Super Smash Bros. Ultimate facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Super Smash Bros. Ultimate |
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Box art, showcasing some of the game's large playable roster
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| Developer(s) |
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| Publisher(s) | Nintendo |
| Director(s) | Masahiro Sakurai |
| Producer(s) |
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| Programmer(s) | Tetsuya Otaguro |
| Artist(s) | Yusuke Nakano |
| Composer(s) | Hideki Sakamoto |
| Series | Super Smash Bros. |
| Platform(s) | Nintendo Switch |
| Release date(s) | December 7, 2018 |
| Genre(s) | Fighting |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is a popular crossover fighting game released in 2018. It was made by Bandai Namco Studios and Sora Ltd., and Nintendo published it for the Nintendo Switch. This game is the fifth one in the exciting Super Smash Bros. series.
In Ultimate, players pick from many different characters. They use special attacks to make their opponents weaker. The goal is to knock them off the fighting stage. The game has lots of ways to play, including a story mode for one player and fun battles for many players.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate has a huge roster of 89 characters. This includes every character from past Super Smash Bros. games. It also adds many new faces. The characters come from Nintendo games and other popular video game series.
Work on the game started in 2015. The main creator, Masahiro Sakurai, wanted to include every character ever. This was a big challenge, but he made it happen. Many famous video game musicians helped create the game's music.
Nintendo first showed off Ultimate in March 2018. It was fully revealed at E3 2018 in June. The game came out on December 7, 2018. Critics loved it, calling it one of the best games in the series. They praised its huge amount of content.
Ultimate is the best-selling fighting game of all time. It is also the third best-selling Nintendo Switch game. It has sold over 34 million copies! The game is very popular in competitive gaming. It has won many awards, including ten Game of the Year titles. Nintendo also added new characters and stages to the game through downloadable content (DLC) until October 2021.
Contents
How to Play Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is a platform fighter where up to eight players can battle. Characters from Nintendo games and other popular series fight to knock each other off the stage. When a player takes damage, a percentage meter goes up. A higher percentage means they get launched farther. This makes it easier to knock them out of the arena.
There are three main ways to win a battle:
- Timed: Players try to get the most points by knocking out opponents before time runs out.
- Stock: Players have a set number of lives. The last player standing wins.
- Stamina: Players have a health bar. You win by reducing your opponent's health to zero.
Players can change the rules to fit how they like to play. They can save these rules for future matches.
Players can also use different items during a fight. Some items attack enemies, while others give power-ups. There are also Poké Balls and Assist Trophies. Poké Balls summon Pokémon to help you. Assist Trophies bring other characters to assist in battle. Each character also has a powerful Final Smash attack. You can use it by grabbing a Smash Ball or filling a special meter.
The game has 104 different stages to fight on. More stages were added with DLC characters. Stages can be changed to simpler "Battlefield" or "Omega" forms. You can also turn off stage hazards like moving platforms. A cool new feature is Stage Morph. It lets you pick two stages that the game will switch between during a match.
Ultimate also brings back favorite modes like Classic and Home-Run Contest. New modes include:
- Smashdown: Each character can only be played once.
- Squad Strike: Players battle in teams using multiple characters.
- Tournament Mode: Up to 32 players can compete in a playoff bracket.
Spirits and World of Light
Ultimate introduces a new feature called Spirits. These replace the collectible trophies from older games. Spirits are based on characters from different video game series. You can use them to make your fighter stronger. They give your fighter special abilities.
You mainly get Spirits by winning "Spirit Battles." These battles are special challenges. They are designed to represent the character the Spirit is based on. For example, to get the Rayquaza Spirit, you fight a large Ridley character. This Ridley looks like Rayquaza and there are wind effects. Players need to choose Spirits wisely for these battles. You might need a Spirit that resists wind or deals extra damage to big opponents.
There's also a Spirit Board mode. It shows a changing list of Spirit battles you can play. Spirits can grow stronger by leveling up. They can also turn into "Cores" to create new Spirits. Some Spirits can even evolve into a stronger form when they reach max level. Nintendo sometimes has special Spirit events. These events let you collect Spirits from other games for a limited time.
World of Light Story Mode
Ultimate brings back a story mode called World of Light. It uses the new Spirit mechanics. The story begins when a bad guy named Galeem destroys the Smash Bros. world. He turns almost all the fighters into Spirits. Only Kirby escapes.
Players explore the new world Galeem created. Your goal is to rescue the captured fighters and Spirits. You do this by winning Spirit Battles. As you rescue allies and Spirits, you become stronger. This helps you overcome challenges and defeat Galeem.
