And The Fandom Rejoiced / Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

And now, internet explosions have reached critical mass!

"So joining Smash... consumes even the darkness itself!"

— Solon, describing this very trope in regards to Byleth's inclusion

The biggest Super Smash Bros. game in history definitely needs stuff to make audiences freak out!

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March 8, 2018

• Well, it looks like the Nintendo Direct is going to end. Wait, there's more? Hmmm... Inkling Girl and Inkling Boy? Fighting in the white space from the first game's trailer? But why would they por— hold on. What's with the lights dimming? What's shining on Inkling Girl? Hold on... IS THAT THE SMASH LOGO IN HER EYE?! INKLINGS ARE COMING TO SMASH???!!! Oh. My. God.
  • Also the Link seen in this trailer... He's Breath of the Wild Link!
  • The reveal that it's stated to be released in 2018 doesn't hurt, either. To be specific:^note as revealed at E3 2018 December 7th, 2018!
  • And contrary to what he said during the development of the last game, Daddy Sakurai is indeed returning!
  • Also worth noting is that the teaser alone implied the return of 19 characters right off the bat, with fans identifying Mario, Link, Ness, Yoshi, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Captain Falcon, Kirby, Peach, Samus, Bowser, Zelda, Sheik, Wario, Pit, Marth, Pikachu, and Fox from the silhouettes shown at the end, along with the likely implication that Zero Suit Samus will also be returning. And that's before there's even a proper reveal trailer!

E3 2018

• Everyone is in Smash 2018! This includes Snake, Pichu, Ice Climbers, Wolf, Young Link, the Pokémon Trainer, and all the DLC fighters from Smash 4! Disney, get Infinity War out of town and take Ralph Breaks the Internet with you. This is the most ambitious (and definitive) crossover in history!
  • Lucina, Dark Pit, and other new clone characters are being treated as Echo Fighters, so it's easier to distinguish which ones are clones. On that note, Daisy is premiering as an Echo Fighter of Peach. No more just being a Palette Swap for her!
  • Leaf, the female Pokémon Trainer from Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen, is an alternate costume! Nintendo hasn't forgotten about her after all! What’s more, Spiky-Eared Pichu, which hasn’t been seen in nearly a decade, is also making an appearance as an alternate costume!
  • Ladies and gentlemen, the memes are over. Cue the Flying Pigs. The impossible has been done. We proudly present to you...perhaps the most demanded character of them all...RIDLEY Hits The Big Time!
    • In retrospect, some people have wanted Ridley to be playable even back in the 64 days. Fans have been clamoring for years on end, hoping and praying for his inclusion. And now, nearly 20 years have passed, and Sakurai has finally found a way to make Ridley work in Smash. And now, he's finally playable. Both the Smash Bros. and Metroid fanbases exploded.
• We have a name that's appropriate for all this epicness: Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
• Final Smashes are now lightning fast, and several are improved — for example, Pac-Man's can loop around the playing field, and even move diagonally.
  • After King Dedede's not so impressive Final Smash in the 3DS and Wii U version, his Final Smash has been updated to be Masked Dedede! That's right, he throws his opponents in his ring and shoots a barrage of jet missiles from his hammer before slamming straight into them.
  • Certain Final Smashes have been updated to include some surprise cameos:
    • Paula and Poo/Kumatora and Boney appear and lend their energy to Ness/Lucas for PK Starstorm.
    • The 5 different incarnations of Mega Man are now accompanied by Proto Man and Bass for an even greater laser barrage.
    • For his Chain Attack, Shulk is not only assisted by Dunban and Riki, but by Fiora as well (in her Mechon form, no less).
    • Bowser retains Giga Bowser, his One-Winged Angel form, as his Final Smash — but while he is no longer a fully playable FS, he can now deal a single punch that seems to be a 100% One-Hit KO. It leads to the opponent getting a vicious Screen KO, and literally nothing stops it from being anything else — in fact, Bowser goes Beyond the Impossible and proves that not even the blast lines can misconstrue the KO.
• Among the many Assist Trophies:
  • Rodin, who's ready to raise some hell alongside Bayonetta's return.
  • Bomberman!
  • Sukapon, finally giving Joy Mech Fight some representation in Nintendo's far more successful fighting game franchise.
  • Callie and Marie, AKA The Squid Sisters!
  • Krystal finally shows up in the Smash Bros. franchise, with her sporting her Nubile Savage attire from Star Fox Adventures.
  • Knock knock, it's Knuckles!
  • At least Waluigi is still an Assist and not forgotten!
  • Now, many Assist Trophies can suffer from knockback when damaged, rather than only shaking without any interruptions, making them much easier to KO.
• The initial reveals shown at E3 and the initial launch of the website show content from at least 86 different stages. ^note For frame of reference, 83 stages are returning from earlier games; prior to Ultimate, there were 115 unique stages across the entire series, provided that you don't count the various iterations of Battlefield and Final Destination as their own stages. So that means that roughly 70% of stages from previous games will return, not counting any future confirmations of returning stages! While the vast majority of them are ported from earlier games, and not all stages will return, these stages are all completely remastered in HD.
  • Stages that were exclusive to the 3DS iteration of the game — such as Spirit Train — are playable in Ultimate. Furthermore, Wily's Castle features the traps from both versions of the game.
  • All stages now have Omega and Battlefield modes, which mimics the size and layouts of the Final Destination and Battlefield stages respectively.
  • It was also later shown that the player would finally be given the option to turn the stage hazards off for competitive play, even the stages' regular layouts, so players who want more variety without the hazards don't need to only choose the Omega and Battlefield versions.
  • The list of returning stages is wild, with favorites such as Princess Peach's Castle (from Melee) and Spear Pillar (from Brawl) making a return, despite their exclusion from previous Smash games. But easily the stage nearly, if not everyone, is excited for is Saffron City from the very first game, a stage that hasn't been seen since 1999.
    • In a similar fashion, one of the returning stages is Termina's Great Bay, a fan favorite which hadn't been seen since its lone appearance in Melee.
  • Both Shadow Moses Island and Palutena's Temple are returning, building hope that the entire roster will get stage taunts at last.
• GameCube Controllers and all amiibos are compatible! In fact, all amiibo of Smash characters, even if they're from a different series, are compatible (though this was the case in the previous game(s) as well).
• Ganondorf's been differentiated from Captain Falcon even more! That sword he keeps pulling out but never uses? Anyone foolish enough to get within range of him gets to taste that cold steel as part of his new Smash attacks. On top of that, he returns with his iconic slim build from Ocarina of Time, with the cape he wears in the future, alongside the equally iconic Demon King Ganon from the same game as his Final Smash.
• The much maligned stamina mechanic for Pokémon Trainer HAS BEEN REMOVED! Meaning you will no longer be forced to switch out and can just play who you want as much as you want. Also, switching Mons is much faster, opening up a huge realm of possibilities for combos.
• Not only is Snake back, but so is David Hayter.
• Marth is being voiced in English!
• In addition, Xander Mobus announced his return to Smash Bros. Ultimate as the Announcer! This makes him the very first Announcer^note in English in Smash Bros. HISTORY to actually return to his role, breaking the series tradition of replacing the Announcer every game!
• Directional dodging returns (though it's been balanced so no Melee-style wavedashing).
• Wario fans were pleased that his moveset has more references to the Wario Land series, with his shoulder charge coming back as his dash attack and his down throw looking like his Ground Pound in his games.
• Little Mac's side-B (the Jolt Haymaker) doesn't send him into free-fall. We repeat: Mac's side-B won't kill him if he goes off of the stage! Just learning that piece of info can send endorphins into the brain of any Little Mac main.

