Official Next Smash - Speculation & Discussion Thread

[Noipoi]

Do you think a Nintendo Direct might happen in February? Other then the Switch 2 Direct happening in April 2nd.

There’s been enough rumors for me to think it’s a possibility. If it does happen we’ll find out next week, most likely.

 

[dream1ng]

On one hand, Dark Souls has the undeniable history behind it.

On the other, Elden Ring is a huge hit that's set to eclipse the former franchise very quickly.

Dark Souls currently has a combined total listed of 37.33 mil copies sold as a franchise.

Elden Ring by itself sold 28.6 mil copies as of mid December of 2024.
And this is not including a potential Switch 2 release that's been rumored since months before the Switch 2 was officially announced.


Arguably, it's reasonable to assume Nintendo would smell the money and put priority in Elden Ring content for DLC in the next Smash ahead of Dark Souls, but that's just me.

I've long since been saying that we ought to reevaluate our top MS candidates when we have Skyrim's 60+ mil that seems to go overlooked.

But I also wouldn't take that as a definitive edge the series has over its cumulatively bigger, still very successful contemporaries. Especially when Nintendo "smelling the money" seems to be an inconsistent way of selecting third-parties overall, even with fan choices aside.

Fwiw I also think the commercial reach of From IP really just depends on, like... what actually releases. If Elden Ring 2 releases, it will totally eclipse DS. If Dark Souls 4 were to release, it would, at this point, probably sell numbers far in excess any of the first three managed. If they made a new IP in the Souls vein, I think that thing could probably hit at least 20 mil easy. I think you're capturing a very similarly-sized audience migrating to Smash either way.

 

[Hadokeyblade]

Might be a bit off-topic but since we are coming to the close of the Switch 1 onto Switch 2, which announcement was your favorite throughout the Switch lifespan?

Could be Smash or not, any Nintendo Switch announcement can do.

Personally i can't pick, reveals and announcement are too junk-food esque to latch onto.

What has been your favorite game reveal... like ever? On any platform. What game made you the most happy when they showed it off? Mine is an easy selection pic.twitter.com/CuOLGOKpLt

— Corey Cooper (@MetroidFREAK21) February 1, 2025

Well the one i remember the most was when they revealed Super Robot Wars 30 in an E3 direct (the japanese version of the direct, since the game wasnt released on Switch in America, only the steam version), as this was immediately after i got into the games and this entry just so happened to have a roster that borders on dream roster for someone like me.

 

[LiveStudioAudience]

Might be a bit off-topic but since we are coming to the close of the Switch 1 onto Switch 2, which announcement was your favorite throughout the Switch lifespan?

Could be Smash or not, any Nintendo Switch announcement can do.

Personally i can't pick, reveals and announcement are too junk-food esque to latch onto.

What has been your favorite game reveal... like ever? On any platform. What game made you the most happy when they showed it off? Mine is an easy selection pic.twitter.com/CuOLGOKpLt

— Corey Cooper (@MetroidFREAK21) February 1, 2025

There's too many numerous Smash related ones to name go into detail, but Ridley, K Rool, & Banjo reveals will always be great. In terms of sheer sentiment. the Super Mario RPG remake was extremely special, immortalizing a great game and exposing a wonderfully unique take on Mario to countless new fans. Metroid Dread stood out as leaving me actually open mouth shocked that such a legendarily rumored and speculated title was actuall coming out.

One dark horse announcement that was huge for me was a particular reveal in September 2020. During the Pandemic Partner Directs had been okay at best and outright disappointing at worst. This particular one was solid enough and then there was one final thing:

I had loved Ori & the Blind Forest on Switch. Very enjoyable explorative title with the kind of graphical style I hadn't seen in a platformer adjacent game since the SNES DKC trilogy. Will of the Wisps looked incredible on Xbox, but I had accepted it was even more demanding its predecessor and accepted that if did come out on Switch (which was not guaranteed), it would probably not be for several years. Seeing the game not only announced but outright shadow dropped was an incredibly delightful surprise and it went on to become one of my favorite (possibly my most favorite) Metroidvania release ever. It was the kind of moment that you didn't see in the Wii U era and I think solidified just how significant and contemporary the Switch was.

