Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (大乱闘スマッシュブラザーズ SPECIAL), tentatively titled Super Smash Bros. is an upcoming fighting game for the Nintendo Switch, to be released worldwide on December 7, 2018. A surprise announcement at the end of the March 8th, 2018 Nintendo Direct, it will be the fifth installment in the Super Smash Bros. series. The game is scheduled to be released in 2018, a little more than four years after its predecessors, Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U. It features the return of every character that has ever been playable in the series, including fighters cut in subsequent installments such as Pichu, Young Link, the Ice Climbers and Snake. It also features Ridley and Dark Samus as playable characters for the first time in the series' history, following years of fan requests dating back to Super Smash Bros. Melee and Brawl. There will be five downloadable characters made available after launch, including the Piranha Plant.

Samus and Zero Suit Samus both return as playable characters, still resembling their appearances in Metroid: Other M, albeit with modifications. Samus's Charge Shot can now be charged and cancelled in midair, while Zero Suit Samus's Final Smash, Gunship, now features Samus standing atop her ship in her Power Suit, firing the Zero Laser.

The Metroid and Mother Brain Assist Trophies will return, as will the Brinstar, Brinstar Depths, Norfair and Frigate Orpheon stages. This marks the return of Brinstar Depths after a seventeen year absence. Given Ridley's playability, it is unlikely that the Pyrosphere stage will return.

A brand new metal remix of Brinstar Depths, arranged by Yasushi Asada, was one of three tracks revealed on the game's website on June 12, 2018. Whether it replaces the previous Melee version is unknown. A new remix of Vs. Parasite Queen, as well as two new tracks titled Splash Screen (from Metroid Prime: Federation Force) and Area 1 - 5 Torrid Zone (from Metroid: Samus Returns), have been confirmed in the August 8, 2018 Direct. Two additional unidentified music tracks were also implicitly confirmed in the Direct, bringing the total number of Metroid series music tracks to 25.

All amiibo released for the fighters with the previous game will be compatible with Ultimate as well. Additionally, new fighters (including Ridley and Dark Samus) will receive amiibo, with Ridley's coming on the same day as the game's release.

Characters
Bolded characters are newcomers. The game will feature fewer newcomers than its predecessors, due to the inclusion of all 65 veteran fighters in the history of the series. The game also introduces the term "Echo Fighters", previously fan-dubbed "clones", which refers to fighters whose movesets have been copied from another fighter. These fighters are marked with an epsilon (ε) symbol. With the introduction of Ridley and Dark Samus, Ultimate has the most Metroid characters out of any game in the Super Smash Bros. series.

There will be five DLC packs, each coming with an as-yet unknown character, between the game's release date and February 2020.


 * Mario (Super Mario Bros.)
 * Bowser (Super Mario Bros.)
 * Luigi (Super Mario Bros.)
 * Peach (Super Mario Bros.)
 * Rosalina & Luma (Super Mario Bros.)
 * Bowser Jr. (Super Mario Bros.)
 * Dr. Mario (Super Mario Bros.)
 * Daisyε (Super Mario Bros., Echo of Peach)
 * Piranha Plant (Super Mario Bros., DLC)
 * Link (The Legend of Zelda)
 * Zelda (The Legend of Zelda)
 * Sheik (The Legend of Zelda)
 * Ganondorf (The Legend of Zelda)
 * Toon Link (The Legend of Zelda)
 * Young Link (The Legend of Zelda, returning after being cut from Super Smash Bros. Brawl)
 * Samus (Metroid)
 * Dark Samusε (Metroid; Echo of Samus)
 * Zero Suit Samus (Metroid)
 * Ridley (Metroid)
 * Kirby (Kirby)
 * King Dedede (Kirby)
 * Meta Knight (Kirby)
 * Fox (Star Fox)
 * Falco (Star Fox)
 * Wolf (Star Fox, returning after being cut from Super Smash Bros. 4)
 * Ness (EarthBound)
 * Lucas (EarthBound)
 * Captain Falcon (F-Zero)
 * Pit (Kid Icarus)
 * Palutena (Kid Icarus)
 * Dark Pitε (Kid Icarus; Echo of Pit)
 * Donkey Kong  (Donkey Kong)
 * Diddy Kong (Donkey Kong)
 * King K. Rool (Donkey Kong)
 * Marth (Fire Emblem)
 * Ike (Fire Emblem)
 * Lucinaε (Fire Emblem; Echo of Marth)
 * Robin (Fire Emblem)
 * Roy (Fire Emblem)
 * Corrin (Fire Emblem)
 * Chromε (Fire Emblem; Echo of Roy)
 * Pikachu (Pokémon)
 * Jigglypuff (Pokémon)
 * Lucario (Pokémon)
 * Mewtwo (Pokémon)
 * Pokémon Trainer (Pokémon, returning after being cut from Super Smash Bros. 4)
 * Squirtle
 * Ivysaur
 * Charizard


 * Pichu (Pokémon, returning after being cut from Super Smash Bros. Brawl)
 * Greninja (Pokémon)
 * Incineroar (Pokémon)
 * Olimar (Pikmin)
 * Little Mac (Punch-Out!!)
 * Villager (Animal Crossing)
 * Isabelle (Animal Crossing)
 * Mega Man (Mega Man)
 * Sonic (Sonic the Hedgehog)
 * Mii Fighters (Wii)
 * Mii Gunner
 * Mii Swordfighter
 * Mii Brawler


