Ever since Ganondorf was copy-pasted from Captain Falcon, Super Smash Bros. fans have been upset about “clones.”

And rightfully so. It feels like an offense when your favorite character is apparently mishandled in their representation (just like when a book you love is adapted poorly to film).

Sakurai seems to be calling for a truce this time around, no longer introducing “clone” characters as new fighters, but labeling them officially as “Echo Fighters.” They don’t even take up a number in the sequential count of characters.

Echo Fighters include Dark Samus, Daisy, Lucina, Chrom, Dark Pit, Ken, and Richter. (No, Isabelle is not an Echo Fighter—this is common misinformation.)

I gotta say, the one that hurts the most is Dark Samus. The rest of the lineup, I think you’ll agree, is easy to understand how their moves would be similar to the characters they are based off of. If you tried to make an argument for Ken, as an example, I’d wish you good luck!

Dark Samus had so much potential to have a unique moveset. The designers even had a handful of special moves that Dark Samus used as an Assist Trophy in Smash 4, but those are stripped away to keep her in line with basic, boring Samus.

What’s changed the most in Metroid Prime’s embodiment is her animations, which admittedly look stunning and appropriately creepy. I just wish that an equally impressive set of moves could have accompanied this addition to the roster, which could have involved Phazon and more acrobatics.

So, what is the plight of an Echo Fighter? The desire for more!

In past games, you can watch the progression as Falco, Ganondorf, Luigi, Roy, and others each become further set-apart from their source material. That progression simply felt like justice done to characters who had previously received the short end of the stick.

But now that these 7 characters are sitting comfortably under the banner of “Echo Fighters,” will there not be an incentive for developers to make them more unique in subsequent games?

I hope so, because if a character being an Echo Fighter means they’ll never be unique, I almost wish they weren’t added to the roster at all.

Copies of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate are circulating out in the wild, 10 days before the December 7th launch!

Nintendo didn’t intend for this to happen, but a variety of things have taken place:

• Certain stores have broken street date and sold the game early
• Some people received review units and have broken embargo, uploading confidential information
• Other people have preloaded the game from the eShop and hacked their Switches to datamine the download

The cumulative result is a lot of spoilers leaked online, including soundtrack files, World of Light cutscenes, unlocking instructions, etc.

But who cares?

My flippant response surprised me a little bit. It was only a few years ago that I managed to secure an advance copy of Super Smash Bros. for Wii U for review (legally) and I practically jumped for joy when that happened!

Why am I not excited about the prospect of Smash Ultimate leaking? Well, this series is fun to play, not just learn about! Sure, character reveals are one thing, but we’ve gotten all those officially. I can wait patiently to hear the game’s music when I’ve actually bought the thing.

Besides, launch is only 10 days away! It’s coming up quick, and I have plenty of things to play before Smash 5 changes all my gaming habits. I need to hit someone with a Grenade Launcher in Fortnite to complete my challenges, play a few games I picked up on Black Friday, and finish off Hollow Knight which I’m 20 hours into.

It’s weird, but I’m content to wait the week-and-a-half until I can legitimately play SSBU. Maybe I’m growing up a little.

Nintendo will be offering the “Fighter Pass” for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, a $25 advance payment for future DLC.

Sakurai and co. will be adding 5 characters to the game between launch and February 2020, and said characters will be accompanied by new stages and music tracks.

You can purchase these bundles individually as they are released for $6 each, or shave $5 off the cumulative pricetag by paying up-front.

Purchasers won’t be given anything up front except for a Mii Costume for fans of the Xenoblade Chronicles series.

Only plop down your $25 if one of these applies to you:

1. You know without a shadow of a doubt that you’re going to buy all the characters anyway
2. You want to help tournaments by bringing a complete set-up
3. Xenoblade Chronicles is like life to you
4. You feel sorry for Sakurai and want to donate to his Carpal Tunnel relief fund
5. You have a tree in your back yard producing literal money
6. Your wallet is actually getting too heavy and it’s wearing a hole in your pants

I probably fall into camps 1, 2, and 4. But I’m still going to wait until the first DLC package is actually available, then I’ll spring for the whole payment. I see no reason to fork over my twenty-five now, while I’m already spending a small fortune on the game and accessories.

What are your plans for buying or skipping the Fighter Pass?

The Super Smash Bros. series is truly a celebration of all things Nintendo. With hours upon hours of remixed tunes, over a hundred stages collected from gaming history, and hundreds of combinations of unique matchups and modes, there is no shortage of fun to be had in SSB Ultimate. However, nothing causes a fan to delight more than when their favorite character is added as a playable fighter.

The cast of 70+ characters is the main attraction, and everything else is seen as ancillary. Who cares if Geno is a Mii costume, I want him to be a playable character! Goomba as a trophy—no way, he should have been added to the roster back in Melee! 

And so, Smash fans wait on pins and needles to catch a glimpse of their favorite phantasy fighter, hoping that Father Sakurai will do them justice.

You could hear the collective groans around the world when Waluigi was shown as merely an Assist Trophy at E3. He was “deconfirmed.” He didn’t stand a chance.

I disagree. I think you can look at all the Pokeball Pokemon, all the Assist Trophies, Mii Fighter costumes, and every one of the 1,000+ Spirits and be looking at a list of DLC candidates.

My opinion isn’t popularly shared, so let me explain:

1. Sakurai didn’t decide the DLC. Nintendo did, just as development on the title was wrapping up. (Side-note: Nintendo is careful not to work on DLC too early—otherwise gamers would accuse them of charging extra for content that was made under primary development time.) Sakurai did not know what his bosses would settle on for future roster additions, so he couldn’t have kept every potential fighter from showing up by some other means.
2. There are over 1,000 characters represented as Spirits in this title. If being a Spirit disqualifies a character from inclusion in the main roster, then there’s no one good left to pick from gaming history.
3. Overlap happens. One good example is Smash 3DS, where you could take Pac-Man to his stage, throw an Assist Trophy, and have 3 instances of Pac-Man ghosts on the screen at once (Smash Attack, stage, and Assist Trophy).

Being in Smash in one form doesn’t mean you can’t be in Smash in another form. If a Pokeball Pokemon was converted to a DLC fighter, I honestly think the developers would see no problem in removing that Pokemon from the Pokeball lineup anyway!

Don’t despair. Your favorite character still has a chance.

Squad Strike mode in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate looks amazing!

Nintendo has yet to explain this mode very well, but thanks to the game leaking we have some great new details about this optional mode.

(Yes, these are leaked details—but come on, there are no spoilers for a mode in a game, right?)

I said Nintendo hasn’t done Squad Strike justice, because they weren’t very clear about what it actually does. Their short presentations left too many open questions. Do you have one stock for each character, and play as multiple characters in one round? Or are you and an opponent just creating a playlist of characters to battle in a set order? Or is it a series of different matchups, but your character’s individual stocks carry over (“winner stays in” style)?

I’m ecstatic to say that the answer to all these questions is yes!

Squad Strike has multiple modes inside the mode. It’s like mode-ception.

✅ Our dream of picking multiple characters for one match will come true. When I die with Mario, Dark Samus will appear on the spawn platform.

✅ Tournament style Crew Battles work in the game, where I can take out multiple different players in a row as long as I hang on to a stock.

✅ My sparring-partner and I can create multiple match-up scenarios ahead of time, then play through them uninterrupted.

With this much flexibility and this many new options, I might spend more time in Squad Strike than in the actual Smash mode!