Official Smash Ultimate Discussion

[Will]

Spoiler: big boy image

Is this a ****ing reference to what I think it is

 

[NextChannelGames]

These are the updated Japanese Ballot Polls once you've removed all the characters already in the game in some way:

View attachment 156910



And here's the original one from 2015, all the characters intact:
View attachment 156911

And here's the Western Polls from the same time, as well as some modern updates:
View attachment 156912


I think we can ignore 2018, as the game's design document was settled well before games like XB2 and ARMS came out. But it's interesting to see just how many of the characters currently in are characters that placed really high in the polls. I don't wanna get my hopes up, but I really wanna believe that a lot of the upcoming characters will be characters that were popular during the ballots. Fingers crossed for Banjo, as this is the best chance he's EVER gonna get. I can really see it happening, as he's pretty much next in line to be added for a majority of these polls.

Thoughts?

Awesome to share this! Boy, it sure looks like the highest characters will get a chance but it looks like Isaac is a bit low...

 

[Cutie Gwen]

Spoiler: big boy image

Is this a ****ing reference to what I think it is

No Franklin Badge so no

 

[Deleted member]

Spoiler: big boy image

Is this a ****ing reference to what I think it is

It's different this time. Gray Fox reflects PK Thunder, and Lucas isn't wearing a Franklin Badge.

 

[BluePikmin11]

WARNING: LONG, YET INFORMATIVE AND SPECULATIVE POST AHEAD

Other than Richter, each of the newcomers so far had Ballot speculation presence to varying degrees (yes, even Simon). Sakurai even mentioned that Chrom and Dark Samus had many requests, which is a big reason they are Echoes (and Daisy as well, retroactively).
Hell, even some of the new ATs were relatively recurring names thrown around.
PLAYABLE (Regular):
-Ice Climbers
-Snake
-Wolf
-Pichu (yes, Pichu was a semi-common topic; far more so than Squirtle or Ivysaur)
-Young Link (same as Pichu, though mostly for a revamp using masks)
-Inklings
-Ridley
-Simon Belmont
-King K. Rool
-Daisy (Echo)
-Chrom (Echo)
-Dark Samus (Echo)

ASSIST:
-Waluigi (was already an Assist, so not that big of a deal as an Assist compared to the others)
-Bomberman
-Krystal
-Knuckles
-Shovel Knight

So I've been compiling a list of other "hot topics" of the Ballot days to varying degrees to see what characters we could probably see being fitted into either role.

-Banjo-Kazooie (Would be either playable or not in the game at all; can't see Assist being an option in this particular case.)
-Isaac (Could return as an Assist like he was in Brawl if he is not playable.)
-Paper Mario (Could be playable, could be new Assist, could be just a trophy again.)
-Sceptile (Could be a new Poké Ball summon if lucky; very questionable of an inclusion overall due to circumstances such as Gen. 7 being on the way when Ultimate started development.)
-Shantae (Like Shovel Knight, could be an Assist if not playable. Or a trophy. Or not in the game at all. -shrug-)
-Impa (Could be a possible Sheik Echo)
-Dixie Kong (Could be a regular newcomer or could be a Diddy Kong Echo)
-Rayman (Could be anything, really. At least he was a trophy before... -shrug-)
-Crash Bandicoot (-more shrug- Not sure what to think.)
-Skull Kid (Could be playable; for whatever reason we have a new Assist in the Moon from the same game, but not the Skull Kid himself yet...)
-Bandana Dee (Could be playable, could be Assist, could be trophy.)
-Sora (-even more shrug- Though seems like another "playable or nothing" type due to Disney's involvement.)
-Geno (Could be playable, could be Assist, which some might argue against.)
-Wonder Red (Another wild card that could be anything.)
-Chorus Kids (Who really knows their fate at this point...?)
-Goku (Manga/anime character, so odds of any sort of appearance is very low. But if there were any exception to that "other media characters" barrier, it'd be him. But don't bet on it.)
-Shrek (HAHAHAHA-no. Shrek is a much harder sell than Goku.)
-Freddy Fazbear (One of the three major "meme" votes of the time alongside Goku and Shrek, but is arguably more plausible than the two given that the barrier for him is "no Nintendo presence". Which might not matter as much due to FNAF being a worldwide phenomenon, which yes, includes Japan. Still wouldn't bet on an appearance, but it could happen for all we know, even if just an Assist role.)

