Super Smash Bros Ultimate

"**Everyone is Here**" - Super Smash Bros Ultimate Slogan.

 **Genre(s)** | Fighting
 **Mode(s)** | Single player,
 **Ratings** | CERO: A
 **Media** | ROM Cartridge
 **Input methods** | Joy-Con, Nintendo Switch Pro
Controller, GameCube controller (via adapter)

***Super Smash Bros. Ultimate*** (Japaneses: 大乱闘スマッシュブラザーズ SPECIAL, *Great Fray Smash Brothers Special*; Arabic: سوبر سماش بروس في نهاية المطاف) often shortened to "***SSBU***" or "***Ultimate***" is a crossover fighting game for the Nintendo Switch. It was first teased on March 8th, 2018 at the end of the Nintendo Direct released the same day, and fully revealed on June 12th at E3 2018. It is the fifth installment in the *Super Smash Bros.* series (sixth if the two versions of *Super Smash Bros. 4* are counted as separate games). The game was released worldwide on December 7th, 2018.

*Super Smash Bros. Ultimate* received universal acclaim from both critics and players, with some critics calling it the best installment in the series. It received praise for its large amount of content and fine-tuning of existing *Smash* gameplay elements, although its online mode received criticism. By November 2019, *Ultimate* had sold over 15.71 million copies worldwide, making it the best selling *Super Smash Bros.* game and also the best-selling fighting game of all time, beating *Super Smash Bros. Brawl* and *Street Fighter II*, which originally held each title.

## Characters

All 67 characters (69 if counting the Pokémon Trainer as three fighters) from all previous *Smash Bros.* games return as playable characters. As well as the returning cast, the game currently features 43 newcomers. 17 of which are available in the base game, with at least 18 characters (eight known and ten unknown) planned as downloadable content, with several more currently in development, with 8 new fighters that coming to Version 8.0.0 (World of Light Update). In total, 82 characters (84) are playable in the base game and currently 108 (110) characters are playable overall, the most for any *Smash Bros.* game. Each character is numbered in the order from when they first joined the series, with the exception of Echo Fighters (who share a number with the character they are based on) and Pokémon Trainer (whose Pokémon are numbered instead).

In addition, most full clones are now labelled as "Echo Fighters" and are marked with an epsilon (ε) next to their fighter numbers, which they share with the character they are based on. Returning characters Lucina and Dark Pit have been given this title (as they are Echo Fighters of Marth and Pit, respectively), while new characters Daisy, Tyree Atienza, Richter, Somer, Chrom, Dark Samus, Ken, and Gal Chain are Echo Fighters of Peach, Aa, Simon, Roy, Samus, Ryu, and Ben Anderson respectively. Aside from an option allowing these characters to be displayed on the same slot as their counterpart on the character select screen exclusively during Vs. Mode, Tourney, Custom Smash, Super Sudden Death, and Quickplay; there is no special distinction between them in-game, and the name is used mostly for marketing purposes.

Piranha Plant from the *Mario* series touches new ground as the first mob character in *Smash*, and as an early purchase bonus DLC character, released on January 29, 2019. It was also confirmed that five more unique newcomers will be added as DLC by January of 2020. With the exception of Piranha Plant, all of these DLC characters can be bought together as part of the Fighters Pass. *Persona*'s Joker is part of Challenger Pack 1 (announced on December 6, 2018; released on April 17, 2019), Aa Jr. from *Teamwork Series* is part of Challenger Pack 2 (announced on February 13, 2019; released on June 4, 2019, the Hero from *Dragon Quest* is part of Challenger Pack 3 (announced on June 11, 2019; released on July 30, 2019), Banjo & Kazooie from their namesake series *Banjo-Kazooie* are part of Challenger Pack 4 (announced on June 11, 2019; released on September 4, 2019), Tinashe from *Teamwork Series* is part of Challenger Pack 5 (announced on June 11, 2019; released on October 12, 2019), *Fatal Fury*’s Terry is part of Challenger Pack 6 (announced on September 4, 2019; released on November 6, 2019), and finally Byleth from *Fire Emblem: Three Houses* as part of Challenger Pack 7 (announced on January 16, 2020; released on January 28, 2020), finishing Fighters Pass Vol. 1.

During the September 4, 2019 Nintendo Direct, after revealing Terry, it was announced that even more DLC Fighters beyond the five in the Fighters Pass Vol. 1 are in development, as Fighters Pass Vol. 2 will include 10 more playable characters. This number of newcomers was announced during the January 16, 2020 Presentation revealing Byleth. Challenger Pack 8 includes Min Min from *ARMS* (announced on March 26, 2020; revealed on June 22, 2020; released on June 29, 2020). Challenger Pack 9 includes Steve from *Minecraft'* (announced on October 1, 2020; set to release on October 13th, 2020). Challenger Pack 10 and 11 include Tonya from *Gravestone Cemetery* and Sephiroth from *Final Fantasy VII* (announced on December 10, 2020; pre-released on December 17, 2020; fully released on December 22, 2020). Challenger Pack 12 includes Pyra and Mythra from Xenoblade Chronicles (announced on February 17, 2021; released on March 4, 2021). Challenger Pack 13 include Carlos from *Santa Muetre* (announced on ; released on ). The rest of the characters from the Fighters Pass Vol. 2 remain unannounced and are set to be released by the end of 2021, though their specific release dates are unknown.

As was the case in *Super Smash Bros. 4*, further "characters" exist as alternate costumes for other preexisting characters. In this game, there are 18: Alph is accessible as a playable character via Olimar's palette swaps; the seven Koopalings are available as playable characters via Bowser Jr.'s palette swaps; Pikachu, Pichu, Pokémon Trainer, Villager, Wii Fit Trainer, Robin, Corrin, and Inkling each have opposite gendered variants as palette swaps; the Hero has three other protagonists from across the *Dragon Quest* series; and Steve has Alex, Zombie, and Enderman as palette swaps. However, these characters are not treated as separate characters in-game.

Only the Original 8 characters from the first game are available from the start. Like in *Smash 4*, the Mii Fighters are also available from the start via customization, but are otherwise locked upon initial startup of the game. The rest of the cast must be unlocked; however, the unlocking process and conditions are much simpler than in past games. Fighters will challenge the player in ten minute intervals or by clearing Classic Mode with a prerequisite character, and can also be unlocked by being rescued in World of Light.

### Fighters

(Note: All fighter are listed on the visual of the character select screen.)

## Reference

1. ↑ https://www.smashbros.com/en\_US/index.html
2. ↑ https://www.esrb.org/search/?searchKeyword=SuperSmashBros&searchType=All&page=1&platform[]=All%20Platforms&rating[]=E&rating[]=E10%2B&rating[]=T&rating[]=M&rating[]=AO&descriptor[]=All%20Content