Official Next Smash - Speculation & Discussion Thread

[Louie G.]

Ridley vs Isabelle was one of my favorite matchups made possible by Ultimate, and really conveys the great character diversity that Ultimate was able to achieve even just among its base selection of newcomers. Both of them add a fantastic dynamic to the rest of the cast through the furthest polar extremes of big scary monster and cutesy unassuming mascot respectively. I feel like both of them are essential parts of Smash now, even neglecting their significance externally.

That essence is why I favor of strong personality / character a lot of the time. Smash is largely about exciting matchups and to make that as exciting as possible for me, it's more fun when the characters have really dynamic, unique identities that make it fun to imagine them interacting. And yeah, much of that comes from supporting casts rather than simply the main protagonist.

Luigi, King Dedede, K. Rool, Ganondorf, Diddy Kong, Wolf, Palutena, Sephiroth... all some of the most striking, expressive and/or intimidating characters on the roster. Not that Perkilator was suggesting we outright just go with one character per series, but there are definitely some supporting faces I'd consider extremely high priority over some other "single rep" series as well.

 

[Nabbitfan730]

So do you guys feel the roster is going to be slightly smaller than Ultimate, slightly bigger, or modified to a Wii U/3DS number?

Between Brawl and 3DS/Wii U numbers base then Base Ult when everything completed with DLC

Of course they are most interested in the Big Booba girls!
Of Course!

Weird it isnt mario or any other main Character?

What is that meant to mean exactly? Pretty sure most appreciate that aspect all over the world

 

[Freduardo]

We doing top 10s?

Yeah okay. My top ten.... for this moment:

10) Takamaru
9) Zoda
8) Captain Syrup
7) Shantae
6) Shovel Knight
5) Nester
4) Mike Jones
3) Vaati
2) Bonk
1) Fawful

In case it wasn't obvious... I'm oooooooold.

 

[Wonder Smash]

Geez, there’s that many River City games? I wonder if there’s a way to get both designs in as alts. The classic designs would have to be a bit more realistically proportioned than usual and less Chibi but it should be possible. Do either of them play like they do in River City Girls in other games? I am enjoying their movesets and I think they’d translate almost perfectly to Smash. You’ve already got directional specials and Smash attacks, a neutral combo, grabs, pummels, and throws as well as a different aerial attacks.

I just go by the way they are in Mighty Fight Federation; slightly more detailed to than a chibi design but not to the point that it's considered realistic.

Give them a more anime face like we see in their figurines and there they are.

 

[Gengar84]

I just go by the way they are in Mighty Fight Federation; slightly more detailed to than a chibi design but not to the point that it's considered realistic.

View attachment 391836

Give them a more anime face like we see in their figurines and there they are.

View attachment 391837

I really don’t care for what they look like in that top image but the bottom one is a lot better. I still like their River City Girls designs best but the bottom image works too.

 

[Louie G.]

But hell, building a roster around that hypothetical, where every series returns? Well...









This might be what that kind of roster could look like. That's 55-56 characters and no newcomers yet, maybe 58 if all Mii types return?

Honestly, not as bad as it could be IMO. I expected this to be a lot more difficult to pin down, but if you added an extra 10 newcomers to this then you'd get roughly the same size as Ultimate's base roster. Lot of unfortunate cuts in the process but I tapped into who I felt the series can't really do without and others who I think are valuable components of their respective series, or offer something distinct gameplay wise. Sephiroth may as well come back if all the other third parties were able to.

I think this is pretty drastically unlikely, and it neglects a large number of great supporting characters who I would rather remain a part of the series like Mewtwo, K. Rool, Palutena, Robin and so forth. Personally my values favor first party over third and would swap some of the guests out for the aforementioned characters without much guilt. But for what this is, I don't think this is the worst thing ever.

Newcomers may favor new entrants from cyclical series like Pokemon and Fire Emblem, since they get sold a bit short in the process. Mario, Zelda, Animal Crossing and Splatoon probably warrant a boost of a character or two. Supporting characters from these series probably get dibs on newcomer slots since they get sold short by the very nature of this roster structure. Although I think there's room for something new like Ring Fit Adventure and a popular legacy series like Golden Sun as well. With third parties being a major focus, may as well build on a few of those too. 10 slots is deceivingly small but you can probably get good mileage out of it... at that rate I'd save any new third party series for DLC, though.

