ChronoBound
Smash Hero
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*A foreword warning. This entire thread is 21,000 words altogether. Please read each essay or section when you have the time to do (if you even have the time). I put a lot of time and effort into it, so I understand if it takes time and effort to get through even parts of it.
Everyone is Here – The Impossible Made Possible: A Comprehensive Analysis of the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Roster
Here is a look and analysis at every single newcomer for Ultimate:
Overall Assessment and Analysis:
That concludes my proper analysis of the Ultimate roster. However, I have also written several other essays in relation to it.
Other essays:
Everyone is Here – The Impossible Made Possible: A Comprehensive Analysis of the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Roster
For the previous two Smash Bros. games (Smash 4 and Brawl), we had to wait over six years for the game’s release to happen. For Ultimate, its first newcomer was confirmed only two years after the end of Smash 4’s DLC. Ultimate also ended up being released during the same year as its announcement (compare that to Smash 4 where the game was first announced in 2011, but not shown until 2013, and not released until the end of 2014).
Much of the meta behind Ultimate and Ultimate’s roster is the fact that this game broke up a lot of the conventional norms for what speculators thought was the “norm” for the next game.
Who would have guessed that not only every single character from Smash 4 would return (Melee had been the only other game to bring back every veteran, and that was when there were only 12 veterans), but that every single veteran EVER would return including the likes of Pichu and Young Link?
Who would have guessed that Ridley would have made it in after Sakurai gave him one of the hardest deconfirmations back in November 2014 (where he flat out said Ridley was too big to be made into a fighter)?
Who would have guessed they would have gone back to Chrom after Sakurai more or less said the character was too uninteresting and was even mocked in official Smash material (the Robin/Lucina unveil trailer and the Palutena’s guidance for Robin)?
Who would have guessed that Metroid would have been the first franchise out of Metroid, Donkey Kong, Kirby, and Star Fox to make it to four playable characters when Ridley had a hard de-confirmation by Sakurai and Dark Samus herself made her last appearance in her own series back in 2007 and had less requests than the fourth possible characters for those other previously mentioned franchises (Dixie Kong, Bandana Dee, and Krystal)?
Who would have guessed that not only Castlevania would gain a playable character, but it would have TWO playable characters, and a massive selection of content (over 30 songs, an Assist Trophy, an item, and a stage that has a massive selection of cameos by Castlevania bosses)? Most in the speculation community were talking up the likes of Rayman, Shovel Knight, and Shantae over this historic and legendary franchise.
Ultimate has had the least amount of newcomers for ANY Smash Bros. game. (11). Smash 64 had 12 characters added, Melee added 14, Brawl added 18, and Smash 4 added 21 (17 on the base roster, plus another four newcomers through DLC). Yet, among veteran speculators there is for once a sense of satisfaction and not any bitterness about what was NOT included. Why is this?
A large reason for this is due to, in Sakurai’s own words, “the impossible being made possible”.
Much of the meta behind Ultimate and Ultimate’s roster is the fact that this game broke up a lot of the conventional norms for what speculators thought was the “norm” for the next game.
Who would have guessed that not only every single character from Smash 4 would return (Melee had been the only other game to bring back every veteran, and that was when there were only 12 veterans), but that every single veteran EVER would return including the likes of Pichu and Young Link?
Who would have guessed that Ridley would have made it in after Sakurai gave him one of the hardest deconfirmations back in November 2014 (where he flat out said Ridley was too big to be made into a fighter)?
Who would have guessed they would have gone back to Chrom after Sakurai more or less said the character was too uninteresting and was even mocked in official Smash material (the Robin/Lucina unveil trailer and the Palutena’s guidance for Robin)?
Who would have guessed that Metroid would have been the first franchise out of Metroid, Donkey Kong, Kirby, and Star Fox to make it to four playable characters when Ridley had a hard de-confirmation by Sakurai and Dark Samus herself made her last appearance in her own series back in 2007 and had less requests than the fourth possible characters for those other previously mentioned franchises (Dixie Kong, Bandana Dee, and Krystal)?
Who would have guessed that not only Castlevania would gain a playable character, but it would have TWO playable characters, and a massive selection of content (over 30 songs, an Assist Trophy, an item, and a stage that has a massive selection of cameos by Castlevania bosses)? Most in the speculation community were talking up the likes of Rayman, Shovel Knight, and Shantae over this historic and legendary franchise.
Ultimate has had the least amount of newcomers for ANY Smash Bros. game. (11). Smash 64 had 12 characters added, Melee added 14, Brawl added 18, and Smash 4 added 21 (17 on the base roster, plus another four newcomers through DLC). Yet, among veteran speculators there is for once a sense of satisfaction and not any bitterness about what was NOT included. Why is this?
A large reason for this is due to, in Sakurai’s own words, “the impossible being made possible”.
Focus of the Roster and Background of Newcomers:
The Ultimate roster had four major motifs running through it:
1. If you were ever a veteran in Smash Bros. you are back.
2. Characters with an incredibly important legacy within their own franchises or to Nintendo as a whole (Ridley, K. Rool, Simon Belmont).
3. Characters that represented characters or software that became extremely prominent after Smash 4’s release (Inkling, Isabelle, and Incineroar, the three I’s).
4. Characters that are both popular and important within their own franchises, but were too similar to make it in as their own characters (the echoes – Daisy, Richter, Chrom, Dark Samus, Ken).
Despite there only being 11 newcomers for Ultimate, and nearly half of them being the cloniest type of clone fighters (echoes), this roster is being met with less vitriol and bitterness than the ones for Melee, Brawl, and Smash 4.
The biggest point I believe for this is the fact that no veterans were cut. With both Brawl and Smash 4, much of the anger was directed over who got left behind. After Brawl’s release, Mewtwo and Roy ended up being in the Top 10 most wanted characters for Smash 4 (Mewtwo outright in the Top 3). Much of the anger for Smash 4’s roster was again with cuts (Lucas, Wolf, Ice Climbers, and Snake to be specific). Wolf, Ice Climbers, and Snake ended up dominating the ballot and became among the Top 10 most wanted newcomers for the next installment.
With Ultimate, Sakurai made the impossible possible, he brought back every single veteran. He made a cryptic comment saying that “we believe this is what the fans wanted”. Sakurai was likely aware much of the anger about Brawl and Smash 4 was about who was left behind as opposed to who did not make it in. I would not be surprised if even Pichu performed well on the ballot. The overwhelming performance for Wolf, Snake, and Ice Climbers on the ballot (as well as how overwhelmingly requested Mewtwo and Roy were during pre-Smash 4) were likely one of the main factors for why Sakurai decided against cuts for this time around.
With no one being left behind (indeed with everyone having been brought back), much of the anxiety that historically plagued the speculation scene since 2006 (whom would be cut), did not exist for the remainder of this speculation round since June. No one had to argue who had to be cut to make way for so-and-so’s character of choice. Everyone is here! That has a very nice ring to it.
The elimination of cuts has thus eliminated much of the historical animosity to the final roster (at least for what was seen with Brawl and Smash 4).
However, what about newcomers? There were only 11 of them this time, and of those 11, nearly half are even more cloney than Melee’s six clones were. The case for Ultimate very well could be for quality over quantity. Ridley and K. Rool were by far the biggest historical titans left not yet playable, Simon Belmont represented the one third-party franchise with the most history with Nintendo after Mega Man, and both Inkling and Isabelle were the two biggest Nintendo characters created during the 2010’s. Also, unlike several of Melee’s clones, the five echoes for Ultimate were all characters whom were popular within their own franchises.
There is also this to keep in mind. Brawl, Smash 4, and Ultimate all added 18 additional characters over the previous game. This is a very curious coincidence, but it shows that in terms of character additions, Ultimate not only is on par with previous games to the franchise, but also vastly exceeds it (since unlike Brawl and Smash 4, it kept all of Smash 4’s veterans).
Brawl:
1, Meta Knight
2. Pit
3. Zero Suit Samus
4. Wario
5. Snake
6. Ike
7. Squirtle
8. Ivysaur
9. Charizard
10. Diddy Kong
11. Lucas
12. Sonic
13. King Dedede
14. Olimar
15. Lucario
16. ROB
17. Toon Link
18. Wolf
Smash 4 (base roster):
1. Villager
2. Mega Man
3. Wii Fit Trainer
4. Rosalina & Luma
5. Little Mac
6. Greninja
7. Mii Brawler
8. Mii Swordfighter
9. Mii Gunner
10. Palutena
11. Pac-Man
12. Robin
13. Shulk
14. Bowser Jr.
15. Duck Hunt
16. Lucina
17. Dark Pit
18. Dr. Mario
Now with Ultimate:
1, Inkling
2. Ridley
3. Simon Belmont
4. King K. Rool
5. Isabelle
6. Incineroar
7. Daisy
8. Richter Belmont
9. Chrom
10. Dark Samus
11. Ken
12. Ice Climbers
13. Pichu
14. Young Link
15. Snake
16. Squirtle
17. Ivysaur
18. Wolf
It is a pretty spooky coincidence, but it shows that Ultimate is not poor in terms of character additions to the roster and is on par with what was added for both Brawl and Smash 4, as well as the fact that unlike those two titles, Ultimate kept all of the veterans from the previous title.
Unlike Smash 4, where only a few of the newcomers had a large amount of requests during the previous speculation period (Mega Man, Little Mac, Bowser Jr., and Villager), many of Ultimate’s newcomers were characters whom were popularly requested in previous epochs.
Ridley and K. Rool were absolute titans in terms of requests, especially on the Western side of things during pre-Smash 4 (and Ridley during pre-Brawl and even pre-Melee, K. Rool became a massively requested character after Diddy Kong’s confirmation in August 2007).
Dark Samus was similarly popularly requested during pre-Brawl (and apparently according to Sakurai she also did very well on the Western ballot), and Chrom was popularly requested during pre-Smash 4 (and as with Dark Samus, according to Sakurai he did very well on the ballot among Japanese fans). Daisy has always been a popular character.
The only character that you could say did not get in at all due to popularity this time around is probably Incineroar. Simon Belmont is the most recognizable and popular of the Belmont clan, and Richter is the next most popular after him (due to Symphony of the Night, and the re-releases/remixes of Rondo of Blood).
Indeed, the whole motif of Ultimate was a celebration of the entire Smash Bros. series up until this point. There are only four new stages for Ultimate, by far the least amount of the entire franchise (though the game has a whopping 103 stages altogether). Ridley and K. Rool were both characters who have been very heavily requested for over ten years, and it was fitting that both Chrom and Dark Samus were revealed together (both characters who seemed to have missed their chance forever when they failed to get into Smash 4 and Brawl respectively).
1. If you were ever a veteran in Smash Bros. you are back.
2. Characters with an incredibly important legacy within their own franchises or to Nintendo as a whole (Ridley, K. Rool, Simon Belmont).
3. Characters that represented characters or software that became extremely prominent after Smash 4’s release (Inkling, Isabelle, and Incineroar, the three I’s).
4. Characters that are both popular and important within their own franchises, but were too similar to make it in as their own characters (the echoes – Daisy, Richter, Chrom, Dark Samus, Ken).
Despite there only being 11 newcomers for Ultimate, and nearly half of them being the cloniest type of clone fighters (echoes), this roster is being met with less vitriol and bitterness than the ones for Melee, Brawl, and Smash 4.
The biggest point I believe for this is the fact that no veterans were cut. With both Brawl and Smash 4, much of the anger was directed over who got left behind. After Brawl’s release, Mewtwo and Roy ended up being in the Top 10 most wanted characters for Smash 4 (Mewtwo outright in the Top 3). Much of the anger for Smash 4’s roster was again with cuts (Lucas, Wolf, Ice Climbers, and Snake to be specific). Wolf, Ice Climbers, and Snake ended up dominating the ballot and became among the Top 10 most wanted newcomers for the next installment.
With Ultimate, Sakurai made the impossible possible, he brought back every single veteran. He made a cryptic comment saying that “we believe this is what the fans wanted”. Sakurai was likely aware much of the anger about Brawl and Smash 4 was about who was left behind as opposed to who did not make it in. I would not be surprised if even Pichu performed well on the ballot. The overwhelming performance for Wolf, Snake, and Ice Climbers on the ballot (as well as how overwhelmingly requested Mewtwo and Roy were during pre-Smash 4) were likely one of the main factors for why Sakurai decided against cuts for this time around.
With no one being left behind (indeed with everyone having been brought back), much of the anxiety that historically plagued the speculation scene since 2006 (whom would be cut), did not exist for the remainder of this speculation round since June. No one had to argue who had to be cut to make way for so-and-so’s character of choice. Everyone is here! That has a very nice ring to it.
The elimination of cuts has thus eliminated much of the historical animosity to the final roster (at least for what was seen with Brawl and Smash 4).
However, what about newcomers? There were only 11 of them this time, and of those 11, nearly half are even more cloney than Melee’s six clones were. The case for Ultimate very well could be for quality over quantity. Ridley and K. Rool were by far the biggest historical titans left not yet playable, Simon Belmont represented the one third-party franchise with the most history with Nintendo after Mega Man, and both Inkling and Isabelle were the two biggest Nintendo characters created during the 2010’s. Also, unlike several of Melee’s clones, the five echoes for Ultimate were all characters whom were popular within their own franchises.
There is also this to keep in mind. Brawl, Smash 4, and Ultimate all added 18 additional characters over the previous game. This is a very curious coincidence, but it shows that in terms of character additions, Ultimate not only is on par with previous games to the franchise, but also vastly exceeds it (since unlike Brawl and Smash 4, it kept all of Smash 4’s veterans).
Brawl:
1, Meta Knight
2. Pit
3. Zero Suit Samus
4. Wario
5. Snake
6. Ike
7. Squirtle
8. Ivysaur
9. Charizard
10. Diddy Kong
11. Lucas
12. Sonic
13. King Dedede
14. Olimar
15. Lucario
16. ROB
17. Toon Link
18. Wolf
Smash 4 (base roster):
1. Villager
2. Mega Man
3. Wii Fit Trainer
4. Rosalina & Luma
5. Little Mac
6. Greninja
7. Mii Brawler
8. Mii Swordfighter
9. Mii Gunner
10. Palutena
11. Pac-Man
12. Robin
13. Shulk
14. Bowser Jr.
15. Duck Hunt
16. Lucina
17. Dark Pit
18. Dr. Mario
Now with Ultimate:
1, Inkling
2. Ridley
3. Simon Belmont
4. King K. Rool
5. Isabelle
6. Incineroar
7. Daisy
8. Richter Belmont
9. Chrom
10. Dark Samus
11. Ken
12. Ice Climbers
13. Pichu
14. Young Link
15. Snake
16. Squirtle
17. Ivysaur
18. Wolf
It is a pretty spooky coincidence, but it shows that Ultimate is not poor in terms of character additions to the roster and is on par with what was added for both Brawl and Smash 4, as well as the fact that unlike those two titles, Ultimate kept all of the veterans from the previous title.
Unlike Smash 4, where only a few of the newcomers had a large amount of requests during the previous speculation period (Mega Man, Little Mac, Bowser Jr., and Villager), many of Ultimate’s newcomers were characters whom were popularly requested in previous epochs.
Ridley and K. Rool were absolute titans in terms of requests, especially on the Western side of things during pre-Smash 4 (and Ridley during pre-Brawl and even pre-Melee, K. Rool became a massively requested character after Diddy Kong’s confirmation in August 2007).
Dark Samus was similarly popularly requested during pre-Brawl (and apparently according to Sakurai she also did very well on the Western ballot), and Chrom was popularly requested during pre-Smash 4 (and as with Dark Samus, according to Sakurai he did very well on the ballot among Japanese fans). Daisy has always been a popular character.
The only character that you could say did not get in at all due to popularity this time around is probably Incineroar. Simon Belmont is the most recognizable and popular of the Belmont clan, and Richter is the next most popular after him (due to Symphony of the Night, and the re-releases/remixes of Rondo of Blood).
Indeed, the whole motif of Ultimate was a celebration of the entire Smash Bros. series up until this point. There are only four new stages for Ultimate, by far the least amount of the entire franchise (though the game has a whopping 103 stages altogether). Ridley and K. Rool were both characters who have been very heavily requested for over ten years, and it was fitting that both Chrom and Dark Samus were revealed together (both characters who seemed to have missed their chance forever when they failed to get into Smash 4 and Brawl respectively).
Here is a look and analysis at every single newcomer for Ultimate:
Inkling:
Splatoon is by far the biggest franchise Nintendo has introduced during this decade. It is very telling that the Inkling is the not only the only newcomer for Ultimate featured on the box art to the game, but also way out in front alongside legends like Mario and Link. The Inkling since her introduction had been among the most wanted newcomers for the next installment of Smash Bros., and was even considered to be among the top contenders for Smash 4 DLC due to the strong ballot performance. Splatoon 2 has outsold every single installment to the Smash Bros. series in Japan, and in terms of a home console game, the only series that has had higher sales than it, is the Super Mario series. Inkling was among “the titans” that Ultimate introduced among its select few newcomers, and arguably the most popular character Nintendo has created during the 2010’s.
Ridley:
Ridley is a very old character (he is actually the oldest newcomer on the base roster, introduced all the way back in August 1986, beating Simon Belmont by a month). He has been a mainstay of the Metroid franchise to the point where he is the next most re-occurring character to the franchise aside from Samus and the titular creatures themselves, and is the arch-nemesis to Samus in general.
He is also by far the most popular character to the Metroid franchise after Samus, and has been a very popularly requested character for Smash Bros. since 2001 (when he was shown fighting Samus during the E3 2001 Melee unveil trailer). Ridley has likely been in the Top 3 most wanted newcomers for Smash Bros. among the Western fanbase since at the very least 2006, and has been in the Top 10 since 2001. Ridley has had more consistent appearances in the Metroid franchise than even Ganon/Ganondorf has had in the The Legend of Zelda series.
Many (including myself) thought Ridley would never make it in as a playable character due to Sakurai outright saying the character was too big to be made into a fighter back during an interview in November 2014 (which means Sakurai changed his mind only a year later). Ridley as a character, could very well have been the most important character to their own franchise (a veteran franchise already in Smash Bros.) not yet made playable. He had been prominent since the very beginning and made an appearance in nearly every installment. Next to the Inkling, he might very well be the next most legendary Nintendo newcomer on the roster.
Simon Belmont:
As with Ridley, this is a very old character, with his first appearance being made in September 1986. Castlevania as a franchise has very deep roots with Nintendo platforms, and some of the most popular and highly acclaimed games on Nintendo platforms have been Castlevania titles even going into the 2000s (with the GBA and DS). Castlevania even though it has had many popular and prominent games on non-Nintendo platforms, is among the few third party franchises that is still seen as synonymous with Nintendo (the other that has had this phenomenon is Mega Man).
The Castlevania games typically have had a whip wielding member of the Belmont clan as their main protagonist (or unlockable after beating the game as in many of the Metroidvania titles). Of all these characters, Simon Belmont still remains the most popular and recognizable character. Super Castlevania IV is still considered a masterpiece nearly 30 years later, and stars Simon Belmont as the protagonist. The Castlevania games included on the NES Classic Edition and SNES Classic Edition all have Simon Belmont as the protagonist.
Simon Belmont alongside Inkling and Ridley, is a titan. He might very well have been the most important character from a Japanese-developed third-party franchise not yet included as a playable character, and certainly the only one left with a rich and important legacy with Nintendo platforms (aside from Bomberman). He carries a massive weight with him to the Ultimate roster in terms of starpower.
King K. Rool:
King K. Rool was a character introduced in 1994, 20 years before Inkling, but eight years after both Ridley and Simon Belmont. In the rebooted Donkey Kong universe by Rare, K. Rool was the leader of the Kremlings whom were the main adversaries of the Kong clan. K. Rool was the final boss of all of the Rare developed DK titles (aside from the spinoff Diddy Kong Racing), and was considered the arch-nemesis for all of the Kongs in general.
However, after 1999, K. Rool faced an uncertain future. Rare was bought out by Microsoft and Nintendo themselves did not know what direction to take the DK series into. K. Rool more or less went on a five year hiatus from the DK series (although he had a minor cameo or two in the Donkey Konga games) until the reins to the series were handed off to Paon. Paon deserves credit for helping to re-establish K. Rool as the Kongs’ arch-nemesis in the post-Rare era, and they made three DK titles from 2005 to 2007 with K. Rool as the villain.
However, after Donkey Kong Barrel Blast in 2007, K. Rool was absent from the DK series, only making an appearance in Mario Super Sluggers a year later (2008) with absolutely nothing afterward in terms of an actual appearance (outside of Smash Bros.). K. Rool has been a very popularly requested character for Smash Bros. since Diddy Kong’s confirmation in August 2007. K. Rool was considered an obvious addition since he was the villain to the popular DK series. However, despite being in the Top 3 most wanted newcomers consistently among Western Smash Bros. fans, he still failed to make it into Smash 4. This was very likely due to the fact that he did not make an appearance in the two most important Donkey Kong games since Donkey Kong 64, Returns and Tropical Freeze.
K. Rool happening in Ultimate, was likely due to his very strong ballot performance. If it had not been for the existence of the ballot, K. Rool probably would not have been a newcomer in Ultimate. After Ridley, K. Rool was the next most important villain to a veteran franchise not yet to be included in Smash Bros. He was not around for many prominent installments to the franchise (namely Jungle Beat, Returns, Tropical Freeze, and he was a very minor character in the Donkey Konga sub-series), but he is by far most popular antagonist to the series after the end of the original arcade trilogy. He alongside the likes of Inkling, Ridley, and Simon Belmont was among the “titans” or “big guys” that Ultimate brought on board as among its scant few non-echo newcomers. After K. Rool’s confirmation, there has been no other character that has filled in the void in terms of requests and passion (I mean truly got up to where K. Rool’s level was).
Isabelle:
Isabelle was a bit of a slowburn type of character. Animal Crossing was already a very popular franchise (Wild Wold had sold over ten million copies), however, the 3DS as a console was proving to be no DS. Isabelle was introduced as a critically important character in New Leaf, and many were immediately endeared to her. However, it was only in the years afterward that her legacy and popularity really began to snowball. Isabelle did end up making an appearance as an Assist Trophy and a Mii costume in Smash 4 though. Isabelle, alongside the likes of Link, Villager (Boy and Girl), and Inkling (Boy and Girl) were the only characters to be playable in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe outside of the extended Mario universe. Isabelle was heavily featured in merchandise for Animal Crossing in the years after Smash 4, to the point where to many she has usurped the Villager as the face to the franchise. There is no question that Isabelle is the next biggest Nintendo character that was introduced during the 2010’s after the Inklings. She was the next biggest “fresh face” that they could have included outside of the Inklings. She is the fifth character that completes Ultimate’s “titans”.
Incineroar:
Incineroar is not only an odd man out compared to the rest of the unique newcomers (whom are all all-stars), but also compared to all of the echo newcomers as well (whom are very popular characters in relation to their own franchises). Incineroar is the Jigglypuff for a new age. Sure Jigglypuff was a popular Pokemon during Smash 64’s time in Japan, but she certainly was not more popular than Mewtwo, Charizard, and Meowth at the time.
Pokemon Sun/Moon itself was not a revolutionary title for the franchise, and in many cases was more or less the final big hurrah for the 3DS like Black/White was for the DS. Compared to other final evolutions for Sun/Moon, Decidueye was by far the favorite among dedicated (read “chatting”) Smash Bros. fans for a newcomer for the next game. There are even a few polls that show that Primarina might be the most popular final evolution outside of Smash Bros. fans.
However, what Incineroar brings to Smash Bros. is something curiously absent for a fighting game that has over 70 playable characters, a pro-wrestler. Incineroar bringing this archetype to Smash Bros. after five games vindicates his inclusion among the six non-echo newcomers. I feel over time people will warm up to Incineroar for this very reason. There is a lot that can be done with a wrestling moveset in Smash Bros., and I feel this is the primary reason as to why Sakurai went with Incineroar over the other possible choices for a Sun/Moon representative.
As to those wondering why Sun/Moon even got a playable character, the fact is that Sakurai has mentioned that the Pokemon Company has a lot of clout over Pokemon content in Smash Bros. games. The inclusion of Incineroar in such a limited newcomer scenario just shows how much clout they truly have.
