Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Is A Brand New Game, And Not A Sequel

One of the most interesting games presented during the E3 2018 is the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. With almost 30 minutes of game presentation during the Nintendo Direct, many fans are still asking if the new Smash Bros. was an update or a sequel from the previous title of Wii U.

[SuperSonic91]

Looks like a Wii U port with all them jaggies

[Neonridr]

and all those new characters, stages, movesets, mechanics, modes...

oh wait, did someone say port?

[superchiller]

It's a port with some additional content added, not a big deal for an old game.

[Neonridr]

they took the Smash 4 game, and then completely overhauled it. Is it drastically different visually? No, probably not. Is it different mechanically? Yes, very much so.

[Segata]

And graphics. They are all new. Like when morons said Splatoon 2 was just a port and look at them side by side and it's a clear difference. I guess my vision is better than some pathetic trolls out there. Right when they showed Mario i knew the lighting and shading was vastly improved. You just need working eyes to tell the difference.

[Segata]

Actually the graphics are quite different. New textures,shaders,lighting.

https://www.youtube.com/wat...

[Sono421]

Nvm

[SuperSonic91]

@ Neonridr
You seem to forget that Wii did great numbers after the GC. 22M to 99M units

The question is: Will the same results come out after the Wii U to Switch strategy? I am very sure Nintendo is waiting for the same favorable results for thwir slightly upgraded hardware.

I am sure this recycled game will make tons of money for Nintendo. If they can make money on cardboard more so with a Mario game.

[Sono421]

Decided to reply here because you will get the notification. Look don't be so defensive. Obviously they had to redo old characters they are bringing back (Which is still only 6 Ice climbers, Wolf, Pokemon Trainer, Snake, Pichu, and Young link) I was referencing the tweaks made to characters not cut, which I thought was obvious, Not even all of them were tweaked. Some models got touch ups, some moves got touch ups, some gameplay got touched up, but it's still smash 4. Sorry I will say it again, I don't considering bringing back old content new, as I said I am happy to have Wolf back, but he's not new... I simply wish he was never cut to begin with, compare the actual new content in this game to previous installments and it doesn't even come close to comparing. 14 new characters in Melee, 16 new characters in Brawl, 15 in Smash 4 +4 DLC characters (Not including Mewtwo, Lucas and Roy because they aren't new) Now compare those numbers to... 3 New characters in Smash Ultimate.. Daisy, Inkling and Ridley, and even if you wanted to include the returning characters (Which honestly makes no sense to me) it would only be up to 9. It's obvious they are trying to get Smash out as soon as possible and the easiest way to do so was building on Smash 4 and bringing back characters already created(if it ain't broke don't fix it comes to mind), if you can't see that then I don't know what to say.. except that it is completely fine that they are doing this, as i've already said. I'm sure we will get more as DLC and maybe even one or two more when the game launches, but to say it isn't Smash 4.5 is just wrong.

[Neonridr]

@Sono421 - so the fact that they had to redo literally every asset in the game since a good chunk of these players didn't exist on the Wii U version means a heck of a lot of work went in to this. You call it a port, which would scream laziness. But the fact is this game is like taking every game before it, throwing it in a blender and adding some steroids. This is THE definitive Smash game. Why do we need a brand new one when literally we have everything we need right here? 64 characters + variants and 3 new characters. That's a ton of people to choose from. The fact that they even listened to the fans and put Ridley in the game screams to how much these guys care what the fans want. You can say it's Smash 4.5, but literally every person who loves Smash is over the moon with this game and what it includes. So I am not sure what you were expecting here.

