I’ve never really been that into the Super Smash Bros. series. I played it a lot at my friend’s house, which was odd because she was not into games at all. That is except for Super Smash Bros. on the Nintendo 64 and Beetle Adventure Racing. She was a bit…odd let’s say. Anyway, that was my first and only taste. None of my friends that had a GameCube had Super Smash Bros. Melee so I never got into that. I played some of Super Smash Bros. Brawl in college, but again it never really wowed me. I will say the story campaign looked interesting almost like Kingdom Hearts, but with like a third of the budget.
Then we move forward into the Wii U version, which was the first game in the series I bought and only because I was able to get it for $30 a month out from launch. Someone at Walmart put it on the wrong shelf. Lucky me. Anyway, I played a ton of that game, which surprised me. So you would think I would be excited for a Switch port, right? Well based on the E3 pitch that’s what I thought it was. Then it turned out to be more than that. This is actually the true fifth game in the series and it’s fantastic. It was a little disheartening to not get all the fighters at once, but I’m past that point now. I’m so in love with it that I tracked down some facts to both educate myself and you, dear readers.
25 Bayonetta’s Dark Shadow
Do you like super obscure personal details on characters? In the Bayonetta games, Bayonetta’s shadow is of her contracted demon aka Madama Butterfly. The same is true for this game, which is just such a nice inclusion most people wouldn’t even think to look for. Before researching for this game I didn’t even know her shadow was different in her actual games. I was more transfixed by the fast action and her hips. They don’t lie ladies and gentleman. They don’t lie.
24 The Other Luigi
Luigi has an alternate costume that has him in yellow and blue suspenders. This may seem like just a random color choice, but it’s actually a callback to a Japanese anime film called Super Mario Bros: Peach-Hime Kyushutsu Dai Sakusen. I guess at that point they didn’t nail down his color scheme. The color sort of changed for this version compared to the Wii U, but one of the choices included is close enough that I wanted to share this. You can be “Waluigi” though.
23 Beware The Water
This is one of the more widespread talking points about Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, but I’m going to include it anyway just in case. So certain characters take damage in water if they stay in too long. Incineroar and Charizard are obvious since they are fire Pokémon and prone to water damage.
Talk about a handicap.
Sonic has trouble as well. The only thing missing is that ticking clock sound we all “love” to remember. Finally the Inklings can’t survive as well because they’re, well, made of ink and are not water based.
22 I Choose You!
Do you have a favorite Pokémon? Well, you can change what Pokémon the trainer starts off with by clicking the critter next to his/her icon. I knew you could click on the hero to change outfits, but I never knew you could do this. It may be a more known fact, but hey, we all learn things at different points in our lives. Now for me, I’m going to go with Ivysaur since its vine whip attacks have a great reach.
21 The Man In The Machine
In the EarthBound stage Magicant, Dungeon Man is sometimes wandering around at the bottom of the screen. This was kind of a mech you could partner up with in the game. Anyway there’s a hidden detail inside namely its original form i.e. Brick Road. You just have to zoom in on the pause screen and manipulate the camera to see him hiding out. All you can see is his head, but that’s still a nice attention to detail most wouldn’t even think to check on.
20 An Inktastic Manga
Okay so I do have another obscure costume change I want to reference. Instead of an anime Easter egg, this one is for comics. So one of the costumes for the Inkling male colors his hair blue, gives him glasses, and a black and white polka dot shirt. This is a reference to Specs from the Splatoon manga.
Can manga ink be absorbed by Inklings?
That’s right. Bonus fact. There’s a comic for Splatoon in case you can’t get enough squid kid action. Based on fan art I’ve seen online, some people “really” like them.
19 Down Goes Samus
Ridley’s Final Smash attack has him shoot a giant beam out of his mouth, damaging both characters on screen and Samus’ ship in the background for some reason. It’s in the same line of logic as Sephiroth’s Super Nova attack in Final Fantasy VII. You know, the one that destroys planets, but not your party. Anyway if you look in the background of the stage you can actually see Samus’ ship crash even after the attack. Canonically Samus is always following Ridley I guess.
18 Loyal Toads
This is just a small updated detail. In the past Super Smash Bros. games, Princess Peach’s defense was her pulling out a Toad citizen. It always looked surprised in the previous games as in Peach was cruelly using one of her subjects as a shield. Now Toad looks like he’s happy to stand in front of her to sacrifice his life for hers. It’s weird that it took this long for Nintendo to realize an unwilling meat shield was a little inappropriate.
17 The Desolate Future Of The Mushroom Kingdom
Mushroomy Kingdom isn’t the cleverest way to disguise a stage as a Mushroom Kingdom adjacent. It first appeared in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, then the 3DS, version, and now this. If you couldn’t tell it’s a recreation of World 1-1 from Super Mario Bros. It even side-scrolls from left to right.
Mario Fallout, now that’s something I’d want to see.
There’s a new detail in this game though. If you tilt the camera you can see the pipes have been wired shut. Just what exactly happened? Was this from a canceled game, or something?
