Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

[Glen-i]

4 hours ago, Aneres11 said:

Unless I get concrete confirmation that there is Break The Targets and they're all completely different for each character, then my money stays mine. 

Even if you discount the Mii's, ignore any future newcomers and treat Pokémon Trainer as one character, that's still 63 different stages.

Something tells me that it's just not feasible for a relatively small side mode.

Spoiler

Pokémon: Alolan Vulpix
This Pokèmon freezes fighters with icy breath.

  

Wow, what an in-depth description!

I swear, if Alolan Marowak isn't at least a Pokeball Pokemon, I'll be very disappointed. It's the best Alolan Form.

Try and keep discussion about Pic of the Day in Spoilers. Just in case.

Edited June 16, 2018 by Glen-i

[Ashley]

In my head the text before and after are part of the official description and someone has snapped already.

[Aneres11]

1 hour ago, Glen-i said:

Even if you discount the Mii's, ignore any future newcomers and treat Pokémon Trainer as one character, that's still 63 different stages.

Something tells me that it's just not feasible for a relatively small side mode.

  Pic of the day (Reveal hidden contents)

Pokémon: Alolan Vulpix
This Pokèmon freezes fighters with icy breath.

  

Wow, what an in-depth description!

I swear, if Alolan Marowak isn't at least a Pokeball Pokemon, I'll be very disappointed. It's the best Alolan Form.

Try and keep discussion about Pic of the Day in Spoilers. Just in case.

Well they did it in Melee. Granted the roster was much smaller. But this game is called 'ultimate'.  

[Glen-i]

11 minutes ago, Aneres11 said:

Well they did it in Melee. Granted the roster was much smaller. But this game is called 'ultimate'.  

Worth noting that Melee dropped Board the Platforms so it only had to make 25 stages, as opposed to 24 in Smash 64.

I'd love to be wrong, but individual Break the Targets is something I would not get your hopes up for. Especially in a game that can tweak it's characters with patches.

[Jonnas]

They could make 10 Break the Target stages, and divide them up between characters (so, each stage would belong to 7 characters or so). You could have one for fast-running characters, one for aerial characters, one for slow brutes, etc. Could be a nice compromise.

[Aneres11]

1 hour ago, Glen-i said:

Worth noting that Melee dropped Board the Platforms so it only had to make 25 stages, as opposed to 24 in Smash 64.

I'd love to be wrong, but individual Break the Targets is something I would not get your hopes up for. Especially in a game that can tweak it's characters with patches.

My hopes have never been higher. 

[Glen-i]

Spoiler

Battlefield

This stage is sporting a redesigned look. With vast natural vistas forming a stunning backdrop behind floating platforms, this stage truly deserves its name!

 

Black Hole

Pulls fighters and items towards its powerful gravity field. If someone throws a Black Hole in your direction, you'd better keep your distance!

 

I like Battlefield's new look. It's a very pleasant background.

As for the Black Hole, I wonder if you can still do aerial attacks if you're trapped in it... That would be a pretty cool way for skilled players to turn the tables. Hard to tell though.

Keep discussion about Pics of the day in spoilers please. Trying to go as spoiler free as possible with this game is incredibly difficult. So don't make it any harder for those who don't want to know.

[RedShell]

19 hours ago, Glen-i said:

  Pic of the day (Hide contents)

Battlefield

This stage is sporting a redesigned look. With vast natural vistas forming a stunning backdrop behind floating platforms, this stage truly deserves its name!

 

 

Spoiler

Looks great, although maybe a bit too busy as well.
As someone that struggles to keep up with the fast paced/bonkers action of Smash, I'd prefer stage design to get simpler and less detailed really (weird I know ). But hey, it's not like there's going to be a lack of stages to choose from in this version of the game, so I'm sure at least some of them won't make my eyes bleed.

One thing I'd like to know is if the custom stage creator is making a return, and more importantly how or if it's been changed/improved. Any news on that front?