[Sono421]

Once again you're getting very defensive. What do I expect? Well I clearly laid out how much new content the previous installments added so at the very least I would expect that much. If you include old characters as new content then you might as well say the entire roster is new.. whats the point? "Omg did you see they added Mario to the new Smash bros?!" I know that sounds ridiculous but going by your logic that makes sense. You should judge a sequel by how much new content it offers, nothing else, and going by those standards it is indeed Smash 4.5. If you even try to claim it adds even close to as much content as the previous entries you'd be lying to yourself. Also you saying "A good chunk of these characters didn't exist in the Wii U version" is also false as I already stated.. only 9 of them didn't exist in Wii U and only 3 never appeared as playable characters in previous smash games. I don't see why you think i'm attacking the game, as I've already said Smash 4 was near perfect just needed a little tweaking, which this does. Do I wish they added more then 3 characters? Of Course! Am I happy they are including every character to have ever been in Smash bros? Of course! But I am not going to sit here and pretend this game is a true sequel when it doesn't offer even close to as much new content as the previous installments... Nope, which I will say again because you seem to be not reading this part IS PERFECTLY FINE. If it isn't broke don't fix it, it just is simply not a true sequel. Also you saying hype phrases like "This is THE definitive Smash game" Means literally nothing... it's the latest in the series... shouldn't it be the definitive version? Shouldn't a series always be improving?... What point are you making? Which is why I will say it again, you judge a sequel on how much NEW content it provides, nothing more.

[Prince_TFK]

You need to get your eyes checked man.

[Sono421]

Okay seriously I love Smash literally more then anyone, I've been hooked since Melee and have spent countless hours on the series. If you can't admit that this game looks like Smash 4.5 then you're simply deluded. Them tweaking a few characters and a few mechanics does not make it an entirely new game, they simply tweaked Smash 4 because it was already good but just could use a little refining thanks to feedback from the community and play testing. Everyone can point to all of the "New" stages and characters, but it's simply them adding content they have already cut from previous games, besides the Inkling stage and for characters you only have Ridley and Inkling as new and if you're really desperate you could count Daisy. Am glad they are bringing back every character and stage to ever appear in smash?! Of frickin course! I really missed Wolf I i undoubtedly will play him! But that doesn't change the fact that the amount of new content in this is very low, it's more like a fresh coat of paint, but that isn't exactly a bad thing. People need to stop getting so defensive and triggered, it's Smash 4.5 and that is fine... Not to mention there still may be more fighters to be announced and you know there will be DLC.

[Neonridr]

@Sono421 - tweaking a few characters? Some haven't been around since the first or second game.

They took Smash Wii U. Stripped it clean, and built the game from there. Characters have been remodeled, stages have far more detail, moves have been tweaked, gameplay mechanics have been changed up. Regardless if you feel that them bringing something back isn't new, well it is. You think Wolf looks and plays exactly the same as he does when he was in the last game? All the old characters had to be re-drawn and re-worked. The sheer amount of work they had to do here is mind-boggling. And the fact that they packed it all in is just amazing. Inklings / Daisy / Ridley also being included is icing on the cake.

You can't even compare something like MK8 Deluxe vs Smash Ultimate and still call Smash a port.

[TekoIie]

@Sono421

I think you need to watch this: https://www.youtube.com/wat...

There's a clear visual upgrade. But if everything that has been listed is not enough then I have to ask if visuals are all that matter when it comes to whether something can be considered a sequel? Gears of War: Judgment looked very similar to 3, but is a VERY different Gears game in terms of mechanics and how it plays. But it's not an all-new game because https://www.youtube.com/wat...

If I were you my major concern would be that we may only be getting 3 new characters if the roster really is 66 characters.

[Prince_TFK]

@sono

They have included so many stages, new fighters, and new features. There aren’t alot of thing you can add/change to a fighting, while making it stay true to its core gameplay you know. Games like Street Fighter isn’t gonna play like DBZ for example.

[TallonIV]

You sound jealous Smash Ultimate isn't coming to your precious PS4.

Don't worry I'm sure you'll get another abysmal ps all stars battle royale!!!!

LOL!

[G3ng4r]

Without snake or cloud. :(
I'd probably just main ellie if I could get her to walk straight.

[babadivad]

Switch is basically a portable Wii U. It's a little stronger with more modern, streamlined design. But when it comes to raw HP, they are pretty close. Wii U out classes the Switch in portable mode. Wii U was about 250 GFLOPs and Switch is ~170GFLOPs portable and about ~380GFLOPs docked.

[3-4-5]

You guys are the worst trolls. Super jealous. They already stated the rebuilt everything from the ground up. New models stages, art style. Yea the move sets remain or are tweaked a bit, but that has been standard in every Smash Bros game.

