Super Smash Bros. Ultimate on the switch: everything you need to know

Each character of Smash Bros. goes to the Nintendo Switch with Super Smash Bros. UltimateOn Thursday, the director of the game, Masahrio Sakurai, introduced the fans the Nintendo Direct preview, featuring the latest playable characters, a new Spirits mode and a more detailed overview of the game's online features.

Until now, it seems that Smash Bros. Ultimate is aptly named. The game presents all the characters of Smash Bros. at the moment (as well as new additions such as Simon Belmont from Castlevania and, yes, a Piranha factory), more than 100 scenes, more than 800 music tracks and countless additions to the longstanding franchise. And our competitive expert resident Smash Bros. gave him a boost after starting to play the game early.

Here's all we know so far about what could be the most anticipated Nintendo Switch game: new characters, online modes, Spirits, Nintendo's DLC plans. If you are totally new to the concept of Smash Bros., Nintendo offers a comprehensive explanatory video describing everything from the game's operation to the Ultimate Novelty, which you can view below:

What is Smash Bros. and why does everyone panic?

Since the Nintendo 64, each Nintendo console offers a game in which characters adored (or obscure) Nintendo fight without meaning. By deciding to create a less technical fighting game, Nintendo has made tens of millions of sales. Seriously, the Wii Smash Bros. alone has sold over 13 million copies.

Whether it's to foster a competitive community or showcase characters beyond the usual Nintendo stable (Solid Snake, we're watching you), Smash Bros. is a series that is both appreciated by casual gamers and Nintendo fans. Especially since Super Smash Bros. From the GameCube, the series has taken several turns left and includes tons of unexpected characters, creating even more excitement.

Even when fans disagree with some of the decisions made by Sakurai, they are still back for the moment when he announces a new Smash Bros. And given the success of the Switch among the two crowdsit is easy to see why the last entry has already generated so much enthusiasm.

When Smash Bros. Does Ultimate come out?

The initial trailer could not have been clearer about when Nintendo will launch the latest title in the series. And at E3, Nintendo delivered: Super Smash Bros. Ultimate will be in stores on December 7th.

What playable characters will be in Smash Bros. Ultimate?

The best answer to this question is simple: all. At E3, Sakurai revealed that every fighter who participated in a game of Super Smash Bros. will be featured in Smash Bros. Ultimate. This includes DLC fighters such as Bayonetta, Cloud and Ryu, as well as favorites like Solid Snake.

In the final version of Nintendo Direct for Smash Bros., the full list of 74 characters was revealed, with Ken and Ken Street Fighter and demonstrations of Pokemon Inciniroar as the last two additions to the base game.

All older characters also undergo major or minor changes in their movement sets, attributes, or game styles. Here are some changes to the already established characters, but not all.

• Mario does not have new moves based on Super Mario Odyssey, but he will wear Cappy, which can be seen in some special moves.
• Link is based on its Wild Breath iteration, with its special moves and updated weaponry to reflect the Switch input.
• Captain Falcon's Falcon Punch and other powerful attacks will trigger a slow-motion effect in 1-on-1 fights.
• Zelda's new look is based on the 3DS title A link between worlds, with a new Final Smash to boot.
• Final Smashes in the set have been modified to be faster and more cinematic.
• Cloud Break Limit, Robin's limited-use attacks, and other character-specific abilities will have separate displays at the bottom of the screen to make it easier to understand their status.
• Pokemon Trainer can change Pokémon at will, even in the air, with another costume for a female coach.

Some characters, new or existing, join Smash Bros. as Echo characters. Echo characters are modified versions of characters that are not distinct enough to be assigned their own separate set of motions.

For example, Daisy is an Echo version of Peach. But with Echo's new characters like Dark Samus, Chrom and Richter, Nintendo seems to be doing more than just exchanging character appearances and tweaking animations. Dark Samus in particular seems distinct, and Chrom seems to borrow movements from several Fire Emblem characters.

And no, we have not forgotten King K. Rool. After years of fan requests, Donkey Kong's antagonist is finally debuting at Smash.

Is that it? 74 does not seem to be all possible characters

First of all, your expectations are very, very high. Secondly, you will be delighted to learn that Nintendo has revealed its downloadable content projects for Smash Bros. Ultimate. After the launch of the game, five new fighters will be added to the list. Each fighter comes with a new stage and music, at $ 5.99 each. The first batch of DLC hunters is also available in a lot at $ 24.99.

And in a surprise announcement, another fighter enters the battle after launching the game for free – as long as you buy it before January 31, 2019. And is this character … a Piranha factory?

The Piranha factory is being developed by Nintendo, but Sakurai has warned that work on other upcoming fighters has not started yet and that it could be more effective. run out months before the release of new DLC characters.

What is the situation on stage of Smash Bros. Ultimate?

Like its huge alignment, the abundance of Ultimate stages encompasses the entire franchise, with some additions. The previous entry of the series divided the exclusive scenes between the Wii U and 3DS versions, but as in the theme of Ultimate, they are all together. At present, the total number of steps is enormous: 103.

