Super Smash Bros. Ultimate For Switch | Gameplay Review and First Impressions
Super Smash Bros Ultimate has been around since December 2018, and and it’s still the fastest selling Switch game since its release. Here’s why.
In this article:
Everything to Know About Super Smash Bros Ultimate
About the Game
Super Smash Bros Ultimate is the fifth installment in the Super Smash Bros series. It’s a crossover fight game where you use your character to knock the opponent off the stage to win the game.
Over 70 Different Characters
This biggest Super Smash Bros installment is released with every single character from the previous games and 11 new characters. The game has more than 70 playable fighters from 32 different series:
- Super Mario: Mario, Luigi, Peach, Daisy, Bowser, Dr. Mario, Rosalina & Luma, Bowser Jr., and Piranha Plant (DLC).
- Donkey Kong: Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, and King K. Rool.
- The Legend of Zelda: Link, Sheik, Zelda, Young Link, Ganondorf, and Toon Link.
- Metroid: Samus, Dark Samus, Zero Suit Samus, and Ridley.
- Yoshi: Yoshi
- Kirby: Kirby, Meta Knight, and King Dedede.
- Starfox: Fox, Falco, and Wolf.
- Pokemon: Pikachu, Jigglypuff, Pichu, Mewtwo, Lucario, Greninja, Incineroar, and Pokemon Trainer.
- EarthBound: Ness and Lucas.
- F-Zero: Captain Falcon
- Ice Climber: Ice Climbers
- Fire Emblem: Marth, Lucena, Roy, Chrom, Ike, Robin, and Corrin.
- Game & Watch: Mr. Game & Watch
- Kid Icarus: Pit, Dark Pit, and Palutena.
- Wario Ware: Wario
- Metal Gear Solid: Snake
- Sonic the Hedgehog: Sonic
- Pikmin: Olimar
- R.O.B.: R.O.B
- Animal Crossing: Villager and Isabelle
- Mega Man: Mega Man
- Wii Fit: Wii Fit Trainer
- Punch Out: Little Mac
- Mii: Mii Fighter
- Pac-Man: Pac-Man
- Xenoblade Chronicles: Shulk
- Duck Hunt: Duck Hunt
- Street Fighter: Ryu and Ken.
- Final Fantasy VII: Cloud
- Bayonetta: Bayonetta
- Splatoon: Inkling
- Castlevania: Simon and Richter
With the overwhelming amount of playable Super Smash Bros Ultimate characters, time spent on the character selection is taking a lot longer, but that’s not all of the characters you’ll be seeing in this new Nintendo game release.
Assist Trophies
Ever since Smash Bros. Brawl, assist trophies have been an important in-game item.
It contains a different guest character to help you in battle. All of the old trophies in the previous game are still in Super Smash Bros Ultimate, but with some additional trophies to make up a total 59 assist trophies.
Get ready to meet temporary allies like nintendog, Waluigi, Knuckles, Alucard, Guile, Knuckle Joe, Bomberman, the Squid Sisters, and Hammer Bro. You can also defeat your opponent’s assist trophy character to earn score points.
Pokeballs and Master Balls
Another item brought over from its first release in Smash Bros Brawl are pokeballs and master balls. Each one contains a different Pokemon that temporarily assists you in battle.
Apart from the first-generation Pokemons first introduced in Brawl, there are also additional Pokemons in Ultimate, like Alolan Vulpix, Lunala, Ditto, Solgaleo, Mimikyu, and Bewear.
Related: Nintendo Switch Game Release Dates
New Items
There’s a list of new items in Super Smash Bros Ultimate to help you win the game, and some of these items are from different game series you may be familiar with:
- Banana Gun: Contains a powerful bullet and turns into a Banana Peel after one shot.
- Beastball: Disappears when thrown only to reappear near the opponent and surrounded in flames.
- Blackhole: Sucks in all nearby players and items.
- Fake Smash Ball: Breaking it will cause an explosion shaped like an X.
- Healing Field: If thrown, it will open and heal all nearby players.
- Healing Sprout: Sticks to one player and gradually heals them, but it can also be transferred upon contact with another player.
- Rage Blaster: The more the player takes damage, the more powerful this item gets.
- Bomber: (Kirby) Explodes in the player’s hand but only nearby enemies will take a ton of damage.
- Death’s Scyther: (Castlevania) A smash attack with this weapon will KO high damage-wielding opponents.
- Killing Edge: (Fire Emblem) When it glows, it causes double damage.
- Ramblin’ Evil Mushroom: (EarthBound) Enough hits of this item will sprout a mushroom that reverses the right and left controls.
- Staff: (Kid Icarus) Fires a laser that can be useful for faraway opponents.
- Super Launch Star: (Mario) Creates a star-shaped gate that launches away players that will enter or go near it.