After Galeem is defeated, a new enemy, Dharkon, appears. If you only defeat Galeem, Dharkon will cover the world in darkness. If you only defeat Dharkon, Galeem will cover it in light. But if you defeat an equal number of light and dark Spirits, you can fight both. This frees all the Spirits and brings them back to the real world.
Other Cool Features
The game lets you play with friends in many ways. You can play together on the same console. You can also connect wirelessly with other Nintendo Switch systems nearby. Online play is also available using Wi-Fi or a LAN connection. When you win online, you get tags. You can trade these tags for in-game money. This money lets you buy new Spirits, music, and costumes for your Mii Fighter.
Ultimate works with different controllers. You can use Joy-Con controllers, the Nintendo Switch Pro Controller, or even GameCube controllers with an adapter. Just like in the previous game, you can use amiibo figures. These create AI-controlled Figure Players. You can train them to become very strong.
Nintendo also launched a mobile app called "Smash World." It lets players check their game stats. You can also share pictures and videos from the game on social media. Ultimate has over 900 music tracks! You can listen to them on your Switch even when it's in standby mode.
An update in April 2019 added a Stage Builder. This lets players create their own custom stages. You can share these stages online or download others' creations. Another update in May 2019 added limited support for Nintendo Labo VR Kit. This lets you watch computer matches in virtual reality.
Playable Characters
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is famous for its huge cast of characters. It includes fighters from many different Nintendo franchises. It also features characters from other game companies like Konami, Sega, Capcom, Bandai Namco Entertainment, Square Enix, Microsoft, and Disney.
The main game starts with 74 playable fighters. This includes all 63 characters from previous games. It also adds 11 new characters:
- The Inklings from Splatoon
- Princess Daisy from the Mario series
- Ridley and Dark Samus from Metroid
- Simon Belmont and Richter Belmont from Castlevania
- Chrom from Fire Emblem Awakening
- King K. Rool from Donkey Kong
- Isabelle from Animal Crossing
- Ken Masters from Street Fighter
- Incineroar from Pokémon Sun and Moon
When you first start the game, you only have access to eight characters. You unlock the rest by playing through the game's modes.
Some characters are called "Echo Fighters." They have similar moves to other characters but with unique animations. For example, Dark Samus is an Echo Fighter of Samus. Some characters also have different looks or skins. For example, Bowser Jr. can look like the other Koopalings. Many returning characters also got updated appearances. For instance, Link now looks like his version from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
Nintendo also added more fighters after the game's release through downloadable content (DLC). The first DLC character was Piranha Plant from the Mario series. It was given for free to early buyers. More fighters came in two "Fighters Pass" bundles.
The first Fighters Pass included five characters:
- Joker from Persona 5 (April 2019)
- The Hero from Dragon Quest (July 2019)
- Banjo & Kazooie from Banjo-Kazooie (September 2019)
- Terry Bogard from Fatal Fury (November 2019)
- Byleth from Fire Emblem: Three Houses (January 2020)
The second Fighters Pass, called Fighters Pass Volume 2, added six more characters. These were the last planned additions to the game:
- Min Min from ARMS (June 2020)
- Steve from Minecraft (October 2020)
- Sephiroth from Final Fantasy VII (December 2020)
- Pyra and Mythra from Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (March 2021)
- Kazuya Mishima from Tekken (June 2021)
- Sora from Kingdom Hearts (October 2021)
Game Development
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate was made by Bandai Namco Studios and Sora Ltd.. These are the same studios that worked on the previous Super Smash Bros. games for Wii U and 3DS. Masahiro Sakurai, the series creator, was the director again. This time, the team was already set up, which made development faster.
The idea for the game started in December 2015. This was while the extra content for the 3DS and Wii U games was still being made. The development period for Ultimate was shorter than for past games.
Sakurai said that making a Super Smash Bros. game for the Switch was the last request from former Nintendo president Satoru Iwata before he passed away in 2015. Sakurai wanted to make the best game possible to honor him. He aimed to include every character from previous games. He knew this would be very hard due to development and licensing. But he wanted to make fans happy.
Sakurai also wanted to make characters' abilities faster. He didn't want to make it too hard for new players. He knew Ultimate was important to Nintendo and its fans. He felt it was necessary to include all characters to satisfy them. Sakurai believed this would be the only Smash game with every single character. He called the effort "unprecedented." He warned that future games might be smaller. However, he still wanted to add as many fighters as possible through DLC.
