One of the most anticipated Nintendo titles of 2018 is arriving on December 7th – Super Smash Bros. Ultimate! The game will be coming to the Nintendo Switch and will initially bring 74 characters to the stage with DLC packs available throughout.

Let’s jump right into what the game will be bringing to the stage and what changes we may see.

New Features

Character Roster

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate will include all characters from every other Smash, including “echo fighters” – which are characters with similar move sets but different appearances.

Not all characters will be immediately available. Some will require progression from the player to advance and get them all. There are plenty of additional costumes and even new characters to the scene! The new cast includes:

• Simon Belmont from Castlevania with echo fighter Richter Belmont.
• King K. Rool from Donkey Kong.
• Echo fighter Chrom who utilizes the same move sets as Roy.
• Dark Samus will be an echo fighter to Samus from Metroid.
• Isabella from Animal Crossing: New Leaf.
• Ken from Street Fighter will be an echo fighter of Ryu.
• Incineroar, the last evolution of Litten, from Pokémon: Sun and Moon
• Pirahna Plant from Mario is currently a pre-order bonus and will not be released on launch.

There will be at least 5 DLC characters as well.

Stages and Multiplayer Options

Currently, there are 103 stages to choose from. A total of eight players can join a battle. There will be both local wireless and online play available. Online play will include matchmaking.

When you beat players online, you will get their personalized token known as a Smash Tag. There are social options as well that allows players to send preset messages before and after battles to add some character customization.

If you prefer to watch instead of fight, there is spectator mode available to watch others compete. Players will also have the ability to set up a custom room called a Battle Arena when playing online. This feature can pair with the Nintendo Switch Online app.

Modes

In addition to Classic mode, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate will include eight new game modes.

• Squad Strike Battle Mode – an elimination-style mode where players have a line up of 3-5 characters and duke it out until a winner is crowned.
• Tourney Mode – Will generate tournaments brackets for up to 32 players to host tournaments.
• Smashdown Mode – This mode will make characters from previous battles unavailable in the selection process and require players to choose a different character each round.
• Training Mode – Training mode will work in an exclusive stage with a built-in grid to allow players to practice and experiment with launching abilities to determine appropriate trajectories.
• Spirits Mode – Allows players to use the souls of other fighters that have been turned into spirits. The spirits come in different levels such as Novice, Advanced, Ace, and Legend. The spirits can enhance stats, add support abilities, and so on.
• Adventure Mode – Adventure mode is the single-player campaign designed in a way to explain Spirts Mode. The story follows Kirby on his adventure to save his friends and will get players acclimated with the Spirits Mode in the process.
• Century Smash – Allows players to smash their opponents continuously.
• All-Star Smash – Mode where all available fighters will charge to fight the player.

Items

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate features a selection of new items with a variety of new effects. We’ll list just a few of these new items. Some are standard melee items while others can result in a negative effect if you hit them.

• Black Hole – Sucks characters into the middle of it.
• Launch Star – Launches fighters that touch it at high speed.
• Fake Smash Ball – Explodes and deals damage if you destroy it.
• Death’s Scythe – Can instant KO people with a smash attack at high damage.
• Killing Edge Sword – When the sword is glowing the damage and launch power is doubled.
• Staff – Deals more damage to targets that are farther away.
• Rage Blaster – The blaster grows stronger if the fighter using it has taken a lot of damage.

Fighting Mechanics

Many of the same fighting mechanics used in Super Smash Bros. Melee will be returning with a more streamlined approach to them.

• Short hops are executed while jumping and hitting A to perform a ground-based aerial attack.
• Each consecutive dodge will be slightly slower than the last.
• Charge attacks can be charged in midair.
• Chargeable Final Smashes can be toggled, allowing players to activate a weaker version of their final smash. Note that no two Final Smashes can be used at the same time.