Daisy:
Ever since she was re-introduced in Mario Tennis back in 2000, Daisy has been a popular Mario character. She has had a nearly perfect attendance record in Mario spinoff titles, and even made her first playable role in a Mario platformer, Super Mario Run. However, even during the pre-Melee days, the consensus always was that Daisy would only be a Peach clone.
Due to the Smash Bros. fanbase souring on clones after the release of Melee, it greatly dampered the amount of requests Daisy would receive due to the expectation that she was such an obvious clone. However, she still has received a large amount of requests (though not to the extent that the likes of Bowser Jr., Toad, Paper Mario, Waluigi, Geno, and Rosalina had).
It would be very interesting to know just how strong her performance on the ballot was, especially considering she was the first echo fighter that was shown off. Daisy, while not on par with the “five titans”, is definitely a very popular and recognizable character, and does bring star power to the roster. She in many ways represents the Mario spinoffs (being the only other character aside from Waluigi that seems relegated to them).
Richter Belmont:
Richter was the main protagonist of Castlevania Rondo of Blood, a game considered to be the crown jewel of the entire Turbografx library (for both formats). Rondo of Blood has been remade and remixed as Castlevania Dracula X for the SNES and Castlevania Dracula X Chronicles for the PSP.
It truly surprises me that many did not know who the heck Richter was considered that Symphony of the Night might very well be the most popular game in the series, and Richter’s “Die monster, you don’t belong in this world” line and the following exchange is among the most legendary (or infamous) lines of gaming dialog ever. Who did they think spoke those lines and the Belmont of Symphony of the Night was?
The fact is though, after Simon Belmont, Richter Belmont is both the most popular and recognizable Belmont (or whip wielding protagonist in general). He even made a playable appearance in more recent titles to the series such as Portrait of Ruin. The only other Castlevania protagonist that is more popular than Richter aside from Simon, is Alucard (the main protagonist for Symphony of the Night).
Some would argue that Sonic represents the Sega brand of consoles, while Snake (and Cloud) represents the PlayStation line of consoles. Richter, might very well represent the PC-Engine/Turbografx. There is no other title that has the prestige and praise on those consoles as Rondo of Blood has. For other characters that are closely tied to the platform, Bonk more or less died out as a character after 1995 (Super Bonk 2 was the final game in the series until the budget new installment for the GameCube/PS2 was made). The other choice would be Bomberman, whom unfortunately had his company bought out by Konami in 2012 and had no new games for five years (a very long time for Bomberman) until the release of Super Bomberman R for the Nintendo Switch, which handicapped his consideration for Ultimate’s roster. Richter Belmont might very well be a game icon in his own right helping serve to represent a forgotten console competitor (and a very underrated one at that), and among Castlevania fans is a critical and popular character to the series.
Chrom:
Chrom is interesting to analyze. He is arguably the most important of the three main protagonists to Fire Emblem Awakening (a game released in 2012 in Japan), yet was the only one not to be made into a playable character in Smash 4. Fire Emblem Awakening was the game that returned popularity to Fire Emblem not seen since the mid 1990’s in Japan, and made the franchise “mainstream” outside of Japan.
However, the fact is, as Sakurai said, Chrom simply was not “interesting”. The best most Chrom fans could come up with to sell Chrom was that he would be an intermediary between Marth and Ike in terms of speed and power, something Sakurai felt was the possible direction for Chrom as well (which he dismissed as not being “interesting”).
Chrom was popularly requested during pre-Smash 4 to the point where he was even among the Top 10 most wanted newcomers. However, the fact that most of those “fans” were thrilled with Robin being Awakening’s main representative instead and laughed at the memes mocking Chrom, I wonder how many of those fans were simply part of a bandwagon on who was the most “likely” and/or just wanted an Awakening representative in general. Regardless, I was among the few that thought that Chrom was not the shoe-in that everyone thought he was, and I even suggested Sakurai might go with the My Unit (I called the character that name instead of Robin) if he wanted a Fire Emblem newcomer that differed greatly from Marth and Ike.
Chrom became a sort of butt monkey among Smash Bros. and Fire Emblem fans due to how he was beaten by Captain Falcon in Robin and Lucina’s unveil trailer. This was further enforced by how Palutena and Viridi mocked Chrom to his face in Palutena’s guidance for Robin. Corrin being added in as a newcomer soured most of the Smash Bros. fanbase to the idea of additional Fire Emblem newcomers. Fire Emblem now had more playable characters than The Legend of Zelda. Also with the release of Fates (and later Echoes), Chrom was no longer the contemporary face to the franchise, making it seem increasingly unlikely that his chance would indeed be another day.
However, it is possible that the “cruel” treatment of Chrom likely buoyed his ballot performance on the Japanese side of things. While Westerners thought it was funny, it is possible Japanese fans thought it was “mean”. Sakurai made mention that Chrom was highly requested among Japanese fans. It is possible that Chrom’s treatment in Smash 4 made a lot of satisfied Japanese Awakening and Smash fans sympathize with the character and thus vote for him on the ballot.
It is also important to note that Chrom is a popular Fire Emblem character in general. Among male Fire Emblem characters for a massive Fire Emblem poll, the only characters to receive more votes than Chrom were Ike, Roy, and Hector.
However, in general, Chrom seemed to be a character who chance was with Smash 4, and with three Fire Emblem games having happened since Awakening (Fates, Shadows of Valentia, and now Three Houses) it was now gone. However, the impossible was made possible, Chrom got his chance another day.
Even the character he echoed (Roy) was an unexpected choice. This is made more amusing by the fact that during much of the pre-Smash 4 period Roy and Chrom were the main rivals for a hypothetical third Fire Emblem slot, and both characters got shuttled into the “intermediary between Marth and Ike” hypothetical role, which ended up being the returned veteran Roy’s role (and by extension Chrom’s). Chrom, alongside Ridley and Dark Samus, had one of the most incredible “unexpected” comeback stories getting into Ultimate.
Dark Samus:
Dark Samus can be compared to two characters already on this roster, K. Rool and Chrom. Like K. Rool, her last appearance in her own franchise was all the way back in 2007, and like Chrom, her best chances of ever getting in seemed to have been with a prior Smash Bros. game (jn Dark Samus’s case, it was with Brawl).
With Dark Samus, it is interesting to note that she is the only newcomer that made their first appearance during the 2000’s (of Ultimate’s newcomers four made their debut in the 1980’s, four in the 2010’s, two in the 1990’s, and Dark Samus being the single one from the 2000’s).
She was the main villain to the Metroid Prime trilogy (she was Metroid Prime before it “reincarnated” as Dark Samus). Although Metroid fans wanted Ridley, there were many that wanted Dark Samus as well. Prior to Zero Suit Samus’s confirmation, the idea of Metroid representation was Samus, Ridley, and Dark Samus. It was not just Ridley fans that recoiled with Zero Suit Samus getting in (since one of the reasons Sakurai said he put in ZSS was to further represent the Metroid series), but also Dark Samus fans whom had to contend with people who did not like the idea of Metroid only being represented with Samus’s.
As with K. Rool and Diddy Kong, Dark Samus fans had to wait behind Ridley’s shadow during the pre-Brawl period to Ridley being considered a much more critical character to the franchise among Metroid fans (much like Diddy Kong was with DK fans). It is interesting to point out that requests for Dark Samus during the pre-Brawl period were on par with K. Rool’s even after K. Rool’s explosion in popularity after August. Metroid Prime 3 did a lot for Dark Samus’s standing among Metroid and Smash Bros. fans during the pre-Brawl period, and when Ridley was seeming like he might become “Bossley” many Metroid fans jumped on board the Dark Samus train.
However, even with the inclusion of semi-clone newcomers with Brawl (Lucas, Wolf, and to an extent Toon Link), Dark Samus was not one of them. It seemed, as with many other characters from games prominent from that period (like Midna), she may have missed her chance of ever having getting in as a playable character. Dark Samus continued to be popularly requested for Smash Bros. up until around 2011 when the Prime trilogy started to fade from recent memory. From that point on, Metroid fans all rallied very intensely around Ridley being desperate for the character that should have been confirmed with Brawl.
Dark Samus continued to have a fanbase, but in comparison to other theoretical “fourth representative” for other franchises (Dixie Kong, Bandana Dee, and Krystal), she definitely had far less requests at that point. Things looked very dire for Dark Samus after Metroid Other M’s release. There was also the fact unlike the rest of those characters, Dark Samus likely would never make another appearance in her own series ever again due to Dark Samus seeming like she died for good at the end of Prime 3 due to the source of all Phazon in the universe being destroyed at the end of the game.
Dark Samus fans believed that she very well could have missed the boat with Brawl. The expectation among Dark Samus fans was by this point that a semi-clone role was the best she could hope for and that would only be if Sakurai again had ruled out Ridley but still felt Metroid needed another playable character. Dark Samus had little of the passion behind her during pre-Smash 4 that she experienced during pre-Brawl.
In April 2014, any hopes that they had were laid to rest, Dark Samus was confirmed as an Assist Trophy during the April 2014 Smash 4 Direct. It seemed as though Dark Samus now would never become a playable fighter seeing as the next game in the series would likely be in 2020 or 2021 when Prime 3 would be well over a decade old. After the release of Smash 4, it was difficult to discern who had worse prospects going forward, Ridley (who was among the few characters to be handed a hard de-confirmation from Sakurai himself) or the increasingly irrelevant Dark Samus. Going into the ballot Metroid fans were heavily demoralized by how Smash 4 turned out.
However, the seeds for Dark Samus’s debut in Smash Bros. actually began over a decade ago. I firmly believe had Metroid Prime 3 not been released a few months after Brawl’s release in Japan, that Sakurai would have overlooked the game entirely for content in Smash 4 (the only piece of Metroid Prime content in Smash 4 aside from music tracks was the trophy and Assist Trophy of Dark Samus). Dark Samus being included as an Assist Trophy in Smash 4 is likely what made Sakurai aware of the character’s existence to begin with.
As with Chrom, I believe Dark Samus’s performance on the ballot was likely due to how a character was treated, in this case Ridley. It is possible that Metroid fans that became pessimistic on Ridley ever happening due to Sakurai’s own statements on the character that they voted for Dark Samus as a sort of consolation prize for themselves, hoping Metroid would at least have one of its villains. The thing is that this was likely a “silent” campaign as I (and other speculators) do not remember a push for Dark Samus on any Smash Bros. forums or social media during the ballot period.
Development for Ultimate likely having to be done two years earlier than it would otherwise and Sakurai’s decision to bring back every veteran ever, likely made Ultimate poor in terms of newcomers. The lack of newcomers for Ultimate was likely the main factor that made Sakurai revisit the tactic he used when he was faced with a similar concern with Melee (a lack of newcomers), clone newcomers. Only Sakurai learned his lesson from Melee, and realized clones are more likely to be well-received if they are characters that are: 1. Popular within their own series. 2. A very obvious choice for a clone fighter (ie. Do not reprise Captain Ganondorf).
It is very telling that of the five echo newcomers, that Dark Samus was able to make it among those five. Daisy, Chrom, and Ken are all characters that have at least major appearances in recent years (Daisy in various Mario spinoffs, Chrom in Fire Emblem Warriors, and Ken in Street Fighter V). There were plenty of choices for other echo fighters that could have taken Dark Samus’s place. Impa, Funky Kong, Octoling, Shadow, and Jeanne are all very strong candidates for echo fighters.
However, despite being absent from her own franchise for over a decade, and despite most of her fanbase seeming to have dissipated, just like in the Prime trilogy, Dark Samus re-formed out of thin air. This was not a case of like Ridley or K. Rool were there was a massive outpouring of support for years that made the character end up being included. Dark Samus likely did well on the ballot (Sakurai said as much), but it was probably due to special circumstances that she did as well as she did.
In general, many stars had to align for her to finally be included as newcomer. Dark Samus, just like her ingame counterpart, came back from the brink of death. She basically won the jackpot to a major lottery for getting in even as an echo fighter. There was absolutely no major demand for another Metroid newcomer after Ridley during the Smash 4 days (whereas with K. Rool fans there was the feeling that after K. Rool, Dixie Kong needed to get in too).
Dark Samus making it in was yet another example of the impossible made possible with Ultimate. Dark Samus getting in was not through overwhelming fan demand, Sakurai wanting to promote a title at a particular point in time (see many of the Fire Emblem and Pokemon newcomers), Sakurai personally liking the character, or other arbitrary reasons (Sakurai literally said he added Dr. Mario as a clone because he really loved the remix made for the “fever” song in Melee).
Dark Samus got very, very, very lucky to get in, and it absolutely had to hinge on a wide assortment of factors to happen in tangent with one another to happen. It is fortunate it did happen. As with the other echo fighters, Dark Samus is an absolutely important and/or popular character in her franchise. The Metroid Prime trilogy is among the best trilogies of all time in gaming, arguably the best one of all. Dark Samus defied all of the odds and joined the battle.
The reason I relayed such a comprehensive analysis for Dark Samus is to serve as a story of hope for fans of many characters that shows that given the right circumstances that even an unlikely or “irrelevant” character can be made playable in Smash Bros. Sometimes there are more factors at play than just popularity or relevancy.
Ken:
In a game that adds a whole bunch of clone newcomers, and makes “echo fighters” to be a major feature, it would have been odd for arguably the original echo fighter himself not to make a debut. Ken is one of the most iconic characters for the Street Fighter series alongside Ryu and Chun-li. Ken, like Ryu, was one of the few characters from Street Fighter II to have also been in the original Street Fighter (he was the only other playable character in that game, as Sagat was only a boss).
Ken’s inclusion more or less brings things full circle in regards to clones. 17 years ago, clones were hated and reviled. They were believed to be lazy character inclusions that dashed the hopes and dreams of many character fanbases. They were believed to be lazy shortcuts even for characters that deserved better (most notably Ganondorf). However, with Ultimate this all changed.
Clones instead of being seen as “spot stealers” or “lazy wastes of space” were now seen as ways to give representation to characters that might not otherwise had the clout (popularity) or differentiation to be developed as a wholly original character, but are still popular and/or important characters nevertheless.
Ken is a gaming all-star whom started the trope of clone fighters in fighting games, and one that is absolutely critical to the Smash Bros. series as a whole. Smash Bros. as a series has had “clone” newcomers ever since the very first installment. In Smash 64, it was just Luigi. In Melee, it was Dr. Mario, Pichu, Falco, Young Link, Ganondorf, and Roy. In Brawl, it was Lucas, Toon Link, and Wolf. In Smash 4, it was Lucina and Dark Pit. In Ultimate, we already had Isabelle (semi-clone), Daisy, Richter, Chrom, and Dark Samus. What better way to cap off a game that made clone newcomers a major feature of celebration, than the original (heh) himself, Ken. There are 18 clone (Luigi-style, semi, and echo) characters in Ultimate’s roster, nearly a quarter of the whole roster. Ken was very fitting to be among the final two characters unveiled for Ultimate’s base roster. He helped close the wound from 17 years ago about the genre of fighters he gave rise to.
Piranha Plant:
This is a character that no one saw coming. For a possible Mario newcomer, this is among the few series with multiple viable candidates for such a position (Toad, Captain Toad, Toadette, Waluigi, Geno, Paper Mario). However, in the end the next fully unique newcomer for the Super Mario series ended up being a generic enemy whom was among the few that lacked a playable appearance even in the spinoff Mario titles.
Piranha Plant even ended up stealing Incineroar’s thunder as being the lightning rod for the ire regarding the final set of newcomers. However, Sakurai brought up a very good point in regards to Piranha Plant, which is that very few people who play games do not know who it is. The Piranha Plant very well could be the most well known basic Mario enemy outside of Goombas and Koopa Troopas. For the roster as a whole, Piranha Plant might very well be among the Top 10 most recognizable characters on the roster.
There is also another very valuable lesson to be learned with Piranha Plant’s inclusion for the core Smash Bros. fanbase. One is that the argument of “moveset potential” is moot. That is one of the primary arguments used by the supporters of many characters for why their character of choice deserves to be in Smash Bros., especially when the character’s other credentials (such as importance within their own franchise) is not up to snuff. Piranha Plant effectively chomps down that entire argument with a classically immobile enemy being promoted to playable status.
Another lesson to be learned from Piranha Plant is that it once again shows that even the best of speculators cannot predict every move Sakurai is going to make in regards to the roster. Piranha Plant perhaps represents the Super Mario franchise’s set of iconic enemies, many of which are much more well known than most of the Smash Bros. roster. Regardless, this character was a very amusing surprise character for Smash Bros. and bucks the idea that “bizarre” additions can only be retro characters from the Famicom/NES era (though Wii Fit Trainer kind of did this too).
Splatoon is by far the biggest franchise Nintendo has introduced during this decade. It is very telling that the Inkling is the not only the only newcomer for Ultimate featured on the box art to the game, but also way out in front alongside legends like Mario and Link. The Inkling since her introduction had been among the most wanted newcomers for the next installment of Smash Bros., and was even considered to be among the top contenders for Smash 4 DLC due to the strong ballot performance. Splatoon 2 has outsold every single installment to the Smash Bros. series in Japan, and in terms of a home console game, the only series that has had higher sales than it, is the Super Mario series. Inkling was among “the titans” that Ultimate introduced among its select few newcomers, and arguably the most popular character Nintendo has created during the 2010’s.
Ridley:
Ridley is a very old character (he is actually the oldest newcomer on the base roster, introduced all the way back in August 1986, beating Simon Belmont by a month). He has been a mainstay of the Metroid franchise to the point where he is the next most re-occurring character to the franchise aside from Samus and the titular creatures themselves, and is the arch-nemesis to Samus in general.
He is also by far the most popular character to the Metroid franchise after Samus, and has been a very popularly requested character for Smash Bros. since 2001 (when he was shown fighting Samus during the E3 2001 Melee unveil trailer). Ridley has likely been in the Top 3 most wanted newcomers for Smash Bros. among the Western fanbase since at the very least 2006, and has been in the Top 10 since 2001. Ridley has had more consistent appearances in the Metroid franchise than even Ganon/Ganondorf has had in the The Legend of Zelda series.
Many (including myself) thought Ridley would never make it in as a playable character due to Sakurai outright saying the character was too big to be made into a fighter back during an interview in November 2014 (which means Sakurai changed his mind only a year later). Ridley as a character, could very well have been the most important character to their own franchise (a veteran franchise already in Smash Bros.) not yet made playable. He had been prominent since the very beginning and made an appearance in nearly every installment. Next to the Inkling, he might very well be the next most legendary Nintendo newcomer on the roster.
Simon Belmont:
As with Ridley, this is a very old character, with his first appearance being made in September 1986. Castlevania as a franchise has very deep roots with Nintendo platforms, and some of the most popular and highly acclaimed games on Nintendo platforms have been Castlevania titles even going into the 2000s (with the GBA and DS). Castlevania even though it has had many popular and prominent games on non-Nintendo platforms, is among the few third party franchises that is still seen as synonymous with Nintendo (the other that has had this phenomenon is Mega Man).
The Castlevania games typically have had a whip wielding member of the Belmont clan as their main protagonist (or unlockable after beating the game as in many of the Metroidvania titles). Of all these characters, Simon Belmont still remains the most popular and recognizable character. Super Castlevania IV is still considered a masterpiece nearly 30 years later, and stars Simon Belmont as the protagonist. The Castlevania games included on the NES Classic Edition and SNES Classic Edition all have Simon Belmont as the protagonist.
Simon Belmont alongside Inkling and Ridley, is a titan. He might very well have been the most important character from a Japanese-developed third-party franchise not yet included as a playable character, and certainly the only one left with a rich and important legacy with Nintendo platforms (aside from Bomberman). He carries a massive weight with him to the Ultimate roster in terms of starpower.
King K. Rool:
King K. Rool was a character introduced in 1994, 20 years before Inkling, but eight years after both Ridley and Simon Belmont. In the rebooted Donkey Kong universe by Rare, K. Rool was the leader of the Kremlings whom were the main adversaries of the Kong clan. K. Rool was the final boss of all of the Rare developed DK titles (aside from the spinoff Diddy Kong Racing), and was considered the arch-nemesis for all of the Kongs in general.
However, after 1999, K. Rool faced an uncertain future. Rare was bought out by Microsoft and Nintendo themselves did not know what direction to take the DK series into. K. Rool more or less went on a five year hiatus from the DK series (although he had a minor cameo or two in the Donkey Konga games) until the reins to the series were handed off to Paon. Paon deserves credit for helping to re-establish K. Rool as the Kongs’ arch-nemesis in the post-Rare era, and they made three DK titles from 2005 to 2007 with K. Rool as the villain.
However, after Donkey Kong Barrel Blast in 2007, K. Rool was absent from the DK series, only making an appearance in Mario Super Sluggers a year later (2008) with absolutely nothing afterward in terms of an actual appearance (outside of Smash Bros.). K. Rool has been a very popularly requested character for Smash Bros. since Diddy Kong’s confirmation in August 2007. K. Rool was considered an obvious addition since he was the villain to the popular DK series. However, despite being in the Top 3 most wanted newcomers consistently among Western Smash Bros. fans, he still failed to make it into Smash 4. This was very likely due to the fact that he did not make an appearance in the two most important Donkey Kong games since Donkey Kong 64, Returns and Tropical Freeze.
K. Rool happening in Ultimate, was likely due to his very strong ballot performance. If it had not been for the existence of the ballot, K. Rool probably would not have been a newcomer in Ultimate. After Ridley, K. Rool was the next most important villain to a veteran franchise not yet to be included in Smash Bros. He was not around for many prominent installments to the franchise (namely Jungle Beat, Returns, Tropical Freeze, and he was a very minor character in the Donkey Konga sub-series), but he is by far most popular antagonist to the series after the end of the original arcade trilogy. He alongside the likes of Inkling, Ridley, and Simon Belmont was among the “titans” or “big guys” that Ultimate brought on board as among its scant few non-echo newcomers. After K. Rool’s confirmation, there has been no other character that has filled in the void in terms of requests and passion (I mean truly got up to where K. Rool’s level was).
Isabelle:
Isabelle was a bit of a slowburn type of character. Animal Crossing was already a very popular franchise (Wild Wold had sold over ten million copies), however, the 3DS as a console was proving to be no DS. Isabelle was introduced as a critically important character in New Leaf, and many were immediately endeared to her. However, it was only in the years afterward that her legacy and popularity really began to snowball. Isabelle did end up making an appearance as an Assist Trophy and a Mii costume in Smash 4 though. Isabelle, alongside the likes of Link, Villager (Boy and Girl), and Inkling (Boy and Girl) were the only characters to be playable in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe outside of the extended Mario universe. Isabelle was heavily featured in merchandise for Animal Crossing in the years after Smash 4, to the point where to many she has usurped the Villager as the face to the franchise. There is no question that Isabelle is the next biggest Nintendo character that was introduced during the 2010’s after the Inklings. She was the next biggest “fresh face” that they could have included outside of the Inklings. She is the fifth character that completes Ultimate’s “titans”.
Incineroar:
Incineroar is not only an odd man out compared to the rest of the unique newcomers (whom are all all-stars), but also compared to all of the echo newcomers as well (whom are very popular characters in relation to their own franchises). Incineroar is the Jigglypuff for a new age. Sure Jigglypuff was a popular Pokemon during Smash 64’s time in Japan, but she certainly was not more popular than Mewtwo, Charizard, and Meowth at the time.
Pokemon Sun/Moon itself was not a revolutionary title for the franchise, and in many cases was more or less the final big hurrah for the 3DS like Black/White was for the DS. Compared to other final evolutions for Sun/Moon, Decidueye was by far the favorite among dedicated (read “chatting”) Smash Bros. fans for a newcomer for the next game. There are even a few polls that show that Primarina might be the most popular final evolution outside of Smash Bros. fans.
However, what Incineroar brings to Smash Bros. is something curiously absent for a fighting game that has over 70 playable characters, a pro-wrestler. Incineroar bringing this archetype to Smash Bros. after five games vindicates his inclusion among the six non-echo newcomers. I feel over time people will warm up to Incineroar for this very reason. There is a lot that can be done with a wrestling moveset in Smash Bros., and I feel this is the primary reason as to why Sakurai went with Incineroar over the other possible choices for a Sun/Moon representative.
As to those wondering why Sun/Moon even got a playable character, the fact is that Sakurai has mentioned that the Pokemon Company has a lot of clout over Pokemon content in Smash Bros. games. The inclusion of Incineroar in such a limited newcomer scenario just shows how much clout they truly have.