Smash Ultimate Direct - August 8th, 2018

• How does the direct start? By showing off the legendary vampire hunter himself, Simon Belmont, rocking out with an awesome remix of Vampire Killer! He even has his descendant, Richter Belmont, as an Echo Fighter!
  • Taking a page from Pac-Man, Simon's Ultimate design is primarily based upon his classic NES design, rather than any of his more recent (and more controversial) modern redesigns.
  • Just like Mega Man, his walking animation is his sprite walking animation from the NES games.
  • Alucard also appears as an Assist Trophy.
  • And how can you have the Belmonts without Castlevania itself? You don't, that's how. Chaos Architecture incarnate is now a fighting stage, including encounters with several classic bosses from the series, including a special fight with Dracula himself!
    • Also showing up in the level (with him silhouetted and labeled as "????" in the Direct video): Kid Dracula.
  • The inclusion of Simon Belmont means that he can join Pit and Mega Man, fight Mother Brain, and re-create the cast of Captain N: The Game Master. And that's not even counting Link or Samus's respective Crossovers with them^note Or the fact that Lana's design was based on Palutena.
  • How many tracks is the stage going to get? 34.
• New Echo Fighters show up as well. Chrom gets his chance for real! And Dark Samus is there too, joining Little Mac as a Promoted to Playable Assist Trophy. Additionally, Richter, Chrom and Dark Samus confirm that guest characters can have Echoes, Echoes can have at least one different special move, and they can have drastically different idle animations.
• After so many years of waiting, the legendary Donkey Kong’s days in Smash have been numbered. Fan-favorite fighter King K. Rool has crashed (or should we say, krashed) the party! To say that the entire Donkey Kong & Smash fandoms have exploded would be a massive understatement.
• There are a total of 103 stages (not counting their Omega and Battlefield forms) and roughly 900+ music tracks! This game is truly Ultimate.
  • That's so much music, you could probably use your Switch as a music player. So, as with the 3DS version, they put in a mode that lets you do just that! Complete with custom playlists!
  • Fountain of Dreams finally makes its long, long awaited return from Melee.
  • After so many years of being neglected, Kraid is finally thrown a bone. He is returning alongside his stage Brinstar Depths, now sporting a gorgeous HD redesign that shows how far graphics have come in 17 years. This also marks the first time that Kraid, Ridley, and Mother Brain can appear together in 3D.
  • There's a new feature called Stage Morph where you can select two stages that will transform into each other throughout the match.
  • Between all stages having Battlefield and Omega forms (with the stage layouts for them being standardized), and stage hazards being optional, every single stage is now tournament-legal. Competitive gaming fans with favourite stages that usually aren't legal can rejoice!
• There's an option to have Final Smashes be accessed through a chargeable meter that allows your character to use a weaker Final Smash. Combined with their faster speed, this could allow Final Smashes to finally be legal in competitive matches.
• Classic Mode returns, and it’s a huge step up from its Wii U incarnation. Every character has their own unique journey. For example, Kirby fights opponents with big appetites, Donkey Kong travels to New Donk City, and Roy clashes blades with the other swordfighters.
• The arrival of Shovel Knight as an Assist Trophy! Yeah, he's not playable, but it's still an honour for him, the protagonist of an Indie Game, to appear at all.
• As expected with the return of Snake is the confirmation of Gray Fox coming back.
• Capcom gets two new Assist Trophies: Zero and Rathalos.
  • And Rathalos is not just an Assist Trophy. He's a Stage Boss too!
  • Also, Zero's Assist Trophy reveal is accompanied by a remix of Mega Man X's Central Highway (the Intro Stage to Mega Man X1)!
• Chef Kawasaki is an Assist, too! And his effect is essentially Cook Kirby!
• After what seemed to be a staged based off Swapnote got cut from Smash 4 (likely due to the controversy surrounding the app), Nikki finally becomes an Assist Trophy and she's just as adorable as ever.
• You can make the Moon fall on everyone!
• Ditto appearing as a Poké Ball summon after being a case of What Could Have Been from all the way back in Melee. You can bet some fans were happy to see that.
• Between a green section that's blurred out on the main menu screen and confirmation of Dracula and Rathalos appearing as "boss" characters, Adventure Mode is all but confirmed at this point.
• A bit of a feature that was somewhat introduced in the DLC stages of Smash 4 (where stages shared similar songs), the music selection of the stages is based on the series. For instance, any Mario stage can play any Mario related music. Want to play Ridley's battle theme on Brinstar Depths? Go right ahead. Want to play the Poké Floats theme on Kalos League? No problem.
• Remember how eight player Smash used to be available only on a relatively small number of stages? Not anymore! All the stages are 8-fighter compatible.
• Stamina matches, a long-neglected feature, have gotten a dramatic upgrade! It's now possible to set a Stamina match as a Stock or Time match, which means that Stamina matches are no longer locked to a single life per player per match. If you've wanted the ability to play a traditional round of Smash with the extra challenge of having a fixed amount of health per life, consider your wish granted.
• While Smash Tour was much maligned, the final battle did introduce an interesting gimmick: Using a new character for each stock. Fans have expressed interest in a mode that allows for it — and that's where the new Squad Strike mode comes in!
  • A similar concept, but in a different execution is Smashdown, a mode with successive battles and all previously-used characters are blocked off after their first use. An exciting way for friends to work through the roster with all kinds of character combinations!

