World of Light

"What's the matter? All I said was that Komaytos look like little Metr-"

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Non-canon warning: This article or section contains information that may not be considered an official part of the Metroid series in the overall storyline by Nintendo.

Adventure Mode: World of Light ((灯火の星, The Star of Light) is the single-player Adventure Mode in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. It is the third Adventure Mode in the series, after the original Adventure Mode in Super Smash Bros. Melee and The Subspace Emissary in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. World of Light is accessed from the Spirits menu in Ultimate, and was unveiled at the end of the November 1, 2018 Nintendo Direct.

Plot

Introduction

Samus with the other fighters, preparing to battle Galeem.

The story begins on a cliffside, resembling the cliff overlooking the Isle of the Ancients at the end of The Subspace Emissary. Many of the Fighters, including Samus, are seen on this cliff, observing an approaching army of Master Hands serving the lord of light, Galeem. Fox, Marth, Zelda, and Pit speak briefly to consider a battle plan and reassure the Fighters that they will win. Suddenly, all of the Master Hands disintegrate and are absorbed into Galeem. Shulk has a vision foreseeing the Fighters' swift defeat, but it is already too late to stop it.

Galeem produces dozens of light beams, which quickly approach the fighters and consume them all. Samus attempts to fire at the beams, but is overwhelmed by one. The light consumes the entire galaxy, turning non-playable characters into Spirits. Galeem successfully takes control of the world.

Kirby is the only Fighter to survive the attack, thanks to the light-speed power of his Warp Star. After escaping the beams, Kirby crashes into a barren wasteland inhabited by disembodied Spirits. Recovering, Kirby gazes out upon the Light Realm, a vast landscape amalgamated from the Fighters' respective worlds.

In a dark room, a golden substance is shown pouring over Mario in his trophy form. The substance forms a Puppet Fighter replica, which falls to the ground with a thud. Galeem forces a Smoky Progg Spirit to possess the Puppet Fighter. An army of Puppet Fighters, including Samus, stand together in the darkness before spreading out across the world.

The Light Realm

Kirby travels across the Light Realm, battling dozens of Puppet Fighters to free their trapped Spirits, and rescuing his fellow Fighters such as Mario, Fox, Bowser, and Simon from Galeem's control.

A barrier of light prevents the Fighters from crossing a bridge to the east; freeing Pit from the Temple of Light dispels the barrier, allowing them to rescue Samus on the other side of the bridge.

Many optional Fighters and Spirits can be encountered in World of Light. At a large volcano to the north, the Fighters can find the Zebesian and Metroid Spirits, and rescue Zero Suit Samus. The Gravity Suit can be found near Charlie's caves. Diggernaut can be found near the train tracks. By repairing the Great Fox, the Fighters can fly into space and battle Trace on a volcanic planet.

In the Base, the Fighters must use various consoles to disable force fields and battle Galleom. If they use one of the incorrect consoles for the second field, they can encounter the Parasite Queen.

The Fighters can also rescue powerful Master Spirits, who run facilities to aid the Fighters. At a beachfront town, Sheldon's Place sells the Dark Suit, Mech, and Phazon Suit. In the western jungle, Beedle's Tent sells the X Parasite. At DK Island, Funky's Shack sells the Gunship.

By defeating Giga Bowser, Galleom, and Rathalos, the Fighters weaken Galeem's shield and are able to battle him. Unfortunately, by defeating Galeem, they allowed his darker counterpart Dharkon to take over, stealing Galeem's remaining Spirits and Fighters and opening the portal to the Dark Realm.

The Dark Realm

The Fighters' journey continues in the Dark Realm, a twisted world of ruin and chaos. Their goal is to travel to the Mysterious Dimension, Dracula's Castle, and Sacred Land to defeat Marx, Dracula, and Ganon, respectively. Along the way, more Fighters and Spirits can be battled and freed from Dharkon's control.

Omega Ridley can be fought in the Dark Realm, in the giant clockworks area near Dracula's Castle. On the way to the Sacred Land, the fighters must battle Kraid in a volcanic area; as a Master Spirit, Kraid's Dojo will teach Spirits the Tank Style.

The Mysterious Dimension requires Fighters to answer trivia questions about their respective series' lore by battling the correct Spirit. One question, asking which Spirit is a scientist, has Andross (Star Fox 64 3D), Gold Bone, and Adam Malkovich as possible answers; while Andross is the correct answer, Adam can be fought optionally.

Ridley is trapped in the catacombs of Dracula's Castle. He will only appear after defeating The Creature & Flea Man.

The Chozo Statue can be found in the Sacred Land, located in the area resembling Gerudo Desert.

After Marx, Dracula, and Ganon are defeated, Dharkon emerges from the center of the Dark Realm, allowing one of the Fighters to battle him.