New Stages
There are 103 stages in Ultimate and each one has its own Battlefield form and the Omega form. Almost all stages from the previous games are in this fifth installment, along with seven new stages introduced in Ultimate:
- Battlefield
- Big Battlefield
- Dracula’s Castle
- Final Destination
- New Donk City
- Moray Towers
- Great Plateau Tower
The stages in Ultimate have been altered to act as dynamic stages that add to the challenge by creating obstacles and events. You can also switch stages during battle.
Omega Stage Form Definition: This version of the stage is similar to the last stage in Classic mode called “Final Destination.” Here, there is only one straight base and no platforms or obstacles.
Different Game Modes
Smash
The classic “Smash” game mode lets you choose your own stage, set up your rules, and play with up to 8 players.
Squad Strike
The “Squad Strike” game mode lets you create teams for either a 3v3 or 5v5 battle. You can play it in three ways:
- Elimination round: Every time a player is defeated, the stage changes and you fight until all opponents are eliminated.
- Tag Team: Take on the other team by fighting them one at a time.
- Best Of: Each player has a designated opponent and whichever team wins the first 2 or 3 battles wins the game.
Tourney
The Tourney game mode allows you to set up a tournament with up to 32 players and choose your own bracket format.
Special Smash
Special Smash has three different game mode options:
- Smash Down: go through the full roster of fighters in a series of battles.
- Custom Smash: set all kinds of customizations that affect your battle experience.
- Super Sudden Death: an intense game mode where all fighters have 300% damage.
Classic Mode
In Classic mode, you choose one fighter and play through its unique roster of opponents while the battles continuously increase in difficulty. Clearing this mode will unlock that character’s net of awards like items, Fighter’s Spirit, Snacks, and Support Spirits.
Training
Go into “training mode” to practice your skills on your chosen stages and find out how much damage each opponent can deal and how far they can fly.
Mob Smash
Battle through waves of opponents and see how long you’ll last in any of its three game modes:
- Century Smash: Fight through 100 enemies
- Cruel Smash: Similar to “Century Smash,” but enemies have maxed-out levels
- All-Star Smash: Battle against all fighters on the roster
Challenger’s Approach
While the game is running, new fighters can suddenly challenge you to a battle and winning will unlock the character. You can also do a rematch if you lose.
One-on-One Battles
One-on-one battles let you deal and receive more damage than other group game modes.
Adventure Mode or World of Light
This single-player story mode is unique to Super Smash Bros Ultimate because of its additional in-game feature called the “Spirits.” It’s an adventure game set in a world where the player battles to save spirits and other fighters.
The spirits are game characters with unique abilities to boost the battles for the fighter. There are two types of spirits:
- Primary spirits: raises fighter’s attack power and you can only equip one at a time.
- Support spirits: gives the fighter additional skills and can be equipped to empty primary spirit slots.
The only way to unlock the spirits and the possessed characters in the game is by winning the battle.
Spirit Board
The Spirit Board is a special game mode separate from the Adventure Mode that lets you obtain powerful spirits. Here, you can build a team of spirits and battle against other fighters to obtain their spirit cards.
Other Game Features to Look Forward to
Amiibo
A new addition to the Super Smash Bros series is turning your Amiibo figure into a playable character. Just tap them in, then you can start training them to learn new tactics and abilities.
The more battles they fight, the more their personality and abilities will grow. You can also use spirits to upgrade their attack and defense.
Amiibo Figure Definition: A Nintendo figurine you can tap into the console to include it as a character figure in the game.
Records and Data of Past Battles
The game lets you record your matches so you can go back and watch them later. It also saves the data of your past battles so you can pick up where you left off.
Challenges
There is a longer list of challenges to clear in this latest Smash Bros game compared to the previous ones. There are new challenges for the game and there’s also a whole set of challenges for each game mode.
Clearing any of these challenges will reward you with different in-game items, spirits, trophies, gold, and much more.
Music
The game’s main theme song is “Lifelight” with its own Japanese and English version. The song has a high-pitched opening that sets the tone for either a grand final battle or an adventure story to save the world.
There’s also a list of songs in the game, with some taken from the game series of different characters.
Reviews
How does Super Smash Bros. Ultimate fare in the market? Check out these reviews from Amazon.com!
Watch Super Smash Bros. Ultimate trailer in this video from Nintendo:
There’s no denying that Super Smash Bros Ultimate for the Nintendo Switch was created to house all of the great features from the previous games — with a few surprises! Despite releasing multiple versions in the Super Smash Bros series, its game developers still manage to include new features that both old and new fans of the series will appreciate.
Have you tried playing a Super Smash Bros game? What did you like most about it and what are you looking forward to in this version. Let us know in the comments section below!
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