 

[Thegameandwatch]

Might be a bit off-topic but since we are coming to the close of the Switch 1 onto Switch 2, which announcement was your favorite throughout the Switch lifespan?

Could be Smash or not, any Nintendo Switch announcement can do.

Personally i can't pick, reveals and announcement are too junk-food esque to latch onto.

What has been your favorite game reveal... like ever? On any platform. What game made you the most happy when they showed it off? Mine is an easy selection pic.twitter.com/CuOLGOKpLt

— Corey Cooper (@MetroidFREAK21) February 1, 2025

Metroid Dread which was originally supposed to be a DS game but was shelved because of development issues.

 

[McSpanker]

My dream (and never ever) moveset idea for paper mario is that he deploy multiple partners of the same type for the same move. So he could kick kooper out and hold him there while also kicking koops out later. Then let bombette out one direction and bobbery out the other if you want.

 

[LiveStudioAudience]

My dream (and never ever) moveset idea for paper mario is that he deploy multiple partners of the same type for the same move. So he could kick kooper out and hold him there while also kicking koops out later. Then let bombette out one direction and bobbery out the other if you want.

This does have me thinking at the very least it'd be cool to see a Paper Mario assist trophy based around randomized partner attacks from the first two games. Yeah, to some degree it would be another kind of Pokeball, but Bow, Watt, Parakarry, Vivian, Ms. Mowz, Admiral Bobbery, etc. showing up with their unique moves would be fun.

 

[Megadoomer]

Might be a bit off-topic but since we are coming to the close of the Switch 1 onto Switch 2, which announcement was your favorite throughout the Switch lifespan?

Could be Smash or not, any Nintendo Switch announcement can do.

Personally i can't pick, reveals and announcement are too junk-food esque to latch onto.

What has been your favorite game reveal... like ever? On any platform. What game made you the most happy when they showed it off? Mine is an easy selection pic.twitter.com/CuOLGOKpLt

— Corey Cooper (@MetroidFREAK21) February 1, 2025

I'm sure that, if I thought about it, some game reveals would come to mind (Marvel vs. Capcom Collection, for example), but this was something that I'd wanted to see happen since I was about nine or ten years old, I had long since figured it wouldn't happen, and seeing it become a reality surpassed my expectations. (the announcement of Psychonauts 2 was very similar in that regard)

Ridley was another great reveal (and K. Rool, though Ridley making it into the game made K. Rool seem more likely), along with Everyone Is Here (it was such a relief to go through the pre-release period and not worry about who was being cut), but Banjo and Kazooie in Smash Bros. was what came to mind first.

When it comes to first party games, the Super Mario RPG remake was a nice surprise, and so was Metroid Dread. (I love how the team behind Samus Returns got to make a completely new Metroid game)

 

[RileyXY1]

Damn Sakubias.


Ehhhh, doesn't feel like a Ridley stage even if he is fought in the Norfair region.

Although Ridley already has his own stage, but it's not in Ultimate. The Pyrosphere stage in Smash for Wii U is literally based on the boss arena where you fight Ridley in Metroid Other M.

 

[SMAASH! Puppy]

Either way, a Dimentio assist where he draws a square then snaps his fingers to blow up anyone in it would be fire.

Probably bad Smash Ideas: Dimentio plants a sprout on an opponent, and teleports them to you. For a couple seconds, you now control them as if you were the Ice Climbers.

 

[Gorgonzales]

Might be a bit off-topic but since we are coming to the close of the Switch 1 onto Switch 2, which announcement was your favorite throughout the Switch lifespan?

Could be Smash or not, any Nintendo Switch announcement can do.

Personally i can't pick, reveals and announcement are too junk-food esque to latch onto.

What has been your favorite game reveal... like ever? On any platform. What game made you the most happy when they showed it off? Mine is an easy selection pic.twitter.com/CuOLGOKpLt

— Corey Cooper (@MetroidFREAK21) February 1, 2025

I'd have to say two big ones.