The team built Ultimate from scratch. They used new art and content. The game improved lighting and textures from the Wii U version. The World of Light mode was inspired by Brawl's story mode. Sakurai chose to start it with a big event to make a strong impact. The Spirits mechanic was created to make a fun single-player mode. It let them use many characters without making new 3D models for everyone.
Music in the Game
Like other games in the series, Ultimate has many famous video game composers. They created new music and remixed old songs from the different game series. There are over 1,000 music tracks in total! A new feature lets you tie music to game series instead of just stages. You can also create custom playlists to listen to outside the game.
Sakurai started contacting composers over a year before the game came out. He gave them ideas for over a thousand songs. He also let them suggest their own favorite tracks. The main theme song, "Lifelight," was composed by Hideki Sakamoto. It forms the basis for most of the game's original music.
Downloadable Characters
Nintendo planned to add new fighters through DLC. Unlike the previous game, Nintendo chose which characters to add. They made these choices by November 2018. Extra costumes for Mii Fighters were also released as paid DLC. Some costumes even added new music.
Sakurai said that characters like Joker, who aren't usually linked with Nintendo, were added because they were "emblematic." This means they represented the types of characters they wanted to add. He felt they brought "a whole different level of fun." Piranha Plant was chosen as a DLC character to add more variety to the roster.
Nintendo talked with Rare (the creators of Banjo & Kazooie) at E3 2018. They discussed adding Banjo and Kazooie to the game. Rare agreed, seeing it as a "great opportunity." Sakurai noted that Banjo and Kazooie were highly requested by fans in 2015. Their addition happened "quite easily," even though Microsoft owns the characters.
The development of the second Fighters Pass was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Sakurai and his team had to work from home. Discussions about adding Steve from Minecraft started about five years before he was added. Steve's inclusion meant the team had to change every stage in the game to fit his unique moves.
Sakurai also wanted to include Sora from Kingdom Hearts. He was the most requested fighter in the 2015 fan vote. However, they thought it would be too hard due to legal issues with Disney. But Sakurai met a Disney representative, which started the talks. Nintendo, Disney, and Square Enix worked together to bring Sora into the game.
Game Release
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Ultimate was first hinted at during a Nintendo Direct in March 2018. It was called Super Smash Bros. at the time. Nintendo officially announced the game at E3 2018. They revealed that all past characters would be included. They also announced the release date. Demo versions of the game were available to play at E3 and San Diego Comic-Con.
IGN nominated Ultimate for its Best Game of E3 2018 award. The game won Best Nintendo Switch Game from both IGN and Gamescom. Nintendo held two special Direct presentations in 2018. These showed off new characters, stages, and game modes.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate was released worldwide on December 7, 2018. Besides the regular game, special editions were also available. These included a Super Smash Bros.-themed Nintendo Switch Pro Controller or special Joy-Con controllers. A GameCube controller with the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate logo was also released.
One of the game's new animations caused some discussion. The character Mr. Game & Watch had an attack that looked like an old reference. Nintendo apologized and removed the animation in an update.
Esports and Tournaments
Ultimate is a very popular game in the world of Esports. Esports are organized video game competitions.
EVO 2019, a big fighting game tournament, featured Ultimate. It was the largest Smash Bros. tournament ever, with over 3,500 players. It also set a new record for viewers, with over 279,000 people watching online.
In 2020, a large online Smash Bros. tournament called The Box was held. It had over 8,000 players and a $10,000 prize pool.
The Smash World Tour was planned to feature Super Smash Bros. Melee and Ultimate players. It had a big prize pool of $250,000. However, the COVID-19 pandemic caused many events to be postponed or canceled. The Smash World Tour successfully returned in 2021. It had online and offline events, ending with a big championship.
In 2022, an official tournament circuit called the Panda Cup was introduced. It featured both Super Smash Bros. Melee and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. However, Nintendo later stated that the Smash World Tour 2022 could not continue. This was because they did not have a license from Nintendo. This led to the cancellation of both the Panda Cup and the Smash World Tour 2022 Championships. The Smash World Tour 2023 was also canceled.
Images for kids
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Box art, showcasing some of the game's large playable roster
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Pre-release screenshot of a four-player match on the Great Plateau stage (from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild) between Ganondorf, Link, Mario and Mega Man
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A typical Spirit battle. Here, players must fight an Incineroar meant to represent Tom Nook from the Animal Crossing series.
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Super Smash Bros. series creator and director Masahiro Sakurai in 2021
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Attendees at the 2018 San Diego Comic-Con playing a demo of Ultimate
See also
In Spanish: Super Smash Bros. Ultimate para niños
