Fans have been anxious to learn which other characters might appear in Nintendo's Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and 3DS, after recent reveals like Pac-Man and new Fire Emblem characters took the gaming world by surprise. A new leak may have all the answers, revealing new characters and some returning favorites.
A series of screenshots and freshly leaked videos have appeared on gaming forum NeoGAF and reveal three new characters entering the fray. First up is the dog from the original Nintendo Entertainment System classic Duck Hunt, complete with a duck companion. Bowser Jr. will also be entering the fray on his cloud car, and the character Shulk from the Wii exclusive RPG Xenoblade Chronicles will also make an appearance.
So far, unannounced fighters returning to the all-star fighting franchise are the old-school Nintendo toy R.O.B. and Ness from Earthbound. Several old characters like Ice Climbers and Solid Snake are missing from this "final roster," but the leaker claims that several characters will be returning in the form of post-launch downloadable content.
The screenshots leaked last week, but some doubted the authenticity after several "leaked" rosters in the past turned out to be fake. The just-released videos seem to confirm that this rumor looks to be the real deal.
All the leaked images and videos sport the user name ESRB0083, seeming to point towards the footage coming from a member of the Entertainment Software Ratings Board, which rates games according to their content and labels the game box accordingly.
However, the ESRB doesn't typically play the games they rate, instead simply watching footage of the title before issuing a rating. The leak very well might have come internally from Nintendo, with the ESRB username being used to throw people off the scent.
While we may not know exactly where the leaks come from, it shouldn't come as too much of a surprise. Super Smash Bros. for the 3DS is only a mere five weeks away, releasing on Oct. 3. Even without the leaks, Nintendo was likely planning on revealing some or all of the new characters in the weeks leading up to the game's launch.
All characters and stages appearing in the 3DS version of the game will appear in the Wii U version as well, which is currently slated for release sometime before the end of the year.