Super Mario Odyssey's first trailer was absolutely magical for me. I don't think I've ever been as excited for a game as I have with this one.
Seeing the new environments, hearing the fantastic music, and noticing that this looked to be a SANDBOX 3D Mario like 64/Sunshine made me go nuts. The fun and unique character designs of these new, bizarre locations also drew me in like you wouldn't believe.

It's important to have the context that Odyssey was like a bombshell of creativity that dropped all at once after the sort of bland lameness of Mario on Wii U. Not saying every Wii U Mario game was devoid of creativity, but it certainly felt like a lot were going for a similar aesthetic, especially in the latter half of the console's years. This was at the peak of Mario mandate speculation (where we all thought having unique new original characters were a no-go for most Mario titles), so to see a new game that was so unabashedly whimsical and experimental in aesthetics just made me go feral.

I wanted this game the moment it was revealed. Replaying this trailer over and over again was like crack to me. My mind went wild with speculation on what the game could contain and how many of these crazy new characters and items would appear in Mario spinoffs!! ...okay, while only Pauline really ended up being used (something I still lament to this day, what squandered potential), Odyssey itself blew me away.

It's like the only game I've ever played to live up to its hype. I loved the movement, the capture system, the world designs, everything. Every time I stepped foot into a new kingdom I was blown away by how unique they all were. I played the game nonstop for days on end after beating the main quest and I started to see traffic cones in real life and subconsciously think "I should throw my hat at that". That's how absolutely immersed I was in this game.

...Pikmin 4 was the other game. I went nuts over its reveal but the game itself didn't stick the landing quite as perfectly as Mario Odyssey did. I still enjoyed it a lot, but I have a lot more conflicting feelings on it than I do for Mario Odyssey, as much as it pains me to say.

Smash Ultimate itself had a lot of hype from me, but mentioning it too is kind of cheating since everyone likes Smash. Regardless, Ridley's, K. Rool's, and Banjo's trailers had me the most hype while that initial teaser with Inkling had me absolutely giddy with excitement.

 

[Þe 1 → Way]

Probably bad Smash Ideas: Dimentio plants a sprout on an opponent, and teleports them to you. For a couple seconds, you now control them as if you were the Ice Climbers.

I like this idea because you know how popular a strat it would be to just run both characters straight into the blast zone.

 

[Swamp Sensei]

I don't think any trailer will ever beat the sheer childlike joy and wonder that the 1-2 punch of Everyone is Here and Ridley's trailer did.

Metroid Dread got me pretty close though.

I suppose Pokemon Legends: Arceus had me super excited as well.

 

[Perkilator]

For me, in no particular order:

1. Super Mario Odyssey’s reveal, for more or less the same reasons as Gorgonzales
2. Ridley’s Smash reveal, since I was as dumbfounded as I was excited that Sakurai managed to do it.
3. Sora’s Smash reveal, because he was my most wanted character and I was so insanely happy when he made it against all odds.

 

[SMAASH! Puppy]

I like this idea because you know how popular a strat it would be to just run both characters straight into the blast zone.

Depending on who they are you could even just kill them by jumping off stage to do a low recovery.

Ice Climbers, Little Mac, Jigglypuff, Bayonetta, Ganondorf...so many characters would die to this tactic pretty easily so long as you had a decent recovery yourself. Basically everyone dies if your Sora or Piranha Plant or something.


WAIT! If your character has a stall then fall attack, you could just down air or down special offstage and watch them plummet to the blast zone (assuming your down special isn't super committal like Amyr or something).

 

[GoldenYuiitusin]

The biggest non-Smash announcement for me has to be Pizza Tower being revealed for Switch.


The biggest Smash announcement for me is unironically being revealed. Especially with all the ****ing bull**** I had to put up with leading to it.

 

[DarthEnderX]

Might be a bit off-topic but since we are coming to the close of the Switch 1 onto Switch 2, which announcement was your favorite throughout the Switch lifespan?

Probably the Booster Course Pass. Followed by 'Everyone is Here!'

Ehhhh, doesn't feel like a Ridley stage even if he is fought in the Norfair region.

