Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is a 2018 crossover fighting game developed by Bandai Namco Studios and Sora Ltd., and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch. It is the fifth installment in the Super Smash Bros. series, succeeding Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U. The game follows the series' traditional style of gameplay: controlling one of various characters, players must use differing attacks to weaken their opponents and knock them out of an arena. It features a wide variety of game modes, including a campaign for single-player and multiplayer versus modes. Ultimate includes every playable character from previous Super Smash Bros. games—ranging from Nintendo's mascots to characters from third-party franchises—and several newcomers, having a total of over 70.

By December 2015, planning for a new Super Smash Bros. game had begun, with full development starting after the completion of 3DS/Wii U's downloadable content (DLC). Series creator and director Masahiro Sakurai returned along with Bandai Namco Studios and Sora, the studios that developed 3DS/Wii U. The return of the studios sped up the preparation process. Sakurai's goal with Ultimate was to include every character from previous games despite the various development and licensing problems this would cause. Various well-known video game music composers contributed to the soundtrack, with Hideki Sakamoto writing the main theme, "Lifelight". The game has been supported post-release with DLC that adds new characters, stages, and music.

Nintendo teased Ultimate in March 2018 and revealed it at E3 2018 the following June. It was released worldwide on December 7, 2018. The game received universal acclaim, with some critics calling it the best of the series. They praised its amount of content and fine-tuning of existing Smash gameplay elements, although its online mode received some criticism. By March 2019, the game had sold over 13.81 million copies worldwide, making it the fastest-selling Switch game and one of the bestselling fighting games of all time.

## Gameplay

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is a fighting game for up to eight players in which characters from Nintendo games and from other third-party franchises must try to knock each other out of an arena. Each player has a percentage meter which raises when they take damage, making them easier to launch in the air and out of the arena. Standard battles use one of three victory conditions: Timed, where players aim to win the most points by defeating opponents within a time limit, Stock, where players have a set number of lives and must aim to be the last player standing, and Stamina, where players must simply reduce their opponent's health down to zero to defeat them. Players can adjust the rules to their liking and save them as presets for future matches.

Players can use various items to attack enemies or grant them power-ups, along with Poké Balls and Assist Trophies which respectively summon Pokémon and other non-playable characters to assist them in battle. In Timed matches, certain Assist Trophies can be attacked and defeated to earn points.[4][5][6] Each character also possesses a powerful Final Smash attack, which can be performed either by obtaining a Smash Ball item or by filling up a special meter, both of which can be toggled on and off. The game features 103 different stages, which can each be played in alternative Battlefield and Omega forms or can be toggled to remove stage hazards. A new feature called Stage Morph allows players to select two stages that the game alternates between at certain intervals during a match. Other tweaks include new icons and gauges for character-specific abilities, such as Cloud's Limit gauge.

In addition to returning modes such as Classic and Special Smash, new modes added to the game include Smashdown, where each character can only be played once, Squad Strike, where players battle in teams of multiple characters, and Tournament, which allows up to 32 players to battle in tournament brackets. Another set of modes revolves around a new mechanic known as spirits, which replaces the collectible trophies from previous games. Each of these spirits, based on a crossover character, can be used to power up a fighter with unique abilities, which can be used to fight against human or computer opponents and earn new spirits. Players gain spirits through pre-made challenges known as "Spirit Battles" that capture the theme of the character depicted by the spirit, embodied by one or more of the game's fighter characters and other specific level effects; for example, the spirit battle of Rayquaza, a flying dragon Pokémon, requires the player to defeat a large version of Ridley with added wind effects. A separate Spirit Board mode presents a rotating set of spirit battles for players to gain spirits from. Spirits have a growth and evolution system similar to Pokémon games, leveling the Spirits to gain more powerful effects, or means of merging core abilities into a new Spirit.

The spirit mechanic is prominent in the game's single-player adventure mode, World of Light. The mode's narrative begins with an evil entity, Galeem, destroying the Smash Bros. world, vaporizing nearly all of the fighter characters and placing them under his imprisonment; only Kirby, due to his Warp Star, evades this attack.[15] The player must explore the ruined world to rescue captured fighters and spirits by completing marked challenges. The player can use regained allies and spirits to overcome certain challenges on the map and eventually defeat Galeem. However, after Galeem is defeated, a new enemy, Dharkon takes over and, after being defeated, wages war against Galeem, and the player must destroy both of them. If just Galeem is defeated, Dharkon will engulf the world in darkness, but if just Dharkon is defeated, then Galeem will cover the universe with light. However, there is a path that allows the player to defeat both of them at once. When done so, the spirits are freed from the deities' control and return to the real world.

The game supports local multiplayer, local wireless with other systems, and online play via Wi-Fi or LAN connections. By defeating players online, players can earn tags which can be traded for in-game currency to buy new spirits, music, and Mii Fighter costumes. The game is compatible with Joy-Con controllers, the Nintendo Switch Pro Controller, and GameCube controllers via use of a USB adaptor. Like in the previous entry, amiibo figurines can be used to create AI-controlled Figure Players that can be trained to become stronger. Some time after the game's release, a service for the Nintendo Switch Online mobile app, known as "Smash World," will be launched, allowing players to check their game statistics in addition to sharing images and videos captured from the game to social media. Ultimate features over 800 music tracks, which can be played through the Switch's handheld mode while in Standby. Version 3.0 of the game, released in April 2019, adds a Stage Builder allowing players to create their own custom stages, and which they can share or download through the Switch Online service. Version 3.0 also includes a replay editor that allows players to edit stored replays and share those with others or download to other devices. These will be also available within the Smash World app. An update in May 2019 provided limited support for the virtual reality VR Kit of Nintendo Labo, allowing a player to view computer-only matches in VR or playing in a 1-on-1 mode against the computer.