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Even with a roster the size of 69 characters (not including echo fighters), Sakurai and the development team evidently determined that having one of the biggest character rosters in a fighting game wasn’t enough. That’s where DLC characters came into play:Super Smash Bros. Ultimatereceived two volumes of the Fighters Pass, bringing 12 additional characters, respectively. Some were surprised to even receive a Fighters Pass at all, but Fighters Pass Vol. 2 was even more shocking for fans, expanding the roster far beyond to the 82 characters present in the game.
Finally, almost three years after the game released,Super Smash Bros. Ultimate’s 82 character roster is filled with tons of iconic characters from across gaming.Ultimate’s DLC in particular mostly expanded the third-party offering ofSuper Smash Bros., whilst including some more recently popular Nintendo characters like Min Min fromArms. Overall, the DLC forSuper Smash Bros. Ultimateheld a lot of great surprises, even from characters fans weren’t necessarily clamoring for.
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Piranha Plant - Super Mario Bros.
Technically not part of any of the Fighters Pass Volumes,Piranha Plant was the first official DLC addition toSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate. Added as a pre-order/early adopter bonus forUltimate, Piranha Plant was a strange addition as the first post-launch character. Piranha Plant is an unusual trap character with several tools to tack on damage quickly and at their own pace. All of Plant’s specials (Poison Breath, Ptooie, Long-Stem Strike) all work in service to keeping characters at bay from a distance.
Even though many saw Piranha Plant’s addition initially as confusing for a character slot, the classicMarioenemy has gained a bit of a subtle following. Piranha Plant is certainly silly, but considering they were the prelude character to the forthcoming DLC passes, many were quick to forgive since he wasn’t “stealing” a spot per se. Piranha Plant was a solid appetizer character that’s grown in popularity with time.
Joker — Persona 5
Kicking off the Fighters Pass with a bang,Joker fromPersona 5was the first major DLC addition toSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate. As the leader of the Phantom Thieves and the protagonist of Atlus' popular JRPG, the agile and powerful thief is a potent and technical character. Joker’s easily one of the best characters inSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate: He has a varied and excellent combo game, quick speed on the ground and in the air, and powerful kill power with his Persona Arsene, which also serves as a unique comeback mechanic as well. Joker’s universal capability allows for several unique playstyles, both offensive and defensive.
Morgana said it himself; Joker is also definitely one of the flashiest characters inSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate, emulating the style ofPersona 5well inUltimate’s art style. Even those unfamiliar withPersonawere quick to recognize how Joker was an interesting and exciting addition to the game. The Phantom Thieves andPersona 5have quickly achieved massive popularity among fans, soJoker’s inclusion inUltimateis no wasted spot at all.
Hero — Dragon Quest
In a back-to-back JRPG inclusion, the second character added in the first Fighter Pass is Hero, the silent protagonist of the formativeDragon QuestJRPG series. Primarily represented bythe Luminary from the latestDragon Quest 11, Hero’s alternate skins encompass the protagonists ofDragon Quest 3,Dragon Quest 4, andDragon Quest 8. Hero’s specials all revolve around spells from theDragon Questseries, especially his down special, which opens a rotating menu of specialized magic from the series. Hero’s an incredibly unique Link-esque character with enoughDragon Questflavor to make his movest interesting and fun.
What’s interesting about Hero’s design is that, whileDragon Questfans have a lot to appreciate in his moveset, his abilities and magic menu are easy enough that any player can pick up and play.Hero’s moveset is functionally a bit zany; his randomized menu has various silly RNG-based magic, among other stronger and useful spells. Hero may be a zoner, but his fun factor is definitely high, and his ease of use certainly makes them an awesome addition toSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate.
Banjo and Kazooie — Banjo-Kazooie
Next up in the first Fighters Pass was a much-requested classic character that fans have been asking for: Banjo and Kazooie. In a similar vein to Piranha Plant, Banjo and Kazooie is a bit of a utility-based character who has similar trapping capability. All of their specials and some of his attacks are all representative of his platforming abilities inBanjo-Kazooieitself, which transferred intoSmash, basically means their moveset excels at zoning characters and tacking on big damage with stray hits. While they’re not especially difficult to play, their ease of access comes with the trade-off of being a sub-par character.