[Mario], [Zelda], [Pokemon], [Fire Emblem], Tom Nook, Octoling, Ring Fit Trainee, Isaac, [Sonic], Chun-Li.
Probably would have to be something like that. And then you've got a 66-68 character roster.

 

[HyperSomari64]

ignore this

 

[superprincess]

Okay, let's play a roster game: I'm gonna take the first playable reps of each series and sort them into a table:

Mario​	Donkey Kong​	Link​	Samus​	Yoshi​	Kirby​	Fox​	Pikachu​
Ness​	Captain Falcon​	Ice Climbers​	Marth​	Mr. Game & Watch​	Pit​	Wario​	Olimar​
R.O.B.​	Villager​	Wii Fit Trainer​	Little Mac​	Shulk​	Duck Hunt​	Inkling​	Min Min​
Snake​	Sonic​	Mega Man​	PAC-MAN​	Ryu​	Cloud​	Bayonetta​	Simon​
Joker​	Hero​	Banjo & Kazooie​	Terry​	Steve​	Kazuya​	Sora​	Mii​

Let's try building a roster for the next game around this table.

No offense but are you trying to come up with as many different ways to ask "which newcomers do you want?" as possible?

 

[DarthEnderX]

Geez, there’s that many River City games?

Ayup.

 

[Opossum]

Just for something for people to keep in mind;

Mii Fighters are specifically Smash Bros. representatives. A Generic Mii is not playable under the normal Mii Franchise. While they somewhat are treated as both, it's still a SSB character. That's not saying it should've been, but that's pretty much their hard spot now.

This isn't entirely correct. The Miis are just as much representatives of the "Mii" series as they are Super Smash Bros., and the game treats them as such. Spirits from "Mii" series games (Wii Sports/Party/Play/Music, StreetPass Mii Plaza, Miitopia, Tomodachi Life, NintendoLand, and PilotWings Resort) give the Mii Fighters the Same Series boost. In addition, the Mii Brawler, Swordfighter, and Gunner spirits are placed DIRECTLY BETWEEN the Mii spirits and the Smash spirits on the spirit list...and while they have the Smash symbol, the Mii spirits are listed first.

They are just as much Mii characters as Smash characters.

 

[Super Devon]

Now that Sakurai has since announced the filming of his final video is completed, I'd like to repeat a question I asked two years ago:

So when exactly are we thinking the next Smash game will arrive? more-so announced than released.

It's been two years since initally posted that, what the heck!

 

[Noipoi]

Now that Sakurai has since announced the filming of his final video is completed, I'd like to repeat a question I asked two years ago:

There’s a slight possibility they announce it during a presentation for the incoming Switch 2. They could be talking about upcoming games and say something like, “Yeah we got Mario Kart 9, 3D Mario, Waluigi’s Divorce Simulator…and a new Super Smash Bros is in development.”

We don’t see anything about the game, we just know it’s coming eventually. However I find that possibility unlikely.

Much more likely I think is that a year or two into the next system’s life they just drop a trailer in a direct, and all Hell breaks loose.

 

[DarthEnderX]

So when exactly are we thinking the next Smash game will arrive? more-so announced than released.

Switch 2 launch.

 

[BritishGuy54]

Now that Sakurai has since announced the filming of his final video is completed, I'd like to repeat a question I asked two years ago:

I think we’ll see a new game announced in a February 2026 Nintendo Direct.

The launch of a new system seems too early to announce a new game, and I see a 3D Mario, Mario Kart, and Animal Crossing take priority in 2025.

2026 ought to have other titles, such as Mario Maker 3, Splatoon 4, and yes, I think Smash 6 will be in 2026.

 

[Wonder Smash]

I really don’t care for what they look like in that top image but the bottom one is a lot better. I still like their River City Girls designs best but the bottom image works too.

Yeah, well the top image is their appearance Mighty Fight Federation. Not everybody liked it but I didn't have any problems with it. I liked their proportions in that game. so a mix of that and the look of their figurines (which is what Sakurai uses when designing characters) is how I vision them as characters in Smash.

Sometimes, I see MFF as a way to make up for them not being playable in Smash. I even can't help but think "Dang! They're in the wrong party fighter!".