Nintendo Direct - September 13th, 2018

• In case a player wants Smash-centric hardware, the Direct announced that there would be a Smash version of the Switch available in November, complete with a download copy of the game, and a Smash-themed dock and Joycons.
• Ladies and gents, we have confirmation: Isabelle joins the battle! And she's not the Villager's Echo, either; she's her own separate character.
• Fans of Animal Crossing as a whole were also pleased to see that Isabelle's trailer also doubled as the official announcement for the long-awaited Nintendo Switch version of the game. Considering that people were initially worried that Isabelle's inclusion in Ultimate was merely a Bait-and-Switch teasing fans who wanted a Switch version of the game, people were ultimately relieved that they got both.

Smash Ultimate Direct - November 1st, 2018

• Ryu's longtime rival and friend, Ken Masters makes it in as an Echo Fighter.
• For those wondering who the new Pokémon fighter was going to be, it turns out to be the Fire-type Starter of the Alola region, Incineroar!
• People had been wanting a new Super Mario Bros. character since the game was announced, and we finally got one! Walui-wait, who now? *Checks notes* Oh! Oh my! Piranha Plant is a wacky, funny character who was a happy surprise for everyone. Best of all, it's free! ...Within a limited time of downloading/purchasing the game.
• For those who weren't interested in collecting trophies, you can now collect their spirits, which actually have a gameplay purpose as they power up your fighters in certain modes.
• Adventure Mode returns! This time, a malevolent being of light has captured every Smasher except Kirby, who sets out to rescue them! And the characters are voiced!
• On top of all of that, the final version of the main theme has lyrics. In both Japanese and English!
• For those who prefer different languages, Ultimate includes the option to change them in-game. This also changes the voices to that language if applicable.
• As for Assist Trophies, plenty have been announced, both returning and brand new.
  • Shadow and Nightmare are confirmed to return.
  • Yuri Kozukata is here to bring some supernatural surprises to the forefront.
  • Isaac returns from Brawl. Yes, he's still an Assist Trophy, but at least he's still making an appearance. He also comes with an upgrade that could even rival Master Hand!
  • For Fire Emblem Assists, the Black Knight and Tiki have arrived on the battlefield.
  • The Thwomp is here to make some Smashcakes.
  • Spring Man may not be playable, but at least he gets to knock a few heads.
  • Those that have played Mega Man 7 may remember the hellishly difficult fight against the Wily Capsule. Now that the Capsule (with Wily piloting it) is an attackable Assist Trophy, everyone that hated the fight can defeat him over and over again. That, and the fact that Dr. Wily is acknowledged at all is a welcome sight.
  • The Fly Swatter minigame is an Assist!
  • Vince gets a moment to shine. And he's apparently been learning from Adeleine.
  • Guile is in, and his theme still goes with everything! For bonus points, he also uses a well-known Meta Game strategy!
  • Akira Yuki has been promoted from costume to assist!
• What? 76 characters and 103 stages isn't enough for you? Sakurai confirms that there will be periodic DLC for Ultimate stretching out into at least February 2020. In addition to Piranha Plant mentioned above, there will be at least five more fighters released as DLC, each with their own stage and multiple music tracks! And no, none of them will be echo fighters. According to Sakurai, the characters were part of a list given to him by Nintendo and he chose the five he liked best.
• Shantae is in the game! As a spirit, that is. However, like with Shovel Knight, the mere fact she's acknowledged has granted her supporters joy. And with the way spirits work, one could still say she has joined to battle some of the industry's greatest.
• Remember the Jugdral era in Fire Emblem? Also known as the one era that never had any of its games released in the west? Well, Sigurd and Seliph are both confirmed to be Spirits in this game.
• Did you like Tokyo Mirage Sessions ♯FE? Did you feel like Nintendo has forgotten the game? Well fret no more; Tsubasa Oribe, both normal and Carnage forms, will be in the game as spirits.
• It's small, but many people were happy to see the return of Galleom from Brawl, both for the nostalgia of facing this boss once again and the link it provides to Subspace Emissary.
• Are you a fan of Mario & Luigi and want to see more of it represented in Smash Bros.? While it's small news, it's still worth noting that your wish has come true...Antasma is a Spirit!!
• For fans of classic Paper Mario games, the Shadow Queen shows up as a Spirit, and Piranha Plant has a move that temporarily turns it into a Putrid Piranha.
• The Super Mario Bros. 3 fans will be pleased to find out that Piranha Plant can spit Ptooie's spiked balls at its opponents — in fact, it seems to move around like a Ptooie, if you notice a little nubber of a foot in its pipe appearance in its trailer.
• While his game came too late for the character to make it onto the main roster, it was still quite the honor for Rex to be the character players get the Mii costume of when they pre-order the DLC Fighters Pass. Some of his comrades will be in the game as Spirits and music from his game will be available for Gaur Plain.

