Nintendo’s Smash Direct highlights insane amount of details and reveals

Did you catch yesterday’s Nintendo Direct? If you missed it, you also missed a nutty amount of new reveals for Super Smash Bros Ultimate.

SMASHing

If you thought you knew everything -heck, even most things- about the upcoming Smash on Switch, you were probably wrong. Yesterday’s Nintendo Direct presentation unveiled new fighters like Ken from Street Fighter, and lots more.

How much more? So much that I’m not even going to bother with a synopsis. Just scroll down and read through the insane amount of stuff that Nintendo is cramming into this game.

Let’s start with the new character reveals, Amiibo, and DLC. There’s some great stuff here, including a free character for those who pre-order now:

• HadoKEN!: Hailing from the Street Fighter series, Ryu’s rival Ken joins the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate roster as an echo fighter. This Ken is based on his appearance in Super Street Fighter II Turbo. While he has some similar moves to Ryu, Ken is a slightly faster fighter and has a different shaped Hadoken.
• Incineroar: The final fighter to join the battle in time for the game’s launch is Incineroar, the advanced evolution of Litten, who made his first appearance in the Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon games. Incineroar uses pro-wrestling moves, culminating in an epic Final Smash called Max Malicious Moonsault, based on his Z-Move from the Pokémon games.
• DLC: New fighters, stages and music will be coming to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate through the end of February 2020 in the form of paid DLC. For only $5.99, players can purchase one set, which includes a new playable fighter (not an Echo Fighter), a new stage and a variety of music tracks. By purchasing a Fighters Pass for $24.99, players will get access to five yet-to-be-announced sets, which is five new fighters, five stages and multiple music tracks, as they release. Players who purchase a Fighters Pass will also receive an in-game outfit based on Rex from Xenoblade Chronicles 2 starting Dec. 7. Pre-purchasing the digital version of the game with the Fighters Pass in Nintendo eShop or on Nintendo.com before 11:59 p.m. ET on Dec. 6 will earn My Nintendo members 425 bonus Gold Points, or double the usual amount. The bonus points will be issued on the game’s launch day.
• New amiibo: All the new fighters in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate – including DLC! – will get their own amiibo figures. This includes Ken, Incineroar and Piranha Plant, as well as the recently announced Simon Belmont and King K. Rool. The currently scheduled release timing is as follows, with details about future figures on the way:
  • Inkling, Ridley and Wolf – Dec. 7, 2018
  • King K. Rool, Ice Climbers and Piranha Plant – Feb. 15, 2019
  • Isabelle, Pichu, Ken, Young Link, Daisy – 2019
• Early Purchase Bonus: Piranha Plant takes root! The iconic enemy from the Super Mario series is coming to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate for early purchasers. Players can purchase the digital version of the game or register their physical game card on a Nintendo Switch device by Jan. 31, 2019, to gain access to this new fighter when it is available around February 2019 at no additional cost. Piranha Plant, together with a new stage and music tracks, will be available for purchase as DLC in the future. Fans can pre-purchase the game and secure the Piranha Plant reward starting today by visiting http://smashbros.nintendo.com/buy/.

Then there’s something entirely new for Smash, called “Spirits”

• Spirits: In the world of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, many video game characters lose their forms and become “spirits” that serve as a power-up of sorts for a player’s main playable fighter. There is a massive number of wildly different spirits, ranging from Chibi-Robo to Dr. Wily to Tails to Revolver Ocelot, with the giant list of characters going on and on. Players can equip primary and support spirits to power up or add additional abilities like speed or strength to their fighter during battles. Mixing and matching spirits will help players get the upper hand against certain opponents, adding quite a bit of strategy to battles. Equipping a spirit is similar to equipping a charm or accessory in an RPG. It’s a way for players to enjoy a massive amount of additional video game characters outside of selecting them as playable fighters.
• Spirit Battles: The main way to acquire spirits is to win Spirit Battles. After winning a Spirit Battle, players will have to complete a roulette challenge to acquire that spirit.
• Leveling Up Spirits: By battling with spirits by their side, players can level up spirits, giving them extra power and sometimes unlocking enhanced forms. The more leveled up and trained spirits are, the more powerful and useful they are.
• Spirit Combinations: With an insane amount of spirits in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, thousands of combinations can be formed. Players will be constantly surprised and excited by all the spirits that pop up in the game. Because players might collect an abundance of spirits, the game will offer recommendations for primary and support spirits, making the selection process a little bit easier.