Others such as Shadow (who was a bigger topic during the Brawl days) or Isabelle who I strangely didn't find much discussion of are still possible. Same with certain post-Ballot deals such as a Gen. 7 Pokémon (considering we have new Poké Ball summons from Alola).
This above list was just to cover the remaining "hot topic" names from that time period given that Ultimate seems to be incorporating as much of them as possible.

I may have forgotten or overlooked a few, so feel free to correct me if you feel I missed some big ones.

>Golden-senpai actually speculating hardcore on Smash Ultimate?!?!?!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Scoliosis Jones]

I'm actually extremely impressed by the info dump of this Direct this week. Not only do we have a number of characters in, and also considered in a different light, but we haven't gotten bored of the information after two whole days.

Color me impressed Smashboards! Well done!

 

[TMNTSSB4]

My TV doesn't have brightness settings, none that I could find at least. I've still played and beat the game several times, but man is it dark as hell sometimes.

Good thing Twilight Princess was only a one and done...for now atleast

 

[Waluigi is not getting in]

How do I post a photo? I may have found a hint for Skull Kid.

 

[Shroob]

I'm actually extremely impressed by the info dump of this Direct this week. Not only do we have a number of characters in, and also considered in a different light, but we haven't gotten bored of the information after two whole days.

Color me impressed Smashboards! Well done!

I think the biggest thing is that we can take three major things from the Direct which gives us meat to chew on for awhile:


Chrom:

Echo fighters can have different B moves. This is huge, especially when everyone assumed that they'd be Lucina/Dark Pit-tier. Now the idea of "Who can be an Echo Fighter" widens in scope substantially.

Richter:

Third-parties can have Echo FIghters, something that we weren't sure about before. But now that it's confirmed, it opens yet another door for speculations.


K.Rool:

I think most of the people who have been speculating for the good half of the decade are the most excited over this one. Ridley was to Melee as K.Rool was to Brawl, and since we have both Ridley and K.Rool now, we have pretty much 2 of the 3 "Big 3" from Brawl speculation days... only a certain puppet left.

 

[MamaLuigi123456]

I'm aware, but it goes to show you that we shouldn't just expect strictly Nintendo characters to be killed off, as the company behind one of the four faces of gaming allowed him to be brutally shish kabob'ed by Ridley.

So, what I'm saying is... Expect Sonic to eat dirt and for Pac-Man to be violently vored by Yoshi, only for Yoshi to be snatched up in the maws of one of Bayo's demons as she tries to fight Kratos in a new trailer.

You heard it here first

Where did I mention Sonic and PAC-MAN?

All I said was Cloud and the Pokemon. That's it.

 

[TechPowah]

These are the updated Japanese Ballot Polls once you've removed all the characters already in the game in some way:

I didn't expect the Monster Hunter to be high enough to be on the list, even with the omissions
how far down the list was she before?

 

[Cutie Gwen]

How do I post a photo? I may have found a hint for Skull Kid.

Depends if it's downloaded or not, if it is, click on Attach Files and you should be able to do it. Also I doubt we're getting hints because otherwise we got a Goku hint due to the K.Rool VS DK Punch looking veeeery similar to a dbz shot

 

[Shyy_Guy595]

Where did I mention Sonic and PAC-MAN?

All I said was Cloud and the Pokemon. That's it.

I wasn't being serious. Lol

 

[zeldasmash]

You best have a good explanation for putting my main man Toon Link at the very bottom.

Opinions, my good man.

Never liked him. But to each their own.

 

[Captain Shwampy]

I honestly doubt Sakurai would get close to venturing to other SEGA franchises before SEGA themselves stopped him and said "how about a Shadow in these trying times?".

well he added Virtua Fighter mii costumes which i think might point to low poly akira assist trophy which would be hilarious

 

[KirbyWorshipper2465]

Obviously "Spirits" is referring to alcohol, and you unlock characters by getting them drunk and challenging them to bar fights.

If only this was the way to unlock Kazuma Kiryu.

If you could choose one series to get more representation what would you choose? For me it would be Earthbound/Mother or F-Zero.

Wario in general, hands down.

