By Edward Baillargeon
Everyone loves a great crossover of characters across a variety of franchises appearing in the same frame together in the same universe. The Super Smash Bros. series has always been Nintendo’s big crossover event on each system they have put out since the Nintendo 64 with the ultimate fighting game for their system. These games are usually the one time gamers get to see characters from Super Mario, The Legend of Zelda, Pokemon, Metroid, Fire Emblem, Kirby, Star Fox, Animal Crossing, and many more appear in the same game. Now with the fifth title in the franchise (if you count the Nintendo 3DS and Wii U games as one game), Super Smash Bros. Ultimate for the Nintendo Switch, everyone is here!
To bring back a classic meme from earlier this year, Marvel says, “Avengers: Infinity War is the most ambitious crossover in history!” to which Nintendo replies, “Hold my beer.” In this game, every single fighter that ever was in a Super Smash Bros. game before this one is back on this one with some newcomers, adding up to a grand total of 74 FIGHTERS! Even though that is not what you start with when you launch the game. According the series’ director Masahiro Sakurai, you only start with the eight original fighters from the Nintendo 64 game, those being Mario, Donkey Kong, Link, Samus, Yoshi, Kirby, Fox, and Pikachu, but the process for unlocking the other 66 will be easier than in the previous games. These would include old favorites, some characters from third-party developers, and some newcomers to the fight including Simon from Castlevania, the Inklings from Splatoon, Ridley from Metroid, Ken from Street Fighter, King K. Rool from Donkey Kong, and the ever adorable Isabelle from Animal Crossing, so whoever thinks about punching her is going to pay. But if 74 is not enough for you, then Sakurai has confirmed that there will be several brand new characters launching as DLC (downloadable content) after the game’s launch including the Piranha Plant from the Mario games and Joker from Atlus’ Persona 5, but don’t get your hopes set too high for Waluigi. And it is not just all of the fighters that will be coming back, but also every stage will be coming back as well with new and old stages, items, Pokemon, and Assist Trophies to use in battles for up to eight players, both locally and online.
But the plain Smash battles is not just all of what the game has in store as there is a HUGE amount of content that is available. There are many different ways to play battles like in 3-on-3 or 5-on-5 team battles in Squad Strike or in Smashdown where once a player uses a fighter in one battle, they can’t use that character in the next one forcing them to have a variety and have several mains prepared. The game also features a long-awaited return to a mode that was loved by many fans in a new Adventure/Story mode with World of Light, which is sort of like what the Subspace Emissary was in Super Smash Bros. Brawl for the Wii. In that story, a new villain known as Galeem defeats all of the fighters in a cutscene that will cue a whole bunch of Infinity War references and amazing internet memes as Kirby is the only fighter left standing as Galeem clones all of the captured fighters and having them possessed by Spirits, which are another important aspect of the game, as you travel across a board game like map themed after various Nintendo worlds and fighting in more battles to stop Galeem.
Overall, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is the most anticipated game for the end of the year and is one of the big headlining reasons to go buy a Nintendo Switch this holiday season. If you are a Nintendo fan or just a video game fan in general, this is a must-own! Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is available now for the Nintendo Switch for physical purchase or digital download on the Nintendo eShop.