2018 Game Awards

• The Game Awards would give us one last surprise before Ultimate's release. The cast of Persona 5 talk about Joker going to the Game Awards alone, with only a calling card to his name. Then he spins it around to reveal an envelope... with a familiar seal on it. Ladies and gentlemen, Joker steals the show. You never saw that coming, did you?
  • And considering that it was Nintendo who had Joker included in their list of possible fighters, people began wondering what the remaining four DLC fighters would be like.

Official Joker Gameplay Walkthrough & 3. 0 Update Reveal Trailer

• Joker's Final Smash, All-Out Attack, has him teaming up with the rest of the Phantom Thieves in a manner similar to Shulk's Chain Attack. He also has a mechanic much like Cloud's Limit Gauge where he can summon Arsène once it's full.
• His stage, Mementos, not only has the Phantom Thieves in the background, but also comes with music not just from Persona 5, but from Persona 4 and Persona 3 as well. And Mii Costumes for their respective protagonists are available. Plus, if you play music from 3 or 4, the stage changes its appearance, unofficially having Tartarus and the Midnight Channel as stages!
• Joker also gets his own version of the Spirit Board with spirit battles themed after various characters from the Persona series. The DLC-only franchises won't feel skimped on content this time!
• Were you worried that the awesome music of the Persona series would get screwed over and grossly underrepresented like that from some of the other third-party franchises in the series? Fear not, as Joker's DLC comes with 11 music tracks, including songs not only from Persona 5 but Persona 3 and Persona 4 including un-edited original tracks as well as some awesome remixes.^note Mass Destruction, however, had a minor bowdlerised line replacing "damn right!" with "all night!"
• The costumes for Tails and Knuckles also return, showing that any costumes that didn't make it into Ultimate's base game can still be added at a later date.
• Stage Builder is back with a vengeance! Not only are there more options for stage materials, but you can now alter the front and back layers for extra flavor!
• You can now edit your videos together! A surge in creative content is bound to follow. And you can share your creations online.

E3 2019

• Luminary AKA The Hero from the eleventh installment of Japan's beloved, long-running Dragon Quest series is coming to Smash! Oh, sorry, did we say "hero"? We meant heroes, as 3 more are playable as alternate costumes, and the rest appear for a tag team Gigaslash in their Final Smash!
  • Just the thought that Cloud and Erdrick, fighters from two of the most important JRPGs in history, can finally duke it out and have a proper match against each other!
• For the first time in almost 20 years, Banjo and Kazooie are coming back home to duke it out with the greats of gaming! And to top it all off, Spiral Mountain is the stage of choice! Good to see you again, old friend.^note Mountains can't be friends...
  • And yes, Grant Kirkhope DID write the trailer music, and it's going to be in the game.
  • Banjo & Kazooie also represent a lot of first in the series. They're the first Microsoft fighter in the series, the first from another current platform holder, and the first from a wholly non-Japanese and Western created and owned IP and franchise.
  • And then there's the redesign, which is a lot closer to the original N64 design, instead of going with the more angular and more divisive Nuts & Bolts design.
  • Even Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, and K. Rool are excited upon seeing Banjo and Kazooie.

