Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Developer	Bandai Namco, Sora Ltd.
Publisher	Nintendo
System	Nintendo Switch
Release Date	December 7, 2018
Rating	ESRB: E 10+

Super Smash Ultimate is a fighting game that was released for the Nintendo Switch in 2018. It is the fifth installment of the Super Smash Bros. series and features every character from the previous games, in addition to newcomers.

Story

A being named Golleam has attacked the Trophy World with many beams of light, wiping out all of the Smash Bros. fighters except for Kirby, who was able to escape. Kirby goes on a quest to try to save his friends, whose bodies are possessed by various displaced Spirits.

Gameplay

The basic gameplay of the Super Smash Bros. series is reprised, with some tweaks to characters' moves and a number of Final Smashes being altered. This game brings back every character from the past games, including the characters who were only available as DLC in the previous installment, and it also adds more characters for a total of 74 playable characters. Out of those, the player starts off with only eight characters to play as (specifically, the same starting roster from the original Super Smash Bros.). This game adds a classification of Echo Fighters, to describe characters who are nearly identical to other characters in terms of movesets and their statistics. The only characters from previous games to receive that label are Lucina and Dark Pit. Assist Trophies also return, and most of them are now more active parts of combat that can be defeated to damage their summoner. Assist Trophies can also appear as enemy fighters in some modes.

One new aspect of gameplay is that of Spirits. Spirits replace the collectible trophy system from past Super Smash Bros. games and also act as a successor to the sticker system from Super Smash Bros. Brawl. There are Spirits representing characters and creatures from various video games, and they can be equipped by characters to enhance their abilities. They are divided into Primary Spirits, which make a character stronger, and Support Spirits, which grant a new ability or enhance a specific statistic.

The game has standard Super Smash Bros. modes such as Classic Mode, Adventure Mode and Training as well as Smash mode and Tourney for multiplayers. This game's Adventure Mode is called World of Light, and it involves navigating a map and battling characters possessed by Spirits. New modes include Squad Strike (for multiplayer battles), Special Smash modes such as Custom Smash and Smashdown and the single-player Mob Smash (which is the newest incarnation of the Multi-Man Melee). The game features online gameplay and up to eight players. It is also compatible with amiibos.

Ultimate will be have at least five DLC sets coming out. DLC will include new characters and stages.