These things from Super Smash Bros. series are Hilarious in Hindsight.
- In a TV spot for Melee
, the game is referred to as "one big brawl", and the back of the game's box art has the tagline "The All-Star Brawl is On". Fast forward seven years, and the next installment in the series was titled as Super Smash Bros. Brawl. This led to some fans trying to deduce the next game's title from the back of Brawl's box, which turned out to be for naught since said title was just the name of console it was on. - Pikachu's red color change from Smash 64 resembles its shiny coloration, even though the game predated the introduction of shiny Pokémon in Pokémon Gold and Silver by ten months. Likewise, Mewtwo's green coloration in Super Smash Bros. Melee resembles its modern shiny (albeit with purple eyes instead of green), while shiny Mewtwo was yellow at the time Melee came out.
- In Melee, the end of the Pit trophy's description asks, "Will Pit ever fight again?" Seven years later, and Pit is the second newcomer announced for Brawl and four years after that got another game for the Nintendo 3DS.
- Melee introduced Marth and Roy to the franchise, and with them the moves Dancing Blade and Double-Edge Dance, which are arguablynote Smash's first examples of a Rekka-Ken attack. Fast forward roughly two years, and the Japanese subtitle of the new Fire Emblem game, which stars Roy’s father, is none other than Rekka no Ken.
- Jigglypuff's Final Smash, Puff Up, has it grow giant, which doesn't resemble any ability it has in the Pokémon franchise... Until Pokémon Sword and Shield introduced Dynamax, over 11 years after the release of Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
- In Little Mac's trailer from the fourth game, one of Doc Louis's lines of encouragement was "The punch is mightier than the sword!" Then Lucina and Robin's trailer comes along, and Captain Falcon's Falcon Punch proves mightier than Chrom and Lucina's Falchions.
- Rosalina's trailer started with a bait-and-switch that made it appear like Kirby was being added to Mario Kart 8. Fast forward to late August 2014, where Nintendo announced two DLC packs for Mario Kart 8 which would add Nintendo characters from outside the Mario franchise (though sadly, Kirby was not included in it, but Miis can now wear a Kirby racing suit).
- Incredible timing on Nintendo's part, but the reveal of Captain Falcon's return came two days before the reveal of another "Captain Falcon" (namely, Marvel Comics was putting Sam Wilson, The Falcon, into the role of Captain America).
- In Melee, one of the Event Matches involved every Poké Ball releasing a Legendary Pokémon (Event 37: Legendary Pokémon). Come 3DS/Wii U, these Poké Balls are put in regular play with the introduction of Master Balls.
- In addition, the only non-legendary Pokemon to be included in the balls in Melee’s event is Wobbufett. Competitive Pokemon players might get a chuckle out of this, as Wobbufett would go on to become the first non-legendary Pokemon to be banned to the Ubers tier in Ruby and Sapphire.
- Another Event Match in Melee (Event 3: Bomb-Fest) has Link and Samus favouring their down specials and Electrode being the only Pokémon that emerges from Poké Balls, not unlike the conditions in Ultimate's Spirit Battles.
- In Melee, if you finish the first level of Adventure Mode with a 2 as your seconds digit, you get a scene at the start of the next level where Mario attempts to jump into battle, only to have Luigi stomp on Mario's head and subsequently send the red plumber falling down. Later Smash games actually make this into a mechanic that anyone can use.
- In Brawl, one of Sonic's win quotes is, "Hey, we should do this again sometime!" Come October 2014, he's back and the only returning third-party character (Snake wouldn't make a return until Ultimate, and Pac-Man and Mega Man are newcomers).
- Ganondorf's Forward Tilt became known by fans as the "Sparta Kick" due to it resembling the kick done by Leonidas in 300 when he punts a Persian messenger into a well. Come Tears of the Kingdom, Ganondorf's German voice would be provided by Tilo Schmitz, who also voiced none other than Leonidas in 300.
- The fourth event match in Brawl, titled "Cleaning House in Skyworld", involves Pit destroying the terrain to "remodel Skyworld". Come 2012, and the remodels are finished with Kid Icarus: Uprising.
- The use of Ninten's (actually, Queen Mary's) Magicant over Ness's as a stage becomes this when Itoi himself announced that the original Mother was finally being released in the west as EarthBound Beginnings.
- Both times Little Mac has been revealed for a Smash Bros game, Samus is used to demonstrate his lack of height. When Brawl came out, Little Mac was 4'8" and Samus was 6'1", and their proportions in the game reflect that. By 3DS/Wii U, however, both characters oddly had their canonical heights changed — Punch-Out Wii bumped Mac all the way up to 5'7", and Metroid: Other M reduced Samus to 5'1". That's right, Little Mac is now taller than Samus. 3DS/Wii U keeps their classic proportions, however.