It includes basically all the content from past games. That doesn't make it a port. What other series do you know that can accomplish that? Name them....

It sped the game up and added more advanced mechanics. That requires rebalancing the entire roster.

Adding more characters requires having a Kirby version of that character as well, which also requires it's separate rebalancing apart from the other rebalancing.....Add ever character to that.

The amount of detail in facial expressions(which are new) and character models + backgrounds of stages is amazing.

They haven't even revealed everything and have literally said they are rolling out new stuff via the website from now until launch which will give us more info about what is in the game and reveal more stuff.

Not sure how anybody can hate on this....And it looks a ton better than the Wii u version. The colors are also a lot more vibrant, they added the smoke to detect launches easier.

They also added Battlefield versions of each stage aside from the normal & final destination versions of the stages too.

So far they have found 85 stages and there are 66 characters.

Some of this content hasn't been playable since melee.

This is anything but a port. Just because it contains all the content from Wii U doesn't make it a Smash Wii U port.

It's so much more than that.

So many jealous troll haters.

Go play a game and have fun....

[HeisenbergX]

I’m a switch owner and a ninty fan .. to me this looks barely different than the wii u Smash.

[Vegamyster]

Not the best comparison due to stream compression but it clearly looks better: https://i.imgur.com/RuFw78C...

[HeisenbergX]

Hmm actually not bad thanks for this .. can’t wait for more and better comparisons

[G3ng4r]

Waiting for digital foundry in particular.

[SuperSonic91]

Nintendo has used the same strategy twice now everytime their hardware flopped.
After the Gamecube they come out cautiously with a slightly powerful version of GC the Wii. After the Wii U flopped they come up with a slightly powerful version of the Wii U the Switch.

No wonder Wii and Switch has become what is coined the "Nintendo PortStations".
So much for taking risks, eh?
at least when they flop again it wouldn't hurt Nintendo as much again.

[Neonridr]

let's revisit this comment after we see how many millions of units this game ships this holiday season and you can talk about flops.

[Alucard_420]

@SuperSonic91 you're not one to talk about flop hardware with you pic profile, compare to sega, nintendo has been successful. You really are becoming just as bad as Septic and really should learn to stop the verbal diarrhea. If one thing you should learn about what you are saying is nintendo learned ways to be successful, Sega were not.

[SuperSonic91]

@ Alucard 420
REALLY?
just because i use sonic as my avatar doesnt mean i am a sega fan.
It just so happened that sega sonic was the first thing to break nintendo's systemic evil in the video games industry that is why i use him to remind the world of what sonic has done to save gaming from nintendo.

[Alucard_420]

systemic evil???? wow you now have reached Septic level of N4G comments dude. If it weren't for NINTENDO we probably would not have all the games that we have today. NINTENDO are like the beatles of music. Either way you are laughable at best with these comments.

[G3ng4r]

SuperSonic91 haha. Guy, this might beat your cheesy gow fanfiction about destroying nintendo. Definitely the clown of the sony commited. I feel anticipation for your posts about spiderman wrapping nintendo and kicking their butt with his butt.

[ChristiaSF]

The graphics improved but it's still the same game imo.

[TheFirstClassic]

The physics and mechanics have been redone

[Teflon02]

Street fighter changes physics and mechanics with updates. It's basically the same game whether I'm getting it or not. I'm not goina lie to myself lol. It's like mk8d. Even the ultimate makes it seem like it. Unless it has a entirely new single player component it's just a upgraded rereleased

[TheFirstClassic]

I don't see why it wouldn't have new single player modes, every release has.

[TheSheEti]

Graphics are better than the first ssb, but its still the same game though right?

[ChristiaSF]

For me yes. Maybe they have added new characters but its still the same. Just another royal rumble game that I will be playing of course lol I'm a fan tho :D

[Sirk7x]

Couldn't you say the same thing about every Smash game? Or fighting game in general? If anything, this new one seems to be closest to Melee in speed and mechanics.

[The 10th Rider]

Or most shooters. Half the Assassin Creed games. Uncharted. Etc . . .

[Prince_TFK]

You could have sworn people want this game to become a racer or something, judging from all these comments.

It is a fighting game, what more do you want it to change? Would you say the new Street Fighter or King of Fighter are the same to the old one?