 

[Will]

I think most of the people who have been speculating for the good half of the decade are the most excited over this one. Ridley was to Melee as K.Rool was to Brawl, and since we have both Ridley and K.Rool now, we have pretty much 2 of the 3 "Big 3" from Brawl speculation days... only a certain puppet left.

I believe wholeheartedly that Geno will have a trailer whenever there's another Smash-focused direct, say two-three months down the line. It's a weird pattern that I noticed. Ridley got his spot, K. Rool got his spot, Simon got his spot even though he was more in the background of supporters, I think there's a fine line of how Sakurai's presenting these. What matters now is who he's paired with. Could be anyone. A Pokemon, Xenoblade, maybe even his lost Brawl cousin Isaac. Regardless of what it is I believe he'll show up unless Square rejects Sakurai again.

Opinions, my good man.

Never liked him. But to each their own.

Wait that's a tier list of how you like characters instead of some tin foil theory about whos gonna be top tier?
huh

 

[Waluigi is not getting in]

**** it. Skull Kid hint in my profile pic!!!

 

[dezeray112]

Are we taking that 4chan leak about Loz as legit?

I'd be down for it.

Though I thought that Loz didn't think it was Incineroar, but now he feels it is?


Leaks are confusing.

Someone should ask loz18 (if anyone has a GameFAQs account) about the legitimacy to his own claims on the 4chan post just in case. But since loz stated that he is gone on hiding.....

 

[Autobot N]

Opinions, my good man.

Never liked him. But to each their own.

Fair enough.

 

[Cutie Gwen]

**** it. Skull Kid hint in my profile pic!!!

you shouldn't censor a single letter, the site has an auto censor feature and you could get in trouble by breaking it

 

[Deleted member]

Awesome to share this! Boy, it sure looks like the highest characters will get a chance but it looks like Isaac is a bit low...

He's only relatively low in the Japanese poll. He's topping out the Western polls alongside Banjo. He may just have his chance yet.

I didn't expect the Monster Hunter to be high enough to be on the list, even with the omissions
how far down the list was she before?

Dunno, around 30 I'd say. I didn't make this. I simply found the updated chart on 4chan. Monster Hunter is super popular in Japan, so I'm not surprised to see a MH on the Japanese chart.

That said, I wouldn't put much weight on the character past the top spots on the updated chart showing up personally. Remember, the latter half ONLY shows up once you cut away all the characters already in some way. Which is great for the next ones immediately next in line. But nothing else much beyond that. I'd put a lot of weight on anyone in the top 3-5 spots of Western and Japanese charts.

So:
Isaac,
Banjo-Kazooie,
Bandana Dee,
Geno,
Dixie Kong,
Shadow,
Paper Mario.

I'd say the majority of these are showing up in the game in some way, shape, or form: be it Newcomer, Echo Fighter, or Assist Trophy imo.

 

[Shyy_Guy595]

It doesn't take much foil to know that Bayo won't be anything below A at worst.

I would love to be proven wrong.

 

[Shroob]

**** it. Skull Kid hint in my profile pic!!!

That's actually not a terrible idea, especially since those chairs were more than likely picked out for a reason.

Though it's too early to say for certain.

 

[ChocolatGelgato]

to me it looked like there could be space for 2 more stages on the website. Considering I don't think we will see much more stages but a small amount, I think they will be reserved for characters who need a home stage to be on, one of them may be the ROB stage but they might just leave him without a home and have 2 more new character stages. My guess? Air Rally and Monstro Town. Sometimes you gotta make bold guesses.

Also Yeah Bayonetta is just inherently strong and anti fun. I think she will be nerfed into not seeing bayo mirrors every 5 seconds, but she sure as hell won't drop her title of most hated character to play against.

 

[Waluigi is not getting in]

That's actually not a terrible idea, especially since those chairs were more than likely picked out for a reason.

Though it's too early to say for certain.

Sakurai never does something without reason

 

[Shyy_Guy595]

Sakurai never does something without reason

Most people just assumed that was him smothering the Waluigi fan's faces in the mud, but I like your theory more.

 

[Shroob]

Sakurai never does something without reason

No, I agree.

Though it's still too early to say for certain.


The chairs being there, and their color were definitely intentional, but they didn't play any part in this Direct.

 

[RandomAce]

How do I post a photo? I may have found a hint for Skull Kid.

Click on the icon with a Sun and a couple of hills.