Nintendo Direct - September 4th, 2019

• First up, when can Banjo and Kazooie fans look forward to receiving their respective Challenger Pack in Smash Bros.? Right after the Direct along with Spiral Mountain and 10 music tracks, seven of which being remixed for Smash Bros., including a Spiral Mountain remix done by Grant Kirkhope himself. It's a good time to be a Banjo and Kazooie fan!
• When an SNK character was indirectly leaked by Nintendo of Europe, fans began speculating furiously about who it might be — something that the short teaser, which has many SNK characters trying (and failing) to grab the invitation, played with in order to keep the suspense up. At the end of the teaser, it's revealed that Terry Bogard is indeed heading to Super Smash Bros. in November!
• Even better: additional stand alone DLC characters after the Fighters Pass have officially been confirmed! Now your most wanted character has another chance to make it into Super Smash Bros Ultimate.
• In the Banjo & Kazooie demonstration after the Direct, longtime fans of the series will be ecstatic to learn that Tooty can be seen in the background of Spiral Mountain, as well as be obtained as a Spirit.
• Even some rejoicing with the Mii Fighter costumes. Mystical Ninja Goemon gets a costume (showing Konami has not forgotten him), Proto Man & Zero return, Team Rocket gets a reference, and ... no way. Sans?! From Undertale?! With a new remix of Megalovania by Toby Fox?! Whaaaaaaaaat?!
• Speaking of Mii Fighters, you can now customize the moveset of Mii Fighters you download in Shared Content as long as they were made post 5.0.0 patch. A minor thing, but still welcome for those tired of rolling the dice with what moves they'll get when downloading other people's custom Mii Fighters.
• And if you're not a fan of costumes, this update also brings back the Home Run Contest — with tweaked graphics and longer launches than ever before! Oh Sandbag, how we missed thee...

Smash Announcement - January 16th, 2020

• After months of speculation and the fifth challenger pack seemingly kept under a tight lock and key by Nintendo, who could possibly cap off Season 1 of Smash Bros. DLC? The sixth overall DLC character is none other than Byleth, and not only that, for those who take umbrage with most all the Fire Emblem cast being primarily swordsman, they come packed with the signature weapons of each of his/her games lords! That means that the series finally utilizes its other main weapons!
• On the Mii Fighter DLC costumes side, following in the footsteps of Sans, we have a Cuphead costume for Mii Gunner and like with Sans, a unique song from their home series for download now!
  • The song in question? Floral Fury!
  • Assassin's Creed fans were surprised when they revealed an Altair costume! The original assassin hasn't been forgotten by Ubisoft!
• Last, but not least, A second Fighter's Pass was announced after being speculated for months by some fans. How many additional fighters are joining Smash Bros in this second wave? Six! Not only does your most desired character have a second shot at joining the ever growing roster, but they also have a one in six shot now!

Nintendo Direct Mini - March 26th, 2020

• The first DLC fighter for the Second Fighters Pass? A fighter from ARMS! Considering all of its most well-known characters are already in the game, the character could very well throw all fan-rules about who gets in out the window!

Mr. Sakurai presents a fighter from ARMS

• After a month of speculation and predictions as to who will get the envelope this time, we finally have our ARMS fighter: the Ramen Bomber, Min Min! 櫻井先生，谢谢您!^Translation Mr. Sakurai, thank you!
• Min Min's confirmation makes her the first spirit to become a playable character. Now everyone who's only in the game as a spirit has a chance to get in. Fans of Shantae, Bandanna Waddle Dee, Geno, Rayman, and others rejoice!
• Even if she became the ARMS fighter, the other fighters still get to take part in her Final Smash, a la Mega Man's attack!
• Once again, new Mii Fighter costumes have been revealed: fellow ARMS fighter Ninjara, the Squid Sisters, the returning Heihachi from Tekken... and just like Sans and Cuphead before him, we've got Vault Boy, the mascot of Fallout himself, as a Mii Gunner skin!
• You can now rematch any Spirit that you've obtained previously! As long as they have a Spirit Battle, of course.
• Min Min comes with essentially the entire ARMS soundtrack!

Mr. Sakurai presents the 7th Fighters Pass character

• Minecraft. IN. SMASH. Not only are we getting Steve (obviously), but also his Distaff Counterpart Alex, a Zombie, and an Enderman as a skin! Who else would be the honor of being the first playable (former) indie character in Smash?^note It's arguable that Minecraft no longer counts as an indie game franchise due to Mojang being purchased by Microsoft in 2014. Despite this, it still started out as one, at the very least, and Steve's inclusion is no less of a momentous achievement.
• The amount of detail gone into making Steve playable is staggering. It's almost like playing Minecraft in Smash.
• We got some Mii costumes too. Along with ones for Creeper, Pig, and the Diamond Armor, we got Gil from The Tower of Druaga, Bomberman, and Travis motherfucking Touchdown from No More Heroes!
  • On top of that, Bomberman's Mii costume is incredibly accurate to his original model to the point that it could almost pass as a playable version of him. Also the Bomberman costume has the ability to change colors to look like the other colored Bombermen!

