“Super Smash Bros. Ultimate” is set to be released on Dec. 7, 2018 for the Nintendo Switch. This is the fifth installment in the Super Smash Bros. series following “Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo DS and Wii U” in 2014.
Masahiro Sakurai returns as the director of the game once more with Nintendo as the publisher. Bandai Namco Studios Sora Ltd. also makes a comeback as the developer.
The game will introduce the largest cast of fighters in all of the series, rounding off the list currently at over 70 confirmed combatants on the roster. In confirmed characters alone, Ultimate boasts a solid 15 more members than its predecessor.
To add, the game engine is entirely built from scratch as opposed to simply being an updated version from the previous installment. The localization manager Nate Bohldorff has stated that the lighting effects and texture rendering have improved upon the graphics displayed in the Wii U version of the game.
“Super Smash Bros. Ultimate” was teased during the Nintendo Direct on March 3, 2018 under a working title and the only real information being it would be released within the year.
Finally, the game received its formal announcement at E3’s Nintendo Direct and unveiled the fact that every previous character in the series would return even if they were removed in more recent additions.
Regarding characters, Ridley of the “Metroid” series is to become a playable character after some time being a boss or a general stage hazard within the Smash Bros. series proper.
However, despite Sakurai stating in multiple interviews that it would do the character a disservice to reduce his size, mobility and wingspan to be a fair fighter, he continued to be an extremely requested addition. As of “Super Smash Bros. Ultimate,” he has been added to the roster.
At this time, there is no word if a story mode like Subspace Emissary will be added as there was no such mode in the Wii U or Nintendo 3DS versions.
The “Super Smash Bros.” series had its beginnings back in 1999 with the original game released on the Nintendo 64 on Jan. 21 in Japan. It was later brought to North America on April 26 of the same year.
Unlike the current monster sized roster, the original only had 12 while four of those were unlockable characters. As such, all of these characters (Mario, Donkey Kong, Link, Samus, Yoshi, Kirby, Fox, Pikachu, Luigi, Captain Falcon, Ness and Jigglypuff) are the characters with the lengthiest run in the franchise and kicked off the start of a running series.
In 2001, the world saw the release of “Super Smash Bros. Melee” for the Nintendo GameCube. With a bigger budget and more support than the original, the cast ballooned to 26 characters, more than doubling the previous roster. Along with this, more single player and multiplayer modes were added.
“Super Smash Bros. Brawl” brought the franchise to the newest console of the time, the Wii. Here is where the first (and only) full story mode existed, which brought all the characters together in a giant crossover of universes with a reason behind it.
According to Sakurai, he wishes to adjust character abilities in order to speed up the game. He knows this will be a core title for Nintendo and, with as large of a fanbase as it has, he does not want to disappoint them.
Erika Brandenburg
Arts & Entertainment Editor