You can either past a link to have the pick pop up or upload a file from your photo library.
—————————————————————
Onto speculation, My predictions are still the same and so far I have gotten two right. (Simon and King K. Rool ended up becoming obvious.

So here’s who I’m predicting (not including echoes):
64 - Inkling
65 - Ridley
66 - Simon Belmont
67 - King K. Rool
?? - Elma
?? - Lycanroc
?? - Isaac
?? - Geno
?? - Rhythm Heaven Rep
?? - Another Third Party (Lloyd?)
?? - Another Retro Character (Ayumi?)
?? - Another Unrepresented 1st Party Series (Isa?)

I’m more so confident with the first 4. The 5th one I’m so-so one but I think an overall character that represents the Rhythm Heaven series is possible. I’m a little unsure about the last three. A third party will likely be based on the ballot but I’m unsure who it might be, so I’m leaning more towards Lloyd. A retro rep is possible but a lot less likely, but I’m going towards Ayumi, and the last one I’m the least sure about. It’s possible we may get another unrepresented 1st Party to join as well, and I’m leaning towards it being someone from the Sin and Punishment series, but it’s mostly up to speculation.

I gues Lycanroc can be just about any Gen 7 Rep. Leaks recently have started losing their ground a lot lately.

 

[Cutie Gwen]

Someone should ask loz18 (if anyone has a GameFAQs account) about the legitimacy to his own claims on the 4chan post just in case. But since loz stated that he is gone on hiding.....

I mean, the post is clearly fake. I haven't seen loz swear in any posts so the addition of swears in there makes me think it's bull. Plus, he said he just got hints meaning he doesn't know stuff for certain like Isabelle absolutely not being a character

 

[zeldasmash]

I just noticed that Final Fantasy still has only 2 songs. It was shown in the direct in the music section.

Castlevania has 34 songs.........come on now....

 

[Nethermoosen]

Chrom use all his Echo bux on Aether
Dark Samus used all of her Echo bux on a new roll animation

Which automatically makes Dark Samus superior. Kind of sad. I mean I like Dark Samus more than Samus, but OG Samus fans are gonna be a little disappointed if Samus doesn’t have an ace up her sleeve to compete with that glorious dodge animation.

 

[Waluigi is not getting in]

No, I agree.

Though it's still too early to say for certain.


The chairs being there, and their color were definitely intentional, but they didn't play any part in this Direct.

Oh yeah we wont get another reveal for at least a good month

 

[Shyy_Guy595]

Which automatically makes Dark Samus superior. Kind of sad. I mean I like Dark Samus more than Samus, but OG Samus fans are gonna be a little disappointed if Samus doesn’t have an ace up her sleeve to compete with that glorious dodge animation.

Once you go Dark, there's no need to bark.

 

[Will]

Which automatically makes Dark Samus superior. Kind of sad. I mean I like Dark Samus more than Samus, but OG Samus fans are gonna be a little disappointed if Samus doesn’t have an ace up her sleeve to compete with that glorious dodge animation.

It makes sense that she doesn't have one but it also doesn't make sense that she doesn't have one.
On one end, it's Dark Samus, she ain't a morph ball master... but she has a morph ball attack because she was cloned.

 

[Roberk]

Unpopular Speculation: non-relevant characters like K. Rool getting in doesn't mean much for F-Zero or Earthbound reps.

From a Sakurai Famistu Column: "Characters from a series that has no future are rarely chosen."

DK has been getting back up on its feet with DKCR and DKCTF, so while K. Rool himself isn't all that relevant his franchise is still quite successful. Mother is a "completed" franchise and F-Zero has been MIA for over a decade now. Not saying they're impossible, but I wouldn't rate a character from those franchises as more likely because we've seen a few old-school picks.

 

[Nethermoosen]

Once you go Sark, there's no need to bark.

That’s kind of funny considering Dark Samus is silent.

 

[Iridium]

You know, I want to see the T-pose glitch come back just so I can laugh at certain poses, or how messed up certain animations become, like Captain Falcon's.

 

[Noipoi]

Say my games are bad ONE MORE TIME.

 

[Roberk]

View attachment 156922
Say my games are bad ONE MORE TIME.

The only good modern Sonic game is fan-made lmao.

Edit: Best-rated, there are a few that aren't trash.