Daisy:
Ever since she was re-introduced in Mario Tennis back in 2000, Daisy has been a popular Mario character. She has had a nearly perfect attendance record in Mario spinoff titles, and even made her first playable role in a Mario platformer, Super Mario Run. However, even during the pre-Melee days, the consensus always was that Daisy would only be a Peach clone.
Due to the Smash Bros. fanbase souring on clones after the release of Melee, it greatly dampered the amount of requests Daisy would receive due to the expectation that she was such an obvious clone. However, she still has received a large amount of requests (though not to the extent that the likes of Bowser Jr., Toad, Paper Mario, Waluigi, Geno, and Rosalina had).
It would be very interesting to know just how strong her performance on the ballot was, especially considering she was the first echo fighter that was shown off. Daisy, while not on par with the “five titans”, is definitely a very popular and recognizable character, and does bring star power to the roster. She in many ways represents the Mario spinoffs (being the only other character aside from Waluigi that seems relegated to them).
Richter Belmont:
Richter was the main protagonist of Castlevania Rondo of Blood, a game considered to be the crown jewel of the entire Turbografx library (for both formats). Rondo of Blood has been remade and remixed as Castlevania Dracula X for the SNES and Castlevania Dracula X Chronicles for the PSP.
It truly surprises me that many did not know who the heck Richter was considered that Symphony of the Night might very well be the most popular game in the series, and Richter’s “Die monster, you don’t belong in this world” line and the following exchange is among the most legendary (or infamous) lines of gaming dialog ever. Who did they think spoke those lines and the Belmont of Symphony of the Night was?
The fact is though, after Simon Belmont, Richter Belmont is both the most popular and recognizable Belmont (or whip wielding protagonist in general). He even made a playable appearance in more recent titles to the series such as Portrait of Ruin. The only other Castlevania protagonist that is more popular than Richter aside from Simon, is Alucard (the main protagonist for Symphony of the Night).
Some would argue that Sonic represents the Sega brand of consoles, while Snake (and Cloud) represents the PlayStation line of consoles. Richter, might very well represent the PC-Engine/Turbografx. There is no other title that has the prestige and praise on those consoles as Rondo of Blood has. For other characters that are closely tied to the platform, Bonk more or less died out as a character after 1995 (Super Bonk 2 was the final game in the series until the budget new installment for the GameCube/PS2 was made). The other choice would be Bomberman, whom unfortunately had his company bought out by Konami in 2012 and had no new games for five years (a very long time for Bomberman) until the release of Super Bomberman R for the Nintendo Switch, which handicapped his consideration for Ultimate’s roster. Richter Belmont might very well be a game icon in his own right helping serve to represent a forgotten console competitor (and a very underrated one at that), and among Castlevania fans is a critical and popular character to the series.
Chrom:
Chrom is interesting to analyze. He is arguably the most important of the three main protagonists to Fire Emblem Awakening (a game released in 2012 in Japan), yet was the only one not to be made into a playable character in Smash 4. Fire Emblem Awakening was the game that returned popularity to Fire Emblem not seen since the mid 1990’s in Japan, and made the franchise “mainstream” outside of Japan.
However, the fact is, as Sakurai said, Chrom simply was not “interesting”. The best most Chrom fans could come up with to sell Chrom was that he would be an intermediary between Marth and Ike in terms of speed and power, something Sakurai felt was the possible direction for Chrom as well (which he dismissed as not being “interesting”).
Chrom was popularly requested during pre-Smash 4 to the point where he was even among the Top 10 most wanted newcomers. However, the fact that most of those “fans” were thrilled with Robin being Awakening’s main representative instead and laughed at the memes mocking Chrom, I wonder how many of those fans were simply part of a bandwagon on who was the most “likely” and/or just wanted an Awakening representative in general. Regardless, I was among the few that thought that Chrom was not the shoe-in that everyone thought he was, and I even suggested Sakurai might go with the My Unit (I called the character that name instead of Robin) if he wanted a Fire Emblem newcomer that differed greatly from Marth and Ike.
Chrom became a sort of butt monkey among Smash Bros. and Fire Emblem fans due to how he was beaten by Captain Falcon in Robin and Lucina’s unveil trailer. This was further enforced by how Palutena and Viridi mocked Chrom to his face in Palutena’s guidance for Robin. Corrin being added in as a newcomer soured most of the Smash Bros. fanbase to the idea of additional Fire Emblem newcomers. Fire Emblem now had more playable characters than The Legend of Zelda. Also with the release of Fates (and later Echoes), Chrom was no longer the contemporary face to the franchise, making it seem increasingly unlikely that his chance would indeed be another day.
However, it is possible that the “cruel” treatment of Chrom likely buoyed his ballot performance on the Japanese side of things. While Westerners thought it was funny, it is possible Japanese fans thought it was “mean”. Sakurai made mention that Chrom was highly requested among Japanese fans. It is possible that Chrom’s treatment in Smash 4 made a lot of satisfied Japanese Awakening and Smash fans sympathize with the character and thus vote for him on the ballot.
It is also important to note that Chrom is a popular Fire Emblem character in general. Among male Fire Emblem characters for a massive Fire Emblem poll, the only characters to receive more votes than Chrom were Ike, Roy, and Hector.
However, in general, Chrom seemed to be a character who chance was with Smash 4, and with three Fire Emblem games having happened since Awakening (Fates, Shadows of Valentia, and now Three Houses) it was now gone. However, the impossible was made possible, Chrom got his chance another day.
Even the character he echoed (Roy) was an unexpected choice. This is made more amusing by the fact that during much of the pre-Smash 4 period Roy and Chrom were the main rivals for a hypothetical third Fire Emblem slot, and both characters got shuttled into the “intermediary between Marth and Ike” hypothetical role, which ended up being the returned veteran Roy’s role (and by extension Chrom’s). Chrom, alongside Ridley and Dark Samus, had one of the most incredible “unexpected” comeback stories getting into Ultimate.
Dark Samus:
Dark Samus can be compared to two characters already on this roster, K. Rool and Chrom. Like K. Rool, her last appearance in her own franchise was all the way back in 2007, and like Chrom, her best chances of ever getting in seemed to have been with a prior Smash Bros. game (jn Dark Samus’s case, it was with Brawl).
With Dark Samus, it is interesting to note that she is the only newcomer that made their first appearance during the 2000’s (of Ultimate’s newcomers four made their debut in the 1980’s, four in the 2010’s, two in the 1990’s, and Dark Samus being the single one from the 2000’s).
She was the main villain to the Metroid Prime trilogy (she was Metroid Prime before it “reincarnated” as Dark Samus). Although Metroid fans wanted Ridley, there were many that wanted Dark Samus as well. Prior to Zero Suit Samus’s confirmation, the idea of Metroid representation was Samus, Ridley, and Dark Samus. It was not just Ridley fans that recoiled with Zero Suit Samus getting in (since one of the reasons Sakurai said he put in ZSS was to further represent the Metroid series), but also Dark Samus fans whom had to contend with people who did not like the idea of Metroid only being represented with Samus’s.
As with K. Rool and Diddy Kong, Dark Samus fans had to wait behind Ridley’s shadow during the pre-Brawl period to Ridley being considered a much more critical character to the franchise among Metroid fans (much like Diddy Kong was with DK fans). It is interesting to point out that requests for Dark Samus during the pre-Brawl period were on par with K. Rool’s even after K. Rool’s explosion in popularity after August. Metroid Prime 3 did a lot for Dark Samus’s standing among Metroid and Smash Bros. fans during the pre-Brawl period, and when Ridley was seeming like he might become “Bossley” many Metroid fans jumped on board the Dark Samus train.
However, even with the inclusion of semi-clone newcomers with Brawl (Lucas, Wolf, and to an extent Toon Link), Dark Samus was not one of them. It seemed, as with many other characters from games prominent from that period (like Midna), she may have missed her chance of ever having getting in as a playable character. Dark Samus continued to be popularly requested for Smash Bros. up until around 2011 when the Prime trilogy started to fade from recent memory. From that point on, Metroid fans all rallied very intensely around Ridley being desperate for the character that should have been confirmed with Brawl.
Dark Samus continued to have a fanbase, but in comparison to other theoretical “fourth representative” for other franchises (Dixie Kong, Bandana Dee, and Krystal), she definitely had far less requests at that point. Things looked very dire for Dark Samus after Metroid Other M’s release. There was also the fact unlike the rest of those characters, Dark Samus likely would never make another appearance in her own series ever again due to Dark Samus seeming like she died for good at the end of Prime 3 due to the source of all Phazon in the universe being destroyed at the end of the game.
Dark Samus fans believed that she very well could have missed the boat with Brawl. The expectation among Dark Samus fans was by this point that a semi-clone role was the best she could hope for and that would only be if Sakurai again had ruled out Ridley but still felt Metroid needed another playable character. Dark Samus had little of the passion behind her during pre-Smash 4 that she experienced during pre-Brawl.
In April 2014, any hopes that they had were laid to rest, Dark Samus was confirmed as an Assist Trophy during the April 2014 Smash 4 Direct. It seemed as though Dark Samus now would never become a playable fighter seeing as the next game in the series would likely be in 2020 or 2021 when Prime 3 would be well over a decade old. After the release of Smash 4, it was difficult to discern who had worse prospects going forward, Ridley (who was among the few characters to be handed a hard de-confirmation from Sakurai himself) or the increasingly irrelevant Dark Samus. Going into the ballot Metroid fans were heavily demoralized by how Smash 4 turned out.
However, the seeds for Dark Samus’s debut in Smash Bros. actually began over a decade ago. I firmly believe had Metroid Prime 3 not been released a few months after Brawl’s release in Japan, that Sakurai would have overlooked the game entirely for content in Smash 4 (the only piece of Metroid Prime content in Smash 4 aside from music tracks was the trophy and Assist Trophy of Dark Samus). Dark Samus being included as an Assist Trophy in Smash 4 is likely what made Sakurai aware of the character’s existence to begin with.
As with Chrom, I believe Dark Samus’s performance on the ballot was likely due to how a character was treated, in this case Ridley. It is possible that Metroid fans that became pessimistic on Ridley ever happening due to Sakurai’s own statements on the character that they voted for Dark Samus as a sort of consolation prize for themselves, hoping Metroid would at least have one of its villains. The thing is that this was likely a “silent” campaign as I (and other speculators) do not remember a push for Dark Samus on any Smash Bros. forums or social media during the ballot period.
Development for Ultimate likely having to be done two years earlier than it would otherwise and Sakurai’s decision to bring back every veteran ever, likely made Ultimate poor in terms of newcomers. The lack of newcomers for Ultimate was likely the main factor that made Sakurai revisit the tactic he used when he was faced with a similar concern with Melee (a lack of newcomers), clone newcomers. Only Sakurai learned his lesson from Melee, and realized clones are more likely to be well-received if they are characters that are: 1. Popular within their own series. 2. A very obvious choice for a clone fighter (ie. Do not reprise Captain Ganondorf).
It is very telling that of the five echo newcomers, that Dark Samus was able to make it among those five. Daisy, Chrom, and Ken are all characters that have at least major appearances in recent years (Daisy in various Mario spinoffs, Chrom in Fire Emblem Warriors, and Ken in Street Fighter V). There were plenty of choices for other echo fighters that could have taken Dark Samus’s place. Impa, Funky Kong, Octoling, Shadow, and Jeanne are all very strong candidates for echo fighters.
However, despite being absent from her own franchise for over a decade, and despite most of her fanbase seeming to have dissipated, just like in the Prime trilogy, Dark Samus re-formed out of thin air. This was not a case of like Ridley or K. Rool were there was a massive outpouring of support for years that made the character end up being included. Dark Samus likely did well on the ballot (Sakurai said as much), but it was probably due to special circumstances that she did as well as she did.
In general, many stars had to align for her to finally be included as newcomer. Dark Samus, just like her ingame counterpart, came back from the brink of death. She basically won the jackpot to a major lottery for getting in even as an echo fighter. There was absolutely no major demand for another Metroid newcomer after Ridley during the Smash 4 days (whereas with K. Rool fans there was the feeling that after K. Rool, Dixie Kong needed to get in too).
Dark Samus making it in was yet another example of the impossible made possible with Ultimate. Dark Samus getting in was not through overwhelming fan demand, Sakurai wanting to promote a title at a particular point in time (see many of the Fire Emblem and Pokemon newcomers), Sakurai personally liking the character, or other arbitrary reasons (Sakurai literally said he added Dr. Mario as a clone because he really loved the remix made for the “fever” song in Melee).
Dark Samus got very, very, very lucky to get in, and it absolutely had to hinge on a wide assortment of factors to happen in tangent with one another to happen. It is fortunate it did happen. As with the other echo fighters, Dark Samus is an absolutely important and/or popular character in her franchise. The Metroid Prime trilogy is among the best trilogies of all time in gaming, arguably the best one of all. Dark Samus defied all of the odds and joined the battle.
The reason I relayed such a comprehensive analysis for Dark Samus is to serve as a story of hope for fans of many characters that shows that given the right circumstances that even an unlikely or “irrelevant” character can be made playable in Smash Bros. Sometimes there are more factors at play than just popularity or relevancy.
Ken:
In a game that adds a whole bunch of clone newcomers, and makes “echo fighters” to be a major feature, it would have been odd for arguably the original echo fighter himself not to make a debut. Ken is one of the most iconic characters for the Street Fighter series alongside Ryu and Chun-li. Ken, like Ryu, was one of the few characters from Street Fighter II to have also been in the original Street Fighter (he was the only other playable character in that game, as Sagat was only a boss).
Ken’s inclusion more or less brings things full circle in regards to clones. 17 years ago, clones were hated and reviled. They were believed to be lazy character inclusions that dashed the hopes and dreams of many character fanbases. They were believed to be lazy shortcuts even for characters that deserved better (most notably Ganondorf). However, with Ultimate this all changed.
Clones instead of being seen as “spot stealers” or “lazy wastes of space” were now seen as ways to give representation to characters that might not otherwise had the clout (popularity) or differentiation to be developed as a wholly original character, but are still popular and/or important characters nevertheless.
Ken is a gaming all-star whom started the trope of clone fighters in fighting games, and one that is absolutely critical to the Smash Bros. series as a whole. Smash Bros. as a series has had “clone” newcomers ever since the very first installment. In Smash 64, it was just Luigi. In Melee, it was Dr. Mario, Pichu, Falco, Young Link, Ganondorf, and Roy. In Brawl, it was Lucas, Toon Link, and Wolf. In Smash 4, it was Lucina and Dark Pit. In Ultimate, we already had Isabelle (semi-clone), Daisy, Richter, Chrom, and Dark Samus. What better way to cap off a game that made clone newcomers a major feature of celebration, than the original (heh) himself, Ken. There are 18 clone (Luigi-style, semi, and echo) characters in Ultimate’s roster, nearly a quarter of the whole roster. Ken was very fitting to be among the final two characters unveiled for Ultimate’s base roster. He helped close the wound from 17 years ago about the genre of fighters he gave rise to.
Piranha Plant:
This is a character that no one saw coming. For a possible Mario newcomer, this is among the few series with multiple viable candidates for such a position (Toad, Captain Toad, Toadette, Waluigi, Geno, Paper Mario). However, in the end the next fully unique newcomer for the Super Mario series ended up being a generic enemy whom was among the few that lacked a playable appearance even in the spinoff Mario titles.
Piranha Plant even ended up stealing Incineroar’s thunder as being the lightning rod for the ire regarding the final set of newcomers. However, Sakurai brought up a very good point in regards to Piranha Plant, which is that very few people who play games do not know who it is. The Piranha Plant very well could be the most well known basic Mario enemy outside of Goombas and Koopa Troopas. For the roster as a whole, Piranha Plant might very well be among the Top 10 most recognizable characters on the roster.
There is also another very valuable lesson to be learned with Piranha Plant’s inclusion for the core Smash Bros. fanbase. One is that the argument of “moveset potential” is moot. That is one of the primary arguments used by the supporters of many characters for why their character of choice deserves to be in Smash Bros., especially when the character’s other credentials (such as importance within their own franchise) is not up to snuff. Piranha Plant effectively chomps down that entire argument with a classically immobile enemy being promoted to playable status.
Another lesson to be learned from Piranha Plant is that it once again shows that even the best of speculators cannot predict every move Sakurai is going to make in regards to the roster. Piranha Plant perhaps represents the Super Mario franchise’s set of iconic enemies, many of which are much more well known than most of the Smash Bros. roster. Regardless, this character was a very amusing surprise character for Smash Bros. and bucks the idea that “bizarre” additions can only be retro characters from the Famicom/NES era (though Wii Fit Trainer kind of did this too).
Speculation Review:
Unlike prior games to the Smash Bros. series, I was not as involved with this speculation round as I was with Melee, Brawl, and Smash 4. However, I still did give some thought on the future to the Smash Bros. series from time to time, and I did become involved with speculation again in April of this year (and especially so in June). The purpose of this section is not only to review whether I saw Ultimate’s newcomers coming but also whether the rest of the Smash Bros. fanbase did as well.
Inkling:
This character was perhaps Ultimate’s only shoe-in as far as myself and most other speculators were concerned. The overwhelming success to Splatoon ensured this character’s playable inclusion into Smash Bros. This is perhaps the only character of Ultimate’s 11 newcomers there would have been absolutely no surprise to if you told someone back in 2017 about the next Smash Bros. game’s roster.
Ridley:
After Sakurai’s statements about Ridley back during November 2014, I became very pessimistic on Ridley ever becoming a playable fighter in Smash Bros. After Smash 4, it was the first time I was ever pessimistic about Ridley’s prospects going forward. Most of the seasoned speculators were the same way, believing that Sakurai’s own beliefs regarding Ridley were hard and he most likely would never make it in as a playable fighter until Sakurai had retired from the series.
It was only until Vergeben starting leaking that Ridley was likely that fans started to regain hope in the space pirate commander making a playable debut. I was personally pessimistic on Vergeben’s claims having seen so many fake leaks with Ridley be disproven over the years (heck, I cynically thought a leak to be fake during the latter half of pre-Smash 4 whenever Ridley was mentioned as a playable character).
Ridley becoming a playable fighter was absolutely an unexpected turn of events for not only myself, but most speculators as a whole. I am very grateful that Sakurai changed his mind on the character, especially such a short time after had made those statements that he did.
Simon Belmont:
While I had wanted a Castlevania character in since third-party characters were first announced for Smash Bros. back in 2006, I never thought it was likely to ever happen. There did not seem to be much interest in a Castlevania character either among the Smash Bros. fanbase nor an expectation that one would happen (though to be fair, many fans were divided at the time as to who it should be, there was not even a consensus on what Simon’s design should have been).
With Snake being cut from Smash 4, there was an expectation that Konami characters might not happen at all for future Smash Bros. titles due to Konami seeming like that they wanted to get out of gaming. Most speculators slept on the idea of a Castlevania character in general and instead talked much more extensively about Rayman, Shovel Knight, and Shantae. Had Vergeben not leaked this character, nearly everyone would have been blindsided about Simon Belmont making it in.
King K. Rool:
If there was one character that speculators believed the ballot saved their fortunes going forward, it was King K. Rool. I personally believed that for a future Smash Bros. title that K. Rool would definitely happen due to his extremely strong ballot performance. Many other speculators felt the same, though some were pessimistic and believed that it would only be until he made another appearance in the DK series that he would finally join Smash Bros. as a fighter. After Ridley’s confirmation in June, I became very confident that K. Rool would also be confirmed for Ultimate. K. Rool making it in vindicated that the ballot had an impact on the roster.
Isabelle:
With Isabelle, I was not thinking about Animal Crossing newcomers going forward. Isabelle seemed to me to be a timid character who would be out of her element fighting others, a character whom the “too pacifist” moniker that Sakurai believed about the Villager during Brawl’s development actually applied to. However, I definitely saw that she was a very popular character.
I did not change my mind on her prospects until the announcement of echo fighters as a “feature” for Ultimate. At this point, I saw Isabelle as a strong contender to become an echo fighter. As for other speculators, consensus was very mixed prior to the echo fighter announcement. Some believed that her overwhelming popularity alone would be what would get her into a playable slot for Smash Bros., while others thought she had barely any requests among “core” Smash Bros. fans and felt that she was too much of a pacifist to become playable.
After the confirmation of echo fighters, speculation did not change much, with many arguing there were stronger echo candidates than her. Isabelle not being an echo fighter surprised many speculators including myself. However, upon retrospect it makes sense considering the character is the biggest Nintendo character introduced during the 2010’s after the Inkling, as well as the fact as stated by Sakurai the dimensions to the character were too far off from Villager (there was a sort of expectation that after Chrom and Dark Samus, one of which had a different recovery, and the other very different animations, that the definition to an echo could be “tweaked”).
Incineroar:
Having dropped out of the speculation scene after 2015, I knew very little about Pokemon Sun & Moon. From what I gathered when I came back, Decidueye was the most popular among “core” Smash Bros. fans, while Mimikyu became a sort of mascot for the generation as a whole. I thought those two were the most likely for a Pokemon newcomer slot for that reason, but honestly I gave little thought about who the Pokemon newcomer was going to be and cared very little. All I was confident on was that there was going to be a Pokemon newcomer.
Even after Sakurai confirmed that Ultimate was going to have fewer newcomers than prior Smash Bros. titles, I still thought that a Pokemon newcomer had a very good chance of happening still, but I was personally conflicted on who it would actually be. Most of the Smash Bros. community was convinced that it would be Decidueye, with some believing that Mimikyu, Lycanroc, and Incineroar were also possibilities.
Of these, Incineroar was seen as the least likely because he was not as “popular” as the former two (Decidueye and Mimikyu) or not as heavily featured in the anime (Lycanroc). Like every other non-echo newcomer (with the exceptions of K. Rool), Incineroar was leaked by Vergeben. Initially he was told by his sources that a Generation 7 Pokemon was coming but did not know who, just that the Pokemon in question was not Decidueye, Mimikyu, or Lycanroc. Mimikyu being de-confirmed in the 8/8 Smash Bros. direct, made people believe that he might again have had inside information and that the Pokemon newcomer very well could be Incineroar.
Up until Vergeben’s leak, most people wrote off Incineroar in comparison to other Generation 7 Pokemon. This was among the reasons why Incineroar is the most controversial newcomer for Ultimate.
The Echoes:
Truth be told, most serious speculators (and myself) would never have seen the likes of Daisy, Richter Belmont, Chrom, Dark Samus, and Ken coming without Sakurai devoting a segment of the E3 2018 Direct to talk about echoes. Daisy would be considered much less likely than Toad, Geno, Waluigi, Paper Mario, and Captain Toad. Richter Belmont would seem odd to get in at all. Chrom’s game was old news by 2018 and Awakening had already been represented by Robin and Lucina, and a future Fire Emblem title (Fates) was given a representative through Corrin, with all eyes on whether Shadows of Valentia would also get a newcomer or the Switch Fire Emblem. Dark Samus was seen as very old news in 2018, and she rarely ever came up in character discussion (prior to the Vergeben leaks, people surmised Sylux was the most likely possible Metroid newcomer at that point). Ken was rarely ever brought up. Had you shown a list of Ultimate’s newcomers to a speculator from 2017, they would be bewildered by the character selection without being given context (some might notice a bit of a pattern though through some of the obvious clone characters).
Daisy:
I was not expecting Daisy to be Ultimate’s Mario newcomer. I personally expected Geno due to Sakurai’s own statements and/or Captain Toad due to the announcement of both a 3DS and Switch port for the character’s own game. Her showing up during the E3 2018 Direct was a bit odd since she was given no trailer at all, she was just shown and Sakurai went on to explain echoes. The sentiment was the same with most speculators. Most speculators believed that the Mario newcomer would be Geno due to Sakurai’s own statements, or Toad due to history and legacy within the Super Mario series, Paper Mario due to having a sub-series, or Waluigi due to his popularity, or Captain Toad due to his successful spinoff title. There were a few that thought Daisy was being “undersold”, but most of those were big Daisy fans themselves.
Richter Belmont:
Even after echoes were announced as a feature to Ultimate, I did not give thought that the leaked Simon Belmont would also get an echo fighter. Most speculators did not think so either. Richter was a very surprising addition in general, but at least proved to speculators that third-party characters could get an additional fighter for their series. Richter definitely came as a surprise.
