On June 12th, 2018, Nintendo revealed the highly anticipated E3 reveal of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (SSBU) to the world. Masahiro Sakurai, the director of the Super Smash Bros. series, blew expectations out of the water, breaking the internet as it revealed that 65 characters would be playable, a rarity in fighting games. Nintendo achieved its goal of making SSBU gaming's equivalent of Avengers: Infinity War.
Hold on, how does a video game compare to the biggest movie of the year? Simple, by being the biggest cross-over ever, coming out on December 7, 2018. SSBU brings together gaming's most iconic characters, a couple of which go toe-to-toe with Mickey Mouse for brand recognition. After all, what other occasions can you see, let alone play an eight-player match with legends like Mario, Pikachu, Pac-Man, Cloud, Sonic the Hedgehog, Ryu, Snake, and Mega Man in the same game? Only by nearly two decades of building this prestigious franchise.
That's right, Super Smash Bros. has been around longer than the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The first title simply called Super Smash Bros. was released in 1999. The concept is fans get the opportunity to play twelve of their favorite characters such as Mario, Link, Pikachu, Donkey Kong, Samus, and Kirby. It became an instant hit, selling over five million copies and scored a glowing reception with gamers and critics.
The three sequels to follow would only continue to improve game play, add more iconic characters like Bowser, Sonic, and Pac-Man, and sell more than the last game. Super Smash Bros. Melee sold over seven million copies while Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Super Smash Bros. 3DS & Wii U sold over thirteen and fourteen million respectively, making the latter two the best-selling fighting games ever. Each game continually builds confidence in the franchise's ability to deliver great game play with more amazing characters, all of which lead up what Nintendo themselves would affirm is the ultimate Super Smash Bros. game.
Nintendo, not to rest on its laurels, managed to top even its fantastic offerings in SSB 3DS & Wii U. Advertising itself as "The Biggest Super Smash Bros. game ever!" it handsomely delivers by bringing back all sixty-three previously playable characters from the past games. While most people expected cuts and certainly not to bring back everyone, Nintendo outdid expectations by addressing the fans concern about characters never coming back to another game
Fittingly called "The Cunning God of Death", Ridley takes out Mega Man and Mario, twirling the latter's hat to taunt his nemesis Samus Aran. ~ Image still from Nintendo's Super Smash Bros. Ultimate trailer on Ridley
The two newcomers for this game, Inklings and Ridley, are beloved characters that fans asked for. Inklings star in the massive Splatoon franchise selling a combined ten million copies, generating a huge fan base that started as a unprecedented success on the failing Wii U console.
Ridley is the iconic antagonist of the Metroid franchise, his existence being the main driving force behind Samus' adventure in the seminal Metroid franchise. In the last two SSB games, he was rejected for a playable spot with Sakurai expressing concern for about if he could work as a character. Yet this game shows that despite two painful disconfirmation, Ridley finally got in thanks to fan demand. His inclusion, along with Snake's return and SSBU topped Twitter the same day, showing the incredible strength of the SSB and Nintendo brand.
All of this is leading up to the best selling fighting game ever, making SSBU a marketers - and fans - dreams come true.
Images above have characters owned by Nintendo, HAL Laboratory, Inc., Pokémon., Creatures Inc., GAME FREAK inc., SHIGESATO ITOI, APE inc., INTELLIGENT SYSTEMS, Konami Digital Entertainment, SEGA, CAPCOM CO., LTD., BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Inc., MONOLITHSOFT, CAPCOM U.S.A., INC., and SQUARE ENIX CO., LTD.