 

[Ronnie]

3 minutes ago, RedShell said:

  Hide contents

Looks great, although maybe a bit too busy as well.
As someone that struggles to keep up with the fast paced/bonkers action of Smash, I'd prefer stage design to get simpler and less detailed really (weird I know ). But hey, it's not like there's going to be a lack of stages to choose from in this version of the game, so I'm sure at least some of them won't make my eyes bleed.

One thing I'd like to know is if the custom stage creator is making a return, and more importantly how or if it's been changed/improved. Any news on that front?

 

The camera angle used in those two shots doesn't really reflect gameplay to be honest, the background is a lot less noticeable when you're actually playing.

[Glen-i]

4 hours ago, RedShell said:

  Reveal hidden contents

Looks great, although maybe a bit too busy as well.
As someone that struggles to keep up with the fast paced/bonkers action of Smash, I'd prefer stage design to get simpler and less detailed really (weird I know ). But hey, it's not like there's going to be a lack of stages to choose from in this version of the game, so I'm sure at least some of them won't make my eyes bleed.

One thing I'd like to know is if the custom stage creator is making a return, and more importantly how or if it's been changed/improved. Any news on that front?

 

Spoiler

All I can say when it comes to Custom Stages is "Dunno"

I hope it gets improved upon though. Custom Stages are great for all round, pinballing silliness. Anyway!

Assist Trophy: Bomberman

Bomberman is a brand new Assist Trophy, which means he's here to help you during battle. The bombs he leaves on the stage detonate in his iconic, cross-shaped pattern!

  

It's never a good feeling when someone who people really wanted in Smash is confirmed as an Assist Trophy. As someone who was hoping for Dillon in the last Smash (And this one, there's still hope!). I know exactly how it feels. My condolences.

That said, it's pretty cool that the bombs can set each other off, just like in the games. And is that a different bomb design in the second pic? Maybe someone who knows more about Bomberman games could tell us what it is?

Oh, and there's a new remix on the music sample page. It's Bomb Rush Blush from Splatoon.

 

[Ashley]

Spoiler

Now that I think about it, how is Bomberman able to carry bombs that are bigger than his head...?

 

[Ronnie]

Because

[Glen-i]

Pic of the day was just Link's Challenger video.

But Sakurai wrote some Smash Deets in his Famitsu column.

Quote

On June 13th, I released a great deal of information concerning Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. “A 2018 release, can you really manage that?” I’ve been grappling with that question for a while, but I’ve earnestly – and silently – been working to make that happen. In the December of 2015 I put forth my first proposal for the game. I was still working on the DLC for the previous Super Smash Bros. game at the time, and I wouldn’t even get together the staff for Ultimate until later.

First, I thought whether I should design the game’s mechanics as a new, separate entry or as an extension of past entries – the result, as you can tell, was the latter. Otherwise, size of the roster would probably be about a third of what it is now. There’s people who’ll still probably say that “the earlier entries are better,” too, of course; but while that mindset is something I should consider, I felt that “now isn’t the time to be thinking about that sort of thing.”

With this game I’ve sort of upped the “tempo” – within an acceptable limit for those unfamiliar with the gameplay, of course. It’s not that the number of inexperienced players has increased since the Wii game, nor was it simply because the 3DS screen restricted movement visibility.

The number of fighters that you can use from the beginning will be limited to those you could play as in the Nintendo 64 game. That way, the player can enjoy unlocking the characters one-by-one like in a typical fighting game; unlocking them all is a fair challenge, and some might be a little difficult, but most can be unlocked without any major difficulty. In my own experience, when I play fighting games I often quit before I’ve unlocked everybody, even if there are many that I haven’t played as. The more characters there are, I feel like it’s easier to quit without playing as them all, so I felt that simply increasing the number of characters in the roster wasn’t necessarily a good thing. But on the other hand, Super Smash Bros. is a character-based fighting game, and a lot of people look forward to fighting as their favorite character; that was a particular subject we grappled with when deciding to have everyone appear.