Chrom:
Chrom was among the most obvious echoes to be potentially added after the E3 2018 Direct. This was primarily due to multiple “bread crumbs” suggesting the character’s inclusion. One was the fact that unlike most of the trailers given for the characters on the website, Robin’s video did not show off his Final Smash (ironically, Chrom still ended up being part of it). Another “bread crumb” was the fact that Ike was missing his Chrom palette. It was these “bread crumbs” that made me believe that Chrom was among the most likely echo fighters to happen.
Many other speculators felt the same, but some felt that Chrom might not happen due to Awakening being three games behind in the series (behind Fates, Shadows of Valentia, and Three Houses) as well as the general fatigue for Fire Emblem newcomers among many Smash Bros. fans.
The expectation from myself and most other speculators was that Chrom was going to be an echo fighter of Ike. This was primarily due to both characters possessing Aether, Ike possessing a Chrom color palette, and Palutena and Viridi making a comparison of Ike to Chrom in Robin’s guidance conversation. I was not surprised at all by Chrom’s confirmation, but it was strange to see that he was an echo of Roy (whom was a semi-clone of Marth, whom already had an echo fighter of himself).
Most others were surprised as well. Even more surprising was the fact that Chrom had a different recovery move entirely which made people wonder how much echoes could differ themselves before no longer being an echo. However, it definitely does make sense. Sakurai did make a consideration about Chrom being an intermediary between Marth and Ike before dismissing him as not being interesting enough, and that was the role Roy received when he returned. There is also the fact that it would make sense that Chrom would fight similarly to his daughter (Lucina).
Dark Samus:
Dark Samus, alongside Chrom, was among the most obvious echoes to be potentially added after the E3 2018 Direct. Like Chrom, there were several “bread crumbs” to suggest Dark Samus was actually going to happen as a newcomer. One was that Dark Samus’s Assist Trophy mysteriously was not among the newcomers shown off at E3 2018.
However, while some could have argued that Dark Samus was simply not in any form at all in the game (like what happened with Isaac in Smash 4), there was a more obvious “bread crumb”. Only one of Samus’s palettes in the E3 Smash Bros. Ultimate was different from Smash 4. Samus’s Dark Samus palette was removed and replaced with a black colored palette with yellow highlights.
It was these two “bread crumbs” that made myself and most speculators believe that Dark Samus was very likely going to be among Ultimate’s echo newcomers. Dark Samus being confirmed as an echo fighter did not come as a surprise to myself or most other speculators, but I was taken off guard by how soon she was confirmed after Ridley (less than two months later).
Ken:
Ken seemed to me like the most obvious choice for an echo newcomer that did not have “bread crumbs” leading to them. However, many speculators were divided on this character, with many saying he was “too boring” or felt the only third-party echo would be Shadow. I felt after the 8/8 Direct that he would be revealed together alongside Shadow like Chrom and Dark Samus were revealed together.
When Ken was leaked by Vergeben, many speculators saw him as likely. The “box theory” coming out in September made many speculators even more confident in Ken (where one of two empty spots on the box correlated with where Ken would be). There was later a leaked screenshot of Ken in Ultimate shown off, which despite efforts to debunk it, seemed to be among the few picture leaks to actually be legit.
Ken ended up being among the final two newcomers unveiled for the base roster. He got ire from some Shadow fans due to him taking “the final echo slot”, but otherwise many Smash Bros. fans saw him as a deserving gaming all-star, and one important to the context of Smash Bros. as a whole.
Piranha Plant:
This is a character practically no one saw coming. Even when the idea of a playable Mario enemy has come up it usually extended to enemies that have important entities of themselves (like King Boo or Kamek). Piranha Plant is a very important reminder that there are some characters that speculators can never predict even when actively looking for a “bizarre” addition.
Piranha Plant seems to have gotten the most ire of all of Ultimate’s newcomers due to the fact it was a completely unique newcomer as well as the fact that it hails from the Super Mario series (where Toad, Captain Toad, Toadette, Waluigi, Geno, and Paper Mario all competed for a slot). Piranha Plant is an interesting addition due to the fact that despite the character being a “weird” choice, it is probably among the most well known characters added to Smash Bros.
Inkling:
This character was perhaps Ultimate’s only shoe-in as far as myself and most other speculators were concerned. The overwhelming success to Splatoon ensured this character’s playable inclusion into Smash Bros. This is perhaps the only character of Ultimate’s 11 newcomers there would have been absolutely no surprise to if you told someone back in 2017 about the next Smash Bros. game’s roster.
Ridley:
After Sakurai’s statements about Ridley back during November 2014, I became very pessimistic on Ridley ever becoming a playable fighter in Smash Bros. After Smash 4, it was the first time I was ever pessimistic about Ridley’s prospects going forward. Most of the seasoned speculators were the same way, believing that Sakurai’s own beliefs regarding Ridley were hard and he most likely would never make it in as a playable fighter until Sakurai had retired from the series.
It was only until Vergeben starting leaking that Ridley was likely that fans started to regain hope in the space pirate commander making a playable debut. I was personally pessimistic on Vergeben’s claims having seen so many fake leaks with Ridley be disproven over the years (heck, I cynically thought a leak to be fake during the latter half of pre-Smash 4 whenever Ridley was mentioned as a playable character).
Ridley becoming a playable fighter was absolutely an unexpected turn of events for not only myself, but most speculators as a whole. I am very grateful that Sakurai changed his mind on the character, especially such a short time after had made those statements that he did.
Simon Belmont:
While I had wanted a Castlevania character in since third-party characters were first announced for Smash Bros. back in 2006, I never thought it was likely to ever happen. There did not seem to be much interest in a Castlevania character either among the Smash Bros. fanbase nor an expectation that one would happen (though to be fair, many fans were divided at the time as to who it should be, there was not even a consensus on what Simon’s design should have been).
With Snake being cut from Smash 4, there was an expectation that Konami characters might not happen at all for future Smash Bros. titles due to Konami seeming like that they wanted to get out of gaming. Most speculators slept on the idea of a Castlevania character in general and instead talked much more extensively about Rayman, Shovel Knight, and Shantae. Had Vergeben not leaked this character, nearly everyone would have been blindsided about Simon Belmont making it in.
King K. Rool:
If there was one character that speculators believed the ballot saved their fortunes going forward, it was King K. Rool. I personally believed that for a future Smash Bros. title that K. Rool would definitely happen due to his extremely strong ballot performance. Many other speculators felt the same, though some were pessimistic and believed that it would only be until he made another appearance in the DK series that he would finally join Smash Bros. as a fighter. After Ridley’s confirmation in June, I became very confident that K. Rool would also be confirmed for Ultimate. K. Rool making it in vindicated that the ballot had an impact on the roster.
Isabelle:
With Isabelle, I was not thinking about Animal Crossing newcomers going forward. Isabelle seemed to me to be a timid character who would be out of her element fighting others, a character whom the “too pacifist” moniker that Sakurai believed about the Villager during Brawl’s development actually applied to. However, I definitely saw that she was a very popular character.
I did not change my mind on her prospects until the announcement of echo fighters as a “feature” for Ultimate. At this point, I saw Isabelle as a strong contender to become an echo fighter. As for other speculators, consensus was very mixed prior to the echo fighter announcement. Some believed that her overwhelming popularity alone would be what would get her into a playable slot for Smash Bros., while others thought she had barely any requests among “core” Smash Bros. fans and felt that she was too much of a pacifist to become playable.
After the confirmation of echo fighters, speculation did not change much, with many arguing there were stronger echo candidates than her. Isabelle not being an echo fighter surprised many speculators including myself. However, upon retrospect it makes sense considering the character is the biggest Nintendo character introduced during the 2010’s after the Inkling, as well as the fact as stated by Sakurai the dimensions to the character were too far off from Villager (there was a sort of expectation that after Chrom and Dark Samus, one of which had a different recovery, and the other very different animations, that the definition to an echo could be “tweaked”).
Incineroar:
Having dropped out of the speculation scene after 2015, I knew very little about Pokemon Sun & Moon. From what I gathered when I came back, Decidueye was the most popular among “core” Smash Bros. fans, while Mimikyu became a sort of mascot for the generation as a whole. I thought those two were the most likely for a Pokemon newcomer slot for that reason, but honestly I gave little thought about who the Pokemon newcomer was going to be and cared very little. All I was confident on was that there was going to be a Pokemon newcomer.
Even after Sakurai confirmed that Ultimate was going to have fewer newcomers than prior Smash Bros. titles, I still thought that a Pokemon newcomer had a very good chance of happening still, but I was personally conflicted on who it would actually be. Most of the Smash Bros. community was convinced that it would be Decidueye, with some believing that Mimikyu, Lycanroc, and Incineroar were also possibilities.
Of these, Incineroar was seen as the least likely because he was not as “popular” as the former two (Decidueye and Mimikyu) or not as heavily featured in the anime (Lycanroc). Like every other non-echo newcomer (with the exceptions of K. Rool), Incineroar was leaked by Vergeben. Initially he was told by his sources that a Generation 7 Pokemon was coming but did not know who, just that the Pokemon in question was not Decidueye, Mimikyu, or Lycanroc. Mimikyu being de-confirmed in the 8/8 Smash Bros. direct, made people believe that he might again have had inside information and that the Pokemon newcomer very well could be Incineroar.
Up until Vergeben’s leak, most people wrote off Incineroar in comparison to other Generation 7 Pokemon. This was among the reasons why Incineroar is the most controversial newcomer for Ultimate.
The Echoes:
Truth be told, most serious speculators (and myself) would never have seen the likes of Daisy, Richter Belmont, Chrom, Dark Samus, and Ken coming without Sakurai devoting a segment of the E3 2018 Direct to talk about echoes. Daisy would be considered much less likely than Toad, Geno, Waluigi, Paper Mario, and Captain Toad. Richter Belmont would seem odd to get in at all. Chrom’s game was old news by 2018 and Awakening had already been represented by Robin and Lucina, and a future Fire Emblem title (Fates) was given a representative through Corrin, with all eyes on whether Shadows of Valentia would also get a newcomer or the Switch Fire Emblem. Dark Samus was seen as very old news in 2018, and she rarely ever came up in character discussion (prior to the Vergeben leaks, people surmised Sylux was the most likely possible Metroid newcomer at that point). Ken was rarely ever brought up. Had you shown a list of Ultimate’s newcomers to a speculator from 2017, they would be bewildered by the character selection without being given context (some might notice a bit of a pattern though through some of the obvious clone characters).
Daisy:
I was not expecting Daisy to be Ultimate’s Mario newcomer. I personally expected Geno due to Sakurai’s own statements and/or Captain Toad due to the announcement of both a 3DS and Switch port for the character’s own game. Her showing up during the E3 2018 Direct was a bit odd since she was given no trailer at all, she was just shown and Sakurai went on to explain echoes. The sentiment was the same with most speculators. Most speculators believed that the Mario newcomer would be Geno due to Sakurai’s own statements, or Toad due to history and legacy within the Super Mario series, Paper Mario due to having a sub-series, or Waluigi due to his popularity, or Captain Toad due to his successful spinoff title. There were a few that thought Daisy was being “undersold”, but most of those were big Daisy fans themselves.
Richter Belmont:
Even after echoes were announced as a feature to Ultimate, I did not give thought that the leaked Simon Belmont would also get an echo fighter. Most speculators did not think so either. Richter was a very surprising addition in general, but at least proved to speculators that third-party characters could get an additional fighter for their series. Richter definitely came as a surprise.
Chrom:
Chrom was among the most obvious echoes to be potentially added after the E3 2018 Direct. This was primarily due to multiple “bread crumbs” suggesting the character’s inclusion. One was the fact that unlike most of the trailers given for the characters on the website, Robin’s video did not show off his Final Smash (ironically, Chrom still ended up being part of it). Another “bread crumb” was the fact that Ike was missing his Chrom palette. It was these “bread crumbs” that made me believe that Chrom was among the most likely echo fighters to happen.
Many other speculators felt the same, but some felt that Chrom might not happen due to Awakening being three games behind in the series (behind Fates, Shadows of Valentia, and Three Houses) as well as the general fatigue for Fire Emblem newcomers among many Smash Bros. fans.
The expectation from myself and most other speculators was that Chrom was going to be an echo fighter of Ike. This was primarily due to both characters possessing Aether, Ike possessing a Chrom color palette, and Palutena and Viridi making a comparison of Ike to Chrom in Robin’s guidance conversation. I was not surprised at all by Chrom’s confirmation, but it was strange to see that he was an echo of Roy (whom was a semi-clone of Marth, whom already had an echo fighter of himself).
Most others were surprised as well. Even more surprising was the fact that Chrom had a different recovery move entirely which made people wonder how much echoes could differ themselves before no longer being an echo. However, it definitely does make sense. Sakurai did make a consideration about Chrom being an intermediary between Marth and Ike before dismissing him as not being interesting enough, and that was the role Roy received when he returned. There is also the fact that it would make sense that Chrom would fight similarly to his daughter (Lucina).
Dark Samus:
Dark Samus, alongside Chrom, was among the most obvious echoes to be potentially added after the E3 2018 Direct. Like Chrom, there were several “bread crumbs” to suggest Dark Samus was actually going to happen as a newcomer. One was that Dark Samus’s Assist Trophy mysteriously was not among the newcomers shown off at E3 2018.
However, while some could have argued that Dark Samus was simply not in any form at all in the game (like what happened with Isaac in Smash 4), there was a more obvious “bread crumb”. Only one of Samus’s palettes in the E3 Smash Bros. Ultimate was different from Smash 4. Samus’s Dark Samus palette was removed and replaced with a black colored palette with yellow highlights.
It was these two “bread crumbs” that made myself and most speculators believe that Dark Samus was very likely going to be among Ultimate’s echo newcomers. Dark Samus being confirmed as an echo fighter did not come as a surprise to myself or most other speculators, but I was taken off guard by how soon she was confirmed after Ridley (less than two months later).
Ken:
Ken seemed to me like the most obvious choice for an echo newcomer that did not have “bread crumbs” leading to them. However, many speculators were divided on this character, with many saying he was “too boring” or felt the only third-party echo would be Shadow. I felt after the 8/8 Direct that he would be revealed together alongside Shadow like Chrom and Dark Samus were revealed together.
When Ken was leaked by Vergeben, many speculators saw him as likely. The “box theory” coming out in September made many speculators even more confident in Ken (where one of two empty spots on the box correlated with where Ken would be). There was later a leaked screenshot of Ken in Ultimate shown off, which despite efforts to debunk it, seemed to be among the few picture leaks to actually be legit.
Ken ended up being among the final two newcomers unveiled for the base roster. He got ire from some Shadow fans due to him taking “the final echo slot”, but otherwise many Smash Bros. fans saw him as a deserving gaming all-star, and one important to the context of Smash Bros. as a whole.
Piranha Plant:
This is a character practically no one saw coming. Even when the idea of a playable Mario enemy has come up it usually extended to enemies that have important entities of themselves (like King Boo or Kamek). Piranha Plant is a very important reminder that there are some characters that speculators can never predict even when actively looking for a “bizarre” addition.
Piranha Plant seems to have gotten the most ire of all of Ultimate’s newcomers due to the fact it was a completely unique newcomer as well as the fact that it hails from the Super Mario series (where Toad, Captain Toad, Toadette, Waluigi, Geno, and Paper Mario all competed for a slot). Piranha Plant is an interesting addition due to the fact that despite the character being a “weird” choice, it is probably among the most well known characters added to Smash Bros.
Overall Assessment and Analysis:
The roster for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is one that which most speculators, including myself, would never have seen coming a year ago. The fact that every veteran in the existence to the franchise returned is incredible enough of its self. That meant 65 characters had to come back for this game for that to happen. The only other time this ever happened in the history of the franchise was with Melee, and that was when there were only 12 veterans to the series. Ultimate is a celebration of the Smash Bros. series as a whole and its 20 year history to date.
At the cost of bringing everyone back, there were less newcomers this time than Melee, Brawl, and Smash 4, even with a multitude of clone newcomer additions. Only six non-echo newcomers were added in Ultimate’s base roster, and one of them was based off of another fighter (Isabelle in comparison to Villager). The other five newcomers where a type of clone, echo, that have less differences than what the six Melee clone newcomers had. Taken on its face, this kind of arrangement would normally lead to a massive meltdown with bitter and angry fan reactions.
Yet this time, there is markedly less anger and bitterness than there was with the final rosters for Melee, Brawl, and Smash 4. Why is this? There are a multitude of reasons.
One is the outright selection of whom got in. Ridley and K. Rool were the two most wanted Nintendo newcomers for over ten years. Many core Smash Bros. fans saw these characters as “distant dreams” since they never were able to get in despite having all the normal credentials (high popularity, distinctiveness, as well as importance to their respective franchises). Both characters making it was enough for much of the Western Smash Bros. fanbase to be satisfied with the newcomer selection (especially older core fans).
Inkling and Isabelle also provided much star power among younger Nintendo fans especially casual Nintendo fans. Splatoon is by far the biggest new IP that Nintendo introduced in the 2010’s, and Isabelle is by far the biggest supporting character for a veteran Nintendo franchise created during the 2010’s. So already with Ultimate, Sakurai had put in the two biggest long running characters and two biggest “fresh faces”. If there were only two spots given two “legacy additions” and only two spots for “fresh faces”, then those four were the best picks that Sakurai could have made for their respective categories.
Simon Belmont never had a long running fanbase requesting him for Smash Bros., nor was he a fresh face. However, the Castlevania series was one with a very deep and long running history with Nintendo platforms and gaming as a whole. Most core gamers have heard about the Castlevania series even if they have not played it. It carries a very important legacy with it and many of its games have been among the highest acclaimed games for their respective platforms (NES, SNES, TGCD, Sega Genesis, PS1, GBA, DS). Castlevania resonates as a series among gamers old and young. Castlevania is integral to both Nintendo and gaming, and thus even though a character was barely requested, Simon Belmont was an universally well received choice for a character (even with so few newcomer slots available), and one that added much prestige to the newcomer selection.
Those five (Ridley, K. Rool, Simon Belmont, Inkling, and Isabelle) were the Top 5 best choices that could have been made in regards to non-echo newcomer slots for Ultimate.
The only “questionable” choice of the non-echoes was Incineroar, but unfortunately Sakurai’s hands are basically tied in regards to the question of whether a Pokemon newcomer should be added. Sakurai’s freedom in regards to a Pokemon newcomer though lies with picking whom the Pokemon newcomer is (or rather who he feels would be the best pick to represent the present epoch of Pokemon within Smash Bros.). Of the choices likely given (Decidueye, Incineroar, Primarina, Mimikyu, and maybe Lycanroc), Incineroar very well could have been the best choice. A pro-wrestler is an archetype that resonates with a casual audience, and the type of fighter that is oddly missing from a roster with over 70 playable characters. Time will tell how Incineroar is really received among fans, but I think his unveil trailer did much to endear him among core Smash Bros. fans.
Then there is the case of the five echo newcomers. Melee’s six newcomers were added towards the end of Melee’s development due to Sakurai feeling as though there were not enough newcomers added with Melee (only eight). It might have been that the five echoes were planned from the beginning (it seems much more likely that most of them were made late in development), but regardless of whether or not they were, it seems Sakurai and his team learned what clones are well received and which are not. Dr. Mario, Young Link, and Pichu seemed to have more detractors than supporters, as well as Dark Pit for Smash 4 (Ganondorf also got a lot of flak, but that was due to the belief by many Smash Bros. fans that the character should have been a priority for being an unique fighter not a last minute clone whom was only lucky to get in at all due to Captain Falcon and Ganondorf sharing the same body type).
Sakurai’s choices for echoes were all characters through whom are well known (and important) in their home franchises and have large fanbases within them, even if they are not highly requested within Smash Bros. as a whole. Daisy, Dark Samus, Chrom, and Ken are all recognizable and familiar with Smash Bros. fans (Dark Samus and Chrom had major NPC roles in the previous game, while Daisy and Ken are recognizable due to the proliferation of the series that those two hail from). These characters had fanbases that were relieved that those characters got in at all, as opposed to whining that being a clone was “beneath them”. With Richter, Sakurai probably surmised even if fans were unfamiliar with the character that they would like him due to the character’s design and personality (like was the case with Roy, another clone most people were unfamiliar with).
The newcomer selection was the among the best that could have been done with the slots and time allowed, even amongst the echoes. That is a very major reason for why there is a lot more satisfaction this time around than there was with Melee, Brawl, and Smash 4.
Another very integral reason for there being less anger is the fact that there are simply no major characters for people to rally around anymore. The characters with the biggest credentials left (the three different forms of Toad, Dixie Kong and Bandana Dee) all do not have loud, passionate fanbases that K. Rool, Ridley, and Mega Man saw. Of the few characters that do have loud fanbases (Isaac and Geno), not only do these characters have much smaller fanbases than the previously mentioned characters did (Isaac was always a lower Top 10 type of character during much of pre-Smash 4, and Geno even in his peak during pre-Brawl barely cracked the Top 10), but these are characters whom have not been prominent in a very long time (15 years for Isaac, and over 20 for Geno), and have only been a major character in only one or two games. Is it really worth torching Sakurai for not including characters that are arguably retro, especially when DLC is a thing? Most Smash Bros. fans felt that it was not.
On that penultimate sentence, there is another reason why there is far less bitterness with this roster. Most Smash Bros. fans know that there is DLC to look forward to. Fans of third-party characters are especially not worried about their character of choice not making the roster due to the fact that Smash 4 added more third-party newcomers than the base roster did. Fan of characters from recent software (such as Rex & Pyrra from Xenoblade 2, or a character from ARMS) can also look forward to DLC due to the example set by Corrin (whom was the only Nintendo newcomer added through DLC). Overall, DLC offers hope to continue in the future for many character fanbases, and the base roster is the not the end of the show like it was with Melee and Brawl. Even with Smash 4, DLC was still unknown to happen when Smash 4 3DS launched in Japan in September 2014.
Now brings the final factor for why there is a lot more satisfaction and less bitterness with this roster compared to prior games in the series, despite adding less newcomers than the previous three installments. It is the fact that not only were there no cuts this time, but also the fact that all veterans were brought back. With both Brawl and Smash 4, much of the anger and bitterness about the final roster was due to the cuts. For Brawl, many were upset over Mewtwo and Roy not returning for Brawl, and subsequently ended up being the most wanted characters for Smash 4. For Smash 4, it was with Lucas, Wolf, Snake, and Ice Climbers, and they subsequently became the most wanted characters for DLC and the next Smash Bros. title. Ultimate brought back everyone, thus eliminating this traditional gripe about the final roster.
It seems in general, the roster did many, many things right. Sure people might argue that another Pokemon could have been chosen instead of Incineroar, but otherwise, these choices are the probably the best Sakurai and his team could have done. I am overall very impressed by the way things turned out for this game’s roster, especially given the circumstances.
We have three newcomers given to promote contemporary Nintendo (Isabelle, Inkling, and Incineroar), two integral characters to major Nintendo franchises (Ridley and K. Rool), and a major legacy guest character (Simon Belmont). Of their respective categories, these characters were quite literally the best choices available (a Pokemon newcomer was going to happen regardless due to the clout of the Pokemon Company).
I have no criticism to give about the base roster’s choices. Sure I would have wished that there would have been more newcomers like everyone else (but this understandable given the limited nature of time and resources), but of the choices that we received, I have no criticism to give.
Incredible. Absolutely incredible. Well done Sakurai and the entire Ultimate team. Well done.
At the cost of bringing everyone back, there were less newcomers this time than Melee, Brawl, and Smash 4, even with a multitude of clone newcomer additions. Only six non-echo newcomers were added in Ultimate’s base roster, and one of them was based off of another fighter (Isabelle in comparison to Villager). The other five newcomers where a type of clone, echo, that have less differences than what the six Melee clone newcomers had. Taken on its face, this kind of arrangement would normally lead to a massive meltdown with bitter and angry fan reactions.
Yet this time, there is markedly less anger and bitterness than there was with the final rosters for Melee, Brawl, and Smash 4. Why is this? There are a multitude of reasons.
One is the outright selection of whom got in. Ridley and K. Rool were the two most wanted Nintendo newcomers for over ten years. Many core Smash Bros. fans saw these characters as “distant dreams” since they never were able to get in despite having all the normal credentials (high popularity, distinctiveness, as well as importance to their respective franchises). Both characters making it was enough for much of the Western Smash Bros. fanbase to be satisfied with the newcomer selection (especially older core fans).