- Bowser was very close to being in the first game, still being referred to as a playable character as late as September 1998. However, he was cut (until Melee) due to the lack of development time. Come 3DS/Wii U, Bowser Jr. and the Koopalings just barely averted the exact same fate; Sakurai has openly stated that they were very lucky to make it in.
- The Palutena's Guidance conversation for Mii Swordfighter has Viridi comment on how the fighter "is awfully funny looking." Now, guess who eventually gets a Swordfighter costume based on her as DLC?
- The Subspace Emissary’s plot was written by Kazushige Nojima, who also wrote scenarios for Final Fantasy VII. Now, we have the main character from that very same game as of Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U.
- One of the Male Robin's alternate colors resembles a White Mage. Cloud must've given him some fashion tips.
- The Wii U All-Star congratulations screen◊ for Zero Suit Samus is posed like a reference to Bayonetta. Then the DLC rolls around...
- The DLC Stage for Super Mario Maker. While it made more sense for it to be available on the Wii U, it seemed a bit odd to see the stage on a 3DS. Cue the announcement of a 3DS port of the game.
- In 3DS/Wii U, one of the tips for Toon Link pertaining to his down aerial states that "If you try to dunk someone with it, you're gonna have a bad time." It was likely meant as a reference to South Park, but after mid-2015, the "dunk" and "bad time" bits may remind players of something else entirely. This reached its logical conclusion in Ultimate where Sans got an official Mii Costume.
- In Brawl, there's a trophy of Bowser depicting him in his wedding tuxedo from Super Paper Mario, with the description stating that "this might just be the last time we ever see Bowser in a tuxedo". Turns out it wasn't.
- The final co-op event in Super Smash Bros for Wii U pits you and your partner against every single fighter in the game. This event is known as "The Ultimate Battle". Guess what the next game is called and who it includes?
- The official site for 3DS/Wii U (Wii U) has the section for modes, which is titled "THE ULTIMATE SMASH GAME HAS ARRIVED". Will the next game be the ultimate Smash game?
- Remember when Viridi mocked Chrom in 3DS/Wii U, saying he'll never be in because he'd just be an Ike clone? Come Ultimate, and she was only half-right; he's a Roy clone.
- Similarly, Palutena said that Chrom doesn't have an Aether recovery move when talking about how he would be an Ike clone. Turns out in Ultimate, he does.note
- Also of note: Roy's first appearance in Smash had him be a clone of Marth. Three games later, Chrom (Marth's descendant) would serve as his own clone, reversing their situation in the Melee years.
- Remember in Robin's trailer when Chrom said "I suppose I'll get my chance another day"? Come Ultimate, he finally got his chance. Made doubly hilarious when you remember the same trailer claimed his chance would be "today" as part of Robin's Final Smash: "Anything can change" indeed.
- The Wii Shop Channel's description for the first game begins, "Choose from an all-star cast of Nintendo characters in a frantic melee to prove who will be the ultimate brawler." Melee and Brawl had already debuted by the time SSB appeared on the Wii Shop Channel, but it would take two more generations before a sequel bore the word "Ultimate" in its name.
- In Melee, Peach's running animation consists of her running with her arms spread out. Then Sonic, who's known for doing this himself, joined one game later.
- When Mega Man debuted in 3DS/Wii U, his universe was represented with a nondescript gear icon. Four years later, gears would be featured as a major motif in Mega Man 11.
- During the overview trailer for Ultimate, the Announcer gleefully totals up to 74 fighters ingame...before talking to someone offscreen asking if he gets paid overtime. While this is likely a reference to the fact that Xander Mobus has to say the names of 11 newcomers, 6 returning veterans, 6 DLC fighters and all three Mii Fighter options, this can now be interpreted after the Game Awards 2018 that he also had to voice Joker as well.
- Starting from Melee, Kirby can copy Dr. Mario. One of the copy abilities introduced in Kirby: Planet Robobot is the Doctor ability.
- In Melee, Luigi's up tilt/strong attack is changed to a cat-like swipe, which he keeps for his later Smash appearances afterwards. Fast forward to 2013, when Super Mario 3D World introduces a cat suit power-up, which he can also wear.
- One of the first pieces of DLC for 3DS/Wii U gave the Mii Brawler a cat costume to wear, in reference to Cat Mario. Flash forward a couple years, and that feels almost prophetic, because Miitopia put its own spin on the standard RPG Monk by turning it into the Cat class and making every Mii who fights barehanded run around in cat suits.
- Joker's 6th outfit in Ultimate reskins him to look like Goro Akechi in his Crow outfit. Then in Akechi's trailer for the Updated Re Release Persona 5 Royal, Joker and Akechi do the opposite, with the former giving the latter his exact same haircut and look.