The 2020 Game Awards

• First, Nintendo confirming there would in fact be a Smash Bros reveal at the 2020 Game Awards and better yet, its the first thing revealed that night!
• Final Fantasy surprisingly gets its second fighter with MOTHERFUCKING SEPHIROTH from Final Fantasy VII! Considering how Square Enix treated Final Fantasy in Smash, this is extremely out of left field! As soon as everybody heard One Winged Angel start playing, they went nuts.
  • It also counts just for finally including Cloud in a fully CG-rendered cutscene. Before Sephiroth, he had strictly been relegated to gameplay footage, including in his own trailer for 3DS/Wii U (all the DLC characters in that version used carefully blocked gameplay capture for their reveal trailers) and not appearing at all in any World of Light FMV footage.
    • So how does Cloud's eternal nemesis make his grand debut in Smash Bros? By one-shotting Galeem effortlessly in one precise strike of the Masamune blade. The same ominous entity who wiped out every video game character to ever exist minus Kirby at the start of World of Light who easily bests a small group of fighters led by Mario goes down like it's nothing at the start of the reveal trailer for Sephiroth before the One Winged Angel himself brings despair to the Smash Bros universe.
  • The sheer number of shot for shot references to Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children is absolutely incredible, even going so far as to use the iconic Sephiroth stabbing Cloud scene, but with MARIO! Fortunately, with Masamune just going through his overall strap but still! And to top it all off, Cloud's AC costume seems to be getting a unique Final Smash where he uses Omnislash Ver. 5 from the film, with his sword actually breaking apart into its individual blades!
  • It’s not just Advent Children that's referenced: pay close attention and you’ll notice subtle nods to the original: Sephiroth's flaming portrait from Nibelheim is recreated and the Planet’s Core stage recreates the Highwind’s final escape from the Lifestream. And Sephiroth’s Air Down+A attack? A downwards stab — in the exact same pose as when he stabbed Aerith. And Zelda is her stand-in!

Mr. Sakurai Presents Sephiroth

• After five years of being the odd one out, the iconic Final Fantasy series finally gets some desperately needed representation in Super Smash Bros with The Northern Cave stage bringing a whopping 9 more songs from Final Fantasy VII, 4 of which are brand new remixes, that are also available to play on the Midgar stage!
• On the Mii Fighter costumes side of things, costumes based on Barret, Tifa, and Aerith are now available to buy!
  • The Chocobo Hat and Geno costumes from For 3DS/Wii U make their return after being absent for so long.
• Sephiroth's Classic Mode fittingly has him fight all of the game's Classic Mode bosses. After all, there can only be one Big Bad in Smash! ^note In order: Rathalos, Galleon, Marx, Dracula, Ganon, Giga Bowser, and then Master Hand and Crazy Hand
• Don't want to wait until Dec. 22, 2020 to play as Sephiroth? If you bought Fighters Pack 2 or Sephiroth's DLC, you can play a one-on-one limited time fight against Sephiroth akin to a boss fight that allows you to obtain him early if you win!
• Even the Final Fantasy spirit board brings the love! You have the entire party of the game (including Yuffie and Vincent), Chocobo & Moogle, Bahamut ZERO, Ifrit, Shiva, and the Turks with Rufus Shinra!
  • Additionally, instead of just his Smash render, Cloud's Fighter Spirit was changed to his original artwork!
• Sakurai revealed Sepheroth's iconic Nibelheim Incident scene (standing in and/or walking through a field of fire) as his win screen, making him the second fighter with a unique Win Screen next to Persona 5's Joker.

Nintendo Direct - February 17th, 2021

• The Direct began on a strong, Smashing note — Pyra and Mythra are coming together as the next confirmed fighter! And Rex isn't left out either, joining in to help pull off both Final Smash attacks (and possibly taunts too)!
• Aside from the two for one deal, they are the second and third characters to go from base game spirits to being realized as a fighter after Min Min, proving once more that even seemingly "deconfirmed" video game characters still have a chance to join the playable roster later on! And when do Rex's two lovely ladies join the battle? March 2021!
• Pyra and Mythra's arrival assures more Xenoblade Chronicles 2 spirits and tracks are coming to the game!

Mr Sakurai Presents Pyra & Mythra

• 16 Xenoblade 2 songs will be added, including a medley and remixes of Tiger Tiger and Counterattack.
• On the Spirit side, Rex can now be promoted to his Master Driver form, and official artwork for Pneuma has been created just for this game.
• For Mii costumes, there's plenty of Monster Hunter love with the Hunter Equipment and the Rathalos Equipment returning from the last game, and the addition of a Felyne hat. There's more Capcom love with a costume for Arthur from Ghosts 'n Goblins. All this in celebration of the new games both franchises got.

Nintendo Direct - June 15th, 2021

• Kazuya Mishima... wins!! Namco gets their next fighter at long last after it seemed the Tekken series would be relegated to a Heihachi Mii Fighter costume, complete with the ability to transform into Devil and the infamous Tekken-brand chain combos!
  • And yes, that means we now have THREE of the major fighting game series represented in Smash.
  • With Ryu, Ken, and Kazuya as playable characters and Heihachi as a Mii costume, you can now either recreate Street Fighter X Tekken or maybe even get a taste of Tekken X Street Fighter. Or with tossing in Chrom and Lucina, give us a Project × Zone 2 reunion.

Mr. Sakurai Presents Kazuya

• Kazuya is a big love letter for Tekken fans, showcasing several moves from the game and changing up how Smash Bros is typically played.
• How many music tracks? Uh, how about 39???
• A subtile one, but Kazuya's Win Screen is the same as most other fighters', but has absolutely no music at all, similar to the Tekken series' "You Win" screen where the music fades.
• For the Mii costumes, we've got Lloyd (returning from the last game), Dragonborn, and two highly-requested characters — Dante and Shantae! The latter even comes with a bonus music track!