 

[CrusherMania1592]

There’s a slight possibility they announce it during a presentation for the incoming Switch 2. They could be talking about upcoming games and say something like, “Yeah we got Mario Kart 9, 3D Mario, Waluigi’s Divorce Simulator…and a new Super Smash Bros is in development.”

We don’t see anything about the game, we just know it’s coming eventually. However I find that possibility unlikely.

Much more likely I think is that a year or two into the next system’s life they just drop a trailer in a direct, and all Hell breaks loose.

That would be the best way to announce it for now. Let it get name dropped and speculation occur. Then a Smash announcement in a direct outta nowhere

the one they did with Inklings was just perfectly done to hype up Ultimate

 

[Noipoi]

the one they did with Inklings was just perfectly done to hype up Ultimate

That reveal was also cool because it came right after the reveal of Octo Expansion, so seeing more Splatoon was confusing at first. I remember people thinking it was the og Splatoon on the 3DS or something.

In hindsight it should've been obvious that it was probably Smash, but Wii U/3DS has just wrapped up around two years ago at the time. We all figured it was too soon.

Just a good set of circumstances to make that first reveal as impactful as possible

 

[CrusherMania1592]

So the question is who should be the first newcomer revealed?

Brawl started with a banger of Pit, Meta Knight, Zamus, Wario, and Snake getting revealed in the first trailer

Wii U/3DS started with Villager, Megaman, and Wii Fit Trainer

ultimate had all the veterans return along with Inklings being revealed for newcomers.

I’m thinking it has to be someone who is popular and heavily requested. But the question is who? Can others join after the first reveal, but the first one creates hype

 

[RileyXY1]

I think we’ll see a new game announced in a February 2026 Nintendo Direct.

The launch of a new system seems too early to announce a new game, and I see a 3D Mario, Mario Kart, and Animal Crossing take priority in 2025.

2026 ought to have other titles, such as Mario Maker 3, Splatoon 4, and yes, I think Smash 6 will be in 2026.

It could be revealed in a 2025 Direct for a 2026 release, similar to how Smash 4 went.

 

[Perkilator]

So the question is who should be the first newcomer revealed?

Brawl started with a banger of Pit, Meta Knight, Zamus, Wario, and Snake getting revealed in the first trailer

Wii U/3DS started with Villager, Megaman, and Wii Fit Trainer

ultimate had all the veterans return along with Inklings being revealed for newcomers.

I’m thinking it has to be someone who is popular and heavily requested. But the question is who? Can others join after the first reveal, but the first one creates hype

I think Waluigi and/or Bandana Waddle Dee.

 

[RileyXY1]

I think that the pre-release might go over multiple years unless they're going the Ultimate Deluxe route.

 

[Noipoi]

So the question is who should be the first newcomer revealed?

Brawl started with a banger of Pit, Meta Knight, Zamus, Wario, and Snake getting revealed in the first trailer

Wii U/3DS started with Villager, Megaman, and Wii Fit Trainer

ultimate had all the veterans return along with Inklings being revealed for newcomers.

I’m thinking it has to be someone who is popular and heavily requested. But the question is who? Can others join after the first reveal, but the first one creates hype

Waluigi.

He’s well known and a big meme, so he’d get a lot of attention. But he’s not on the level of someone like Master Chief, so they’d still have some big reveals for later.

 

[Opossum]

Waluigi really does feel like the prime candidate to be a sort of Inkling equivalent. An obvious crowd pleaser for core fans and casuals alike that would ring in a new game.

 

[dream1ng]

Yeah I think if they can't include the branding, they just arent going to include the character. The mii costumes were probably compromises that they had to do because plans were already in motion, if they were to start over from scratch i doubt they would bother.
Especially since some characters ARE the branding. How are you going to include Bayonetta without name dropping the Bayonetta series? Call her Cereza??

You can still refer to the character by name, you just, presumably, can't refer to the series. Even if they're eponymous. That may sound dumb, but there is a legal distinction. It's how you can add a Doom Slayer costume and refer to it as such, yet not refer to Doom itself.

If you bring back Snake, for instance, you don't need to be like "here's what Metal Gear is!". Also, some of the M-rated characters, again like Snake, have had games that aren't rated M. The original games are like E or E10 or something, so you could presumably refer to it as Metal Gear, just not Metal Gear Solid.

