Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (Japanese: 大乱闘 スマッシュ ブラザーズ SPECIAL Great Fray Smash Brothers Special) is the sixth and newest installment in the Super Smash Bros. series that released worldwide on December 7th 2018. The game features the return of all 65 playable fighters from previous games with the tagline "Everyone is here!" as well as 11 newcomers for a total of 76 fighters at launch. Additionally, an extra 6 fighters are being released as downloadable content with 5 as the Fighter Pass, with 4 already released, 1 revealed and coming soon, and 1 is unknown, which makes the total 82. Additionally more DLC fighters beyond the Fighter Pass are currently in development.

Playable characters
The starting roster consists of the original 8 starter fighters from the original Super Smash Bros. game and the rest needs to be unlocked, as a result this time italics denotes the starter fighters. Bold still denotes EarthBound series fighters, and "ε" denotes a new class known as Echo Fighters or by fans as clones. Below is a list of all fighters listed by number:

Stages
Unlike other games, all 103 stages are available from the start. The majority of stages are from past Smash Bros. games with a few new stages as well. An additional 5 stages are being added as DLC with bringing the total to 108, more stages than there have ever been in past games.

New stages

 * Battlefield


 * Big Battlefield


 * Final Destination


 * New Donk City Hall


 * Great Plateau Tower


 * Moray Towers


 * Dracula's Castle


 * Mementos (DLC)


 * Yggdrasil's Altar (DLC)


 * Spiral Mountian (DLC)


 * Unnamed Fatal Fury stage (DLC)

From Super Smash Bros.

 * Peach's Castle


 * Mushroom Kingdom


 * Kongo Jungle


 * Hyrule Castle


 * Super Happy Tree


 * Dream Land


 * Saffron City

From Super Smash Bros. Melee

 * Princess Peach's Castle


 * Rainbow Cruise


 * Mushroom Kingdom II


 * Kongo Falls


 * Jungle Japes


 * Great Bay


 * Temple


 * Brinstar


 * Brinstar Depths


 * Yoshi's Island


 * Yoshi's Story


 * Fountain of Dreams


 * Green Greens


 * Corneria


 * Venom


 * Pokémon Stadium


 * Onett


 * Fourside


 * Big Blue

From Super Smash Bros. Brawl

 * Delfino Plaza


 * Mushroomy Kingdom


 * Figure-8 Circuit


 * Luigi's Mansion


 * Mario Bros.


 * 75m


 * Bridge of Eldin


 * Pirate Ship


 * Norfair


 * Frigate Orpheon


 * Yoshi's Island


 * Halberd


 * Lylat Cruise


 * Pokémon Stadium 2


 * Spear Pillar


 * Port Town Aero Dive


 * Castle Siege


 * WarioWare, Inc.


 * Distant Planet


 * Smashville


 * New Pork City


 * Summit


 * Skyworld


 * Shadow Moses Island


 * Green Hill Zone


 * Hanenbow

From Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U

 * Boxing Ring


 * Gaur Plain


 * Duck Hunt


 * Wily Castle


 * Super Mario Maker


 * Suzaku Castle


 * Midgar


 * Umbra Clock Tower

From the 3DS version

 * 3D Land


 * Golden Plains


 * Gerudo Valley


 * Spirit Train


 * Dream Land GB


 * Unova Pokemon League


 * Prism Tower


 * Magicant


 * Mute City SNES


 * Arena Ferox


 * Reset Bomb Forest


 * Tortimer Island


 * Balloon Fight


 * Living Room


 * Find Mii


 * Tomodachi Life


 * PictoChat 2

From the Wii U version

 * Mushroom Kingdom U


 * Mario Galaxy


 * Mario Circuit


 * Skyloft


 * The Great Cave Offensive


 * Kalos Pokemon League


 * Colosseum


 * Flat Zone X


 * Palutena's Temple


 * Gamer


 * Garden of Hope


 * Town and City


 * Wii Fit Studio


 * Wrecking Crew


 * Pilotwings


 * Wuhu Island


 * Pac-Land


 * Windy Hill Zone

Characters


Ness and Lucas are both playable once again, and are both unlockables.

Both characters received a buff in their mobility both in the air and on the ground, and the return of directional air dodges significantly benefit both of their recoveries. All of their PSI moves also emit their respective PK graphics when used, and both characters summon some party members when using PK Starstorm: Ness summons Paula and Poo, while Lucas summons Kumatora and Boney.

Ness's moveset has received a minor overhaul. He emits more PSI in some of his moves, most notably his neutral aerial; this allows him to have slightly more range. Ness also received a new up air, where he swipes his finger above him while emitting PSI. This change reduces the range of his up air, but increases combo potential and damage. Ness's yo-yo attacks have also reverted to their pre-Smash 4 incarnations, with the added bonus that they can now hang below the ledge, making it easier for Ness to edgeguard opponents.

All of his specials have also received some overhauls. PK Fire has less landing lag and is now harder for opponents to escape. PK Thunder has more knockback at the head, while PK Thunder 2 has a longer travel distance. PK Flash no longer causes Ness to go into free-fall and is significantly weaker. Most notably, PSI Magnet now deals minor damage when active, allowing Ness to use it in combos. Additionally, his specials now emit graphics similar to how they looked in EarthBound, such as PK Flash displaying bright circles when used.

Lucas's moveset received less changes then Ness and is overall the same as his previous incarnation. His most notable change is a buffed PK Freeze, which no longer puts Lucas into free-fall and knocks opponents away diagonally, making it harder for him to recover. Another notable change is the nerf to his down throw, which has lost most of his combos and KO setups. Similar to Ness, his specials emit graphics similar to their respective graphics in Mother 3.

Stages
All stages from past titles return in Ultimate: Onett and Fourside return from Melee, New Pork City returns from Brawl, and Magicant returns from Smash 3DS. All of them, most notably Magicant and Fourside, have received overhauls in graphics, as well as additional details.

Items
Both Mr. Saturn and the Franklin Badge return in Ultimate, acting similarly to their previous appearances.

The Ramblin' Evil Mushroom makes its debut in Ultimate. When used, it produces spores that can hit opponents. Any opponents caught in the blast will have a tiny mushroom grow on their head and have their controls reversed.

Assist Trophy
Both Jeff and Starman return with updated designs. They are mostly unchanged from their previous incarnations.

Spirits
Spirits replace trophies from previous games, and have a similar function to Stickers in Brawl. A list of EarthBound spirits can be found here.

Reception
Ultimate recived universally strong positive acclaim. Many critics consider it to be the best installment in the series, praising it's large amount of content and large amounts of returning Smash Bros. elements. It sold over 5 million copies during the first 3 days of release and has sold 12.08 million units as of December 31st, 2018, marking it as the fastest selling Nintendo game in history. It has sold 13.81 million units as of March 31, 2019, making it the best selling fighting game in history, beating Brawl which sold 13.30 million units.

Trivia

 * Ultimate is the first Super Smash Bros game to:
 * Be released simultaneously worldwide
 * Not cut any veterans since Melee
 * Not introduce a new EarthBound stage since the original (if Super Smash Bros For 3DS/Wii U are considered the same game)
 * Have both EarthBound series characters with the same availability, with Ness and Lucas both unlockable.
 * Because of the size of the USK rating icon, the German box art was slightly altered in order to fit the icon: several characters were re-positioned, Yoshi was completely removed, and the Smash Bros logo is off-center.
 * This is the second Smash Bros. game to feature Ness on the boxart, the other being Melee
 * The original Mother is now referred by it's localized name, EarthBound Beginnings. The reason is because Super Smash Bros. For 3DS/Wii U was released before the game was officially localized.