In a way, that was somewhat disappointing to fans ofBanjo-Kazooie, because a lot of his moveset becomes overly reliant on his strongest tools. In particular, his Wonderwing side special is an incredible attack to use in comparison to nearly every other ability in his moveset, which ends up making his playstyle a bit polarizing.Conceptually speaking, Banjo-Kazooie is a great addition, but a year later, his moveset is unfortunately underwhelming compared to the other DLC characters.
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Terry — Fatal Fury, King of Fighters
Following in the footsteps of the traditional fighting game characters inSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate,Terry fromFatal FuryandKing of Fightersjoined the roster as the third Fighters Pass character. Similar to the abilities of otherSmashshotos Ryu and Ken, Terry has a suite of normals and specials all derivative of his movesets from the traditional 2D fighting games he hails from. Like Capcom with theStreet Fightercharacters, Terry is the perfect SNK representative.
Many were quick to enjoy Terry at first; a mechanically complex character who was familiar to Ryu/Ken players, yet with distinct moves that were powerful and flashy. Not to mention his super commands, activated as part of his “GO” comeback mechanic at 100% damage, made him a dangerous opponent as games went on. His potent damage dealing combo game helps offset his fairly weak recovery. Overall, he is an incredibly faithful representative of SNK andKing of Fighters, andTerry fits into theSuper Smash Bros. Ultimaterosterquite well.
Byleth — Fire Emblem: Three Houses
The last addition toSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate’s first Fighters Pass ended up being a bit controversial, but Byleth fromFire Emblemwas the 75th character. Many were fairly disappointed when Byleth was first announced forSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate, and for understandable reasoning. “Not anotherFire Emblemcharacter,” some would say, but arguably over time, Byleth has come into their own as a respectable addition toUltimate. However, compared to otherFire Emblemcharacters on the roster, Byleth is arguably the most unique.
Byleth’s diverse usage of the Heroes Relics throughout their movesetcreates a varied zoner playstyle with versatility. While they’re not as super straightforward as characters like Marth/Lucina or Ike are, Byleth doesn’t have any of the complex resource management that Robin players have either. All of Byleth’s specials and aerial attacks emphasize a different zoning tool that’s powerful in its own way, plus Byleth’s recovery is incredible, if a bit linear. Byleth is definitely not as easy to play as some of the previous DLC characters, and while some may not be thrilled that Byleth is on the roster, they do present a very unique moveset toSmash.
Min Min — ARMS
Kicking off Fighters Pass Volume Two forSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate, Min Min from the Nintendo Switch fighting gameARMSmade their way to the roster. Given the flash-in-the-pan popularity ofARMSat launch, Min Min happened to be the most popular pick from the game. LikeARMS, Min Min’s long-arm attacks are all designed around massive disjointed hitboxes, serving as a majority of her moveset. Min Min is all about keeping opponents at distance, hot-swapping arms to deal the most damage.
Depending on the level of play,Min Min can be a bit of a gimmick character, who excels in creating almost comically massive disjointed space between opponents. Min Min is definitely beatable, but is certainly a character that requires a degree of knowledge of their moveset (and frame data, for competitive players) beforehand. All in all, especially with the waning popularity ofARMSover time, Min Min isn’t a particularly exceptional addition to theUltimateroster, but was presumably an inevitable addition that isn’t disappointing.
Steve/Alex — Minecraft
One addition that caught many fans by surprise wasMinecraft’s Steve, the default character from Mojang’s iconic survival game. The wacky adventures that players could go on inMinecraftbecame a worldwide phenomenon back in 2012, and has since gone on to become one of the most popular and ubiquitous video games of all time. It’s fair to say a ton of fans were hyped bySuper Smash Bros. Ultimate’s inclusion of Steve(alongside Alex, Enderman, and the Zombie). His moveset certainly matchesMinecraftas well; players mine for materials to build better weapons, which all coinicide with Steve’s normal attacks and specials.
Steve definitely falls under a similar category ofDragon Quest’s Hero; they’re both faithful recreations of iconic characters in theSuper Smash Bros. Ultimatesandbox, while both playing very distinctly compared to other characters. Steve’s building block abilities are straight out ofMinecraft, and while his moveset does allow for some unconventional play, he has been reined back so as not to cover the whole stage in blocks.Minecraft’s representation inSmashis unique and silly, and even if he’s not the most exciting character to play, there are just some things Steve can do that others can’t.