Inkling and Isabelle also provided much star power among younger Nintendo fans especially casual Nintendo fans. Splatoon is by far the biggest new IP that Nintendo introduced in the 2010’s, and Isabelle is by far the biggest supporting character for a veteran Nintendo franchise created during the 2010’s. So already with Ultimate, Sakurai had put in the two biggest long running characters and two biggest “fresh faces”. If there were only two spots given two “legacy additions” and only two spots for “fresh faces”, then those four were the best picks that Sakurai could have made for their respective categories.
Simon Belmont never had a long running fanbase requesting him for Smash Bros., nor was he a fresh face. However, the Castlevania series was one with a very deep and long running history with Nintendo platforms and gaming as a whole. Most core gamers have heard about the Castlevania series even if they have not played it. It carries a very important legacy with it and many of its games have been among the highest acclaimed games for their respective platforms (NES, SNES, TGCD, Sega Genesis, PS1, GBA, DS). Castlevania resonates as a series among gamers old and young. Castlevania is integral to both Nintendo and gaming, and thus even though a character was barely requested, Simon Belmont was an universally well received choice for a character (even with so few newcomer slots available), and one that added much prestige to the newcomer selection.
Those five (Ridley, K. Rool, Simon Belmont, Inkling, and Isabelle) were the Top 5 best choices that could have been made in regards to non-echo newcomer slots for Ultimate.
The only “questionable” choice of the non-echoes was Incineroar, but unfortunately Sakurai’s hands are basically tied in regards to the question of whether a Pokemon newcomer should be added. Sakurai’s freedom in regards to a Pokemon newcomer though lies with picking whom the Pokemon newcomer is (or rather who he feels would be the best pick to represent the present epoch of Pokemon within Smash Bros.). Of the choices likely given (Decidueye, Incineroar, Primarina, Mimikyu, and maybe Lycanroc), Incineroar very well could have been the best choice. A pro-wrestler is an archetype that resonates with a casual audience, and the type of fighter that is oddly missing from a roster with over 70 playable characters. Time will tell how Incineroar is really received among fans, but I think his unveil trailer did much to endear him among core Smash Bros. fans.
Then there is the case of the five echo newcomers. Melee’s six newcomers were added towards the end of Melee’s development due to Sakurai feeling as though there were not enough newcomers added with Melee (only eight). It might have been that the five echoes were planned from the beginning (it seems much more likely that most of them were made late in development), but regardless of whether or not they were, it seems Sakurai and his team learned what clones are well received and which are not. Dr. Mario, Young Link, and Pichu seemed to have more detractors than supporters, as well as Dark Pit for Smash 4 (Ganondorf also got a lot of flak, but that was due to the belief by many Smash Bros. fans that the character should have been a priority for being an unique fighter not a last minute clone whom was only lucky to get in at all due to Captain Falcon and Ganondorf sharing the same body type).
Sakurai’s choices for echoes were all characters through whom are well known (and important) in their home franchises and have large fanbases within them, even if they are not highly requested within Smash Bros. as a whole. Daisy, Dark Samus, Chrom, and Ken are all recognizable and familiar with Smash Bros. fans (Dark Samus and Chrom had major NPC roles in the previous game, while Daisy and Ken are recognizable due to the proliferation of the series that those two hail from). These characters had fanbases that were relieved that those characters got in at all, as opposed to whining that being a clone was “beneath them”. With Richter, Sakurai probably surmised even if fans were unfamiliar with the character that they would like him due to the character’s design and personality (like was the case with Roy, another clone most people were unfamiliar with).
The newcomer selection was the among the best that could have been done with the slots and time allowed, even amongst the echoes. That is a very major reason for why there is a lot more satisfaction this time around than there was with Melee, Brawl, and Smash 4.
Another very integral reason for there being less anger is the fact that there are simply no major characters for people to rally around anymore. The characters with the biggest credentials left (the three different forms of Toad, Dixie Kong and Bandana Dee) all do not have loud, passionate fanbases that K. Rool, Ridley, and Mega Man saw. Of the few characters that do have loud fanbases (Isaac and Geno), not only do these characters have much smaller fanbases than the previously mentioned characters did (Isaac was always a lower Top 10 type of character during much of pre-Smash 4, and Geno even in his peak during pre-Brawl barely cracked the Top 10), but these are characters whom have not been prominent in a very long time (15 years for Isaac, and over 20 for Geno), and have only been a major character in only one or two games. Is it really worth torching Sakurai for not including characters that are arguably retro, especially when DLC is a thing? Most Smash Bros. fans felt that it was not.
On that penultimate sentence, there is another reason why there is far less bitterness with this roster. Most Smash Bros. fans know that there is DLC to look forward to. Fans of third-party characters are especially not worried about their character of choice not making the roster due to the fact that Smash 4 added more third-party newcomers than the base roster did. Fan of characters from recent software (such as Rex & Pyrra from Xenoblade 2, or a character from ARMS) can also look forward to DLC due to the example set by Corrin (whom was the only Nintendo newcomer added through DLC). Overall, DLC offers hope to continue in the future for many character fanbases, and the base roster is the not the end of the show like it was with Melee and Brawl. Even with Smash 4, DLC was still unknown to happen when Smash 4 3DS launched in Japan in September 2014.
Now brings the final factor for why there is a lot more satisfaction and less bitterness with this roster compared to prior games in the series, despite adding less newcomers than the previous three installments. It is the fact that not only were there no cuts this time, but also the fact that all veterans were brought back. With both Brawl and Smash 4, much of the anger and bitterness about the final roster was due to the cuts. For Brawl, many were upset over Mewtwo and Roy not returning for Brawl, and subsequently ended up being the most wanted characters for Smash 4. For Smash 4, it was with Lucas, Wolf, Snake, and Ice Climbers, and they subsequently became the most wanted characters for DLC and the next Smash Bros. title. Ultimate brought back everyone, thus eliminating this traditional gripe about the final roster.
It seems in general, the roster did many, many things right. Sure people might argue that another Pokemon could have been chosen instead of Incineroar, but otherwise, these choices are the probably the best Sakurai and his team could have done. I am overall very impressed by the way things turned out for this game’s roster, especially given the circumstances.
We have three newcomers given to promote contemporary Nintendo (Isabelle, Inkling, and Incineroar), two integral characters to major Nintendo franchises (Ridley and K. Rool), and a major legacy guest character (Simon Belmont). Of their respective categories, these characters were quite literally the best choices available (a Pokemon newcomer was going to happen regardless due to the clout of the Pokemon Company).
I have no criticism to give about the base roster’s choices. Sure I would have wished that there would have been more newcomers like everyone else (but this understandable given the limited nature of time and resources), but of the choices that we received, I have no criticism to give.
Incredible. Absolutely incredible. Well done Sakurai and the entire Ultimate team. Well done.
That concludes my proper analysis of the Ultimate roster. However, I have also written several other essays in relation to it.
Other essays:
My History with This Round of Speculation:
This time four years ago, I was both very relieved and very disappointed. I was very relieved that the long journey from Brawl’s release was finally over, however, I was at the same time very disappointed due to the fact that the two characters whom I had spent the most time supporting during the pre-Smash 4 period (Ridley and Roy) not only did not get in, but also looked like that they might never be able to make it in (or return in Roy’s case). Sakurai’s own statements on Ridley in November 2014 was particularly crushing.
I was disappointed, but I felt with Smash 4 3DS and Project M, I would have a definitive Smash 4 experience. I never bought the Wii U, and Smash 4 3DS was the only version to Smash 4 I played. I appreciated all of the newcomers and stages added with that game as well as finally be able to have a portable version of Smash Bros. (something I had dreamed about since 2004).
With Project M, it offered me to have all the veterans with Brawl, as well as both Mewtwo and Roy, a whole bunch of returning stages, as well as the fast fluid gameplay of Melee. It also gave me hope for at least to have some way of playing as Ridley in Smash Bros., even if it was not through an official title. I was hoping the Project M team, whom had already done a fantastic job with Mewtwo and Roy, would also make Ridley as well. I tried hard to campaign for Ridley in Project M. Bagansmashbros, a young Ridley fan and Brawl modder, fortunately made a high quality playable version of Ridley for Project M (with some help from others), and I was very grateful for this. Unfortunately, Project M ended up being cancelled by the end of 2015 (and it turned out that the only planned additional newcomers were Knuckles, Lyn, Isaac, and Sami of Advance Wars).
The unexpected leak about Roy’s upcoming debut in Smash 4 DLC was a very pleasant surprise. When Roy actually did return to Smash Bros. in June 2015, I finally felt there was a “high note” for me to ride off into the sunset in regards to my time with the speculation community. Although I did not get the one newcomer, Ridley, I wanted the most since Melee’s announcement (and one I had dreamed about since 1999), I felt satisfied that Roy, a character that I really enjoyed using in Melee and Project M and was what got me interested in the Fire Emblem series, had finally returned. “At long last I have finally returned” were very nice words to see and hear.
I still was interested in the conclusion to Smash 4’s DLC, but I barely made any more public comments on speculation for the second half of 2015. I was basically retired from speculation in June 2015. I only made a single post in all of 2016, and in 2017 I made no posts at all. I did not post again on SmashBoards until April 2018, after Ultimate had been given a teaser in March.
At this point, I had only returned because the new game (I stated many times that Smash 4 would be the final game I would do speculation for and that was definitely my intention) was announced so soon after the conclusion of Smash 4’s DLC (only two years later). In comparison to prior games, Brawl’s was only unveiled 4.5 years after Melee, and Smash 4 unveiled about 5.5 years after Brawl. This was a much shorter wait period between games, and not long after I had “retired”.
There were also a few posters that wanted me to come back, and hear what I had to say about speculation. I told them that I would do my “Ultimate Character Analysis” and nothing else, and that I no longer was personally interested in any newcomer prospects (due to being so demoralized about what had happened with Ridley).
When the Vergeben rumors about Ridley being playable started to become big in mid-May, I was cynical about them because of how many fake leaks there had been about Ridley for the last 17 years, and the fact that Ultimate had started development so soon after Sakurai had his comments about Ridley not being a fitting character for playable status. However, I was still curious to see what characters Sakurai would choose for the formal unveil of Ultimate since he used one of the biggest possible characters for the teaser (Inkling).
My expectations were vastly exceeded during the E3 Direct, I was not expecting every single veteran to return. That had actually been a dream of mine to happen since the struggle I endured with Roy’s return over seven years made me very sympathetic towards other cut veterans and veterans in danger of being cut. I wanted to see all of Smash Bros.’s veterans up until this point to return for one more round together. I actually wrote this a month before the E3 2018 Direct and the name for what would become Ultimate was known:
The struggles I endured at being at the forefront of the Roy fanbase has also made me sympathetic to the plight of all Smash Bros. veterans. Even Dark Pit and Corrin should return for Smash Switch, and I think even cut veterans with few asking for their return (Pichu, Squirtle, and Ivysaur) should return as well. Let Smash Bros. Switch be the ultimate Smash Bros. regardless of whether Ridley is added or not. I truly feel for fans of some of the less popular characters of Smash Bros. series now, and hopefully that will not have to undergo the struggle that the Roy fanbase had to endure for many years.
I literally gasped when I saw “Everyone is Here!”, and it truly became clear that everyone meant “everyone” when even Young Link was shown to have returned. Every single veteran ever returning was a dream of mine that somehow managed to come to pass. However, the best was still yet to come.
Ridley, one of my favorite gaming characters of all time (my number one favorite gaming villain), a character I had been dreaming of playable status since 1999, and began thinking he was a realizable dream in 2001, had finally been confirmed as a playable character in Smash Bros. Ridley at long last had hit the big time!
I could not believe that it had finally happened. Even months later, it still felt surreal. Giving my analysis and thoughts on the roster for Smash 4 in September 2014, I had written this on Ridley:
I quipped earlier this year that aside from death and taxes, there is a third certainty in life. That third certainty is that despite the amount of popular support he has for inclusion in a Smash Bros. game (Melee, Brawl, Project M, Smash 4) he never gets in as a playable character.
To quote another newcomer for Ultimate, “Anything can change!” I am extremely grateful for Sakurai and his team to have changed their mind about Ridley’s viability as a fighter only a year after Sakurai had made those comments (Sakurai had made his comments pertaining to Ridley in November 2014, and the first design document for Ultimate was submitted in December 2015).
It was after Ridley’s confirmation that I felt much more invigorated in regards to Smash Bros. speculation. However, I still was nowhere near as active and prominent as I was during the pre-Melee, pre-Brawl, and pre-Smash 4 epochs. I made comments here and there in the general discussion thread, but a lot of the time it would be a perspective or outlook not on character prospects but how to approach speculation (as well as some history lessons here and there).
I was also a participant in various character support topics. These mostly included Dixie Kong, Toad, Isaac, and Lip. Of these four, only two of them looked like that they could make it into Ultimate (Dixie Kong and Isaac) and thus was character support, while the other two it was more a discussion on their games and credentials (Toad/Captain Toad) or about discussion for content for their series (Panel de Pon/Puzzle League).
I unfortunately was not able to do much work on my “Ultimate Character Analysis” due to how much more busy I have been now compared to prior speculation periods. However, I still was a participant in the speculation community which I did not expect to do anymore after Roy’s return was confirmed.
I was hyped even further with the 8/8 Smash Bros. Direct, due to the confirmation giving Castlevania, one of my Top 3 favorite non-Nintendo gaming franchises of all time not one, but two playable characters, an awesome stage, as well as over 30 songs in game, as well as an Assist Trophy appearance of my favorite Castlevania character (Alucard, whom I never thought was likely for playable status anyway, so I am pleased just to see him as an Assist Trophy). I was also happy to see Dark Samus confirmed, thus making the Metroid series feel truly “complete” in terms of representation (especially alongside the Metroid and Mother Brain Assist Trophies). The confirmations of all the stages returning (especially Brinstar Depths) and K. Rool finally being added in were additional points that made Ultimate truly live up to its moniker.
After it became increasingly obvious after the September direct that the last two newcomers were going to be Incineroar and Ken (due to Vergeben’s own statements and the “box theory”), I lost a lot of interest in speculating about the base roster, and began to wonder about what DLC could possibly bring (though not much publically). I still wrote supportive posts for Dixie Kong, Isaac, and Toad/Captain Toad/Toadette though in their respective support topics.
With the final pre-release direct having confirmed the remainder of the base roster (as well as the first DLC fighter, Piranha Plant), I felt the need to step back more. I wondered where I would go from this point forward.
I was definitely thrilled with the roster and stage selection, and it greatly vastly exceeded whatever I had expected to be seen from the next installment of Smash Bros. a year ago (of what little thought I did give to it). Ultimate seemed to be the conclusion that I had been hoping for with Smash 4.
I was disappointed, but I felt with Smash 4 3DS and Project M, I would have a definitive Smash 4 experience. I never bought the Wii U, and Smash 4 3DS was the only version to Smash 4 I played. I appreciated all of the newcomers and stages added with that game as well as finally be able to have a portable version of Smash Bros. (something I had dreamed about since 2004).
With Project M, it offered me to have all the veterans with Brawl, as well as both Mewtwo and Roy, a whole bunch of returning stages, as well as the fast fluid gameplay of Melee. It also gave me hope for at least to have some way of playing as Ridley in Smash Bros., even if it was not through an official title. I was hoping the Project M team, whom had already done a fantastic job with Mewtwo and Roy, would also make Ridley as well. I tried hard to campaign for Ridley in Project M. Bagansmashbros, a young Ridley fan and Brawl modder, fortunately made a high quality playable version of Ridley for Project M (with some help from others), and I was very grateful for this. Unfortunately, Project M ended up being cancelled by the end of 2015 (and it turned out that the only planned additional newcomers were Knuckles, Lyn, Isaac, and Sami of Advance Wars).
The unexpected leak about Roy’s upcoming debut in Smash 4 DLC was a very pleasant surprise. When Roy actually did return to Smash Bros. in June 2015, I finally felt there was a “high note” for me to ride off into the sunset in regards to my time with the speculation community. Although I did not get the one newcomer, Ridley, I wanted the most since Melee’s announcement (and one I had dreamed about since 1999), I felt satisfied that Roy, a character that I really enjoyed using in Melee and Project M and was what got me interested in the Fire Emblem series, had finally returned. “At long last I have finally returned” were very nice words to see and hear.
I still was interested in the conclusion to Smash 4’s DLC, but I barely made any more public comments on speculation for the second half of 2015. I was basically retired from speculation in June 2015. I only made a single post in all of 2016, and in 2017 I made no posts at all. I did not post again on SmashBoards until April 2018, after Ultimate had been given a teaser in March.
At this point, I had only returned because the new game (I stated many times that Smash 4 would be the final game I would do speculation for and that was definitely my intention) was announced so soon after the conclusion of Smash 4’s DLC (only two years later). In comparison to prior games, Brawl’s was only unveiled 4.5 years after Melee, and Smash 4 unveiled about 5.5 years after Brawl. This was a much shorter wait period between games, and not long after I had “retired”.
There were also a few posters that wanted me to come back, and hear what I had to say about speculation. I told them that I would do my “Ultimate Character Analysis” and nothing else, and that I no longer was personally interested in any newcomer prospects (due to being so demoralized about what had happened with Ridley).
When the Vergeben rumors about Ridley being playable started to become big in mid-May, I was cynical about them because of how many fake leaks there had been about Ridley for the last 17 years, and the fact that Ultimate had started development so soon after Sakurai had his comments about Ridley not being a fitting character for playable status. However, I was still curious to see what characters Sakurai would choose for the formal unveil of Ultimate since he used one of the biggest possible characters for the teaser (Inkling).
My expectations were vastly exceeded during the E3 Direct, I was not expecting every single veteran to return. That had actually been a dream of mine to happen since the struggle I endured with Roy’s return over seven years made me very sympathetic towards other cut veterans and veterans in danger of being cut. I wanted to see all of Smash Bros.’s veterans up until this point to return for one more round together. I actually wrote this a month before the E3 2018 Direct and the name for what would become Ultimate was known:
The struggles I endured at being at the forefront of the Roy fanbase has also made me sympathetic to the plight of all Smash Bros. veterans. Even Dark Pit and Corrin should return for Smash Switch, and I think even cut veterans with few asking for their return (Pichu, Squirtle, and Ivysaur) should return as well. Let Smash Bros. Switch be the ultimate Smash Bros. regardless of whether Ridley is added or not. I truly feel for fans of some of the less popular characters of Smash Bros. series now, and hopefully that will not have to undergo the struggle that the Roy fanbase had to endure for many years.
I literally gasped when I saw “Everyone is Here!”, and it truly became clear that everyone meant “everyone” when even Young Link was shown to have returned. Every single veteran ever returning was a dream of mine that somehow managed to come to pass. However, the best was still yet to come.
Ridley, one of my favorite gaming characters of all time (my number one favorite gaming villain), a character I had been dreaming of playable status since 1999, and began thinking he was a realizable dream in 2001, had finally been confirmed as a playable character in Smash Bros. Ridley at long last had hit the big time!
I could not believe that it had finally happened. Even months later, it still felt surreal. Giving my analysis and thoughts on the roster for Smash 4 in September 2014, I had written this on Ridley:
I quipped earlier this year that aside from death and taxes, there is a third certainty in life. That third certainty is that despite the amount of popular support he has for inclusion in a Smash Bros. game (Melee, Brawl, Project M, Smash 4) he never gets in as a playable character.
To quote another newcomer for Ultimate, “Anything can change!” I am extremely grateful for Sakurai and his team to have changed their mind about Ridley’s viability as a fighter only a year after Sakurai had made those comments (Sakurai had made his comments pertaining to Ridley in November 2014, and the first design document for Ultimate was submitted in December 2015).
It was after Ridley’s confirmation that I felt much more invigorated in regards to Smash Bros. speculation. However, I still was nowhere near as active and prominent as I was during the pre-Melee, pre-Brawl, and pre-Smash 4 epochs. I made comments here and there in the general discussion thread, but a lot of the time it would be a perspective or outlook not on character prospects but how to approach speculation (as well as some history lessons here and there).
I was also a participant in various character support topics. These mostly included Dixie Kong, Toad, Isaac, and Lip. Of these four, only two of them looked like that they could make it into Ultimate (Dixie Kong and Isaac) and thus was character support, while the other two it was more a discussion on their games and credentials (Toad/Captain Toad) or about discussion for content for their series (Panel de Pon/Puzzle League).
I unfortunately was not able to do much work on my “Ultimate Character Analysis” due to how much more busy I have been now compared to prior speculation periods. However, I still was a participant in the speculation community which I did not expect to do anymore after Roy’s return was confirmed.
I was hyped even further with the 8/8 Smash Bros. Direct, due to the confirmation giving Castlevania, one of my Top 3 favorite non-Nintendo gaming franchises of all time not one, but two playable characters, an awesome stage, as well as over 30 songs in game, as well as an Assist Trophy appearance of my favorite Castlevania character (Alucard, whom I never thought was likely for playable status anyway, so I am pleased just to see him as an Assist Trophy). I was also happy to see Dark Samus confirmed, thus making the Metroid series feel truly “complete” in terms of representation (especially alongside the Metroid and Mother Brain Assist Trophies). The confirmations of all the stages returning (especially Brinstar Depths) and K. Rool finally being added in were additional points that made Ultimate truly live up to its moniker.
After it became increasingly obvious after the September direct that the last two newcomers were going to be Incineroar and Ken (due to Vergeben’s own statements and the “box theory”), I lost a lot of interest in speculating about the base roster, and began to wonder about what DLC could possibly bring (though not much publically). I still wrote supportive posts for Dixie Kong, Isaac, and Toad/Captain Toad/Toadette though in their respective support topics.
With the final pre-release direct having confirmed the remainder of the base roster (as well as the first DLC fighter, Piranha Plant), I felt the need to step back more. I wondered where I would go from this point forward.
I was definitely thrilled with the roster and stage selection, and it greatly vastly exceeded whatever I had expected to be seen from the next installment of Smash Bros. a year ago (of what little thought I did give to it). Ultimate seemed to be the conclusion that I had been hoping for with Smash 4.
My Personal Hopes for DLC
I cannot say where the future will take me. I never intended to come back for another Smash Bros. game, but the next title being announced so soon after Smash 4 DLC’s conclusion is what brought me back.
Ridley, my single most wanted newcomer since the very beginning, has finally been confirmed. Every single veteran has returned (another dream of mine). Castlevania has been added in. Is there anything left for me to hope for?
To tell the truth, there is actually one more character that I personally would love to see become a playable character in Smash Bros., a character who truly deserves the title of “Nintendo All-Star” and has been a character that I cherished since my childhood. I am talking about Dixie Kong. She had always been my favorite character of the amazing Donkey Kong Country trilogy (which were among my favorite games for the SNES). I will do what I can to help build her support, but I cannot make any grandiose promises. I offer only the warm words of my heart. Whether that grows into something that builds her support for DLC or a future game is another question entirely, and beyond my ability to properly ascertain.
There are certainly other characters think deserve to be in as well. Bandana Dee is an absolutely critical actor in the Kirby series at this point. He is the single most wanted newcomer on the Japanese side of thing, and he has outright been Kirby’s sidekick for two titles now (Rainbow Curse and Battle Royale). Alongside Dixie Kong, he probably has the strongest credentials of any character from a veteran franchise in Smash Bros.
There is also Banjo-Kazooie, whom had two of the most acclaimed and notable titles for the Nintendo 64, and 3D platformers for the entire generation. Banjo-Kazooie, like Dark Samus and Brawl, like Chrom and Smash 4, seemed like they missed their boat permanently with Melee. I feel very optimistic that this character pair will make it in as DLC for Ultimate. They can also serve as a sort of ambassador to the Xbox brand of consoles (even if they might not be the most fitting representative for it). I personally greatly enjoyed Banjo-Kazooie, Banjo-Tooie, as well as Grunty’s Revenge (the GBA title), so I would appreciate their addition to Smash Bros.
Of all of these, Dixie Kong is the one I want to see the most. During the 1990’s, Samus and Dixie Kong were my favorite two Nintendo heroes in general, not just heroines. It was Samus getting into Smash Bros. that made me first discover the series (even before the game launched in North America), and I was absolutely ecstatic she was able to make it in when she did not even have a Nintendo 64 game or a new game planned for her series like every other character on the roster. Dixie Kong by comparison would serve as a closing chapter. They would be fitting bookends for myself, Nintendo’s first two major prominent heroines.
