People who have been clamoring for more Super Smash Bros. Ultimate information have just gotten their fix. Nintendo and Smash Ultimate game director Masahiro Sakurai held a Nintendo Direct to grace fans with a swath of new details.
The biggest announcements for most will likely be the major character reveals. The writing was on the wall for the reveal of Castlevania’s Simon Belmont but few expected to see Richter announced as well. Simon and Richter will both be armed with the iconic whip as well as a myriad of recognizable items from the series. A completely out of left field announcement was the reveal of King K. Rool from the Donkey Kong series. We got fewer details on King K. Rool but it seems that he will have similar weight and play style to the other larger characters in the game.
Additionally, two new echo characters have been revealed. Chrom was revealed as an echo fighter to pair with Roy. Dark Samus was also revealed to go along with Samus. Echo characters will play similarly to their counterparts but will have slightly noticeable differences that make them unique.
Sakurai then went into detail on changes to stages. He revealed that there will be 103 total stages available at launch. Every stage will be unlocked from the beginning. Many stages from previous games have been updated for a modern audience but the N64 inspired stages will be left alone for nostalgia purposes. Stages will now have deeper customization options, allowing for both Omega and Battlefield options for every stage. A new stage morph option will let players choose two stages that will switch midway through the match. 8-player smash will be available on every single stage, an option that was not available in previous titles. Some new and returning stages include Dracula’s Castle, Pokémon Stadium, Summit and a redesigned Final Destination.
A few smaller tidbits of information regarding music, modes and items in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate was shared. There are now 800 unique music tracks that can be customized to each stage in playlists. A music player was added in-game and can be accessed with the screen off, making your Switch into a Nintendo’s greatest hits music player.
New and old modes were announced to keep players busy outside of the traditional Smash mode. Squad Strike and Tourney modes have been added to appease party crowds. Smashdown is a brand new mode that will remove characters from the pool after they are used for the duration of the playtime. Smashdown will force players to be well versed in multiple characters if they want to win. Finally, Classic Mode will be making its return in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
Lastly, we got tons of new information on items, Pokémon, and assist trophies. Some of the new items include the banana gun, a katana, a scythe and a staff. More interestingly, the new Pokémon additions lean heavily into the Pokémon from the 3DS titles, Pokémon Sun and Moon. Alolan Exeggutor, Lunala, Solgaleo and Mimikyu were announced to name a few. A few surprising assist trophies were also announced. Zero, Knuckles and Shovel Knight were all head-scratchers as many of them were assumed to either be new characters or echo characters in Ultimate. Krystal, Kapp’n, Gray Fox, and Moon were other standout reveals.
Sakurai closed out his bit of the presentation with showing the menu for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. He teased us further by hiding one of the game modes and promising a reveal before release. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate will launch on December 7th, 2018 on Nintendo Switch and promises to be the most ambitious title in the series.