16 Flat And Beautiful
In the Flat Zone X stage, it’s meant to represent the Game and Watch series of consoles and games. That’s pretty obvious. What isn’t is the fact that every character that fights in this stage becomes 2D, like, literally. If you zoom in and rotate on any other stage you can see the full model, but in Flat Zone X, they are actually flat. That may not be a ridiculous detail, but it’s one extra I can appreciate. Nice job!
15 Donkey Konga
This is not really a secret, but I just wanted to share this because it’s such a rad detail. So as King K. Rool is a new character, his theme has obviously been redone for the game. It’s a really crazy version, which even has some rapping in it. Well the cool thing here is that it was composed by ACE, one of Xenoblade Chronicle’s composers. Having ACE compose King K. Rool’s theme is not something I ever thought I wanted, but I’m glad it got made anyway. Have a listen!
14 This Is Fire Emblem!
There are photos you can unlock in the game’s gallery as you play. Some are just cool mock shots Nintendo threw together and others reference tons of games and other pop culture moments too.
Cloud should be afraid of water at this point.
There’s one where Cloud can be seen holding Zelda in a pool of water like he did for Aeris when she passed in Final Fantasy VII. There’s another really weird reference to either 300, or The Lion King as Roy pushes Koopa Roy off a cliff. And those are just two examples!
13 Bras Icing Bros
One of the assist trophies lets you throw out Metroids. Well if you play as Samus and use her ice beam on them, they’ll freeze canonically, just like in the games. They’re not one for the cold. In my knowledge I don’t think many characters can break attacks like this though I’m sure I’m wrong about that. I’m a casual player and I’m sure the Super Smash Bros. tournament league know all kinds of secret attacks and counters.
12 A New Challenger Appears
So one of the more annoying things about Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is that you have to unlock all of the characters. Well, all except for your starters, but still it’s like sixty some unlocks. It takes forever! What’s more, when you get a random challenge, you’re not guaranteed a victory. They’re actually pretty hard. Isabelle rocked my world multiple times. So if you lose there is a quick way to rematch. It’s tucked away in “Games & More” where you’ll see a tiny door in the bottom right corner. I didn’t find that until I was almost done with the game. Oops.
11 It’s Faster With Two
Okay, so I taught you how to rematch challenges. That great, but here’s another question you might be thinking. How do I get challenges? Well, there’s no easy explanation to that because Nintendo has been kind of cagey. If you play ten minutes in the campaign and then back out chances are you’ll get one.
Co-Op brawling FTW!
You’ll also get one after each playthrough in Classic mode. There’s a little quicker way than both of these. If you play a match with two characters, the usual ten-minute time frame will be reduced to about half, maybe even less.
10 Level Up In Your Sleep
Even though the World of Light campaign is light, ha, on story, I’m enjoying it a lot. However, it can be kind of a grind in order to beat some of those Spirit encounters. Some, I would argue, borderline on impossible. Anyway, there is a fast way to level up your Spirits. There is a gym run by Doc Luis in the middle of the map, which is a city. Here you can place four Spirits who will level up with time passing even if you shut the Switch off. So do this before bed and blamo, beefy characters in the morning.
9 Pit’s Hidden Messages
Again, there’s no real story in the game except for a couple of CG cutscenes. However, there sort of is in certain stages. Use Pit on Palutena Temple stage against a single opponent and use the down taunt. Once you do that Pit and Palutena will have a conversation about Pit’s opponent similar to Snake’s codec conversations from Brawl, which makes a return in this game in his stage, using the taunt method, but they didn’t re-record new lines. Boo, Konami!
8 Cover Your Ears
On a plus note to that Metal Gear Solid dilemma, there is one nice new detail about Solid Snake’s animations. If he throws a grenade, he’ll cover his ears be it his, or another Snake’s weapon. That’s pretty cute, but I’m still upset about the lack of new codec calls.
Bring back the backsie!
I’m also a little bummed that his behind has been nerfed. He had such spectacular glutes before! Hey, at least Konami let him be in the game. That’s something at least.
7 Backward Destinations
Here’s another quick music fact. The Final Destination stage’s music track is the main theme, but in reverse. If you listen to it you can kind of hear some musical cues that sound similar, but if you literally play it backward all will become clear. It’s not like this is an amazing discovery as tons of music has been composed this way in games. Nintendo likes to often speed up, or slow down voice clips and reuse them like Bowser and Boo in Super Mario 64.
6 Timmy And Tommy’s Secret Shop
I really don’t like the Animal Crossing games. I’m just not much a sim guy. I don’t think they’re bad, or anything. Anyway even though I have no love, I did find myself buying a lot of the Amiibo. Why? Nintendo made too many and they got on clearance fast so I couldn’t help but buy some. The one I actually bought at full price was the Timmy and Tommy figure because I love raccoons. I never used it in a game until now. If you use it it’ll unlock their shop. Thanks, boys!
