are the same as the usual Challenger Approaching fights, including stage, music, and CPU level.

Mechanics

If the player loses a Challenger Approaching fight, that challenger will reappear under the Challenger's Approach mode after performing approximately 400 in-battle actions. This requirement applies regardless of who the challenger is, how many other characters have been unlocked or challenged, or which method was originally used to issue the Challenger Approaching fight. There is no wait time requirement.

Challenger's Approach can appear after doing anything that would cause a Challenger Approaching fight to appear, such as exiting World of Light. If the conditions for both are met at the same time, a Challenger Approaching fight will take priority over the Challenger's Approach notification.

When the Challenger's Approach mode appears, an in-game screen will notify the player. This screen will reappear each time the mode appears. If a Challenger's Approach rematch becomes available but the mode is already there (from an earlier challenger that the player hasn't accepted the rematch for yet), the new challenger will silently queue up behind the existing challenger(s) and no in-game notification will appear.

If multiple characters become eligible for a rematch at the same time, they will queue up in the order listed below. The order is mostly based on fighter number, so for example Dark Samus will appear first. However, for unknown reasons, Richter appears before Inkling and Simon appears after King K. Rool. If multiple characters queue up (become silently eligible for rematches) one at a time instead of all at once, this order will not apply (instead they will queue up in the order they became eligible).

If the player loses a Challenger's Approach fight, the same mechanics apply as any other Challenger Approaching fight (the character will become eligible for another rematch after 400 more in-battle actions). If more than one character has queued up, the Challenger's Approach mode will remain and the player may immediately rematch the next character in the queue. If no other characters remain in the queue, the Challenger's Approach mode will disappear.

Unlock order

This order applies if all characters simultaneously enter the Challenger's Approach queue, which is possible if the player loses against every Challenger Approaching fight with few in-battle actions in between, then performs 400 in-battle actions in a single VS match.

Fighter Number	Fighter
4.504ε	Dark Samus
09	Luigi
10	Ness
11	Captain Falcon
12	Jigglypuff
13	Peach
13.513ε	Daisy
14	Bowser
15	Ice Climbers
16	Sheik
17	Zelda
18	Dr. Mario
19	Pichu
20	Falco
21	Marth
21.521ε	Lucina
22	Young Link
23	Ganondorf
24	Mewtwo
25	Roy
25.525ε	Chrom
26	Mr. Game & Watch
27	Meta Knight
28	Pit
28.528ε	Dark Pit
29	Zero Suit Samus
30	Wario
31	Snake
32	Ike
33-35	Pokémon Trainer
36	Diddy Kong
37	Lucas
38	Sonic
39	King Dedede
40	Olimar
41	Lucario
42	R.O.B.
43	Toon Link
44	Wolf
45	Villager
46	Mega Man
47	Wii Fit Trainer
48	Rosalina & Luma
49	Little Mac
50	Greninja
54	Palutena
55	Pac-Man
56	Robin
57	Shulk
58	Bowser Jr.
59	Duck Hunt
60	Ryu
60.560ε	Ken
61	Cloud
62	Corrin
63	Bayonetta
66.566ε	Richter
64	Inkling
65	Ridley
67	King K. Rool
66	Simon
68	Isabelle
69	Incineroar

Gallery

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  The notification screen when Challenger's Approach becomes available

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  Challenger's Approach in the Games & More menu

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  The Challenger's Approach icon when not highlighted over

Trivia

• This mode along with Sephiroth Challenge are the only modes in Ultimate that would no longer be available at some point. In this case, Challenger's Approach would no longer be available if the player has unlocked all unlockable characters in the game.
• When the Challenger Approaching screen appears after Classic Mode or a timed encounter, the screen stays up for a few seconds and then the game automatically proceeds to the fight. However, when the Challenger Approaching screen appears for a Challenger's Approach rematch, the player must press A to dismiss the screen and proceed to the character selection menu.