Sure. But if we'd count "Bowser's Castle" as a Bowser stage and not specifically, like, "Bowser's Drawbridge", then we should count Norfair. It's still the level Ridley lives in.

Though obviously, Pyrosphere would be a more direct Ridley stage.

Although Ridley already has his own stage, but it's not in Ultimate. The Pyrosphere stage in Smash for Wii U is literally based on the boss arena where you fight Ridley in Metroid Other M.

I'd say the Stage and the Fighter have to be in the same game for it to count.

 

[TheFirstPoppyBro]

Dunno if someone already posted it (I got a little sidetracked with things), but Nintendo Music's update tonight was Super Mario World.

Everything from trailers has been added now, so we're officially in the dark in terms of possible additions now lol

 

[MagnesD3]

Biggest switch reveals for me.

1. Everyone is here along with Ridley. (Smash 4 bummed out hard lol, none of the newcomers were for me and they cut Wolf, also Ridley looked off the table so I had 0 hype going in. But somehow they pulled me back in, so much crow was eaten that day by me, I felt like such a butt for stuff I had said about sakurai not caring, man I was wrong. Not only was everyone back but he freaking got Ridley, crazy. I was going through some of the worst stuff in my life (so far lol) at the time and it managed to make me smile, how could it not.)

2. The Sephiroth reveal trailer. (Even though Banjo was my most wanted DLC trailer, he leaked beforehand and I was at work so I couldnt scream loudly in the room when I saw the trailer. For Sephiroth though, not in a million years did I see it coming, I thought for sure it was Dante that cut through the boss, then tha beat dropped. I popped off so hard there is no way I didnt wake my neighbors. What a surprise.)

3. The Banjo reveal trailer. (Most wanted newcomer, an impossible dream finally came true. I was so glad to see Banjo get the respect he deserved from somewhere. I remember just grinning all day off and on in a haze feeling like, "did that just happen?".)

As for games outside of smash for switch there wasn't anything crazy to me. I had high hopes for Odyssey but was sure how to feel yet and the new Zelda's were a bit bright for me (and no dungeons..) Nintendo nowadays mostly makes games to a completely different audience than me. I just look for 3d Mario's, Zelda's (I guess :S), and smash. Star fox and paper mario would be ones Id care about but they have been dead a long time, I have no faith in nintendo for them.

 

[The Stoopid Unikorn]

Although Ridley already has his own stage, but it's not in Ultimate. The Pyrosphere stage in Smash for Wii U is literally based on the boss arena where you fight Ridley in Metroid Other M.

I'm with Darth here. It doesn't count if the stage and the fighter are not in the same game.

 

[SMAASH! Puppy]

Sure. But if we'd count "Bowser's Castle" as a Bowser stage and not specifically, like, "Bowser's Drawbridge", then we should count Norfair. It's still the level Ridley lives in.

Though obviously, Pyrosphere would be a more direct Ridley stage.

I'd say the dissonance makes since since Norfair is based on upper Norfair rather than lower Norfair where Ridley is found in Super Metroid.


Speaking of, it's a crime that Norfair (Ridley's Lair) isn't in Smash's OST. I hope the next game remedies this. I will also accept Magmoor Caverns, as it is the same song.

 

[Kirbeh]

I don't think any trailer will ever beat the sheer childlike joy and wonder that the 1-2 punch of Everyone is Here and Ridley's trailer did.

Metroid Dread got me pretty close though.

I suppose Pokemon Legends: Arceus had me super excited as well.

I saw the "1-2" at a glance and for a second thought you were about to say that 1-2 Switch was your favorite reveal.

 

[SMAASH! Puppy]

I saw the "1-2" at a glance and for a second thought you were about to say that 1-2 Switch was your favorite reveal.

I thought the same thing and had to reread it. lol

 

[RileyXY1]

I'd say the dissonance makes since since Norfair is based on upper Norfair rather than lower Norfair where Ridley is found in Super Metroid.


Speaking of, it's a crime that Norfair (Ridley's Lair) isn't in Smash's OST. I hope the next game remedies this. I will also accept Magmoor Caverns, as it is the same song.

