The rumours about the latest Nintendo Direct all turned out to be false, but theres plenty of new info on the Switchs big Christmas game.
It turns out Nintendo is better at keeping secrets that it seemed, with the rumours about Super Smash Bros. Ultimates final line-up and the Classic Mini N64 proving to be wrong.
In the end only two new characters were announced for the new game, bringing the total number of fighters to 74.
Ken from Street Fighter is an echo fighter of Ryu, while Incineroar from Pokémon Sun/Moon is a brand-new character with a lot of wrestling moves.
A third character was also announced in the form of a Piranha Planet (who transforms into Petey Piranha as his Final Smash) but hes a pre-order bonus and wont be available until a few months after the games release.
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Theres still hope for some fan favourites to appear in the game though as Nintendo announced that they will shortly begin work on new (i.e. not echo fighters) characters to be released as paid-for DLC.
At least five fighters will be added to the game, with each one available together with a new stage and new music for £5.39.
Alternatively, you can buy the Fighters Pass for £22.49 now and get an exclusive Mii Fighter costume of Rex from Xenoblade Chronicles 2.
There was a possible hint as to what the new characters would be, as director Masahiro Sakurai spoke about how there were a number of games, such as Xenoblade Chronicles 2, that they couldnt add playable characters for because the games didnt exist when they started development.
One of the major revelations from the Direct was that there are no trophies in the game, unlike all the previous Smash Bros.
Instead there are collectable objects called spirits, with the main story mode revolving around all the Nintendo characters (except apparently Kirby) becoming merely disembodied souls.
To rescue them you have to win special fights that are themed around the character in question. So, for example, three Sonic the Hedgehogs standing in for the Able sisters from Animal Crossing.
The spirits seem to be represented in-game as mostly 2D artwork but they all have special buffs and abilities that they can confer to your chosen fighter. You pick a main spirt and then they can have three additional spirits themselves – allowing a seemingly huge amount of customisation.
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Spirits have a rock, paper, scissors relationship with each other and can be levelled up, evolve into other forms, or combined to form an entirely new spirit – a bit like Shin Megami Tensei.
It all seems extremely complicated, although as ever Smash Bros. offers every conceivable option to turn off features youre not interested in.
In terms of the single-player mode its called World of Light, has its own sappy pop song, and is apparently nothing like Subspace Emissary.
Instead it uses an overhead map and is split up into what looks like lots of different battles with different conditions and custom enemies; so more like old school SoulCalibur.
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Some fans will still be upset the character reveals didnt end on a more shocking note, but the Direct did confirm there will be 59 assist trophies in the game, including Yuri Kozukata (Project Zero: Maiden Of Black Water), Isaac (Golden Sun), Black Knight (Fire Emblem: Path Of Radiance), Thwomp (Mario), Spring Man (ARMS), Wily Capsule (Mega Man 7), Flies & Hand (Mario Paint), Tiki (Fire Emblem: Awakening), Vincent (Art Academy), Guile (Street Fighter), and Akira (Virtua Fighter)
There are some wonderfully obscure ones there, plus Mii Fighter costume sets for the Yiga Clan from Zelda: Breath Of The Wild, Splatoon 2, Ribbon Girl from ARMS, Chibi-Robo, Ray Mk III from Custom Robo, and the Nintendo Labo Robot Kit Toy-Con.
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Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is due for release on December 7, only for Nintendo Switch.
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