So if I'm understanding this right, the game will start with only the original Smash 64 characters. (I'm not sure if it's the original 8 or if that includes the 4 secret ones.

You then unlock the rest by accomplishing certain tasks. Kinda like the Challenge Board in the last two games?

I love this idea! It's a great way of providing incentive and not overwhelming new players with over 60 characters.

Gotta hope there's plenty of different modes to hide everyone behind now.

[Ashley]

I wonder if they'll unlock in order that they appeared in the series. If they're only giving the originals at the start, and made a deal about showing the order number during the direct...

[Glen-i]

44 minutes ago, Ashley said:

I wonder if they'll unlock in order that they appeared in the series. If they're only giving the originals at the start, and made a deal about showing the order number during the direct...

That would be a lot of work to get to Inklings and Ridley!

[Ashley]

Good, who even wants Ridley?

[Fused King]

3 hours ago, Ashley said:

Good, who even wants Ridley?

I do. In fact, I think all the major Nintendo properties in Smash should at least have one villain playable. So the wait is on for the likes of  King K. Rool, Porky, and Black Shadow to lay the smack down on their hero counterparts.

 

[Ashley]

3 hours ago, Fused King said:

I do. In fact, I think all the major Nintendo properties in Smash should at least have one villain playable. So the wait is on for the likes of  King K. Rool, Porky, and Black Shadow to lay the smack down on their hero counterparts.

 

I was aware lots of people have been campaigning for this, I was just making a silly joke

[Sméagol]

Looks like Smash has some competition.

 

[Glen-i]

After 3 days of character videos...

Spoiler

Assist Trophy: Sukapon

Attacking with his detached fists and feet, Sukapon can even pick up opponents and throw them.

It just wouldn't be Smash without the one Assist Trophy that makes most gamers go, "Wait, who?"

I didn't realise he could grab and throw you though.

Anyway, there's also a remix of Noisy Notebook from Snipperclips.

 

[Ashley]

Spoiler

Why is it groping Luigi's chest?

 

[Glen-i]

Spoiler

Pokémon: Solgaleo
If this Pokémon hits you as it charges back and forth across the stage, you'll take serious damage!

Pokémon: Lunala
This Pokémon shoots a powerful light beam through the stage!

I like Solgaleo better than Lunala...
And that's all I have to say on the matter.

 

[Glen-i]

Spoiler

Assist Trophy: Knuckles the Echidna

Knuckles attacks nearby fighters with his fist. He can also dig into the ground and then attack with an uppercut, so be careful!

I always found it odd that Shadow was picked as the Sonic Series Assist Trophy over Knuckles or Tails. Better late than never, I suppose.

Speaking of Shadow, he is nowhere to be seen in Smash Ultimate yet. His weird disappearance and Knuckles getting added have got quite a few people thinking that Shadow is gonna be an Echo Fighter of Sonic.

I mean, I guess it's possible. I wouldn't rule it out. But I would be a little disappointed when there's more interesting characters in Sonic Games.

BTW, there's an awesome little mod of Project M called Legacy XP that has a playable Shadow, and he's strangely fun.

Remember to keep your thoughts on this in Spoilers.

[Glen-i]

Spoiler

Kongo Falls

Face off against your foes atop a raft stuck at the edge of a waterfall. How well you utilise the rock jutting out at the bottom right can be the difference between victory or defeat!

Bit of a visual upgrade over Melee's version, I suppose. I always thought this was the better of the two DK Melee stages, so it's nice to see it return.

There's also an update to the music page. It's a remix of City Trial from Kirby Air Ride. Always nice to see some older music get some love. Especially from the prequel of Smash Run.

 

Edited July 4, 2018 by Glen-i

[Ashley]

I'm still reading the text below the images as part of the official updates btw rather than your own commentary