It is starting in Ultimate, but it's the remix from Samus Returns ripped straight from that game.

 

[SMAASH! Puppy]

It is starting in Ultimate, but it's the remix from Samus Returns ripped straight from that game.

Oh yeah. I vaguely remember that being the case. I probably just haven't heard it because I rarely go on Metroid stages, and Norfair is probably my least visited of the lot.

Come to think of it, Metroid's stages are all kinda wonky. Brinstar is probably the best, but the bottom platform is awkward to fight on and sometimes the stage is just closed for buisness. It's probably because it's one of the few stages that causes the AI to freak out, but I like the idea of Brinstar Depths more than I do in practice. Norfair is the first stage with "composed of tiny platforms" syndrom that makes it awkward to fight on, but it is at least more tolerable than Gaur Plain, and has more fun gimmicks. I think I liked it better in Brawl than I do here though. Frigate Orpheon is just...oddly forgettable despite being super unique, and I hate the change in the alarm sound effect from the genuinely unsettling alarm in Brawl to the generic sound library effect in Ultimate.

And then there's Pyrosphere, which is fairly normal and not super notable, and then Ridley flies in, says "it's Ridley time", and then Ridleys all over the place. The fact that you can beat him into subserviance is also really weird.

 

[Swamp Sensei]

I saw the "1-2" at a glance and for a second thought you were about to say that 1-2 Switch was your favorite reveal.

What can I say?

I ****ing love Horace!

 

[MBRedboy31]

What can I say?

I ****ing love Horace!

I personally think he really should be a full-body Mii costume. Like, it’d honestly be pretty funny-looking.

 

[TheFirstPoppyBro]

What can I say?

I ****ing love Horace!

I do genuinely wonder if Horace will get some kind of collectible or if Nintendo would just rather pretend Everybody 1-2 Switch didn't happen, but I guess that depends on what kind of collectibles we get next game...

 

[Ivander]

What can I say?

I ****ing love Horace!

Horace is cool, though I prefer Jasper.

 

[BrawlX10]

With Waluigi begin a seemengly very likely pick.
What do you guys think are the odds they add Waluigi Pinball as a stage? I know MKDS is a very old game at this point, but Waluigi Pinball is probably Waluigi's most iconic location and a fan favourite Mario Kart stage on top of that.

 

[Alt0]

so def/prob Sol Badguy right? since Guilty Gear was recently added to switch and its like the last big fighting game they still need to add to their roster.

 

[Thegameandwatch]

My prediction is that there wouldn’t be that many new 3rd party characters in the base game until DLC. Still be focused on.

That’s always been the case since Brawl like how there was only two new ones in Brawl and base Smash 4. Simon was the only new original 3rd party character in Ultimate until Joker released with the exception of echoes.

 

[Wunderwaft]

Biggest announcement for me still has to be . I tapped out after the pyrosphere incident in 4 and thought he truly won't get in Smash, at least not with Sakurai around.

The E3 reveal for Ultimate and Ridley still feels like a fever dream, I remember I strongly wanted to play the game immediately after the post-show presentation where Sakurai played a bit with Ridley. There hasn't been any other reveal that made me manic like that for Smash and shot my hype through the roof. I look forward to seeing what the next game will bring though and if they'll shoot hype through my veins again.


Outside of Smash, M&L Brothership probably was my biggest pop for an announcement for the Switch lol, never in a million years did I expect the series to be back after AlphaDream died.

 

[fogbadge]

I don't think any trailer will ever beat the sheer childlike joy and wonder that the 1-2 punch of Everyone is Here and Ridley's trailer did.

Metroid Dread got me pretty close though.

I suppose Pokemon Legends: Arceus had me super excited as well.

I had the opposite reaction

 

[Dinoman96]

My prediction is that there wouldn’t be that many new 3rd party characters in the base game until DLC. Still be focused on.

That’s always been the case since Brawl like how there was only two new ones in Brawl and base Smash 4. Simon was the only new original 3rd party character in Ultimate until Joker released with the exception of echoes.

