Super Smash Bros. Ultimate [Switch]

[LoweGear]

One of the more notable additions to Smash revealed in the Direct: Shovel Knight as an assist trophy. Yes, he's not a playable character, but the fact that a character from a Kickstarter game made by an indie American game company made it into a Smash game is actually quite incredible.

[marvelB]

A bit late with this, but HELL YES for K. Rool's inclusion! I've wanted him added to the Smash series since Brawl, but.... well, better late than never, I guess! And while it's cool that we've got some Belmonts added to the mix, I think I'm more interested in what Castlevania song remixes we'll get for the game than the characters themselves, heh. 'Sides, if we're talking about playable Konami characters, I'd rather have Sparkster or Goemon instead, but I know their chances of making it are close to nil, so.... eh.


And yeah, I found Shovel Knight as an assist trophy to be a pleasant surprise, myself. If this were a few years back, I'd say that Beck from Mighty No. 9 would have been a shoe-in as well, but now, I'm not so sure about that.....

[Random14]

Yeah, let's not bring up Mighty No. 9 (boy did that turn out badly). Although maybe there's a chance of Proto Man or Bass as an Echo fighter for Mega Man. It would probably be too much to hope for Mega Man X (outside of an assist trophy or some references). Although all the (mainline) X games are available on Nintendo for the first time ever.

I'm still shocked that they actually brought back K. Rool, since the more recent DKC games had just had other (less memorable) bad guys. Its probably not a rights thing, but I was never too sure, given Rare made the original DKC games. Not to mention that fun trailer- you thought it was just Dedede trolling, then turns out he really is back! Even better that K. Rool's moves reference his boss fights from DKC 1, 2, and 3 (the crown, the pirate and then the mad scientist). And yay, Luigi's not dead, heh.

[Klashikari]

Speaking of the troll and luigi, I must say those trailers and reveal compositions are really good. And i'm not really talking about just the CG movies, but also all the little fun touch (like Simon using a holy water vial to make a camp fire for Link).

It was always a staple in smash reveals, but it is even more obvious in this direct considering the flow of it and how in-game footage and CG movies were well used one after another.

It is kind of odd for a Japanese dev to "brag" about the content of their game, but Sakurai really did a sensible choice, considering the meaty content of the game can only sink in once you bring out the hard facts.

I admit I was kind of disappointed that Zero is an assist trophy, but I must say that the game is worth way more than the usual AAA game price tag, so I would have been fine with the roster as it is now. But since we are still getting a few more normal and echo fighters, this is going to be just nice bonus.

I just wish we also get X as megaman echo fighter. his kit could be just reskinned with other stuff from the X series (the blade would be the Z saber, the leaf shield would be the rolling shield from X1, etc).
At least, it is obvious Sakurai realized that echo fighters are a good way to give a shoot outs to some characters, without being too much of a burden for the dev team.

[Applehell]

My reaction reaction to the Belmonts

Simon

Eh, not bad.

Richter

FFF---!!!

Completely and utterly blindsided here that one here...

I guess we can't make jokes about Chrom not getting into Smash anymore.

On another note, I really hope Metered FS and Squad Strike become a thing in Competitive Smash. Sakurai seriously throwing that group a bone by literally getting traditional modern fighting mechanics it would be ridiculous not to at least experiment and attempt incorporate theme into the scene. Stage Morph as looks really cool.

Originally Posted by serenade_beta

Pretty meh this time. Awakening trash, Dark Samus, King K., Castlevania. Never really played Castlevania or Metroid, and I think I might have played one of the Donkey Kong games that had King K. but it isn't really in my memory.
Good to see Sakurai though.

I've only played Super Castlevania and Symphony of Night, but even if I haven't I still pretty excited here with good Simon and Richter looked. Their entire kit synergyize so well:

YouTube

https://youtu.be/RY7WL-n1atg

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YouTube

https://youtu.be/ELrWbGScgwU

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Originally Posted by Klashikari

I admit I was kind of disappointed that Zero is an assist trophy, but I must say that the game is worth way more than the usual AAA game price tag, so I would have been fine with the roster as it is now. But since we are still getting a few more normal and echo fighters, this is going to be just nice bonus.