The Final “Mr. Sakurai Presents”

• The Mii costumes are revealed first, and two are kind of obvious, mainly wigs of an Octoling and Judd, but the third and final reveal is... DOOM SLAYER!!
• SORA IS FINALLY HERE! Or more accurately, "Sora Is Finally Here!", because the demand and hype for Sora was so massive that Nintendo didn't even bother with a punny tagline referencing his home series for his reveal trailer like most of the franchise's prior newcomers!^note It did have a punny tagline for being the final fighter, hence the "Finally Here". Many Kingdom Hearts fans, Smash players, and/or gamers in general, who always wanted Sora in, finally have their wish granted, and a handful of them in reaction videos literally teared up at the reveal.
  • Unlike the other Square Enix characters, Sora gets to speak English with reused Haley Joel Osment voice clips^note that, and Sora is the only Smash character with a celebrity film actor!
  • Here is a reaction compilation of every youtube reaction from when Sora was announced, screaming and Tears of Joy abound in this vid (warning:video is over 3 hours long) [1]
• Remember the original Smash Ballot they held 6 years prior to determine the final DLC character for Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U? The one where Bayonetta was selected after placing in the Top 5? Sakurai reveal that Sora was the true victor and spent the entire time negotiating terms with both Square Enix and Disney to finally get Sora added to the roster.

Other - Pre-Release

• Music:
  • Vega Stage confirmed that Street Fighter is getting more songs besides Ryu Stage and Ken Stage. And now you can have Guile's Theme go with everything too!
  • We got a remix of Kirby Air Ride's City Trial music. And it's awesome!
  • Any Mega Man fan wanting new remixes for games past 3 can rejoice, as there's now a Mega Man 4 Medley. It's even composed by Jun Senoue!
  • We're getting an F-Zero medley...mixed by none other than Takenobu Mitsuyoshi, AKA the guy who did the music for Daytona USA and Burning Rangers! THAT FITS SO WELL!
  • Bloody Tears is in Smash! And as if that weren't enough, it's mixed together with Monster Dance, another song from Simon's Quest.
  • Not only is King K. Rool coming to Smash, but his boss theme from Donkey Kong Country, Gang-Plank Galleon, has a brand new remix that perfectly fits his long-awaited return! It is composed by ACE, the same people that composed music for Xenoblade Chronicles 1, and even includes a rap!
  • A remix of the menu theme from Fire Emblem Heroes. Not only is it a good remix, it means music from Nintendo's other mobile games can appear!
  • The self-titled theme of Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater is back with a vengeance, now sporting a more energetic flow that people have described as "making a James Bond theme sound more James Bond-like".
• A screenshot of the Rodin Assist Trophy inadvertently revealed the return of the Delfino Plaza stage, pleasing Super Mario Sunshine and Super Smash Bros. fans alike. And previous trailers (The E3 Direct and Bowser Jr's showcase) have already confirmed that it will finally be getting a remix of the "Delfino Plaza" music.
• Official renders of several alternate costumes were discovered online, including a new one for Yoshi based on Yoshi's Crafted World!
• Ash-Greninja is Greninja's new Final Smash?! Awesome!
• Luigi now uses his Poltergust for his throws. And it's the Poltergust from Luigi's Mansion 3!
• This trailer showcases the mural coming to life with awesome animation and even a neat callback to the teaser!
• Relatively minor, but remember how in the Subspace Emissary you were limited to only play as the default color of every character (Outside of the fairly rare occasion that Player 2 would be forced to play as the character's second color if the character in question was alone)? Well, in World of Light? it's possible to play as any and every palette swap in the game!
  • By the way, this also extends to "bonus" characters who can only be accessed as playable characters via palette swaps. So you want to play as Alph or any of the Koopalings once you've rescued Olimar and Bowser Jr.? Go right on ahead! Maybe you want to play as the female versions of Pikachu/Pichu/Robin/Corrin/Villager/Pokemon Trainer or the male versions of Wii Fit Trainer/Inkling? You can do that too!
• If you're worried about it taking a long time to unlock every character, then think again. It's been confirmed that unlocking every character will only take a few hours!
• When the game was leaked back in November of 2018, it was revealed that joining the already revealed bosses would be Ganon and Marx!