[MrMagz]

Sakurai literally said in the E3 Direct that there were thousands of new changes made outside of just the graphics. It might play similarly to the previous Smash titles, but it is a new game. It's even running on a new engine with Unreal Engine 4, so they had to make it from the ground up while maybe reusing some of the same assets to build off of, like pretty much every fighting game does.

[nommers]

They can say whatever or show they used a different engine and so on with some different mechanics, but honestly besides Snake’s re-inclusion I cant see much reason to get this smash game at least for me character wise. I already have smash 4 containing pretty much all of the characters in ssb ultimate. The stages I use most are the omega stages anyways. The game nerfed my most used character, Cloud significantly and one of my other most used character’s bewbz(zss). Now the game doesn’t even have the eye candy factor :/.

[AeroHayl]

I'm kind of on the fence about how I want to classify it too, but I wouldn't go so far as to call it the same game. Sure, there are some similarities between Ultimate and Smash 3DS/Wii U (it would be kind of weird if they weren't), but it's not some kind of copy/paste port. Having played it myself, I can confirm that there are some changes that, while they may be noticeable to those watching, are very easy to spot when you're playing. If anything, it felt to me like they made some of the changes they did to appease Melee fans.

[Sirk7x]

That's like saying Street Fighter III was the same game as 2 lol. Unless you guys think Sakurai was lying, the game has been completely built from the bottom using a new engine. It's not like they're going to deviate from the art style that they've chosen for the series.

[Jinger]

I was really bummed when he said they were just focusing on a large roster so please don't expect a large amount of challenges.

I loved the challenges in Brawl, something that was sorely missing in the Wii U version. I want more modes and challenges and things to do. I don't really care if you have every obscure character and all their reskinned versions and friends. Just give me more to do within the game.

[The 10th Rider]

I'm pretty sure he said don't expect many new challengers, not challenges. If I remember correctly you only start with the number of characters and unlock the rest. For stages he said even if you get a group together it will be tough to unlock them all. Sounds like the game will make you work to unlock everything.

[Jinger]

Ah, I thought he said challenges.

[PapaBop]

I think calling it a sequel is rather kind let alone trying to push the angle of brand new game. It looks like a port of Super Smash bros to me albeit an extremely well done one with extra bells and whistles and then some. Nintendo aren't exactly helping themselves with the naming either though, why not just call it Smash Bros Ultimate? It almost sounds like the sort of naming Capcom would use.

[Sirk7x]

The series has always been titled Super Smash Bros.
Super Smash Bros.
Super Smash Bros. Melee
Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

[PapaBop]

I actually never knew that lol, I've always known it as Smash or Melee, Brawl etc, my bad.

[Rippcity]

If anything, they should have used a word that didn't begin with a U. Because Super Smash Bros U is extremely similar to Super Smash Bros Ultimate and to me that makes it seem like it's a port of U but with added stuff.

[Sirk7x]

It is a fighting game lol. Built from the ground up for new hardware. It's like calling Street Fighter V a port of IV. People are ridiculous. The single player modes in Brawl were horrible anyways.

[FancyMudkip]

Are people still going on with this? As Nintendo already explained this not long ago. Not to mentioned that they added significant upgrades to things such as lighting effects and texture details, as well as complete re-imaginings of certain characters.

We have seen:
New gameplay mechanics
Huge move changes and balancing for old characters
New characters
New stages (As well as returning stages from previous SSB games being remade)
New main theme
Different logo
New hud interface
Upgraded visuals

People who have gotten the chance to play this on the show floor even stated that as well, even stating of how fast-paced it is as opposed to Smash 4.

So yeah, new game.

So according to you guys believing otherwise, is Majora's Mask a port of Ocarina of time? Or is Soul Calibur 6 a port of Soul Calibur 5? Street fighter 5 a port of Street fighter 4? This is getting ridiculous...

[slate91]

Wow, cyberpunk, ssb ultimate, fallout 76 all receiving criticism online. Some "gamers" have a very negati...err...interesting mindset.

[franwex]

I know. Just looking at negativeness in everything. Gamers are super sad or depressed creatures.