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Sephiroth — Final Fantasy 7
Adding to the selection of playable villains onSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate’s roster, Square Enix once again brings anotherFinal Fantasy 7character to the roster.Sephiroth, Cloud’s nemesis and main villain ofFinal Fantasy 7, makes his way toUltimatealongside a brand new stage and an expandedFinal Fantasysoundtrack. Wielding the gigantic Masamune, Sephiroth is an aggressively-oriented zoner with interesting mix-ups and setups perfect for putting opponents into an edgeguard situation.
Continuing the trend of iterating on the zoner archetype in unique ways,Sephiroth is just as unique as Cloud’s implementation inSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate. Given he’s one of video games' most iconic JRPG villains, his place on the roster alongside Cloud makes a lot of sense, even if many fans didn’t think it’d ever happen. He also adds a different method of zoning playstyle for fans of disjointed sword characters, offering more tools to punish players' mistakes, rather than keeping them out.
Pyra/Mythra — Xenoblade Chronicles 2
Since Shulk has held his place on theSmashroster since the previous Nintendo console’sSmashentry, it only makes sense thatXenoblade Chronicles 2gets some love. Especially given the equally popular Blade sistersPyra and Mythra, manyXenobladefans wanted them to joinSmashas well. Lo and behold, both were able to join as a combination character, similar in design to Zelda/Sheik fromSuper Smash Bros. Melee. Mythra is an agile and combo-oriented character designed to tack on the damage, while Pyra is a slower and hard-hitting character meant to confirm kills.
While it wasn’t to the same extent as Byleth, Pyra/Mythra saw similar controversy if only because they were “another anime swordfighter” added as DLC. However, the overall character’s design is free-form and strong enough that their place on the roster is more than deserved. Mythra’s combo game is strong and varied, while Pyra’s kill potential is strong with most of her moveset. Together they make a strong hybrid offensive character that’s relatively easy to pick up and play, but tough to master.
Kazuya — Tekken
The penultimateSuper Smash Bros. Ultimatecharacter is another shoto, though from a very different fighting game.Kazuya fromTekkenjoined theSmashroster, a surprisingly late addition from Bandai Namco, which had assisted withSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate’s development. Like Ryu, Ken, and Terry before him, Kazuya brings with him his high-damage, high-hit combos, along with plenty of special cancel combos and strings that make him extremely dangerous up close.
Kazuya, due to the nature ofTekkenas a fighting game, is a bit more complex next to the other comparable fighting game characters.Tekkenis a fighting game known for longer combos and strings, chaining together multiple specials to optimize damage and kill incredibly early.Kazuya embodies that inSuper Smash Bros. Ultimatewholeheartedly, which means he’s difficult to play effectively, especially when inputting motion specials on a GameCube controller. He is a neat addition toUltimate’s roster, but he is most certainly not the most approachable character for anyone to play.
Sora — Kingdom Hearts
Finally, as the last character added toSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate, the unthinkable happened. Many figured it was impossible due to licensing issues spread between Square Enix and Disney, but the addition ofSora fromKingdom Heartshas finally come toUltimate. Sakurai revealed that Sora was the most requested fighter from theSmashballot back in 2015, and for good reason. Sora’s moveset and personality is almost perfect forSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate: He’s a floaty character with auto-combos similar to his abilities inKingdom Hearts, along with the classicFinal Fantasy-esque magic he was capable of casting as well.
Sora is a bit unusual compared to the rest of the cast because he feels like amishmash of multipleSuper Smash Bros.characters put together. However, those willing to approach Sora with an open mind will find a very unique disjoint character that has a lot of combo potential. Plus, his moveset and combos are relatively straightforward, alongside an amazing recovery, making him incredibly easy to fight as. It’s tough to say how he shapes up with the rest of the cast, given how he only released just this week, but first impressions on Sora are a simple and fun character.
Overall, the DLC forSuper Smash Bros. Ultimatehas, as cliche as it is to say, made the Nintendo game one of the biggest gaming crossovers of all time. Multiple publishers, consoles, andiconic franchises have been represented inSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate’s roster. Even the base roster was already strong enough with all of theSmashcharacters from history added, but characters from both Fighter Passes have expanded the roster even further beyond what any expected from the platform fighter.Smashmay never be the same afterSuper Smash Bros.Ultimate, but given the aptly-named subtitle, it may not even matter when this is the bestSmashgame.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimateis available now on Nintendo Switch.
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