Nintendo has finally revealed the first proper Super Smash Bros. title coming to Nintendo Switch and in many ways, it feels like all previous entries in the series mashed together to create one giant game, which is precisely why it's called Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate: All Characters Included
Every single character from the entire Super Smash Bros. franchise is going to be playable in Ultimate, making it the biggest and most comprehensive series entry to date. That means the fighter roster contains more than 60 characters, including long-forgotten ones such as Snake from Metal Gear Solid, who was last seen in 2008's Super Smash Bros. Brawl. The game also marks the return of some fan favorites, including Ice Climbers, Sonic the Hedgehog, and Pac-Man.
Just to be clear, Ultimate isn't a port of the 3DS and Wii U games — it's an entirely new game with over tens of thousands of changes, says director Masahiro Sakurai. All the characters have been refreshed both in terms of aesthetics and techniques. For example, Mario, fresh off his Super Mario Odyssey adventures, now wears Cappy to help him in combat. Link, meanwhile, now carries his Hylian Shield from Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
The entire roster won't be available from the get-go, of course — players have to earn and unlock them along the way. Even still, Nintendo says it's made all the characters much quicker and simpler to unlock than in previous entries — quicker and simpler, not easier. After all, this is still a Super Smash Bros. title, so don't expect an easy path to victory.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate: New Stages
Ultimate also gets new stages, such as the Great Plateau tower from Breath of the Wild, and one from Splatoon 2 that's made of ramps. Speaking of Splatoon, Inkling is also one of the newcomers, in addition to Ridley from the Metroid franchise. Additional characters could very well end up in the game later on via DLC, but Nintendo hasn't said anything about that yet.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate: Amiibo, GameCube Controller Support
There's also good news for Amiibo fans: Ultimate will support every existing Amiibo, and their stored data can be transferred to the game. Nintendo is also throwing a bone to fans of the GameCube controller by making it fully compatible with the game. Just note that a Wii U GameCube controller adaptor is required for this to work.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate launches on Dec. 7 exclusively on the Switch.