For vets I don't think it's an insurmountable problem. They'd have to change how some things in the series were labelled if they want parity among the series that can be mentioned and the ones that can't, but long gone are the days of the Chronicle or even trophies. I imagine they can get by on character names and series icons.

I would guess that's also how some series like Ninja Gaiden, Halo, RE and Dark Souls could find loopholes, given they have some titles that rate lower than M.

They also don't need to use the "Smash Bros x [series]" template if it causes this newfound lack of uniformity. That's just a marketing thing anyway.

 

[Noipoi]

I think that the pre-release might go over multiple years unless they're going the Ultimate Deluxe route.

In this modern world of ours? I doubt it.

Unless they announce the game early and zip their lips for a few years, I bet we’ll get a prerelease similar to Ultimate. The game is revealed early in the year, and it’ll drop by the end of it.

 

[RileyXY1]

You can still refer to the character by name, you just, presumably, can't refer to the series. Even if they're eponymous. That may sound dumb, but there is a legal distinction. It's how you can add a Doom Slayer costume and refer to it as such, yet not refer to Doom itself.

If you bring back Snake, for instance, you don't need to be like "here's what Metal Gear is!". Also, some of the M-rated characters, again like Snake, have had games that aren't rated M. The original games are like E or E10 or something, so you could presumably refer to it as Metal Gear, just not Metal Gear Solid.

For vets I don't think it's an insurmountable problem. They'd have to change how some things in the series were labelled if they want parity among the series that can be mentioned and the ones that can't, but long gone are the days of the Chronicle or even trophies. I imagine they can get by on character names and series icons.

I would guess that's also how some series like Ninja Gaiden, Halo, RE and Dark Souls could find loopholes, given they have some titles that rate lower than M.

They also don't need to use the "Smash Bros x [series]" template if it causes this newfound lack of uniformity. That's just a marketing thing anyway.

But now even the game itself is affected, as the Noah and Mio, Zagreus, and 13 Sentinels Spirits don't even list what series/game they're from, which is a first for the series.

 

[Opossum]

But now even the game itself is affected, as the Noah and Mio, Zagreus, and 13 Sentinels Spirits don't even list what series/game they're from, which is a first for the series.

Technically speaking this isn't the first time for that. The Other section trophies in Smash 3DS infamously didn't say what games the trophies actually came from unless it happened to be mentioned in the trophy description.

 

[dream1ng]

But now even the game itself is affected, as the Noah and Mio, Zagreus, and 13 Sentinels Spirits don't even list what series/game they're from, which is a first for the series.

That's true - but Ultimate was made before things changed, so the recent content where the series' names are gone does stick out.

But with a game that will be built around these ostensibly new restrictions, it's going to be designed to presumably not have inconsistent labelling, even if that means less information full stop.

 

[RileyXY1]

In this modern world of ours? I doubt it.

Unless they announce the game early and zip their lips for a few years, I bet we’ll get a prerelease similar to Ultimate. The game is revealed early in the year, and it’ll drop by the end of it.

I think that the reason why Ultimate's pre-release was short compared to prior games was Everyone Is Here happening and them wanting to reveal every veteran out of the gate as a marketing point and the smaller amount of newcomers than usual.

 

[dream1ng]

I think that the reason why Ultimate's pre-release was short compared to prior games was Everyone Is Here happening and them wanting to reveal every veteran out of the gate as a marketing point and the smaller amount of newcomers than usual.

I think the reason Ultimate's pre-release was short was because 2017 was full and they didn't need to reveal it earlier than they did.

Which is also the reason I think Smash 6 won't be revealed until its less than a year away, because presumably their earlier schedule will be sufficiently packed to not require announcing such a far away release.

Especially if that's why Switch 2 was delayed, to get a steady rollout of content for the launch year.

 

[RileyXY1]

I think the reason Ultimate's pre-release was short was because 2017 was full and they didn't need to reveal it earlier than they did.

Which is also the reason I think Smash 6 won't be revealed until its less than a year away, because presumably their earlier schedule will be sufficiently packed to not require announcing such a far away release.

Especially if that's why Switch 2 was delayed, to get a steady rollout of content for the launch year.

It would just be too rushed if they don't do an Ultimate port.

 

[RodNutTakin]

Here's my hypothesis for the next game's lifecycle.

