What you need to know (and our take) on the latest info for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
Earlier today a Nintendo Direct focused entirely on Super Smash Bros. Ultimate was dropped, and with it, a megaton of announcements and reveals. Check out the entire presentation below.
Let’s break down what was shown.
Characters
Hosted by game director and my dad Masahiro Sakurai, the presentation began with a hilariously horrifying reveal (via Luigi having his literal soul sliced out of his body by Death) that Simon Belmont of the Castlevania series is a brand new fighter. Simon, who’s appearance is largely based on the first Castlevania game, uses his far reaching holy whip, axe, cross, and holy water as special moves to attack. His home stage is Dracula’s Castle, which features Dracula as a boss character. Dracula will appear and attack players under special circumstances that have yet to be revealed.
Simon is joined by Richter Belmont, a descendant of Simon and the main character of Castlevania: Rondo of Blood. Richter is an echo fighter of Simon, meaning he has the exact same move set as his relative, but has different enough properties to deviate him as a separate character.
Two more echo fighters were also revealed: Chrom from Fire Emblem Awakening (an echo fighter of Roy), and Dark Samus from Metroid Prime 2 (an echo fighter of Samus, duh).
According to Sakurai, both characters were “highly requested,” which makes sense considering how popular they are, especially the hot anime man. We’re not crazy about Chrom technically being another Marth clone, but we’re super excited to see him make the cut.
And while we’re on the topic, the Direct ended with another hilariously hype trailer for a new, highly requested character: King K. Rool.
Bowser to DK’s Mario, K. Rool is the main villain of the original Donkey Kong Country trilogy and Donkey Kong 64. He’s a gigantic fighter with a moveset that pulls from everyCountry game he’s appeared in, such as a blunderbuss attack from his role as Kaptain K. Rool in Donkey Kong Country 2.
Fans have been craving K. Rool for Smash since Melee. He was one of, if not thee, most desired character for the series. To see him here, looking amazing and like a blast to play, is absolutely surreal.
Also! Sakurai stated that every new character will be revealed before the game launches, and there are a “few” left to be revealed. #PrayersforBanjo.
Stages
SPEAKING OF SURREAL; Ultimate currently has a total of 103 STAGES. That’s nearly twice as many as Smash for Wii U! Click the image below to see a full size version of the stage select screen, and then look at it all day like I have.
A vast majority of the stages are fan-favorites from every entry in the series, and stages from Melee up have been given beautiful HD polish. Fountain of Dreams, one of my favorite stages, looks even more gorgeous and now I’m crying again.
In the image of the stage select screen, notice how there is room for six more stages in the box. Chances are most of those will be correlated to unannounced fighters…but #PrayersforPokeFloats.
Music
There are more than 800 music tracks in the game! That’s 28 hours of music, which you can listen to on the go while your Switch is in rest mode!
I need to stress this: the music in Smash Bros. is incredible. It’s the most sincere love letter to video game music ever crafted. Every game has been an overwhelming collection of masterful arrangements of classic tunes. This blows my mind, and I implore you take time and listen to the these tracks (new arrangements can be sampled here), and get hyped.
MORE
I didn’t even cover the new Pokémon in Poké Balls (Ditto made it!), Assist Trophies (glad to see Shovel Knight, sad he’s not playable), and the quality of life improvements like setting matches to stock by default. There’s too much to cover, so please, please, please, watch the whole Direct. The detail, precision, and visual examples displayed in these presentations is masterful. Seriously, take notes, it’s incredible.
…
As the monotony of adult life continues to set in, it’s sometimes hard for me to get excited about new things, video games included.
But one thing I’m ok with staying the same is this: I’m always excited about Smash Bros.
These Directs, the character reveals, and just seeing Sakurai talk about his game makes me impossibly happy, and sincerely, truly, hyped. I cannot wait to learn more.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate comes to the Nintendo Switch on December 7.
R.I.P Luigi
“Yahoo!”
-Luigi, Mario Kart 64