I just wish we also get X as megaman echo fighter. his kit could be just reskinned with other stuff from the X series (the blade would be the Z saber, the leaf shield would be the rolling shield from X1, etc).
At least, it is obvious Sakurai realized that echo fighters are a good way to give a shoot outs to some characters, without being too much of a burden for the dev team.

This basically how I feel, but replace Zero with Alucard. Speaking of Echo Fighters, Chrom is so far the least clone like one released. He's more like Dark Pit than Lucina.

[serenade_beta]

Originally Posted by Applehell

On another note, I really hope Metered FS and Squad Strike become a thing in Competitive Smash. Sakurai seriously throwing that group a bone by literally getting traditional modern fighting mechanics it would be ridiculous not to at least experiment and attempt incorporate theme into the scene. Stage Morph as looks really cool.

Oh we know how it will be. Final Destination, No Item, Turn Off Every Gimmick, etc, etc

[Tokkan]

Originally Posted by serenade_beta

Oh we know how it will be. Final Destination, No Item, Turn Off Every Gimmick, etc, etc

"Final Destination" is a meme, the competitive Smash scene actually prefers Battlefield (and other similar stages).

[Klashikari]

Actually, a lot of pro like ESAM or hungry fox are interested by the prospect of using FS meter for actual competitive matches (at the very least, side events on the same caliber as doubles), depending how the dev team tweaks the FS as a whole. For instance, Mario and Samus' look fine, but Marth seems to still one shot under low %.

Also, a lot more stages are viable for competitive matches with the stage hazard turned off. I wouldn't be surprised if the legal list goes around 10-15 as result.

[Rising Dragon]

Not to mention each stage now has a Battlefield and Final Destination form.

[serenade_beta]

Originally Posted by Tokkan

"Final Destination" is a meme, the competitive Smash scene actually prefers Battlefield (and other similar stages).

I know
I prefer Battlefield myself.
We'll see, since they never banned Bayonetta or anything, so I honestly can't tell where their "must ban" limiter stands.

[Applehell]

Originally Posted by serenade_beta

Oh we know how it will be. Final Destination, No Item, Turn Off Every Gimmick, etc, etc

Yeah the community can be somewhat insular as Smash 4 showed. In fairness FS until now had legit reasons to be banned with the two biggest reasons being how their were obtained and their kill power. Both which are getting a addressed.

Originally Posted by Klashikari

Actually, a lot of pro like ESAM or hungry fox are interested by the prospect of using FS meter for actual competitive matches (at the very least, side events on the same caliber as doubles), depending how the dev team tweaks the FS as a whole. For instance, Mario and Samus' look fine, but Marth seems to still one shot under low %.

Good to hear, but I've seen a lot of kneejerking on twitter mainly because of Marth's FS killing at 20%. I can understand the worry but a lot of doom and gloom is be really excessive and opponents to it seem to conveniently forget that game is still development and adjustments is going as we speak. There is some people dislike the idea of it on principal and just want SSBU to be Melee/Smash 4 2.0. At least to the point Marth's FS is being used more an of excuse to ban the mechanic without testing.

My fears that community will not give it a fair shake even if does proves more balanced then expected, mainly because of loudest voices with most influence are already predisposed to hate it and will nitpick any possible flaw to death. This one of the things Brawl players have wanted for a long time and I don't want being killed without serious thought and consideration. At least ZeRo himself is also stressing the TO experiment with everything and let things play out naturally than start sorting out what works.

Also, a lot more stages are viable for competitive matches with the stage hazard turned off. I wouldn't be surprised if the legal list goes around 10-15 as result.

I think a big problem might run into for while though is that fact some stages like Smashville, Town & City, FD, BF etc don't need their hazards turned

[Shadow5YA]

Originally Posted by Applehell

This basically how I feel, but replace Zero with Alucard.