Later in 2024: Next Nintendo system is revealed with year 1/launch titles. No Smash yet.
Sometime in 2025: A press release/statement comes out and says that the next title in the Super Smash Bros. series of games is being worked on.
Winter/Summer 2026 Direct: Super Smash Bros. 6 is officially unveiled, slated for either Holiday 2026 or early 2027. Rest of the year is dedicated to gradually unveiling base game content.
Late 2026: "Final" base game presentation for Smash, details plans for post-launch content.
After Smash 6's release: Post-launch content begins development, and new content continues to be rolled out for the game until around a year prior to the reveal of the next Nintendo system's own successor.

 

[fogbadge]

Waluigi really does feel like the prime candidate to be a sort of Inkling equivalent. An obvious crowd pleaser for core fans and casuals alike that would ring in a new game.

and crush the dreams of the toads fans straight away rather than dragging it out

 

[Noipoi]

It would just be too rushed if they don't do an Ultimate port.

Nah, they could make it work.

You remember when Ultimate was coming out and they had that blog that posted everyday, but it was mostly stuff we already knew about? Do that, but in addition to items and stuff also reveal returning veterans.

It’d give people something to look forward too each day while we’re waiting for newcomer reveals. And you could have everything wrapped up by November/December.

 

[Louie G.]

and crush the dreams of the toads fans straight away rather than dragging it out

I mean, it's not really a competition when it comes to these two. Mario and/or its extended universes have gotten two or more characters every game, Waluigi being in doesn't explicitly discredit Toad or vice versa. You'd probably be better off just looking out for whatever Peach's Neutral B is to make that call.

 

[Master_Scorpion]

So the question is who should be the first newcomer

I’m gonna have to go with Waluigi too

 

[GoldenYuiitusin]

Waluigi shouldn't be the very first reveal.

He should be the token "but wait, there's more" reveal at the end of the main trailer if he's in at all.

 

[dream1ng]

Waluigi shouldn't be the very first reveal.

He should be the token "but wait, there's more" reveal at the end of the main trailer if he's in at all.

I would agree if not for them not really having a big first-party who cuts across all demographics and makes sense as the first reveal, like Villager and Inkling previous. I really think the closest we have now is Waluigi, who, as said above, is a crowd pleaser for both casual and hardcore, and as a recurring Mario character, is pretty well known.

I don't know if he's a megaton, but I think he's the closest the first-parties have left.

I think that final initial reveal may go to a third party, as I expect base will have more than one new (original) one Ultimate had, so they can use one there, and still have more for later. Plus it wouldn't make as much sense to start with the third-party.

It would just be too rushed if they don't do an Ultimate port.

Not really. Smash development usually takes 2-3 years, and if they started last year they'd presumably be ready by 2026.

Especially if you factor in how Studio S isn't going to shrink after base releases, meaning the development strategy may shift to having less at launch to be ready sooner, but a more weighty and frequent rollout of content afterwards. As many fighting games have embraced.

 

[Jotadé]

Ngl, I still think Pauline could go hard as a fighter if they play their cards really well.

Imagine her using her items from the DK arcade for the charged Smash attacks, the Minis for most of her specials and her singing skills similar to Jigglypuff.

Also she could potentially have a shoe-in of a Final Smash in the form of the ending of the DK arcade (the final level where you make DK fall and so).

Also, I think Jonesy could not be as likely as some people may think, as much as I would love to see him. Mostly because of the whole Samus in Fortnite fiasco where Epic wanted Samus in Fortnite for everyone and Nintendo wanted her as a console exclusive.
Although idk for sure, people said similar stuff about Sora when Mario got cut from Wreck It Ralph 2 and we all know what happened in the end, so yeah.

 

[Zerp]

Now that Sakurai has since announced the filming of his final video is completed, I'd like to repeat a question I asked two years ago: So when exactly are we thinking the next Smash game will arrive? more-so announced than released.

TOMORROW!!!!






Nah, but really, I expect to see it get announced around the Switch successor's announcement. As for when it comes out, I'm going with "around launch season" personally.

So the question is who should be the first newcomer revealed?

I promise I'm not just saying this because people are suggesting the other big Mario character, but Toad. Huge character, kinda unexpected, is a Nintendo staple, has tons of media relevance, etc. I think he checks all the boxes they'd want to hit, would get people talking while still being fitting for a first character.