But, according to Sakurai, if you take into account all the variations of steps and treat them distinctly, there are more than 300 steps in Smash Bros. Ultimate.

Each stage will receive an Omega form, which will simplify the scene and eliminate hazards and interactive elements to be more user-friendly for players who wish to minimize random elements. Omega shapes were first included in Smash Bros. on the Wii U and the 3D, and the scenes in Ultimate will get Omega shapes that will mimic the Final Destination flat scene and the Battlefield scene full of platforms. And regardless of these two options, there are distinct options for simply eliminating the dangers of a step.

In the last edition of Direct, Sakurai introduced a brand new feature allowing players to select two stages before a match. In the middle of the fight, the scene evolves from one to the other, forcing you to adapt to the new environment.

And thankfully, this incredible number of steps requires no unlocking: every step and every variation will be available from the moment you start the game.

What music will be available while I screw up my friends?

One of the most underrated elements of the Smash Bros. series. is his soundtrack. The previous entries contained an almost infinite number of beloved themes, both original and re-recorded, from series represented in the game. A quick glance at the huge list of tracks included in Smash Bros. Wii U reveals the breadth of music included in the franchise.

During the month of August, Sakurai revealed more details about the amazing soundtrack of Smash. Let the number of tracks speak for itself:

Songs from Nintendo's entire history, as well as other non-Nintendo games with Smash participants such as Mega Man and Castlevania will all have a complete song library to tap. And for the first time, the songs are not linked to scenes. Instead, the steps select the default tracks based on the frankness to which the step is associated. And if you want to create your own soundtrack or listen to F-Zero on a Kirby stage, no problem. It's all customizable.

You can already dive into the remastered tracks included in Smash Bros. Ultimate, starting with the main theme, via the official website of Smash Bros. We do not yet have the full list of songs and, given the number of songs included, we can only talk about it once.

What new fashions come to Smash Bros. Ultimate?

After months of fan speculation, we finally know all the game modes on offer at Smash Bros. And, yes, there is a solo adventure. Super Smash Bros. Brawl, part of the series, presents an adventure mode based on a surprisingly long story titled "The Subspace Emissary". This mode created a narrative justification, even forced and confused, allowing characters from so many franchises to regroup or fight each other. Fans who have been waiting for a follow-up for years and whose patience has paid off.

With "World of Light", the game will position you as a series of rotating characters as they will attempt to fight an entity that has transformed an incredible number of video game characters into Spirits (to find out more about those more later). From the first glimpse, it seems that you can explore an extended map and participate in fights with special conditions.

And then there is the cinematic intro to World of Light, which must be seen to be believed.

Then there is the Spirits mode. The explanation of Sakurai took a lot of time at the November Nintendo Direct, but here is the essential:

• The characters, whether playable or not, can be collectible spirits.
• These Spirits, even if they are in Spirit Mode, can be assigned to the character of your choice. The sub-spirits can also be assigned to a selection of spirits. There is a whole system of classification for these spirits, based on their power and rarity.
• Each of these spirits gives special skills and bonuses to your character. As they gain combat experience, training or being fed to the Spirit … food … the power that comes with it. they add to your character increases.
• Minds are not added to all game modes if you do not want to. You can fight friends, as part of the Spirit Mode challenges, etc., but they will not be activated for your online game, for example.

And during August's Nintendo Direct, we learned a lot more about other specific Smash modes.

• The eight-player fights are back and they are now compatible with all cards.
• Squad Strike is a team fight of 3 vs. 3 or 5 vs. 5 in which you choose a list of characters that you face in a series of battles.
• The tournament mode is back, the game automatically generating parentheses after selecting the number of players.
• Smashdown, a new mode, allows players to review all players in a series of fights. Once a character is used once, they can no longer be used.
• The training mode is undergoing a major overhaul, with its own scene entirely devoted to analyzing character data, from the range of launch-specific attack attacks to low, medium damage percentages. and high.

Smash Bros. will he have a decent online game?

It's impossible to say until the game is in the wild, but there is an expectation given that Nintendo charges for online multiplayer for the first time that we will see an improvement of Smash's online options. After Nintendo confirmed that the game would include a number of online features, the full suite of options was detailed in the November session of Nintendo.

The game no longer separates online players between competitive and non-competitive matches. Instead, three factors are used to determine who you are playing against.

The preferred rules, which you have defined before your matches, will help you get in touch with other players who want to play well-filled battles or in time, or who want to play with or without objects. GSP is your power ranking, which will be used to determine your skill level compared to other Smash players to ensure you play competitive games. And above all, the match system will give priority to other players in your area to ensure stability.

You can also participate in private games with friends, as well as in the standard observation suite for recording options for fighting game fans.

And in case you have forgotten its existence, the mobile application of the Nintendo Switch will be your means of communication with players by voice, since Smash Bros. Ultimate lack of native voice support. Nintendo also launches a separate application, Smash World, allowing players to share gameplay between them.

Originally released on May 31st.

Updated November 1st: Added details of the latest Nintendo Direct.

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