Even if Dixie Kong were not to make it in as DLC, I would not be upset or even try to fight for her for the next game. It would simply be “oh well”, and I would put in a very good word for her for Dixie Kong fans to hopefully use for the next round. Ultimate already gave me everything else I hoped for, Dixie Kong would just be the “cherry on top” (or if looking at Dixie’s hair, the banana). I also expect the next game after this one to be a reboot, and it would be a bit heartbreaking to play a game without many of the characters I cherish within Smash Bros. I still hope that somehow Dixie Kong makes it to be among the five DLC fighters for Ultimate.
Ridley, my single most wanted newcomer since the very beginning, has finally been confirmed. Every single veteran has returned (another dream of mine). Castlevania has been added in. Is there anything left for me to hope for?
To tell the truth, there is actually one more character that I personally would love to see become a playable character in Smash Bros., a character who truly deserves the title of “Nintendo All-Star” and has been a character that I cherished since my childhood. I am talking about Dixie Kong. She had always been my favorite character of the amazing Donkey Kong Country trilogy (which were among my favorite games for the SNES). I will do what I can to help build her support, but I cannot make any grandiose promises. I offer only the warm words of my heart. Whether that grows into something that builds her support for DLC or a future game is another question entirely, and beyond my ability to properly ascertain.
There are certainly other characters think deserve to be in as well. Bandana Dee is an absolutely critical actor in the Kirby series at this point. He is the single most wanted newcomer on the Japanese side of thing, and he has outright been Kirby’s sidekick for two titles now (Rainbow Curse and Battle Royale). Alongside Dixie Kong, he probably has the strongest credentials of any character from a veteran franchise in Smash Bros.
There is also Banjo-Kazooie, whom had two of the most acclaimed and notable titles for the Nintendo 64, and 3D platformers for the entire generation. Banjo-Kazooie, like Dark Samus and Brawl, like Chrom and Smash 4, seemed like they missed their boat permanently with Melee. I feel very optimistic that this character pair will make it in as DLC for Ultimate. They can also serve as a sort of ambassador to the Xbox brand of consoles (even if they might not be the most fitting representative for it). I personally greatly enjoyed Banjo-Kazooie, Banjo-Tooie, as well as Grunty’s Revenge (the GBA title), so I would appreciate their addition to Smash Bros.
Of all of these, Dixie Kong is the one I want to see the most. During the 1990’s, Samus and Dixie Kong were my favorite two Nintendo heroes in general, not just heroines. It was Samus getting into Smash Bros. that made me first discover the series (even before the game launched in North America), and I was absolutely ecstatic she was able to make it in when she did not even have a Nintendo 64 game or a new game planned for her series like every other character on the roster. Dixie Kong by comparison would serve as a closing chapter. They would be fitting bookends for myself, Nintendo’s first two major prominent heroines.
Even if Dixie Kong were not to make it in as DLC, I would not be upset or even try to fight for her for the next game. It would simply be “oh well”, and I would put in a very good word for her for Dixie Kong fans to hopefully use for the next round. Ultimate already gave me everything else I hoped for, Dixie Kong would just be the “cherry on top” (or if looking at Dixie’s hair, the banana). I also expect the next game after this one to be a reboot, and it would be a bit heartbreaking to play a game without many of the characters I cherish within Smash Bros. I still hope that somehow Dixie Kong makes it to be among the five DLC fighters for Ultimate.
My Speculation for DLC
Actual reality differs from what one’s own hopes are. Sakurai has mentioned right off the bat that there are going to be five more DLC fighters after Pirahna Plant for Ultimate. This would bring the total fighter count to a round 80 total fighters (the number would actually be 82, but Sakurai counts Pokemon Trainer as a single fighter). This would also match the total number of new character additions that Ultimate brought on board over Smash 4 (note I did not say newcomers), to 24, the same number as what Smash 4 did over Brawl (I am counting cut veterans that were brought back for both Ultimate and Smash 4).
Aside from the number of fighters, Sakurai has also told us every fighter will come with a stage and some music. This might help speculators in narrowing down who the prospective DLC character could be, especially among Nintendo characters.
Another factor to consider (especially among Nintendo characters) is whether a non-playable character having a spirit in Ultimate de-confirms them as DLC. Piranha Plant right now lacks any kind of spirit in Ultimate resulting in whether possessing a spirit will keep most Nintendo characters from being candidates for DLC.
Another integral thing to consider is that three out of the four newcomers for Smash 4’s DLC were third-party characters. At least three of the five newcomers will be third-party for DLC in my opinion. This is especially so given that each of the DLC fighters will be coming with a stage and a slew of music tracks. It could even be the case that all five of the newcomers will be third-party ones.
With all this being said I am going to write up the characters that I believe will be our five newcomers for Ultimate’s DLC.
The first slot I expect for us to see is a newcomer of a character owned by Square-Enix. Vergeben, the most reputable leaker for Ultimate’s roster says this slot is coming and that it will probably be the first DLC character unveiled after Piranha Plant. There are multiple pathways for this slot to take. I think the most likely candidates are Geno, someone from Dragon Quest, or Sora. Other possibilities also include Crono, another Final Fantasy character, or a character from another Square-Enix franchise (such as Octopath Traveler, Bravely Default, or The World Ends With You).
Of all of these I believe the most likely candidates are Geno or someone from Dragon Quest. Geno’s prospects look good due to the fact that the character is among the few (or perhaps only) where Sakurai has gone on the record to say that he has wanted to see playable since Brawl. The character is also known to have a cult following within the Smash Bros. fanbase.
A Dragon Quest character is also a very strong possibility for a few reasons. One is that the Dragon Quest series is perhaps the last long running major Japanese gaming franchise dating back to the 1980s that does not have any sort of presence in Smash Bros. There is also the fact that the cast of Nintendo (Super Mario in particular) has crossed over with Dragon Quest two times already (Itadaki Street DS and Fortune Street for the Wii). Another factor to consider is that there is an upcoming port of Dragon Quest XI for the Switch. This port is known as Dragon Quest XI S. The S stands for many things, one of which is “Special”. This might be of note because Ultimate’s name in Japan is Super Smash Bros. Special. The Dragon Quest series has a very strong history with Nintendo’s platforms with the NES, SNES, DS, Wii, 3DS, and now Switch all getting the mainline installments to the series.
Regardless of what happens with this Square-Enix slot, it is going to be very interesting as it may show us the direction the rest of DLC newcomers (or most of them) will be taking.
The second slot (not in chronological order) I see happening for Ultimate’s fighter pass is a Microsoft newcomer. The most likely newcomer for this is Banjo-Kazooie, but I also see Minecraft’s Steve as a possibility. There actually have been various possible clues that this very well could be happening. One is the fact that Nintendo has published the Nintendo console ports of Minecraft in Japan, and even released a special Minecraft themed New Nintendo 3DS/2DS.
There have also been hints on Microsoft’s end to show that this slot could very well be happening. One is the presence of a skins pack of Microsoft owned characters (characters from Banjo-Kazooie and Halo) in the Nintendo console ports of Minecraft that was released earlier this year. Another possible hint is the promotion of crossplay between the Switch and Xbox version of Minecraft at E3 2018.
I think even though the Minecraft brand is among the most popular currently in gaming, there still exists a strong possibility that Banjo-Kazooie is chosen as their “ambassador” to Smash Bros. One is that there is a very strong likelihood that Banjo-Kazooie performed very strongly on the Smash ballot, especially on the Western side of things. Another factor to consider is that even if Nintendo decided the slots, they might consider the character a good way to promote a possible Nintendo 64 Classic Edition (which could very well be coming next year or in 2020).
Regardless, I think whoever is chosen as the Microsoft representative is going to make massive waves. Minecraft is among gaming’s biggest brands, and Banjo-Kazooie holds a very special place in the hearts of Nintendo fans.
The third slot I think that is going to happen as part of Ultimate’s fighter pass is a Namco-Bandai newcomer or a guest from a third-party not yet represented in Smash Bros. With Square-Enix probably slated to get a newcomer in Smash Bros., that would leave Namco-Bandai, the developer of Smash 4 and Ultimate, as the only third-party left with only a single playable character in Smash Bros. There are a variety of possible choices that they could go with. Tekken’s Heihachi and Tales’s Lloyd are the two that come up the most as possible newcomers. However, I think Don-chan from Taiko no Tatsujin is a possible dark horse due to that series’s high popularity in Japan, as well as a character from Soul Calibur or Klonoa.
As for other third-parties that could gain a playable character in Smash Bros, I think the primary ones to possibly look at would be Ubisoft and Koei-Tecmo. Ubisoft has been a strong supporter of Nintendo consoles for a long time, and even developed a Mario crossover with one of their IPs (Rabbids) very recently. I think for Ubisoft the most likely guest fighter would either be Rayman (who now has had two appearances in the base game for Smash Bros. under his belt) or Rabbid (who has already crossed over with the Mario cast and a bunch of them have appeared as spirits in Ultimate).
As for Koei-Tecmo, that is another third-party where Nintendo seems to have collaborated a lot recently with. The Legend of Zelda and Fire Emblem versions of its popular Warriors series were made in recent years. However, there is a possible obvious representative that the company has for Smash Bros., Ninja Gaiden’s Ryu Hayabusa. The Ninja Gaiden games were among the most iconic and popular action games for the NES/Famicom, and even among the modern set of games there was a game made exclusively for the Nintendo DS and a port of the third game released for the Wii U. The character is also a staple in Tecmo’s Dead or Alive series.
This slot in general is a shot in the dark, but I feel confident that at least three of the five characters in the fighter’s pass are going to be third-party owned.
The fourth slot I see happening will be for a Nintendo owned character. This could be anything. A character from ARMS (notably Twintelle or Min Min), a character from Fire Emblem Three Houses (or Heroes), a Generation 8 Pokemon, Elma, Rex & Pyrra, Dixie Kong, or Bandana Dee are just a few of the possibilities for such a slot.
Of the newcomers that happened as part of Smash 4’s DLC, the only one that was not a third-party character was Corrin, whom served to act as a promotion of Fire Emblem Fates. It is possible that any Nintendo character that becomes DLC for the fighter pass will be similar. They will either promote an upcoming (or recently released) software title or a series as a whole (as would be the case with an ARMS character).
It is very difficult to ascertain what will happen, and factors that could lead to a character being selected (like possibly a port of Xenoblade X being developed for the Switch in the case of Elma) are unknown to the public at this time. I feel that that any Nintendo characters that get selected are going to be promoting, whether it be major software release or a franchise brand as a whole.
It is also possible that most Nintendo characters are not even in the running to be DLC due to their presence in the base games as spirits, since the only DLC fighter we known about (Piranha Plant) happens to be among the few Nintendo characters lacking a spirit.
It will be very interesting to see what will happen in regards to a Nintendo newcomer. I think there will at least be one.
As for my prediction for the fifth slot, I am sorry to say but I have little idea. It could be either another Nintendo newcomer or a third-party newcomer. For example, if we get another Namco-Bandai newcomer, it is possible this slot could got to an Ubisoft or Koei-Tecmo character (and vice versa). I have little speculation to offer for this, and it more or less goes to characters that seemed like they “missed their chance” for the other slots.
That concludes my speculation for five slots for the Fighters Pass. Keep in mind, there also exists the possibility that we could get a second season of DLC after February 2020 or that we get a few echoes as “free desserts” or sold separately from the Fighters Pass. As said before, it is going to be interesting to see what ultimately (heh) happens.
Aside from the number of fighters, Sakurai has also told us every fighter will come with a stage and some music. This might help speculators in narrowing down who the prospective DLC character could be, especially among Nintendo characters.
Another factor to consider (especially among Nintendo characters) is whether a non-playable character having a spirit in Ultimate de-confirms them as DLC. Piranha Plant right now lacks any kind of spirit in Ultimate resulting in whether possessing a spirit will keep most Nintendo characters from being candidates for DLC.
Another integral thing to consider is that three out of the four newcomers for Smash 4’s DLC were third-party characters. At least three of the five newcomers will be third-party for DLC in my opinion. This is especially so given that each of the DLC fighters will be coming with a stage and a slew of music tracks. It could even be the case that all five of the newcomers will be third-party ones.
With all this being said I am going to write up the characters that I believe will be our five newcomers for Ultimate’s DLC.
The first slot I expect for us to see is a newcomer of a character owned by Square-Enix. Vergeben, the most reputable leaker for Ultimate’s roster says this slot is coming and that it will probably be the first DLC character unveiled after Piranha Plant. There are multiple pathways for this slot to take. I think the most likely candidates are Geno, someone from Dragon Quest, or Sora. Other possibilities also include Crono, another Final Fantasy character, or a character from another Square-Enix franchise (such as Octopath Traveler, Bravely Default, or The World Ends With You).
Of all of these I believe the most likely candidates are Geno or someone from Dragon Quest. Geno’s prospects look good due to the fact that the character is among the few (or perhaps only) where Sakurai has gone on the record to say that he has wanted to see playable since Brawl. The character is also known to have a cult following within the Smash Bros. fanbase.
A Dragon Quest character is also a very strong possibility for a few reasons. One is that the Dragon Quest series is perhaps the last long running major Japanese gaming franchise dating back to the 1980s that does not have any sort of presence in Smash Bros. There is also the fact that the cast of Nintendo (Super Mario in particular) has crossed over with Dragon Quest two times already (Itadaki Street DS and Fortune Street for the Wii). Another factor to consider is that there is an upcoming port of Dragon Quest XI for the Switch. This port is known as Dragon Quest XI S. The S stands for many things, one of which is “Special”. This might be of note because Ultimate’s name in Japan is Super Smash Bros. Special. The Dragon Quest series has a very strong history with Nintendo’s platforms with the NES, SNES, DS, Wii, 3DS, and now Switch all getting the mainline installments to the series.
Regardless of what happens with this Square-Enix slot, it is going to be very interesting as it may show us the direction the rest of DLC newcomers (or most of them) will be taking.
The second slot (not in chronological order) I see happening for Ultimate’s fighter pass is a Microsoft newcomer. The most likely newcomer for this is Banjo-Kazooie, but I also see Minecraft’s Steve as a possibility. There actually have been various possible clues that this very well could be happening. One is the fact that Nintendo has published the Nintendo console ports of Minecraft in Japan, and even released a special Minecraft themed New Nintendo 3DS/2DS.
There have also been hints on Microsoft’s end to show that this slot could very well be happening. One is the presence of a skins pack of Microsoft owned characters (characters from Banjo-Kazooie and Halo) in the Nintendo console ports of Minecraft that was released earlier this year. Another possible hint is the promotion of crossplay between the Switch and Xbox version of Minecraft at E3 2018.
I think even though the Minecraft brand is among the most popular currently in gaming, there still exists a strong possibility that Banjo-Kazooie is chosen as their “ambassador” to Smash Bros. One is that there is a very strong likelihood that Banjo-Kazooie performed very strongly on the Smash ballot, especially on the Western side of things. Another factor to consider is that even if Nintendo decided the slots, they might consider the character a good way to promote a possible Nintendo 64 Classic Edition (which could very well be coming next year or in 2020).
Regardless, I think whoever is chosen as the Microsoft representative is going to make massive waves. Minecraft is among gaming’s biggest brands, and Banjo-Kazooie holds a very special place in the hearts of Nintendo fans.
The third slot I think that is going to happen as part of Ultimate’s fighter pass is a Namco-Bandai newcomer or a guest from a third-party not yet represented in Smash Bros. With Square-Enix probably slated to get a newcomer in Smash Bros., that would leave Namco-Bandai, the developer of Smash 4 and Ultimate, as the only third-party left with only a single playable character in Smash Bros. There are a variety of possible choices that they could go with. Tekken’s Heihachi and Tales’s Lloyd are the two that come up the most as possible newcomers. However, I think Don-chan from Taiko no Tatsujin is a possible dark horse due to that series’s high popularity in Japan, as well as a character from Soul Calibur or Klonoa.
As for other third-parties that could gain a playable character in Smash Bros, I think the primary ones to possibly look at would be Ubisoft and Koei-Tecmo. Ubisoft has been a strong supporter of Nintendo consoles for a long time, and even developed a Mario crossover with one of their IPs (Rabbids) very recently. I think for Ubisoft the most likely guest fighter would either be Rayman (who now has had two appearances in the base game for Smash Bros. under his belt) or Rabbid (who has already crossed over with the Mario cast and a bunch of them have appeared as spirits in Ultimate).
As for Koei-Tecmo, that is another third-party where Nintendo seems to have collaborated a lot recently with. The Legend of Zelda and Fire Emblem versions of its popular Warriors series were made in recent years. However, there is a possible obvious representative that the company has for Smash Bros., Ninja Gaiden’s Ryu Hayabusa. The Ninja Gaiden games were among the most iconic and popular action games for the NES/Famicom, and even among the modern set of games there was a game made exclusively for the Nintendo DS and a port of the third game released for the Wii U. The character is also a staple in Tecmo’s Dead or Alive series.
This slot in general is a shot in the dark, but I feel confident that at least three of the five characters in the fighter’s pass are going to be third-party owned.
The fourth slot I see happening will be for a Nintendo owned character. This could be anything. A character from ARMS (notably Twintelle or Min Min), a character from Fire Emblem Three Houses (or Heroes), a Generation 8 Pokemon, Elma, Rex & Pyrra, Dixie Kong, or Bandana Dee are just a few of the possibilities for such a slot.
Of the newcomers that happened as part of Smash 4’s DLC, the only one that was not a third-party character was Corrin, whom served to act as a promotion of Fire Emblem Fates. It is possible that any Nintendo character that becomes DLC for the fighter pass will be similar. They will either promote an upcoming (or recently released) software title or a series as a whole (as would be the case with an ARMS character).
It is very difficult to ascertain what will happen, and factors that could lead to a character being selected (like possibly a port of Xenoblade X being developed for the Switch in the case of Elma) are unknown to the public at this time. I feel that that any Nintendo characters that get selected are going to be promoting, whether it be major software release or a franchise brand as a whole.
It is also possible that most Nintendo characters are not even in the running to be DLC due to their presence in the base games as spirits, since the only DLC fighter we known about (Piranha Plant) happens to be among the few Nintendo characters lacking a spirit.
It will be very interesting to see what will happen in regards to a Nintendo newcomer. I think there will at least be one.
As for my prediction for the fifth slot, I am sorry to say but I have little idea. It could be either another Nintendo newcomer or a third-party newcomer. For example, if we get another Namco-Bandai newcomer, it is possible this slot could got to an Ubisoft or Koei-Tecmo character (and vice versa). I have little speculation to offer for this, and it more or less goes to characters that seemed like they “missed their chance” for the other slots.
That concludes my speculation for five slots for the Fighters Pass. Keep in mind, there also exists the possibility that we could get a second season of DLC after February 2020 or that we get a few echoes as “free desserts” or sold separately from the Fighters Pass. As said before, it is going to be interesting to see what ultimately (heh) happens.
Ultimate As the Culmination of The Pre-Smash 4 Journey
When Brawl was released, I remarked how many of the newcomers were characters that people were hoping to make it into Melee (Wario, Diddy Kong, Pit, Meta Knight, King Dedede). However, there still felt like there was “unfinished” business with Brawl. Ridley, my single most wanted newcomer, was still not playable yet. Other characters critical to Nintendo’s veteran franchises were still not playable yet (K. Rool and Bowser Jr. being the next most notable examples after Brawl’s release aside from Ridley). Many of Nintendo’s franchises lacked a playable character in Smash Bros. (Animal Crossing, Punch-Out, Golden Sun, Custom Robo, Panel de Pon, Chibi Robo, Sin & Punishment). Characters with large fanbases did not return (Mewtwo and Roy), and there were quite a few that missed Dr. Mario, Pichu, and even Young Link (though many of his fans simply moved on to Toon Link).
I was actively engaged in Smash Bros. discussion for the next title as soon as Brawl’s leaked roster was confirmed to be the real deal. I believed at the time that Ridley’s problem was not that he was viewed as “too big” by Sakurai but rather that Brawl had to add in so many big names that Ridley got out-prioritized. However, even back in 2009, I felt that Brawl had basically added in nearly every major character from a veteran Nintendo franchise. The only two that seemed to be big names that also had a massive amount of requests were Ridley and K. Rool. Bowser Jr. also had a lot of support (he probably had the most support of any Mario newcomer), but so did Toad, Paper Mario, and Waluigi (though it was far less than it seems to be now). The conventional opinion among most fans was that more characters for the veteran franchises in Smash Bros. needed to be added.
In 2009, I argued that for Smash Bros. to expand as a series, it would need to look towards series not currently represented with a fighter in Smash Bros. The examples I used at the time were Punch-Out (Little Mac), Golden Sun (Isaac), Custom Robo (Ray), Panel de Pon (Lip), Starfy (Starfy), and Saki (Sin & Punishment). I would have also included Animal Crossing, but Sakurai’s statement back in 2008 about the series being too pacifist to warrant a playable character made me think that a character for that series probably was not going to happen despite having the strongest credentials of any franchise without a playable character in Brawl.
Unfortunately, while some of those franchises did receive new installments after Brawl’s release (Punch-Out, Golden Sun, Starfy, and Sin & Punishment), only Punch-Out was received very well both critically and commercially. Not surprisingly, Little Mac ended up being the only one of those character that actually ended up being a newcomer for Smash 4. However, even more interesting is the fact that Smash 4 did take the direction I suggested (which was adding in new universes to Smash Bros.). Animal Crossing, Wii Fit, Punch-Out, Mii, and Xenoblade were all Nintendo franchises given a playable character in Smash 4 (Duck Hunt is basically a stand alone game). Many third-party franchises (most of them important to gaming as a whole) also gained a playable character in Smash 4 (Mega Man, Pac-Man, Street Fighter, Final Fantasy, and Bayonetta). By comparison, only four veteran franchises gained playable characters in Smash 4 (Super Mario, Pokemon, Fire Emblem, and Kid Icarus).
In my comprehensive assessment of the Smash 4 roster, I said the only disappointments were the cuts, and the fact that Ridley and a DK newcomer (either K. Rool or Dixie Kong) were not added in. Ultimate pretty much fixed that. It also added in one major Nintendo franchise (Splatoon), one major third-party franchise (Castlevania), and a character that had become integral in one of Nintendo’s most popular franchises (Isabelle in Animal Crossing).
However, it was still saddening for many fans C-list Nintendo franchises (Golden Sun, Panel de Pon, Custom Robo, Chibi Robo, Sin & Punishment) that even though the series did go in a direction that was more hospitable to their inclusion, they failed to make the jump simply due to the fact that the last installments to many of their franchises severely underperforming and perhaps made them be discontinued forever.
The Mii costumes that ended up being selected as “newcomers” for Ultimate gave light to these possibly “discontinued” franchises. Isaac, Lip, Ray MKIII, Chibi Robo, and Saki all received Mii costumes, and they are done so well that fans of these characters are relieved and thankful to have the costumes be in at all. Even Skull Kid, a favorite of Zelda fans, received a Mii costume, to which it is so well made many have remarked that the character actually looks like he is himself and not a Mii wearing a costume (this helps due to the fact the costume involves a mask and Skull Kid having the same proportions as a Mii Fighter). Ray MKIII and Lip also benefit due to those characters having the same proportions as a Mii Fighter (and Ray’s face mostly being covered). The Mii costumes have basically given a place in the sun to Nintendo’s C-list franchises.
So with Ultimate, the string of Nintendo’s other franchises finally getting playable representation within Smash Bros. (or at least in some form) has been fulfilled (or at least in my eyes). Animal Crossing, Wii Fit, Punch-Out, Mii, Xenoblade, and Splatoon all have unique newcomers, while franchises that unfortunately did not do enough to enter the “big leagues” (with the possible exception of Golden Sun, though maybe Dark Dawn’s subdued reception was to blame for that) at least received a playable consolation prize in the form of a Mii costume. Everyone really is here.