There’s also a new sorta-campaign, called Spirit Mode. Basically, all the Smashers are… dead

• Adventure Mode: World of Light: There may not be a single-player adventure quite like Adventure Mode: Subspace Emissary from Super Smash Bros. Brawl, but something has caused the numerous video game characters in the game to lose their bodies and transform into spirits. While today’s Nintendo Direct video provides some sneak peeks, Masahiro Sakurai, the director of the Super Smash Bros. series, wants to keep parts of this new adventure mode secret until the game launches…

For those looking for returning options, you should be happy. Smash Bros Ultimate have much of what’s come before. That’s not to say that there aren’t new options however.

• Assist Trophies: In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, assist trophies do exactly what their name suggests – they assist players in battle! Each assist trophy is based on a recognizable video game character and unleashes a variety of different powers, both offensive and defensive. The total number of assist trophies in the game is 59, representing characters like Guile from the Street Fighter series, Isaac from the Golden Sun RPGs, the Fly Swatter from Mario Paint and Spring Man from ARMS.
• Mii Fighters: When playing as a Mii Fighter, players can customize their outfits and voice options. Some new Mii Fighter outfits have also been added to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
• Wireless and Online Play: Super Smash Bros. Ultimate lets players battle together with friends and family members via local wireless* or online**. “For Fun” and “For Glory,” which existed in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS, are no longer options. Instead, matchmaking is based on three factors: Preferred Rules, which lets players choose their rules for battle and pair up with others with similar preferences, Global Smash Power, an online leaderboard that pits players against others with a similar score, and Proximity, players who are close to each other geographically.
• Two-Player Co-op: Two fighters are better than one! When playing Super Smash Bros. Ultimate online, two players can team up on one Nintendo Switch system online and take on other teams with the same setup.
• Smartphone Features: With the Nintendo Switch Online app*** on smartphones, players can voice chat with others in battle arenas. A mobile service called Smash World is also being developed. Instead of focusing on stats, the new service allows players to post and watch videos, as well as other fun features. More details about the service will be revealed in the future.
• Elite Smash: Once a player’s Global Smash Power is high enough, she or he will be invited to compete in elite in-game battles. These VIP matches are for the best of the best and offer some serious competition.
• Smash Tag: Everyone who competes online will need to create a unique Smash Tag. By beating a fellow fighter, players will receive their Smash Tag to display on their profile. Collecting a bunch of Smash Tags is a great way to show off high-level Super Smash Bros. Ultimate accomplishments.
• Short Messages: Players can select pre-determined short messages, assign them to the control pad and send them to other players before and after battles. The game offers a wide selection of varied preset messages.
• Spectator Mode: As in previous games, players can watch other players battle in Spectator Mode. Analyzing the battles of other players can be helpful in learning new strategies and techniques.
• Background Matchmaking: Players can play other modes while they search for an online battle. Not every mode will be available while waiting, but it’s a great way for players to keep occupied between online battles.
• Battle Arenas: Players can create custom battle arenas when playing online that allow them to compete against other players in a more intimate setting. In a battle arena, there are options to join a battle, wait in line or spectate.
• Other Features: There is a wide variety of other modes and settings in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, including:
  • Help – Living in the easy-to-access dashboard, Help mode offers in-game guides and tips.
  • Mob Smash – This mode lets players battle an army of fighters on different stages. Players can even select the music tracks associated with a given stage that they want to listen to while battling.
  • Replay – Players can save replays of their battles and even create shareable videos from them.
  • Tips – This menu offers quick tips and tricks that players will see on loading screens. When viewing, the tips can be sorted by category or fighter.
  • Challenges – By completing specific challenges, players earn in-game rewards. In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, the challenges are arranged to look like a comic book.
  • Battle Records – The Records menu tracks battle history, with the option to view battle data separately for online and offline play.
  • Shop – Players can redeem in-game currency for music tracks, spirits and a variety of different items.
  • Language Support – Super Smash Bros. Ultimate supports 11 different languages. Applicable fighter voices and names are specific to whatever language is selected.
  • Custom Balance – When battling against other players on the same system, players can adjust the strength of their fighters. This completely optional feature comes in handy if players want to adjust strength to ensure a fair fight.

And finally, if you’d like to go hands-on with Smash before you pick it up, it’ll be playable via a few special events

Early Hands-On Events: Fans can check the game’s site for information about a variety of upcoming hands-on events. At these special events, players will have the chance to choose from all 74 fighters.