New Fighters, New Modes Revealed for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

The Nintendo Direct this morning was solely focused on Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, and director Masahiro Sakurai gave us so much to look forward to when the game finally releases later this year. It’s one of the biggest cross-overs in gaming, and during the Direct, Sakurai showed off the many ways it’s also the most ambitious, with over 100 stages and over 800 music tracks.

During the event, Nintendo also took the time to introduce three new echo fighters to the large roster: Chrom from Fire Emblem Awakening, Dark Samus from Metroid, and vampire hunter, Richter Belmont.

These characters have been highly requested, according to Nintendo, and Sakurai touched on how their movements and skills have been adapted from previous characters, but how they are still slightly different than the fighters they are based on. Chrom, for example, is a reflection of Robin; Dark Samus is one of Samus; and Richter’s movements reflect those of Simon Belmont.

Speaking of Simon, Dracula’s Castle will be his personal level in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, and he will be accompanied by his signature item, the Holy Whip, which he can move freely. As a final surprise before the Direct ended, it was revealed that Donkey Kong’s King K. Rool would also be joining the roster of fighters.

In addition to these new characters on the roster, the Direct also went into detail about new modes that will be available for the upcoming game:

• Sudden Death Mode – Camera will steadily zoom in for this mode, and health bar will already put you at a disadvantage. 
• Tourney Mode – Choose a certain number of players and CPU participants. There will be up to 32 players who can join the tournament at once. 
• Training Mode – This features an exclusive stage (pictured above) that will help hone your skills for battle. While the blue line displays launch distance, the red line predicts trajectory at 0% damage. 
• Single Player Mode – This will return in the form of classic mode.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate will be available for the Nintendo Switch on December 7, 2018.