New fighters, music, modes, and more revealed in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Direct

Today’s Nintendo Direct brought us almost thirty minutes of Smash Bros. news, one reveal after another. From its 100+ stage count, five new characters, 900+ music tracks, new modes, and new rules, there is a lot to go over. Here is a brief overview for some of the show’s contents:

Echo Fighters: Echo fighters in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate have move sets based on other fighters, but a different visual appearance. In addition to Richter Belmont, two other Echo fighters in the game are Chrom from the Fire Emblem series (Echo fighter for Roy) and Dark Samus from the Metroid games (Echo fighter for Samus). Echo fighters can be displayed as separate fighters on the character select screen or stacked on top of the character they are echoing. When stacked, players can change between them with the press of a button. It’s up to players to decide how they want them displayed.

Stages: Returning favorites with new visuals and tweaks will make up most of the stages in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, but there are new stages in the mix as well. These include Dracula’s Castle from the Castlevania series and New Donk City Hall from the Super Mario Odyssey game. More than 100 stages will be in the game, but because the popular Battlefield and Omega forms can also be selected for each stage, more than 300 total stages are available right from the start! Each stage in the game will also support eight-player battles (additional accessories may be required for multiplayer modes and are sold separately) and feature the ability to turn off hazards like the Yellow Devil in Wily Castle.

Music: For fans that want it all, My Music lets players select specific music tracks for each stage. Up until now, each stage had its own music track. But in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, players can select tracks by series. If they are fighting on a stage from The Legend of Zelda, for example, they can select any music track included from that franchise, including new additions like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild – Main Theme. Counting game music tracks and other music, like in-game menus and other short musical passages, there are approximately 900 compositions – that’s more than 28 hours of video game music! When playing in Handheld mode, music can be played even while the Nintendo Switch screen is turned off, turning the system into its own portable music player.

Smashdown: After battling in this mode, the previously selected fighters will no longer be available, forcing players to have to pick a different fighter for the next round. This mode favors players who are skilled with multiple fighters and encourages others to diversify their rosters.

Those highlights only represent a fraction of the ground covered by today’s presentation. Check out the full Direct by clicking the video above for even more news, or check out the other articles we published today about the two huge newcomers revealed for the game (King K. Rool and Simon Belmont). Stay tuned to Gaming Trend for more coverage on Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, and everything else this industry has to offer.

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