Keep in mind Sakurai is also trying to be reasonable with the workload.

The reason why Richter is playable instead of Alucard is because it minimizes the amount of animations and frame data they have to create from scratch. Richter being a clone of Simon means most of the animations can be reused, while Alucard being an assist trophy means he has less moves and animations than a full fighter.

With Ultimate emphasizing quantity, Sakurai is going to look for as many clones to create as possible because it is still a valuable fanservice in a crossover game, while minimizing the amount the work his team has to do on a tight schedule with only a few months left.

That doesn't mean there won't be any more brand new additions, but they will be far less compared to how many echo fighters there will be.

Originally Posted by Applehell

Chrom is so far the least clone like one released.

Only because Chrom isn't Marth's Echo fighter- he is Roy's. His moveset is identical to Roy other than a different upB.

[Klashikari]

So the final smash direct has ended. I'm not sure why they decide to keep Ken and Gaogaen/Incineroar for the last "base roster fighters" considering they don't exactly feel special compared to Simon or Ridley. Objectively, the base roster is so incredibly big that it shouldn't matter, but considering the marketing approach, the planning looks a bit weird.

As for Pirhana plant as the "mewtwo" bonus, I guess it is kind of fun, but I must say no one really expected or even hoped for it to show up as a character instead of an "assist trophy". Meanwhile, I guess I can't help but be disappointed by Robin/Isaac from GS back as a AT, and Rex pretty much condamned because of that costume.
But either way, I'm really curious what will be the other 5 fighters, and that will lead to a neat round number, as in 80.

Meanwhile, spirit mode felt quite... I dunno, lackluster? It is pretty much the customized character features but with way more variables in the mix, which is kind of... weird.

Finally, Star/World of Light looks like the fusion of an adventure mode and event mode, so this is actually a bit promising, and the cutscenes shown during the direct were really impressive.

[Tokkan]

According to Nintendo UK VS (an official Nintendo twitter account), Piranha Plant does not count as part of the 5 characters included in the Ultimate Fighters Pass. This means there are actually 6 DLC fighters.
https://twitter.com/NintendoUKVS/sta...07038805061635

[blakstealth]

Nice vocals.

https://www.smashbros.com/en_US/sound/index.html

[serenade_beta]

I don't think the localized version really conveyed it well, but Rex didn't make it in time because of how recent the game was released. Shame, but I will still hold hopes for the DLC.

Also, the Japanese title to the Space Emissary-thing is Tomoshibi no Hoshi...
But if you reverse it, it is Hoshi no Kabi, in other words, Hoshi no Kirby.

Also, the person singing the JP version sang the Kirby anime OP!

Also, as people probably already know, but the new Pokemon fighter is voiced by the late Professor Oak. *sob*

[Klashikari]

The english script does mention that the planning for SP/U was done before XB2 was even announced, so yeah, it was pretty much too late. But I think the costume right before revealing the Pirahna plant wasn't the best decision

[serenade_beta]

Originally Posted by Klashikari

The english script does mention that the planning for SP/U was done before XB2 was even announced, so yeah, it was pretty much too late. But I think the costume right before revealing the Pirahna plant wasn't the best decision

Oh, that's good then.

Sakurai being his master troll self. But hey, Pirahna Plant is probably the most famous game plant out there, and has definitely been in more games and is more well-known than say, Waluigi and all those other characters that some are raging over not getting into.

[Klashikari]

It has to be said though, the english direct was quite misleading regarding the adventure mode.
The JP is very clear that it isn't a story mode (ストーリーを語るモードは無い), while the english video mentions "The new adventure mode is more about fun than story". So I think some people will be quite disappointed since they might expect a fully scenarised mode like the subspace one from Brawl, while Sakurai intend people to use their imagination regarding what the player is doing when saving everyone in that mode.

[MAX_COLA_POWER!]

Do we know the named of that winged sphere being? Cause people are calling it Taboo 2.0/Super Taboo.