Another major idea that I felt with pre-Smash 4 was bringing back everyone (even though it was not likely). Mewtwo and Roy had plenty of people who enjoyed them in Smash Bros. and were completely unique beings (in comparison to Dr. Mario, Pichu, and Young Link). However, I was approached by fans of Dr. Mario, Pichu, and even Young Link fans that their characters deserved to return too. I was actually converted on Dr. Mario being a character worthy of returning by playing and enjoying games in the eponymous series beyond the original NES installment (I bought Dr. Mario Online Rx and Dr. Mario 64), and felt he represented an integral part to Nintendo’s puzzle game heritage, and that he would be any easy character to bring back (which was proven true by Smash 4’s base roster). For Pichu and Young Link, it did not come as easy because it seemed Pichu was truly despised and Young Link seemed to have been made obsolete by Toon Link. However, over time, I eventually felt that it would be a dream come true if “everyone came back”, even if just for one last time.
When Smash 4 3DS’s roster was confirmed in September 2014, it was sad to see so many fans of other veteran Smash fighters go through the same things the cut Melee veteran fans felt back in early 2008. However, it was heartwarming to see fans of Dr. Mario unexpectedly see the Doc back in action for another title especially when he had nowhere near the requests to return that Mewtwo and Roy did, and the conventional wisdom by most speculators was that he had little chance of returning (I was among the few that thought otherwise due to Brawl’s internal files).
Mewtwo returning was among the most wanted things the fanbase wanted to see. I was also very happy Lucas was brought back as DLC (especially considering I became a big fan of the character and his source material due to playing a reproduction cartridge of Mother 3).
The conventional belief prior to April 2014 was that Roy had little chance of returning as DLC. Fire Emblem already had four playable characters (one of which was a Marth clone), many popular Brawl veterans were cut, and there was already a “Roy” in the game (Roy Koopa). However, I personally felt Roy was going to be the next veteran in line after Wolf. However, whether there would even be another veteran added after Wolf was another question entirely.
It came to my surprise when I was seeing a lot more “loud” support for Roy as DLC than I did during much of the pre-Smash 4 period. I was very burnt out by the end of Smash 4 period, and it was heartwarming to see all of those new Roy supporters come out of nowhere to actively support Roy as DLC. They made websites, social media accounts, comic strips (Lonely Roy on Miiverse), and actually spoke up for Roy in general. This was the kind of passion and community I had wanted to see from the Roy fanbase during much of the pre-Smash 4 period.
The wait for Roy as DLC was not long, as Nintendo made a mistake in leaving in some files during the April 2015 update that suggested Roy and Ryu were coming. Some suggested these files meant nothing, however, for many it was a sign of the next two DLC fighters to come.
When Roy was actually confirmed in June 2015, I was absolutely ecstatic. “At last I have finally returned” were almost unbelievable words to hear after seven years of actively supporting Roy’s return to Smash Bros. It seemed like a miracle that Roy was able to return for Smash 4 after all the things that seemed to be working against his prospects.
It was with Roy’s return that I felt I could “retire” from speculation, and that there was at least a high note (even though my single most wanted character might have been de-confirmed forever). However, even though I was very pleased with Roy’s return, I still felt for the fans of other cut veterans especially after DLC wrapped up.
It became a dream of mine that somehow someday that every single veteran would come back for an installment. I knew this likely was not going to happen, but it was still something I dreamed about. I wanted fans of each veteran, no matter how small their fanbase, to at least once experience the thrill that fans of Mewtwo, Roy, and Dr. Mario had felt when they returned.
Ultimate bringing every single veteran back brought was another thread from the beginning of the pre-Smash 4 period to a close. It was a resolution that closed at lot of the bitterness that existed within the speculation fanbase since at least 2006, so to see “Everyone is Here” is truly beautiful.
The third major thread (and one that extends back to the beginning of the pre-Brawl days) is the animosity and hatred a large portion of the core Smash Bros. fanbase has towards clones. With Melee’s roster leak, it was not just the fact there were only three additional non-clone newcomers as hidden characters (two of which were characters that were virtually unknown among Western core fans), but the fact that another six of these characters were clones of existing characters on the roster.
Moreover, only two of these characters had fanbases for their inclusion in Smash Bros. (Ganondorf and Falco), and even of those two, they came with issues. For Falco, it was the fact that Wolf had a much larger fanbase for his inclusion in Melee due to the belief he was likely due to his appearance in the E3 2001 trailer (which later got re-incorporated as the Melee intro), and for many Star Fox fans, while they welcomed Falco, the Wolf fans were disappointed that they were “tricked”. As for Ganondorf, he was the single most wanted newcomer for Melee after Bowser’s confirmation, and for fans to discover he made the game only as a clone of Captain Falcon was infuriating for many (or perhaps most) of them, and even to this day there are still lots of gripes about this. Ganondorf making it into Melee’s roster seemed like the very definition of monkey’s paw fulfilled wish (a wish fulfilled in a twisted way).
Dr. Mario, Pichu, and Young Link got a lot of flak due all of them being perceived as “alteregos” as opposed to unique beings. Roy (along with Marth) were characters people were very divided on. People did not know who he (or Marth was) so they seemed like poor additions to the roster, but others liked him (and Marth) due to “looking cool”.
However, it was due to the decisions made with Melee’s selection of clone newcomers (as well as the fact that they vastly outnumbered the unique hidden newcomers) that might have served as the genesis for the core Smash Bros. fanbase having a disdain for clones.
Another thing that made much of the core Smash Bros. fanbase disdain clones was the erroneous belief that they “stole” the slots to unique newcomers. They literally believed that if Pichu was not on the roster that they would gotten King Dedede or Pit on the roster instead, not knowing that clones took much less time and resources than fully unique characters. Even among core Smash Bros. fans that knew better, they seemed to hold a cynical belief that clone additions were a lazy way to boost up the newcomer count to make the development team’s efforts look better.
During the pre-Brawl period, being a clone veteran was a mark against your merit of returning for Brawl (regardless of whether they were likely to return or not), and being a prospective newcomer that involved any possibility of ending up as a clone was a mark against their possible inclusion as a newcomer. Fans of Midna and Krystal particularly deployed the latter argument against supporters of Toon Link and Wolf. It was ironic for them to say that Wolf and Toon Link had little chance of being newcomers since they would likely be clones, and yet they were only half right (although in Wolf’s case only his specials and Final Smash were derivative of Fox’s).
Indeed, when Brawl’s leaked roster was confirmed as real, there was some bitterness over how Wolf and (especially) Toon Link turned out because they thought clones were never going to be a thing again (this was due to misinformation spread during the pre-Brawl period that spiraled out of control).
However, with how Wolf and Lucas turned out, the conventional belief was that Melee style clones were never going to happen again (the belief regarding why Toon Link was so cloney was because he was serving as a replacement for Young Link). Ganondorf and Falco becoming more unique made many belief that “Luigi-fication” (referring to how much more unique Luigi became from 64 to Melee) was a process that would be implemented for any clone that managed to return.
However, one of my most unconventional beliefs within the core Smash Bros. fanbase was that clones actually did possess an integral utility to the roster. They potentially offered a way of less popular or important characters to various franchises a way of gaining playable status in the game. They were far from a bad thing, and I felt it had only been some of Melee’s choices for clones that soured much of the core fanbase on them.
I wrote this back in January 2009, nearly ten years ago. I wrote this:
However, despite there being more of an effort this time to make the clones more unique, many Smash Bros. fans still complained about them. Many people don’t realize that clones are actually a blessing. Clones help to boost up the roster (especially when development time is limited), increase the chances and allow for less likely characters to get in over more important ones (like how Dr. Mario was able to get in before Wario). A character such as Vaati would never be seriously considered (assuming he does not get any more games) for a newcomer list that only consisted of non-clone characters due to him not being important enough to warrant the development time needed to make a unique character. However, he would be one of the top contenders if Sakurai’s team went “clone crazy” as he would be an easy Zelda clone (really he would only need to have the magic changed to wind and dark magic, as well as have a new down-b and Final Smash).
Clones are especially important now more than ever. Sakurai’s struggled to get to 39 characters in Brawl, and since it is likely that Nintendo’s next console will have a sizable leap in graphical and technological prowess over the Wii (it should be about on par with the 360 or PS3), then Sakurai’s team will have an even more difficult time implementing a sizable increase for the roster. Assuming no characters from Brawl are cut, I can only see ten newcomers for this possible situation. However, many people make up the Smash Bros. fanbase would be hungry for more characters, and would “rage” to find out that Smash 4 only have 10 new characters.
That is where clones come in. Making five clones takes the effort of making one character (or at least that was what Sakurai implied back with Melee). Putting in five clones would boost the roster up to 50. However, I can see many people objecting to this. However, I think one of the main reasons people object to clones, if that in Melee, some of them (in their eyes) were poor choices. If I were to select 5 clones for Smash Bros. 4, I would try to select characters that were popularly requested and important to their respective series.
It is eerie how prescient this was. While I was very wrong on how many newcomers Smash 4 was able to add in (15 fully unique characters for the base roster), I am very pleasantly surprised this ended up coming to pass for Ultimate’s echo newcomers. Daisy, Dark Samus, Chrom, Richter, and Ken are all popular within their respective franchises, yet would probably never have a chance to get in if they had to be unique newcomers (or even semi-clones aside from possibly Ken).
The example given about Vaati is particularly prophetic. Dark Samus was a sub-series villain much like Vaati, and like Vaati, she did not make any more appearances in their own franchise after a certain title released in the 2000s. Dark Samus was the villain of the Prime trilogy just like Vaati was the villain of the Four Swords trilogy (Four Swords, Four Swords Adventures, Minish Cap). Chrom happening at all in a series famous for only putting in the freshest of faces as their newcomer is due to Sakurai deciding to beef up the newcomer count with echoes. Daisy similarly would never normally be able to get in over far more popularly requested Mario characters had it not been for the expansion of the echoes slots with Ultimate.
And you know what? The echoes have been well-received for the most part. For some, they were just as hype inducing as the fully unique newcomers added into Ultimate. Supporters of Daisy, Dark Samus, and Chrom thought those characters would never be able to make it in most circumstances. Dark Samus supporters in particularly thought the character’s best chances were ten years ago with Brawl (the Prime trilogy wrapped up by the time Brawl was released), and Chrom supporters felt the same with Smash 4 (Awakening already had two playable characters and the game would be “old news” by the time the next game released).
Ken sharing just as most showcase and screentime as Incineroar for the final base roster newcomer trailer truly showed how much of a long way even the echo category of characters came with this title. For many, Ken was the most “hype” of the three newcomers shown during the November Ultimate Direct.
This cycle thus vindicated what I felt about clones since the beginning of the pre-Smash 4 period, that they could be valuable additions to the roster, and that they offer a way for many popular characters to get in that normally would be unable to make it onto the roster.
The warm reception of Ultimate’s clones thus ends a third thread from pre-Smash 4 for me, as well as one going all the way back to Melee’s release.
In general, Ultimate’s newcomer selection gives me very heavy nostalgia of Melee’s. Over half of Ultimate’s newcomers are clones (Isabelle is a semi-clone), while Melee’s had nearly half of its newcomers be clones. There was also a far smaller number of fully unique newcomers in both titles than other games in the series (Melee had eight, while Ultimate had five).
For me personally a fourth thread was Castlevania finally being included in Smash Bros. I never personally fought for Castlevania content to be included, although it was something I really wanted to see. It was disappointing to see hardly anyone in the core Smash Bros. fanbase push for it despite the series having such a long running history with Nintendo consoles and being among the most iconic long running franchises without a presence in Smash Bros.
As with the other threads, this one does also connect to the beginning of the pre-Smash 4 period. Rondo of Blood was my single most game for the Virtual Console especially after Sin & Punishment launched on the service. I was a fan of Castlevania since first playing Super Castlevania IV in 1999/2000, but it was my anticipation of Rondo of Blood that brought my interest in the series to new heights. I ended up buying the GBA and DS games to the series due to interest for Rondo of Blood. I was a big fan of Symphony of the Night in particular and Alucard became among my favorite non-Nintendo gaming characters (I am thrilled that he ended up being an Assist Trophy). I would constantly be on the watch for ESRB ratings listings since Virtual Console games tended to be rated by the ESRB a few weeks ahead before their release on the Virtual Console.
Rondo of Blood ended up finally being released on the Virtual Console two years into the pre-Smash 4 period, and it ended up being among my favorite games I downloaded from the service. It ended up becoming among my Top 3 Castlevania games overall (the only two I like more are Super IV and Symphony of the Night). It further cemented to me that Castlevania needed to be in Smash Bros. However, the interest simply did not seem to be there, so I never made any write-ups or support.
Castlevania actually making the roster with two playable characters, an Assist Trophy, a very well done stage (with cameos of many of the classic Castlevania bosses), and over 30 music tracks is another reason why Ultimate is truly deserving of that moniker in my personal opinion. Although my favorite character in the series is Alucard, I thought Simon was definitely the best choice overall to represent the franchise as a whole (being the first appearing and most well known member of the Belmont clan, as well as being the protagonist of the masterpiece that is IV). Richter was also the perfect choice for Simon’s echo as he is the next most iconic Belmont after Simon and how Rondo of Blood and Symphony of the Night (the Dracula X Chronicles) are considered by many to be the pinnacle of the series.
The inclusion of Castlevania is another case of Melee-like nostalgia for myself because myself (and most others) were not expecting this series to gain content in Smash Bros., yet it ended up being a tremendous pleasant surprise for myself since it is among my Top 3 favorite non-Nintendo gaming franchises. This connects to my Melee nostalgia because a similar thing happened with Game & Watch.
I was a very big fan of the Game & Watch Gallery series ever since I got the first installment to the series back in 1997. I absolutely loved the games despite their very simplistic nature. Although I never thought of Mr. Game & Watch as a character prior to his inclusion in Melee, Game & Watch was still a Nintendo franchise that I very much enjoyed and appreciated. I was likely among the very few that was very happy to see the inclusion of Mr. Game & Watch as a playable character. I found how he was represented to be incredible (I was able to recognize most of his moves), and even knew the game FlatZone was based off of (the stage itself is based off of Helmet, while taking elements from Manhole and Oil Panic).
Now 17 years later, another franchise I really appreciate got added onto the roster despite only a few in the core Smash Bros. fanbase asking for it. It was just as much a miracle for me as Ridley finally getting in and every single veteran returning.
On that last sentence brings the fifth (and final) thread that was finally able to reach a conclusion with Ultimate, Ridley (and K. Rool) finally being added to the roster. Ridley is a character that I had been dreaming of playing as in Smash Bros. ever since I saw his cameo on Planet Zebes back in 1999 for Smash Bros. 64. When I saw him make a fully 3D appearance fighting Samus in the E3 2001 trailer for Melee, it was there that I actually felt he actually stood a chance of happening. I joined the Smash Bros. online community back in 2001 to help support Ridley’s inclusion onto the roster. It was great seeing others support Ridley as well (as well as the level of support he had then) despite Metroid still technically being a series on hiatus at the time. Ridley, like many other characters supported among the core fanbase for Melee, did not make it onto the roster.
However, the interim between Melee and Brawl was very kind to the character. He made new appearances in several games such as Metroid Prime, Metroid Fusion, Metroid Zero Mission, and Metroid Prime 3. This boosted support for the character by several magnitudes to the point where he ended up among the Top 5 most wanted newcomers for Smash Bros. by 2006. After the Brawl unveil, Ridley was among the Top 3 most wanted newcomers for Brawl (the other two being Sonic and Diddy Kong).
Brawl ended up adding in nearly all of the characters that were big during the pre-Melee period (such as Wario, Diddy Kong, Pit, King Dedede, Wolf, Meta Knight, arguably Olimar), yet Ridley was still not in. The conventional wisdom was that so many big Nintendo characters had to be added in, that a boss role (two of them) was the consolation prize for the character that round. It seemed in general, as I mentioned earlier, that among veteran Nintendo franchises that nearly everyone that needed to be in was now in.
There were only two notable exceptions left after the end of Brawl’s speculation, Ridley and K. Rool. Characters that were seen as the main villains for two of Nintendo’s most popular franchises among the core Nintendo set. This was reflected by the fact that those two were by far the most requested newcomers for Smash 4 throughout the pre-Smash 4 period (with the only other two up there with them being Mega Man and Mewtwo).
The Ridley and K. Rool fanbases were joined at the hip, especially so given both characters were large reptilian villains hailing from franchises that had many of their most popular games developed by Western studios (Retro Studios for Metroid, and Rare and later Retro Studios for DK). Both characters also had to contend with various detractor arguments that hampered them. For Ridley it was “too big”, for K. Rool it was “he is irrelevant and has been replaced in his own franchise” especially when Country Returns and Tropical Freeze were released.
For both characters to make it into Ultimate’s roster, it truly feels like the end of the pre-Smash 4 period. Ridley was my single most wanted newcomer for nearly 20 years, and I thought after Smash 4 (especially after Sakurai’s statements on the character) that there did not exist much chance for the character to make it onto the roster in future installments. K. Rool added in also did make it seem like the ballot was actually worthwhile and was likely the main factor in why K. Rool was even a newcomer in Ultimate.
With all five of these threads fulfilled, it seems like Ultimate is the conclusion to the saga that started ten years ago. One of these began back in 1999 (Ridley) for myself, while another (the clones) started back in 2001 when Melee was released. This was a truly fitting end to this long saga.
I was actively engaged in Smash Bros. discussion for the next title as soon as Brawl’s leaked roster was confirmed to be the real deal. I believed at the time that Ridley’s problem was not that he was viewed as “too big” by Sakurai but rather that Brawl had to add in so many big names that Ridley got out-prioritized. However, even back in 2009, I felt that Brawl had basically added in nearly every major character from a veteran Nintendo franchise. The only two that seemed to be big names that also had a massive amount of requests were Ridley and K. Rool. Bowser Jr. also had a lot of support (he probably had the most support of any Mario newcomer), but so did Toad, Paper Mario, and Waluigi (though it was far less than it seems to be now). The conventional opinion among most fans was that more characters for the veteran franchises in Smash Bros. needed to be added.
In 2009, I argued that for Smash Bros. to expand as a series, it would need to look towards series not currently represented with a fighter in Smash Bros. The examples I used at the time were Punch-Out (Little Mac), Golden Sun (Isaac), Custom Robo (Ray), Panel de Pon (Lip), Starfy (Starfy), and Saki (Sin & Punishment). I would have also included Animal Crossing, but Sakurai’s statement back in 2008 about the series being too pacifist to warrant a playable character made me think that a character for that series probably was not going to happen despite having the strongest credentials of any franchise without a playable character in Brawl.
Unfortunately, while some of those franchises did receive new installments after Brawl’s release (Punch-Out, Golden Sun, Starfy, and Sin & Punishment), only Punch-Out was received very well both critically and commercially. Not surprisingly, Little Mac ended up being the only one of those character that actually ended up being a newcomer for Smash 4. However, even more interesting is the fact that Smash 4 did take the direction I suggested (which was adding in new universes to Smash Bros.). Animal Crossing, Wii Fit, Punch-Out, Mii, and Xenoblade were all Nintendo franchises given a playable character in Smash 4 (Duck Hunt is basically a stand alone game). Many third-party franchises (most of them important to gaming as a whole) also gained a playable character in Smash 4 (Mega Man, Pac-Man, Street Fighter, Final Fantasy, and Bayonetta). By comparison, only four veteran franchises gained playable characters in Smash 4 (Super Mario, Pokemon, Fire Emblem, and Kid Icarus).
In my comprehensive assessment of the Smash 4 roster, I said the only disappointments were the cuts, and the fact that Ridley and a DK newcomer (either K. Rool or Dixie Kong) were not added in. Ultimate pretty much fixed that. It also added in one major Nintendo franchise (Splatoon), one major third-party franchise (Castlevania), and a character that had become integral in one of Nintendo’s most popular franchises (Isabelle in Animal Crossing).
However, it was still saddening for many fans C-list Nintendo franchises (Golden Sun, Panel de Pon, Custom Robo, Chibi Robo, Sin & Punishment) that even though the series did go in a direction that was more hospitable to their inclusion, they failed to make the jump simply due to the fact that the last installments to many of their franchises severely underperforming and perhaps made them be discontinued forever.
The Mii costumes that ended up being selected as “newcomers” for Ultimate gave light to these possibly “discontinued” franchises. Isaac, Lip, Ray MKIII, Chibi Robo, and Saki all received Mii costumes, and they are done so well that fans of these characters are relieved and thankful to have the costumes be in at all. Even Skull Kid, a favorite of Zelda fans, received a Mii costume, to which it is so well made many have remarked that the character actually looks like he is himself and not a Mii wearing a costume (this helps due to the fact the costume involves a mask and Skull Kid having the same proportions as a Mii Fighter). Ray MKIII and Lip also benefit due to those characters having the same proportions as a Mii Fighter (and Ray’s face mostly being covered). The Mii costumes have basically given a place in the sun to Nintendo’s C-list franchises.
So with Ultimate, the string of Nintendo’s other franchises finally getting playable representation within Smash Bros. (or at least in some form) has been fulfilled (or at least in my eyes). Animal Crossing, Wii Fit, Punch-Out, Mii, Xenoblade, and Splatoon all have unique newcomers, while franchises that unfortunately did not do enough to enter the “big leagues” (with the possible exception of Golden Sun, though maybe Dark Dawn’s subdued reception was to blame for that) at least received a playable consolation prize in the form of a Mii costume. Everyone really is here.
Another major idea that I felt with pre-Smash 4 was bringing back everyone (even though it was not likely). Mewtwo and Roy had plenty of people who enjoyed them in Smash Bros. and were completely unique beings (in comparison to Dr. Mario, Pichu, and Young Link). However, I was approached by fans of Dr. Mario, Pichu, and even Young Link fans that their characters deserved to return too. I was actually converted on Dr. Mario being a character worthy of returning by playing and enjoying games in the eponymous series beyond the original NES installment (I bought Dr. Mario Online Rx and Dr. Mario 64), and felt he represented an integral part to Nintendo’s puzzle game heritage, and that he would be any easy character to bring back (which was proven true by Smash 4’s base roster). For Pichu and Young Link, it did not come as easy because it seemed Pichu was truly despised and Young Link seemed to have been made obsolete by Toon Link. However, over time, I eventually felt that it would be a dream come true if “everyone came back”, even if just for one last time.
When Smash 4 3DS’s roster was confirmed in September 2014, it was sad to see so many fans of other veteran Smash fighters go through the same things the cut Melee veteran fans felt back in early 2008. However, it was heartwarming to see fans of Dr. Mario unexpectedly see the Doc back in action for another title especially when he had nowhere near the requests to return that Mewtwo and Roy did, and the conventional wisdom by most speculators was that he had little chance of returning (I was among the few that thought otherwise due to Brawl’s internal files).
Mewtwo returning was among the most wanted things the fanbase wanted to see. I was also very happy Lucas was brought back as DLC (especially considering I became a big fan of the character and his source material due to playing a reproduction cartridge of Mother 3).
The conventional belief prior to April 2014 was that Roy had little chance of returning as DLC. Fire Emblem already had four playable characters (one of which was a Marth clone), many popular Brawl veterans were cut, and there was already a “Roy” in the game (Roy Koopa). However, I personally felt Roy was going to be the next veteran in line after Wolf. However, whether there would even be another veteran added after Wolf was another question entirely.
It came to my surprise when I was seeing a lot more “loud” support for Roy as DLC than I did during much of the pre-Smash 4 period. I was very burnt out by the end of Smash 4 period, and it was heartwarming to see all of those new Roy supporters come out of nowhere to actively support Roy as DLC. They made websites, social media accounts, comic strips (Lonely Roy on Miiverse), and actually spoke up for Roy in general. This was the kind of passion and community I had wanted to see from the Roy fanbase during much of the pre-Smash 4 period.
The wait for Roy as DLC was not long, as Nintendo made a mistake in leaving in some files during the April 2015 update that suggested Roy and Ryu were coming. Some suggested these files meant nothing, however, for many it was a sign of the next two DLC fighters to come.
When Roy was actually confirmed in June 2015, I was absolutely ecstatic. “At last I have finally returned” were almost unbelievable words to hear after seven years of actively supporting Roy’s return to Smash Bros. It seemed like a miracle that Roy was able to return for Smash 4 after all the things that seemed to be working against his prospects.
It was with Roy’s return that I felt I could “retire” from speculation, and that there was at least a high note (even though my single most wanted character might have been de-confirmed forever). However, even though I was very pleased with Roy’s return, I still felt for the fans of other cut veterans especially after DLC wrapped up.