 * Wii Fit Trainer (Wii Fit)
 * R.O.B. (R.O.B.)
 * Mr. Game & Watch (Game & Watch)
 * Ice Climbers (Ice Climber, returning after being cut from Super Smash Bros. 4)
 * Duck Hunt (Duck Hunt)
 * Yoshi (Yoshi)
 * Wario (WarioWare)
 * Pac-Man (Pac-Man)
 * Shulk (Xenoblade)
 * Ryu (Street Fighter)
 * Kenε (Street Fighter)
 * Cloud (Final Fantasy)
 * Bayonetta (Bayonetta)
 * Snake (Metal Gear Solid; returning after being cut from Super Smash Bros. 4)
 * Inkling (Splatoon)
 * Simon (Castlevania)
 * Richterε (Castlevania; Echo of Simon)

The ending of the original trailer depicted the Smash Bros. symbol formed out of fire in midair, with a number of silhouetted characters at its base. The Inkling was seen gazing at these characters. Mario and Link, using his appearance from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, were prominently displayed. Samus's shoulders, Bowser's horns and hair and Donkey Kong's hair were clearly visible, but the other characters were less clear.

Spirits
The new Spirits mode enables "Spirit", or assist characters to be assigned to a specific character. They tie into a new adventure mode titled World of Light, in which every fighter except Kirby has been turned into a Puppet Fighter, possessed by the Spirit of a non-playable character. Spirits can be earned by defeating Puppet Fighters who are relevant to a specific Spirit in some way; for example, Shantae (a female character with much exposed skin, a ponytail, and a Metroidvania game genre) is unlocked by fighting Zero Suit Samus in her Ending Outfit.

The following Metroid Spirits have been confirmed, with artwork taken from their respective games:
 * Commander Adam Malkovich (Metroid: Other M)
 * Gunship (Super Metroid)
 * Mech (Metroid Prime: Federation Force)
 * Meta Ridley (Metroid Prime)
 * Metroid larva (Metroid: Samus Returns)
 * Military Dress (Metroid: Other M)
 * Ridley Robot (Metroid: Zero Mission)
 * Zebesian (Super Metroid)

Allusions to the Metroid series

 * The zoom-in on Samus's eyes in a panicked states when knocked off her feet when Ridley ambushes her in the beginning of A Piercing Screech, Ridley's debut trailer, may have been a reference to Samus's posttraumatic stress disorder episode from encountering Ridley in the Metroid 2002 manga, or his clone in Metroid: Other M.
 * The overall scene, such as Ridley's reflection appearing on Samus's visor, as well as his entrance animation and the timing where Vs. Ridley starts up, also resembles his pre-battle entrance cutscene in Metroid: Zero Mission.
 * In the same scene, Ridley is shown twirling Mario's hat and giving a dirty grin, alluding to how the Metroid 2002 manga expanded his characterization to give him a very dark sense of humor.
 * During the gameplay aspects of the trailer, Ridley is seen getting absorbed by a Metroid Assist Trophy that was presumably sent out by Pikachu, which most likely referenced how the Baby saved Samus by absorbing some of Ridley's energy in Metroid: Samus Returns, and to a lesser extent how Ridley's clone was ambushed by the Queen Metroid in Metroid: Other M. Coincidentally, Pikachu also saved Samus from Ridley in a similar manner in Brawl during the Subspace Emissiary story mode. In addition, the beginning of the gameplay aspect has Ridley landing and then roaring while flapping his wings, which was similar to both his intro in both of his fights in Super Metroid and Neo-Ridley's intro in Metroid Fusion.
 * How Ridley dispatched of Mario by crushing his head resembled how Samus, in her PTSD episode upon seeing Ridley for the first time, hallucinated her parents heads being crushed by him.
 * His impaling Mega Man with his tail resembled how he mortally wounded Grey Voice in the manga.
 * Ridley's powered up neutral special resembles the attack Ridley uses at the start of the boss fight against him in Metroid: Zero Mission. It also resembles the wave-based fire attacks Ridley used in the original Metroid.
 * Ridley's side special resembles one of his attacks in Metroid: Other M where he grabs Samus, slams her against a wall, and then drags her across it, which was in turn based on a maneuver Ridley pulled on Samus when ambushing her in Adventure Mode: The Subspace Emissary.
 * His downward special, in particular the impalement portion of it, resembles how he mortally wounded Grey Voice in the manga.
 * When undergoing his final smash, Ridley's pose when entering the final smash and later when actually using it resembles his pose on the Super Metroid box art.
 * Samus's pose in her artwork for Ultimate matches her stance in a promotional render for Other M with Anthony Higgs.
 * Dark Samus's debut trailer had a few allusions to the Prime series:
 * Dark Samus's entry had her emerging from a blue wormhole in darkness before the darkness fades away, which refers to her resurrection in the 100% ending of Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, her appearance in the beginning of Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, and her use of Leviathans in the same game.
 * Dark Samus stands near a Metroid, an indirect allusion to how she was formerly Metroid Prime.
 * Dark Samus at one point appears alongside Ridley and Assist Trophies of Mother Brain and a Metroid, which alluded to how she had controlled Metroids, Meta Ridley/Omega Ridley, and Aurora Unit 313 (who is similar to Mother Brain in appearance).
 * Samus briefly is seen fighting both Meta Ridley and Dark Samus at one point.
 * One of Dark Samus's victory poses alluded to her creation of Dark Echoes in Metroid Prime 3: Corruption.
 * In addition, the same pose also had her adopting Samus's pose in her stock art for the game (see above).

Trivia

 * Ultimate is the first Super Smash Bros. game since the original Nintendo 64 title to not have Trophies.
 * Due to Dark Samus becoming a fighter in her own right, Samus's alternate costume based on her has been removed from Ultimate, and replaced with a black and yellow color scheme resembling Kanden.