The Final Battle

After the battle against Dharkon, Galeem and Dharkon proceed to directly battle one another. The two evil deities enter a standoff in The Final Battle, with their gathered armies of Fighters, Spirits, and Hands in a stalemate. The freed Fighters, including Samus, witness the ongoing struggle between light and dark.

To maintain the balance, the Fighters must defeat an equal number of light and dark Spirits, or else one side will overwhelm the other. Young Samus is one of Galeem's light Spirits, while Little Birdie and Mother Brain are among Dharkon's dark Spirits.

Dark Samus is one of Dharkon's remaining Fighters. Freeing her will allow the Fighters to battle a Crazy Hand, prompting Galeem to call in reinforcements including the real Master Hand.

Depending on the Fighters' choices, two "bad endings" can be unlocked:

• If the Fighters only battle Galeem, Dharkon will imprison Galeem, then spread darkness across the world. Mario passes out as everything fades to black, with only Dharkon's eye still visible.
• If the Fighters only battle Dharkon, Galeem will destroy Dharkon, then turn his attention towards the freed Fighters (including Samus) and repeat his actions in the beginning of the game, consuming the world in light once more.

To achieve the True Ending, the Fighters must maintain the balance between light and dark, allowing them to free the real Master Hand and Crazy Hand from their respective masters' control. Master Hand defeats fifty of both deities' Puppet Fighters (including Samus Puppet Fighters controlled by Galeem), clearing the way for the real Fighters to challenge both Galeem and Dharkon simultaneously.

In the final stage, three Fighters ascend a series of platforms while battling their way through more Puppet Fighters and avoiding Dharkon and Galeem's attempts to stop them. At the top, they battle revived versions of the World of Light bosses, and then ultimately confront Galeem and Dharkon themselves.

Once Galeem and Dharkon are both defeated, they collapse into the ocean as their armies disintegrated. The world is restored to normal and thousands of Spirits spiral upward as the credits roll. The player is then rewarded with spirits of Galeem and Dharkon.

Gameplay

In World of Light, players move their Fighter across the overworld map, which is populated by Spirits, Fighters, treasure chests, and various obstacles. The obstacles must be bypassed by using certain Spirits (e.g. using Lapras to cross a body of water) or by solving minor puzzles (e.g. firing cannons to make the ghosts disappear in Dracula's Castle).

The bulk of World of Light's gameplay is comprised of Spirit Battles, which pit the player against CPU opponents with additional battle conditions intended to emulate a particular character. Unlike the Spirit Board, Spirits are immediately unlocked upon winning the battle. These Spirits can then help the player power up their Fighters to make it easier to battle more Spirits.

In addition to unlocking the Spirit, beating each Spirit Battle gives extra rewards including Gold, Spirit Points, Skill Spheres, and Snacks. However, if the player's Spirits have a higher power level than the CPU's Spirit, then the rewards will be reduced. Skill Spheres can be used to unlock additional Skills to make battling easier.

Occasionally, the player must battle Fighters in order to unlock them. These are standard battles on Omega Forms of various stages without any additional conditions, although later Fighters have higher power levels than earlier Fighters. Only the Fighters unlocked in World of Light can be played in this mode; however, any Fighters unlocked in World of Light are also simultaneously unlocked in all other modes. Any purchased DLC Fighters are automatically unlocked once ten Fighters have been saved.

Upon beating World of Light, players have the option of starting a New Game+, which starts a new save file retaining all unlocked Fighters, Spirits, Skills, and Facilities.

Trivia

• Zero Suit Samus, Ridley, and Dark Samus are not witnessed during the introduction cutscene. It is not clear if they are among the assembled Fighters, or if they were consumed by Galeem afterward.
• While The Subspace Emissary treats Samus and Zero Suit Samus as a single character, they are unlocked separately in World of Light. Along with Spirits such as Young Samus and Omega Ridley, this suggests that different incarnations or forms of a character can coexist simultaneously in World of Light's canon.
• Among the Metroid Fighters, only Samus and Dark Samus are mandatory to achieve the True Ending, and only Samus is required to see any ending. Therefore, Samus is the only Metroid character to appear in The Final Battle cutscenes.
• The Hero's trailer is based upon World of Light, taking place in the Dark Realm. The Hero of Dragon Quest XI is briefly overwhelmed by a group of Dharkon's Puppet Fighters, including Ridley and Zero Suit Samus, although he is rescued by the Heroes of other Dragon Quest games. Both Puppet Fighters are then defeated in gameplay footage, with Ridley being caught in the Hero's final smash near the ending of the trailer.
  • On a similar note, Sephiroth's trailer is also based upon World of Light, taking place in the battlefield seen in the introduction cutscene. Samus is among the fighters struggling to fight against Galeem before Sephiroth intervenes.

Gallery

Samus and the other fighters facing Galeem's army.

Samus watching as Galeem absorbs his Master Hands.

Samus defending herself from Galeem's light beams.

Samus about to be consumed by Galeem's light beams.

Puppet fighters of Samus (far right) and the other characters.