Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is an utterly ridiculous game.
As I write these words, Kingdom Hearts' Sora has just been added to the mascot fighter as the final DLC character. That makes Super Smash Bros. Ultimate the only video game in which Sora can beat Pac-Man senseless with a baseball bat while Cloud and Minecraft Steve throw Poké Balls at each other. It feels kind of illegal.
Growing up, Super Smash Bros. Melee was my game of choice. I remember thinking at the time that its roster of 26 characters was as good as it could possibly get. It was a comprehensive love letter to Nintendo, filled with characters from every corner of the company’s history. Hell, the game managed to squeeze in two Fire Emblem representatives years before anybody in the west gave a toss about Fire Emblem.
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Super Smash Bros. Brawl only made things more wild by adding third-party shockers Sonic The Hedgehog and Snake. By the time Super Smash Bros. For Wii U & 3DS rolled around, it became pretty clear that almost anyone could find their way into the series. It became less about Nintendo and more about celebrating all video games, regardless of platform.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is, if you’ll pardon the term, the ultimate expression of this. Series creator Masahiro Sakurai has ensured there’s someone for everyone in the latest and most comprehensive iteration of the series. Nintendo IPs like The Legend Of Zelda and Metroid sit proudly alongside the likes of Final Fantasy, Tekken, Dragon Quest, Minecraft, and Street Fighter. Getting your creation into Smash Bros, at this point, is like entering a very special kind of video game hall of fame where all the inductees get to beat the crap out of each other.
But what really amazes me about Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, with its 89 playable characters, is the fact that it arguably has a better selection of PlayStation characters than Sony’s own, ill-fated attempt to copy the Smash Bros formula with its own set of mascots.
Released back in 2012, PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale drew on its own impressive back catalogue of heroes and villains in a game that, if we’re being polite, may have glanced at Nintendo’s homework.
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It wasn’t a bad roster, to be fair. Big names like Nathan Drake, Kratos, and Ratchet & Clank joined the fight alongside lesser-known names such as Sly Cooper and Parappa. It’s just that, for my money, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate does a much better job of showing off the very best of PlayStation’s illustrious history.
For a start, Nintendo’s brawler has Cloud and Sephiroth from Final Fantasy VII. Sure, the iconic RPG is available on every platform these days, but never get that it was a PlayStation exclusive back in the day. And from one critically acclaimed PlayStation JRPG to another, even Persona 5 is represented thanks to Joker.
It doesn’t stop there. Metal Gear Solid? Snake is on-hand to kick some ass. Kingdom Hearts? Have Sora! Dragon Quest? You can play as one of the many Hero protagonists that have appeared in the classic Square Enix series.
While it’s true that most of these series are no longer strictly exclusive to Sony consoles, so many of them are still seen by gamers of a certain age as distinctly, uniquely PlayStation. That Nintendo was able to bring these fighters over to join the likes of Mario, Link, and Sonic, and Pac-Man is an incredibly testament to the power of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, and the incredible passion of the people who have spent the last few years making it the juggernaut it is.
Featured Image Credit: NintendoTopics: Nintendo, PlayStation