[2pacalypsenow]

A brand new game (that plays jut like the previous sequels)

[Sirk7x]

You must not be too big on fighting games lol.

[nommers]

Fans of smash typically don’t care about the mechanics too much since this is mostly a casual series. Just the character roster, and we’ve kind of gotten to the point of diminishing returns. Sora and Crono might generate some hype though.

[DialgaMarine]

My take is that it’s essentially a culmination game. I just want another Subspace Emmissary style mode, since that evidently got removed from the Wii U version for one of the dumbest reasons I’ve ever heard. With all these characters, a genuine story mode would be awesome.

[ApexWolf22]

I used to like doing the trophy challenges on the N64 game, funny how they were a precursor to amiibos. Nintendo was years ahead of itself lol.

[ApexWolf22]

It's a brand new sequel to the Smash Bros. series of games....

[antikbaka]

Yeah. EA says the same about every new FIFA

[Sirk7x]

I can guarantee that more time and effort goes into making a Smash game than has ever been put into a FIFA game. Ever think about what takes to create even just animations for over 60 different characters? The logic involved to make sure the slightest thing doesn't break the game? Fighting games are very complex.

[Neonridr]

well we definitely know that to be true. Smash games come out once every 4-5 years.. FIFA is annualized.

[TheGamez100]

Im just hoping for some kind of campaign in the game.

[babadivad]

I didn't play the last one because it was on Wii U. Did the previous title not have a campaign?

[Nybz]

If it ain't broke don't fix it - the Unreal 4 engine seems to do well in this game, they clearly ramped the speed up a little bit and went to town with adding all the characters. I think this was a wise decision instead of reinventing the wheel - not to mention it still looks good, especially in person./

Good on them and I hope more people give smash a try or now finally have a reason to grab a switch.

[TallonIV]

But according to the sony fanbase it's just a port so we must believe them instead LOL!

[Nodoze]

This is an upscaled port with a few character tweaks. That's it. That is why so many were VERY disappointed with the Nintendo direct presser. The anchor title was a port. Let's be honest, without ports, the Switch would not have a significant library at this point.

Splatoon 2, ARMS, Mario Odyssey, Kirby, Fire Emblem, and Xeno 2 were all excellent. Tennis this month as well, but the vast majority of titles are ports. Zelda BotW, Mariokart, Hyrule, Bayonetta, Donkey Kong Country, Pokken, Captain Toad, Smash etc etc ALL ports.

[Sirk7x]

How is a game that's running on a different engine, built from the ground up on that engine, a port? They did not port code from Smash 4 lol, unless you believe Sakurai was lying. You say Splatoon 2 is awesome (and it is), but people were claiming the same thing before it released if you remember, that it was nothing more than a port with a few new items.

[Eltortugagames]

Zelda really isn’t a port... it came out the same day. That makes no sense at all.

[DivineAssault]

Its just reused assets from the wii u. Not at all a bad thing. Why not salvage what you can & spend time tweaking the combat? Im getting it but can understand if some people are a bit disappointed. Cant deny theres a ton of characters here but i find it a slap in the face WaLuigi & Bomberman are assist trophies. I wanted Knuckles & Crash to make it in but im sure theyll make DLC

[inxine]

more a polished port.

[Sirk7x]

A port is when you take a games code and make it work on another system. There can be changes, and differences if desired or necessary, but in essence, it's the same game, being modified to run on a different hardware. When the creator of the game says that this game has been created from the ground up, people calling it a port is insulting to the amount of work that's been done to create it. He's probably been working on Ultimate for four years since the release of 4. Of course there's going to be documentation and similarities, it's an established fighting game series with returning characters and art styles. It's like expecting Ryu to have a different look and move set in a Street Fighter series. Fans would riot. They're not going to just throw out all the art and animation they've created for these characters and start over for no reason. It's still a new game, running a new engine, completely reworked and rebalanced. With the added characters, faster pace and higher quality assets, there's probably more work put into this than the Wii U version, and it just kinda sucks that people are dismissing it as a shiner Smash 4.

[inxine]

fking hell, thats a long answer to a 4 word sentence lol. but it is a shinier smash 4 and theres absolutely nothing wrong with it. im glad that smash is coming out for the switch at all