There's been a pretty clear pattern with Smash character selection, yes.

• For obvious reasons, the base game is dominated by first party Nintendo characters. primarily the ones that have appeared in recent games by the time Sakurai locks down the roster early in development, the only main exceptions the heavily fan demanded ones like K. Rool and his wacky retro or really surprise character like Mr. Game & Watch and ROB. Of course, starting with Brawl, 1-2 guest characters are included in the mix.
• The DLC is then where they go crazy with a whole buttload of hypebeast third party characters, the only Nintendo characters that seemingly have a shot are the ones from contemporary games that missed the boat for the base lineup like Byleth, Pyra/Mythra and Min Min. Oh, and returning cut veterans.

I feel like this is what we should expect from every Smash going forward. Of course, maybe they throw a curve ball at us...

 

[Gengar84]

There's been a pretty clear pattern with Smash character selection, yes.

• For obvious reasons, the base game is dominated by first party Nintendo characters. primarily the ones that have appeared in recent games by the time Sakurai locks down the roster early in development, the only main exceptions the heavily fan demanded ones like K. Rool and his wacky retro or really surprise character like Mr. Game & Watch and ROB. Of course, starting with Brawl, 1-2 guest characters are included in the mix.
• The DLC is then where they go crazy with a whole buttload of hypebeast third party characters, the only Nintendo characters that seemingly have a shot are the ones from contemporary games that missed the boat for the base lineup like Byleth, Pyra/Mythra and Min Min. Oh, and returning cut veterans.

I feel like this is what we should expect from every Smash going forward. Of course, maybe they throw a curve ball at us...

Yeah, I’m expecting about 2-3 third party base game newcomers at most with most coming as DLC. For base game, I could see Shadow, Zero, and Ryu Hyabusa. Two of the three are additional characters from existing IP already in Smash and the third is a long time request from a company with close ties to Nintendo.

 

[Wunderwaft]

Yeah, two third-party characters in the base game sounds about right. Makes you wonder who the lucky two that would got picked during the project plan would be. I have a hunch Monster Hunter would be one of the two since it got a ridiculous amount of care for the base game of Ultimate and has exploded in popularity worldwide ever since World came out.

 

[Gengar84]

Alright, here’s a fun prediction question. Let’s say the next Smash follows Ultimate’s pattern and we do get two third party base game characters in the next game with the first DLC being a big third party surprise like Joker. Who are your predictions for who those characters might be? Here’s mine:

Base game:

Zero (Mega Man X)
Shadow (Sonic the Hedgehog)

Both of these characters are long time requests with long legacies and are already featured in Smash as Assist Trophies. They would both be secondary characters from existing IP so they make sense to me as base game additions. Both are popular enough that they’d still bring in a ton of excitement despite being from existing series.

First DLC:

Jinx (League of Legends)

League of Legends was already one of the most played games in the world but its characters saw even more mainstream popularity with the success of the Netflix show Arcane. Jinx was the standout favorite from the show and was already one of the most popular champions from the game. She’s got a similar rebellious punk energy to Joker with a really great story and is a character I could see Sakurai gravitate towards.

I feel like both Joker and Steve set a bit of a precedent for a character like Jinx to have a solid chance. Joker because both were breakout hits in pop culture but weren’t speculated for Smash due to their weak Nintendo connections and Steve because both Minecraft and League are hugely popular games for younger audiences that also weren’t conventionally thought of for Smash.

 

[Thegameandwatch]

Minecraft and League are hugely popular games for younger audiences that also weren’t conventionally thought of for Smash

Also the requests not being taking as seriously because of the reputation for the game.

This is also the case with Undertale from what I have seen. Obviously not as popular but has the same reputation.

 

[Gengar84]

Also the requests not being taking as seriously because of the reputation for the game.

This is also the case with Undertale from what I have seen. Obviously not as popular but has the same reputation.

I don’t think Smash fans have much room to complain about the reputation of another game’s fanbase considering everything that happened. But yeah, that could be part of it. I do think Arcane helped break away from the toxic reputation of the mainline League game.