- Cloud's All-Star mode congratulations screen◊ in Wii U features a recreation of Sephiroth behind a wall of flames (a common theme for him after the Nibelheim incident), except Sephiroth is replaced by Palutena. With the release of Ultimate, cue Sephiroth being confirmed as DLC as part of Fighters Pass 2!
- During Hero's livestream, Sakurai not-too-subtly alluded to the notoriously poor selection of songs Final Fantasy VII came with in the base game, by noting how unfortunate it would be if Dragon Quest only came with two songs. Come Sephiroth's addition via Fighters Pass 2, it got nine additional songs, making it a total of eleven songs over Dragon Quest's eight. Evidently, Square Enix got the message.
- Sothis' "too many swordsmen, are there?" line, seemingly addressing the fan perception of the roster having too many swordfighters, became funnier after the back-to-back additions of Steve/Alex, who can upgrade their swords along with the rest of their arsenal, and Sephiroth, whom had the memetic reputation from his home game of wielding too much sword.
- Pyra/Mythra joins Pokémon Trainer as the second transforming character in the Ultimate roster. Both composite fighters can roughly be linked through a character from Pyra/Mythra's game of origin - Poppi, a Robot Girl who goes through a three-stage "evolution" similar to a Pokémon and can switch freely between them, and whose final form is directly modeled after Mythra in-universe.
- Lucina was criticized by some fans for going through a perceived Adaptation Personality Change to make her more aggressive and cocky. Mythra, who is archetypically and visually similar to her, is depicted with the same sort of personality but it's actually faithful to her game of origin.
- The main reason A Link to the Past's Zelda (with a dress more based on A Link Between Worlds) was chosen over Breath of the Wild's Zelda was because the latter Zelda was more into research than magic or fighting, and Sakurai didn't think her character was suited for a playable role as a result. Two years later, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity comes out, makes BoTW Zelda playable, and gives her a Sheikah Slate to fight with and another moveset with her magic unlocked, so in the end she could have been given a unique moveset or played just like her ancestors.
- Fans of the No More Heroes franchise campaigned for Travis Touchdown to be playable in Ultimate, but were disappointed when he only got in as a Mii Swordfighter costume (and later, a Spirit). Cue No More Heroes III and the True Final Boss is fought in what is essentially a Smash battle.
- Sakurai has addressed in interviews about how Smash is purely for gaming characters and nothing else, addressing the numerous requests for non-gaming characters like Goku or SpongeBob to be added in. Come 2021 and Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl, a game made by Ludositynote that pretty much plays exactly like Smash.
- In a moment that doubles as heartwarming during the Sakurai Presents for Banjo & Kazooie, Sakurai obviously felt awkward talking about the duo tying into Rare Replay, the latest game release that kept them relevant on a competing game console, despite Nintendo's increasing friendship with Microsoft. It actually paid off once their debut game was confirmed to be in the Nintendo 64 lineup of Nintendo Switch Online's Expansion Pack.
- In Brinstar Depths, a stage introduced in Melee, Kraid is seen standing in a pool of lava, with the stage itself having high-tech features in both the main platform and the background, and he can emerge from or go back into the lava. Come Metroid Dread, Kraid is fought in a high-tech room where his legs are in lava. He even sinks into lava once he's defeated, except that unlike in Smash he does not do it intentionally.
- This tweet claimed that out of a Dragon Quest protagonist, Banjo & Kazooie, Sora, and Steve, one of them will inevitably become a DLC fighter. As of October 2021, all of them were inevitable.
- When Terry was first revealed, some people referred to him as Hat Ken, claiming that he was just a copy or off-shoot of Ken, which became a Berserk Button to his fans who would then counter this claim that Terry is completely different and is nothing like Ken. Then Terry's full character select render came out (being more noticeable with his amiibo) and his pose is almost a complete copy of Ken's stance, just mirrored.
- Brawl gives us a WarioWare stage, where characters interact with the microgames. WarioWare: Get It Together!, debuting 13 years later, revolves around playing microgames by taking control of a character.
- In Kingdom Hearts coded, Sora asks the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland where he "can find more Inklings." Upon Sora's addition to the roster of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, he can now find Inklings from Splatoon, albeit not the same Inklings as Sora had in mind.
- The innumerable "Better Nerf Greninja" memes back in the 3DS and Wii U era is funny to think about following the ninth generation in Pokemon, Greninja faced severe nerfs to both of its signature abilities upon its release.Specifically...
- One Zelda-themed webcomic by Life in Aggro correctly guessed the design used for Zelda's appearance in Ultimate.