Post-release Patches

• With Patch 2.0.0 came the release of Piranha Plant, along with something that's all-too-rare in Nintendo games — detailed patch notes. Here are some of the more notable changes to characters:
  • One of the universal changes among moves is making it easier for characters to grab edges after using recovery moves or aerials. This means that off-stage combat is now a little less risky.
  • Quite a few moves have had their hitstun time shortened, meaning that it's less easy for opponents to spam a move at you in order to lock you in place.
  • Inkling's side-special and King K. Rool's down throw have been been nerfed slightly — if you're at lower percentages, it's easier for you to wiggle out of the burying they cause.
  • The range of Samus's missiles got a buff, differentiating her from Dark Samus.
  • Incineroar gets increased vertical and horizontal distance on his up-special, meaning that pouncing yourself off of the stage is a bit harder.
• Spirit Board can now be played with four players. It's time for those cheap Legend spirits to get a taste of their own medicine ^note Granted, if anyone is KO'd, then you still lose..
• Short Hops are now easier to do — just press both jump buttons at once!
• Feel like the calculation for GSP was broken? It seems the Smash team did, too, as it's now been adjusted.
• Update 3.1.0 is out now, whatev- Holy shit, Ryu and Ken got buffed a lot!
• With Update 4.0.0, we are getting four times the amount of songs from Dragon Quest than we did for Final Fantasy.
• Update 5.0.0 brings back the other fan favorite gameplay mode missing at launch, Home-Run Contest, and it's better than ever. Now when you send Sandbag flying, you can now see him hurtling through the sky. Better still, if you really send him packing, he temporarily flies as high as the moon itself before crashing back down!
• An in-game event provided spirits from Daemon X Machina as a promotion for the game. Quite a large number of fans were understandably ecstatic.
• A later in-game event introduced none other than the Tetriminos as spirits to promote Tetris 99. For fans of the classic puzzle game franchise who believed that seeing any other Tetris content at all beyond the songs was wishful thinking, this was cause for celebration.
• Turns out Terry doesn't just come with content from his own games; Art of Fighting, Samurai Shodown, Metal Slug, Psycho Soldier, Athena, Ikari Warriors, and even Alpha Mission each get numerous references in Spirit, music and even cameo form. And to top it all off, what's the total amount of songs just for the King of Fighters Stadium? 10? 20? Nah; try 50! SNK gave the OK for 50 songs from their vast library of games to be included! That's the most tracks included for a franchise with just one stage!^note Mario had over 90 songs, but even more stages than SNK.
• Resident Evil is the next new franchise to receive spirits! While they may not be playable, for Capcom's best-selling franchise to be acknowledged in any capacity is a treat for its fans, showing that yes, Sakurai did consider the legendary survival horror series.
• Even though Astral Chain is still a new IP that's only months old at the time of the announcement, the game is getting spirit representation to kick-off 2020!
• Following on Astral Chain's heels, as in the very next weekend, came spirits from none other than one of the most respected beat-'em-up franchises, the Kunio-kun series! And considering who owns this series, it can only mean good things to come!
• If you thought a Mii costume was the only representation Cuphead would get, you'd be wrong. Cuphead is now getting spirit representation to boot! And in a neat development, the Cuphead spirits are the first to demonstrate changes depending on previously purchased DLC, as all four of them will reflect the purchase of the aforementioned Mii Gunner costume.
• A Spirit event focusing on black colored characters was announced for late February 2020. It sounds like a normal affair, but then you realize that one of the spirits featured is Lotus from Warframe! Come the actual event, and it turns out she can be enhanced into Natah!
• Wii Fit Trainer won't be the only fitness-based representation anymore. A Spirit event for Ring Fit Adventure is coming in March.
• Animal Crossing fans won't have to wait long for New Horizons representation. Four spirits are coming in April.
• Trials of Mana is receiving a Spirit Event due to the release of its remake! Also indicating that Square Enix is easing up on including their franchises in Smash (if only a little).
• And they would. The next series to be added (besides ARMS) would be the beloved Octopath Traveler.
• August 4th, 2020 give up a surprise 8.1.0 update, giving us a new Small Battlefield stage, an alteration on how to choose a random Battlefield or Final Destination stage... and allows you to play all songs in the game on Battlefield and Final Destination. Every. Single. One.
• There's always room for more Mario, so how about a Spirit Event featuring Paper Mario: The Origami King?
• Wondering if Nintendo forgot about Spirits outside of DLC fighter packs? Fret not for 2021 kicks off in style with new spirits from Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity!
• When it seemed like the entire series would be skipped over entirely, a spirit event for Bravely Default II, yet another Square Enix owned game, arrived just in time for the game's launch.
• On the same day Pyra & Mythra were added, we also got bonus spirits for Sophia from Persona 5 Strikers and Arthur from Ghosts 'n Goblins that are given if you have either game. (Thankfully they were added later for free later on with Kazuya's release.)
• Monster Hunter: Rise blew away fans' expectations the final week of March, and April 2 saw it being celebrated with a spirit event.
• Not wasting any time on adding new Spirits, the Super Mario 3D World re-release which came bundled with an additional new campaign called Bowser's Fury makes its presence known by way of three new spirits!
• Like Sophia and Arthur, Smash Bros. is promoting Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin by adding a spirit for Razewing Ratha if you have the game's save file. (That spirit was later added for everyone once Sora was officially released.)
• To celebrate Mario Golf: Super Rush, three golfing Mario spirits were added (Mario, Luigi, and Peach).
• To celebrate No More Heroes III, two (or rather three) spirits were added. Travis, who can be promoted to his Full-Armor mode, and the game's Big Bad "FU (Jean-Baptiste VI)".
• To celebrate Metroid Dread's release, three more spirits were added after Sora's announcement (Samus herself, E.M.M.I., and the Chozo Soldier, the last of which FINALLY gives the game a (living) Chozo spirit).
• As it turns out, the spirits didn't stop coming after the DLC ended! A new Street Fighter-themed Spirit Board Event was announced for the series' 35th anniversary, which came with a big surprise: Evil Ryu is a spirit that players can now fight! And while he was the last spirit added for nearly 2 years, more Spirit events with new content were announced for 2024 to celebrate the 5th anniversary of Ultimate!

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