It became a dream of mine that somehow someday that every single veteran would come back for an installment. I knew this likely was not going to happen, but it was still something I dreamed about. I wanted fans of each veteran, no matter how small their fanbase, to at least once experience the thrill that fans of Mewtwo, Roy, and Dr. Mario had felt when they returned.
Ultimate bringing every single veteran back brought was another thread from the beginning of the pre-Smash 4 period to a close. It was a resolution that closed at lot of the bitterness that existed within the speculation fanbase since at least 2006, so to see “Everyone is Here” is truly beautiful.
The third major thread (and one that extends back to the beginning of the pre-Brawl days) is the animosity and hatred a large portion of the core Smash Bros. fanbase has towards clones. With Melee’s roster leak, it was not just the fact there were only three additional non-clone newcomers as hidden characters (two of which were characters that were virtually unknown among Western core fans), but the fact that another six of these characters were clones of existing characters on the roster.
Moreover, only two of these characters had fanbases for their inclusion in Smash Bros. (Ganondorf and Falco), and even of those two, they came with issues. For Falco, it was the fact that Wolf had a much larger fanbase for his inclusion in Melee due to the belief he was likely due to his appearance in the E3 2001 trailer (which later got re-incorporated as the Melee intro), and for many Star Fox fans, while they welcomed Falco, the Wolf fans were disappointed that they were “tricked”. As for Ganondorf, he was the single most wanted newcomer for Melee after Bowser’s confirmation, and for fans to discover he made the game only as a clone of Captain Falcon was infuriating for many (or perhaps most) of them, and even to this day there are still lots of gripes about this. Ganondorf making it into Melee’s roster seemed like the very definition of monkey’s paw fulfilled wish (a wish fulfilled in a twisted way).
Dr. Mario, Pichu, and Young Link got a lot of flak due all of them being perceived as “alteregos” as opposed to unique beings. Roy (along with Marth) were characters people were very divided on. People did not know who he (or Marth was) so they seemed like poor additions to the roster, but others liked him (and Marth) due to “looking cool”.
However, it was due to the decisions made with Melee’s selection of clone newcomers (as well as the fact that they vastly outnumbered the unique hidden newcomers) that might have served as the genesis for the core Smash Bros. fanbase having a disdain for clones.
Another thing that made much of the core Smash Bros. fanbase disdain clones was the erroneous belief that they “stole” the slots to unique newcomers. They literally believed that if Pichu was not on the roster that they would gotten King Dedede or Pit on the roster instead, not knowing that clones took much less time and resources than fully unique characters. Even among core Smash Bros. fans that knew better, they seemed to hold a cynical belief that clone additions were a lazy way to boost up the newcomer count to make the development team’s efforts look better.
During the pre-Brawl period, being a clone veteran was a mark against your merit of returning for Brawl (regardless of whether they were likely to return or not), and being a prospective newcomer that involved any possibility of ending up as a clone was a mark against their possible inclusion as a newcomer. Fans of Midna and Krystal particularly deployed the latter argument against supporters of Toon Link and Wolf. It was ironic for them to say that Wolf and Toon Link had little chance of being newcomers since they would likely be clones, and yet they were only half right (although in Wolf’s case only his specials and Final Smash were derivative of Fox’s).
Indeed, when Brawl’s leaked roster was confirmed as real, there was some bitterness over how Wolf and (especially) Toon Link turned out because they thought clones were never going to be a thing again (this was due to misinformation spread during the pre-Brawl period that spiraled out of control).
However, with how Wolf and Lucas turned out, the conventional belief was that Melee style clones were never going to happen again (the belief regarding why Toon Link was so cloney was because he was serving as a replacement for Young Link). Ganondorf and Falco becoming more unique made many belief that “Luigi-fication” (referring to how much more unique Luigi became from 64 to Melee) was a process that would be implemented for any clone that managed to return.
However, one of my most unconventional beliefs within the core Smash Bros. fanbase was that clones actually did possess an integral utility to the roster. They potentially offered a way of less popular or important characters to various franchises a way of gaining playable status in the game. They were far from a bad thing, and I felt it had only been some of Melee’s choices for clones that soured much of the core fanbase on them.
I wrote this back in January 2009, nearly ten years ago. I wrote this:
However, despite there being more of an effort this time to make the clones more unique, many Smash Bros. fans still complained about them. Many people don’t realize that clones are actually a blessing. Clones help to boost up the roster (especially when development time is limited), increase the chances and allow for less likely characters to get in over more important ones (like how Dr. Mario was able to get in before Wario). A character such as Vaati would never be seriously considered (assuming he does not get any more games) for a newcomer list that only consisted of non-clone characters due to him not being important enough to warrant the development time needed to make a unique character. However, he would be one of the top contenders if Sakurai’s team went “clone crazy” as he would be an easy Zelda clone (really he would only need to have the magic changed to wind and dark magic, as well as have a new down-b and Final Smash).
Clones are especially important now more than ever. Sakurai’s struggled to get to 39 characters in Brawl, and since it is likely that Nintendo’s next console will have a sizable leap in graphical and technological prowess over the Wii (it should be about on par with the 360 or PS3), then Sakurai’s team will have an even more difficult time implementing a sizable increase for the roster. Assuming no characters from Brawl are cut, I can only see ten newcomers for this possible situation. However, many people make up the Smash Bros. fanbase would be hungry for more characters, and would “rage” to find out that Smash 4 only have 10 new characters.
That is where clones come in. Making five clones takes the effort of making one character (or at least that was what Sakurai implied back with Melee). Putting in five clones would boost the roster up to 50. However, I can see many people objecting to this. However, I think one of the main reasons people object to clones, if that in Melee, some of them (in their eyes) were poor choices. If I were to select 5 clones for Smash Bros. 4, I would try to select characters that were popularly requested and important to their respective series.
It is eerie how prescient this was. While I was very wrong on how many newcomers Smash 4 was able to add in (15 fully unique characters for the base roster), I am very pleasantly surprised this ended up coming to pass for Ultimate’s echo newcomers. Daisy, Dark Samus, Chrom, Richter, and Ken are all popular within their respective franchises, yet would probably never have a chance to get in if they had to be unique newcomers (or even semi-clones aside from possibly Ken).
The example given about Vaati is particularly prophetic. Dark Samus was a sub-series villain much like Vaati, and like Vaati, she did not make any more appearances in their own franchise after a certain title released in the 2000s. Dark Samus was the villain of the Prime trilogy just like Vaati was the villain of the Four Swords trilogy (Four Swords, Four Swords Adventures, Minish Cap). Chrom happening at all in a series famous for only putting in the freshest of faces as their newcomer is due to Sakurai deciding to beef up the newcomer count with echoes. Daisy similarly would never normally be able to get in over far more popularly requested Mario characters had it not been for the expansion of the echoes slots with Ultimate.
And you know what? The echoes have been well-received for the most part. For some, they were just as hype inducing as the fully unique newcomers added into Ultimate. Supporters of Daisy, Dark Samus, and Chrom thought those characters would never be able to make it in most circumstances. Dark Samus supporters in particularly thought the character’s best chances were ten years ago with Brawl (the Prime trilogy wrapped up by the time Brawl was released), and Chrom supporters felt the same with Smash 4 (Awakening already had two playable characters and the game would be “old news” by the time the next game released).
Ken sharing just as most showcase and screentime as Incineroar for the final base roster newcomer trailer truly showed how much of a long way even the echo category of characters came with this title. For many, Ken was the most “hype” of the three newcomers shown during the November Ultimate Direct.
This cycle thus vindicated what I felt about clones since the beginning of the pre-Smash 4 period, that they could be valuable additions to the roster, and that they offer a way for many popular characters to get in that normally would be unable to make it onto the roster.
The warm reception of Ultimate’s clones thus ends a third thread from pre-Smash 4 for me, as well as one going all the way back to Melee’s release.
In general, Ultimate’s newcomer selection gives me very heavy nostalgia of Melee’s. Over half of Ultimate’s newcomers are clones (Isabelle is a semi-clone), while Melee’s had nearly half of its newcomers be clones. There was also a far smaller number of fully unique newcomers in both titles than other games in the series (Melee had eight, while Ultimate had five).
For me personally a fourth thread was Castlevania finally being included in Smash Bros. I never personally fought for Castlevania content to be included, although it was something I really wanted to see. It was disappointing to see hardly anyone in the core Smash Bros. fanbase push for it despite the series having such a long running history with Nintendo consoles and being among the most iconic long running franchises without a presence in Smash Bros.
As with the other threads, this one does also connect to the beginning of the pre-Smash 4 period. Rondo of Blood was my single most game for the Virtual Console especially after Sin & Punishment launched on the service. I was a fan of Castlevania since first playing Super Castlevania IV in 1999/2000, but it was my anticipation of Rondo of Blood that brought my interest in the series to new heights. I ended up buying the GBA and DS games to the series due to interest for Rondo of Blood. I was a big fan of Symphony of the Night in particular and Alucard became among my favorite non-Nintendo gaming characters (I am thrilled that he ended up being an Assist Trophy). I would constantly be on the watch for ESRB ratings listings since Virtual Console games tended to be rated by the ESRB a few weeks ahead before their release on the Virtual Console.
Rondo of Blood ended up finally being released on the Virtual Console two years into the pre-Smash 4 period, and it ended up being among my favorite games I downloaded from the service. It ended up becoming among my Top 3 Castlevania games overall (the only two I like more are Super IV and Symphony of the Night). It further cemented to me that Castlevania needed to be in Smash Bros. However, the interest simply did not seem to be there, so I never made any write-ups or support.
Castlevania actually making the roster with two playable characters, an Assist Trophy, a very well done stage (with cameos of many of the classic Castlevania bosses), and over 30 music tracks is another reason why Ultimate is truly deserving of that moniker in my personal opinion. Although my favorite character in the series is Alucard, I thought Simon was definitely the best choice overall to represent the franchise as a whole (being the first appearing and most well known member of the Belmont clan, as well as being the protagonist of the masterpiece that is IV). Richter was also the perfect choice for Simon’s echo as he is the next most iconic Belmont after Simon and how Rondo of Blood and Symphony of the Night (the Dracula X Chronicles) are considered by many to be the pinnacle of the series.
The inclusion of Castlevania is another case of Melee-like nostalgia for myself because myself (and most others) were not expecting this series to gain content in Smash Bros., yet it ended up being a tremendous pleasant surprise for myself since it is among my Top 3 favorite non-Nintendo gaming franchises. This connects to my Melee nostalgia because a similar thing happened with Game & Watch.
I was a very big fan of the Game & Watch Gallery series ever since I got the first installment to the series back in 1997. I absolutely loved the games despite their very simplistic nature. Although I never thought of Mr. Game & Watch as a character prior to his inclusion in Melee, Game & Watch was still a Nintendo franchise that I very much enjoyed and appreciated. I was likely among the very few that was very happy to see the inclusion of Mr. Game & Watch as a playable character. I found how he was represented to be incredible (I was able to recognize most of his moves), and even knew the game FlatZone was based off of (the stage itself is based off of Helmet, while taking elements from Manhole and Oil Panic).
Now 17 years later, another franchise I really appreciate got added onto the roster despite only a few in the core Smash Bros. fanbase asking for it. It was just as much a miracle for me as Ridley finally getting in and every single veteran returning.
On that last sentence brings the fifth (and final) thread that was finally able to reach a conclusion with Ultimate, Ridley (and K. Rool) finally being added to the roster. Ridley is a character that I had been dreaming of playing as in Smash Bros. ever since I saw his cameo on Planet Zebes back in 1999 for Smash Bros. 64. When I saw him make a fully 3D appearance fighting Samus in the E3 2001 trailer for Melee, it was there that I actually felt he actually stood a chance of happening. I joined the Smash Bros. online community back in 2001 to help support Ridley’s inclusion onto the roster. It was great seeing others support Ridley as well (as well as the level of support he had then) despite Metroid still technically being a series on hiatus at the time. Ridley, like many other characters supported among the core fanbase for Melee, did not make it onto the roster.
However, the interim between Melee and Brawl was very kind to the character. He made new appearances in several games such as Metroid Prime, Metroid Fusion, Metroid Zero Mission, and Metroid Prime 3. This boosted support for the character by several magnitudes to the point where he ended up among the Top 5 most wanted newcomers for Smash Bros. by 2006. After the Brawl unveil, Ridley was among the Top 3 most wanted newcomers for Brawl (the other two being Sonic and Diddy Kong).
Brawl ended up adding in nearly all of the characters that were big during the pre-Melee period (such as Wario, Diddy Kong, Pit, King Dedede, Wolf, Meta Knight, arguably Olimar), yet Ridley was still not in. The conventional wisdom was that so many big Nintendo characters had to be added in, that a boss role (two of them) was the consolation prize for the character that round. It seemed in general, as I mentioned earlier, that among veteran Nintendo franchises that nearly everyone that needed to be in was now in.
There were only two notable exceptions left after the end of Brawl’s speculation, Ridley and K. Rool. Characters that were seen as the main villains for two of Nintendo’s most popular franchises among the core Nintendo set. This was reflected by the fact that those two were by far the most requested newcomers for Smash 4 throughout the pre-Smash 4 period (with the only other two up there with them being Mega Man and Mewtwo).
The Ridley and K. Rool fanbases were joined at the hip, especially so given both characters were large reptilian villains hailing from franchises that had many of their most popular games developed by Western studios (Retro Studios for Metroid, and Rare and later Retro Studios for DK). Both characters also had to contend with various detractor arguments that hampered them. For Ridley it was “too big”, for K. Rool it was “he is irrelevant and has been replaced in his own franchise” especially when Country Returns and Tropical Freeze were released.
For both characters to make it into Ultimate’s roster, it truly feels like the end of the pre-Smash 4 period. Ridley was my single most wanted newcomer for nearly 20 years, and I thought after Smash 4 (especially after Sakurai’s statements on the character) that there did not exist much chance for the character to make it onto the roster in future installments. K. Rool added in also did make it seem like the ballot was actually worthwhile and was likely the main factor in why K. Rool was even a newcomer in Ultimate.
With all five of these threads fulfilled, it seems like Ultimate is the conclusion to the saga that started ten years ago. One of these began back in 1999 (Ridley) for myself, while another (the clones) started back in 2001 when Melee was released. This was a truly fitting end to this long saga.
Blowin’ In The Wind: A Closing Statement For These Essays
With all that being said (and there was a lot that was said), I am really happy how Ultimate turned out. It is celebration of the 20 years of history that the Super Smash Bros. series has had. I do not just get to enjoy all of the series veterans as well as the 11 newcomers added in, but also nearly every stage in the history of the franchise as well. So even though Ridley missed being in for Melee, Brawl, and Smash 4, I will at least be able to enjoy playing with the character on the stages to those particular installments.
There are definitely sacrifices that had to made to get the phenomenal character and stage count we received. It took a truly “special” set of circumstances to make this installment of Smash Bros. the “ultimate” one for character and stage count.
It might very well be that the direction for the next games looks to expanding Smash Bros. as a whole and adding in lots of extra modes to play and experience the game. Those who complained about modes from Brawl/Smash 4 missing do not realize that you cannot get something for nothing or that development time and resources are finite. It could be that the next game goes for a bunch of bells and whistles in exchange for the roster and stage count.
That is only a guess though. I can easily be wrong (I definitely did not see the Switch iteration of Smash Bros. taking the direction it did for example).
There are definitely issues I can see myself having with Ultimate despite my overwhelming satisfaction with its content. The biggest that comes to mind is the game balance. The Metroid characters (aside from Zero Suit Samus) look like that they definitely are in need of buffs. It is an issue to me personally because I have traditionally always played as Samus in Smash Bros. and also intend to play as Ridley.
I have been gaming less and less over this past decade, and in general my gaming habits have moved towards classic home console gaming and portable console gaming. The consoles I play the most at this point are handhelds such as the GBA, PSP, Switch, and 3DS, and the home consoles I still play are the Wii (lots of Virtual Console titles I have on it), the NES Classic Edition, and the Super NES Classic Edition. I am very happy that the next installment for Smash Bros. happened on a console such as the Switch. I particularly enjoyed being able to output to a TV for my GBA and PSP (through the Game Boy Player on the GameCube and the AV Cables for the PSP). The Switch making such a feature its main focus is ideal to my own personal gaming habits in 2018.
Ultimate feels like a swansong to me personally not just for my involvement with the Smash Bros. speculation and character support scene, but also with gaming as a whole. I still buy some contemporary games (I picked up three titles for the Switch even before I got Ultimate), but it is a far cry from my gaming habits during the 2000’s. I imagine there will be Switch titles I pick up after Ultimate, but I will most likely have a much lower level of anticipation for them than I did with Ultimat.
I am extremely thankful to Sakurai and his team for taking the direction they did with Ultimate. Doing such a 180 on Ridley so shortly after making those public statements truly shows that he is able to keep an open mind even as such a long time directing this series. I am extremely grateful that Ridley has finally made it in, as it was the number one most wanted thing I wanted from Smash Bros. after I became hooked on this series. Getting every single veteran to come back, K. Rool making his grand return, and Castlevania finally being a part of Smash Bros. truly makes this game not only “special”, but “ultimate”.
There is very little else I could ask for in regards to Smash Bros. at this point. Sure there are characters that would make me smile if they were included such as Dixie Kong and Banjo-Kazooie (especially the former), but I am not going to stick around with the speculation scene for another four to eight years for a character or two.
Dixie Kong in particular is the last Nintendo character left that is dear to me from my childhood, and the Banjo-Kazooie games were my favorite 3D platformers aside from the 3D Mario games. I feel very good that Banjo-Kazooie will be DLC for Ultimate, but as for Dixie Kong it really depends on whether spirits are deconfirmations. Even if they are not, Dixie Kong still has a lot of competition for DLC. I will cross my fingers for her regardless. At this point she would merely be the cherry on top for the ultimate sundae that is Ultimate (or if looking at Dixie Kong’s hair, the banana).
I absolutely could not predict for Ultimate to take the direction that it did. It just goes to show how unpredictable life sometimes is. A lot has changed over the last three years since I left the speculation fanbase. Life is like the wind. It can blow in unexpected directions, good or bad, happy or sad. I see little reason for my continued involvement in the speculation and character support scene now. I might pop in the Dixie Kong and other support topics from time to time until DLC wraps up, but otherwise this massive analysis and the assorted essays within it could very well be my curtain call for speculation and analysis for Smash Bros.
About ten years ago, I played Fire Emblem Thracia 776 for the first time. It quickly became not only one of my favorite games in the Fire Emblem series, but one my favorite SNES games ever. Ultimate has put in music for every single Fire Emblem game in the series with the exception of Thracia 776. Back when I was doing speculation for Smash 4’s roster, I would listen to Thracia 776’s soundtrack. To cap things off, I will put a song (that was arranged) to close out my analysis.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mk6oqobUDA8
The wind has brought me back, and will now sweep me away again. However, we really do not know how the wind will blow. It was a fantastic journey these last 20 years. It will be interesting to see the direction that the DLC takes for this title. Smash 4’s DLC gave us three veterans that were dear to me and many others as well as two gaming icons (Ryu and Cloud), so it will be interesting to see the direction with Ultimate’s DLC.
I am not sure whether I will stick around speculating for the next year or not, but if I do not (right now I have little interest to do so), I think this piece was a good way to go out on. I am absolutely ecstatic and grateful with how Ultimate’s roster turned out. Now, at long last, it is finally time to enjoy playing as the characters we long hoped for, but thought the day to which would never come. Everyone is here and the impossible was made possible! Thank you to all who have read this.
There are definitely sacrifices that had to made to get the phenomenal character and stage count we received. It took a truly “special” set of circumstances to make this installment of Smash Bros. the “ultimate” one for character and stage count.
It might very well be that the direction for the next games looks to expanding Smash Bros. as a whole and adding in lots of extra modes to play and experience the game. Those who complained about modes from Brawl/Smash 4 missing do not realize that you cannot get something for nothing or that development time and resources are finite. It could be that the next game goes for a bunch of bells and whistles in exchange for the roster and stage count.
That is only a guess though. I can easily be wrong (I definitely did not see the Switch iteration of Smash Bros. taking the direction it did for example).
There are definitely issues I can see myself having with Ultimate despite my overwhelming satisfaction with its content. The biggest that comes to mind is the game balance. The Metroid characters (aside from Zero Suit Samus) look like that they definitely are in need of buffs. It is an issue to me personally because I have traditionally always played as Samus in Smash Bros. and also intend to play as Ridley.
I have been gaming less and less over this past decade, and in general my gaming habits have moved towards classic home console gaming and portable console gaming. The consoles I play the most at this point are handhelds such as the GBA, PSP, Switch, and 3DS, and the home consoles I still play are the Wii (lots of Virtual Console titles I have on it), the NES Classic Edition, and the Super NES Classic Edition. I am very happy that the next installment for Smash Bros. happened on a console such as the Switch. I particularly enjoyed being able to output to a TV for my GBA and PSP (through the Game Boy Player on the GameCube and the AV Cables for the PSP). The Switch making such a feature its main focus is ideal to my own personal gaming habits in 2018.
Ultimate feels like a swansong to me personally not just for my involvement with the Smash Bros. speculation and character support scene, but also with gaming as a whole. I still buy some contemporary games (I picked up three titles for the Switch even before I got Ultimate), but it is a far cry from my gaming habits during the 2000’s. I imagine there will be Switch titles I pick up after Ultimate, but I will most likely have a much lower level of anticipation for them than I did with Ultimat.
I am extremely thankful to Sakurai and his team for taking the direction they did with Ultimate. Doing such a 180 on Ridley so shortly after making those public statements truly shows that he is able to keep an open mind even as such a long time directing this series. I am extremely grateful that Ridley has finally made it in, as it was the number one most wanted thing I wanted from Smash Bros. after I became hooked on this series. Getting every single veteran to come back, K. Rool making his grand return, and Castlevania finally being a part of Smash Bros. truly makes this game not only “special”, but “ultimate”.
There is very little else I could ask for in regards to Smash Bros. at this point. Sure there are characters that would make me smile if they were included such as Dixie Kong and Banjo-Kazooie (especially the former), but I am not going to stick around with the speculation scene for another four to eight years for a character or two.
Dixie Kong in particular is the last Nintendo character left that is dear to me from my childhood, and the Banjo-Kazooie games were my favorite 3D platformers aside from the 3D Mario games. I feel very good that Banjo-Kazooie will be DLC for Ultimate, but as for Dixie Kong it really depends on whether spirits are deconfirmations. Even if they are not, Dixie Kong still has a lot of competition for DLC. I will cross my fingers for her regardless. At this point she would merely be the cherry on top for the ultimate sundae that is Ultimate (or if looking at Dixie Kong’s hair, the banana).
I absolutely could not predict for Ultimate to take the direction that it did. It just goes to show how unpredictable life sometimes is. A lot has changed over the last three years since I left the speculation fanbase. Life is like the wind. It can blow in unexpected directions, good or bad, happy or sad. I see little reason for my continued involvement in the speculation and character support scene now. I might pop in the Dixie Kong and other support topics from time to time until DLC wraps up, but otherwise this massive analysis and the assorted essays within it could very well be my curtain call for speculation and analysis for Smash Bros.
About ten years ago, I played Fire Emblem Thracia 776 for the first time. It quickly became not only one of my favorite games in the Fire Emblem series, but one my favorite SNES games ever. Ultimate has put in music for every single Fire Emblem game in the series with the exception of Thracia 776. Back when I was doing speculation for Smash 4’s roster, I would listen to Thracia 776’s soundtrack. To cap things off, I will put a song (that was arranged) to close out my analysis.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mk6oqobUDA8
The wind has brought me back, and will now sweep me away again. However, we really do not know how the wind will blow. It was a fantastic journey these last 20 years. It will be interesting to see the direction that the DLC takes for this title. Smash 4’s DLC gave us three veterans that were dear to me and many others as well as two gaming icons (Ryu and Cloud), so it will be interesting to see the direction with Ultimate’s DLC.
I am not sure whether I will stick around speculating for the next year or not, but if I do not (right now I have little interest to do so), I think this piece was a good way to go out on. I am absolutely ecstatic and grateful with how Ultimate’s roster turned out. Now, at long last, it is finally time to enjoy playing as the characters we long hoped for, but thought the day to which would never come. Everyone is here and the impossible was made possible! Thank you to all who have read this.
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