Super Smash Bros. Ultimate has been one of the most anticipated titles in all of gaming in 2018. The majority of Nintendo Switch owners have been waiting for this game to launch from the moment the system launched in March of 2017. This is appropriately subtitled Ultimate as it is packed with an insane amount of content. This includes every single fighter that has ever been playable at any time throughout the series and then some. This results to a playable roster of over 70 characters, an unprecedented number among any type of fighting game to date. Additionally, there is a brand new single-player mode called Spirits, a mode that features an overwhelming amount of “Spirit” characters, who are not fighters, but have been created under the shell of fighters to best represent their characteristics and memories from other games and series. Overall, you have one absolutely impressive video game that serves as a dream come true for gaming historians. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is truly the celebration of video games so much.
With so much content packed into the game, there are likely some details that players will never discover under normal gameplay methods, including some really well-hidden secrets. Additionally, with a complete overhaul to the gameplay mechanics appealing to a more competitive environment, there are many things players should be aware of as the game will feel completely new even to the most veteran of players. So let’s dive in and discover 25 tips and secrets of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate!
25 How To Unlock Every Fighter In Just 2 Hours
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate features an overwhelming roster of 74 fighters. That number will soon rise up to 80 as the game will be supported with DLC all year.
That is an awful lot of characters, but you only start with the original 8, which means you’ll have work to do in order to have everyone available.
The quickest way to unlock all the characters is to play matches every 10 minutes, but even then it will still take you plenty of hours. There is a method to speed it up though by resetting the game and rebooting it after every character unlocks. There is a guaranteed new challenger that will appear after your first match. This way you could have everyone available in just a couple hours.
24 Playing Around With The Camera Couldn’t Be More Fun
While Super Smash Bros. games of the past will allow the player some limited camera movement once the game is paused, Ultimate breaks those boundaries a bit more by allowing players to fully explore levels and look around at just how detailed the stage designs are.
By exploring the outside areas not displayed during gameplay, you can find many secrets within the stages’ backgrounds.
This will be covered in detail throughout this post later, but there is plenty of detail put into the design of each stage. The Bridge of Eldin is one such example of great detail that goes beyond the gameplay boundaries.
23 The Best Way To Manage Your Spirits
Spirit mode is basically a fully fledged RPG mode built within Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. In this mode you face off against other fighters with specialized rules and stat alterations. There is a power level associated with the fighters in this mode as well as a weapon triangle system to provide further balancing.
Fighting spirits without the use of spirits will be incredibly challenging, especially where the higher leveled ones are so strong, charged smashes may only cause as low as 3% damage. However, if you can win with a weaker party, you’ll receive a much better reward. Overall, the best strategy is to use spirits with a type advantage, but with a power level that is about 1,000-2,000 weaker, that way you are within reach of defeating other spirits but gain stronger rewards as well.
22 Roy And Ganondorf Could Be Your New Aerial Fighters
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate has gone through many changes in its gameplay mechanics. It is a much more competitive game with a game speed that rivals that of Super Smash Bros. Melee. As such, nearly every character will feel faster than they’ve ever had, including characters like Ganondorf and Roy who is more power oriented.
These two characters in particular have received heavy buffs in their landing lag, meaning if you use an attack in the air but land while doing it, it won’t take long for them to recover and move again. This means that these characters will be much better, and more dangerous, over attacking with short-hop attacks. The thought of Ganondorf using good short-hop combos is a scary one indeed.
21 Yes, There Is A Piece Of Heart In Smash Ultimate
This is one of the best examples of the use of a more flexible camera where you can look beyond the normal vision of a battle stage in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
The Great Bay stage that has returned from Melee has received one of the nicest makeovers into Ultimate.
One such great detail is out of normal view, if you pause and move the camera toward the left side of the stage, you’ll notice the entrance to the pirates base. You will also notice that a piece of heart is located on top of a cliff, exactly how it was in The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask.
20 Link Has A Secret Attack You Won’t Get To Use Often
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is extremely faithful in recreating characters, items, stages, and spirits. So many things in this game will appear exactly how they come from their source material. One such detail is a hidden attack Link can now perform for the first time in Super Smash Bros.
Just like in The Legend of Zelda games, if Link uses his forward smash attack with full health (zero percent damage,) he will fire off a beam from the Master Sword.
The sword beam isn’t a very powerful move, but it is useful for keeping players at bay, another move Link has to keep opponents at bay. However, even if you take a tenth of a percentage point for damage, the sword beam will no longer come from his forward smash.
19 Keep Mixing Attacks Up
In most fighting games, usually you have that one go-to combo that you can rely on at any point in a match and in some cases, it could be all you need. With Super Smash Bros. that strategy won’t work out very well, you’ll have to mix up your attack patterns. This is because of the difference in launch angles, combos that may work at a low percentage, like those involving grabs, won’t work as damage builds up, but there are also combos, like Pikachu’s up throw into Thunder, that serves as strong finishing moves. Additionally, you also have to worry about move decay, the more you use the same move over and over, the weaker it will get.
18 Wait for What? Two Sheikah Slates?
Obviously, Link in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is based on his design from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of The Wild. Many of his moves have been altered to fit the source material, including the lack of a hookshot, which isn’t present in Breath of The Wild at all. However, you’ll notice a cool little Easter Egg in the Great Plateau Tower stage.
Another Sheikah Slate can be seen resting on the pedestal in the middle of the tower.
Does this mean someone else could have access to a Sheikah Slate? Maybe a second one was eventually developed for Breath of The Wild Princess Zelda. Nevertheless, it is an impressive detail that you’ll only see when you zoom in the camera at the center of the stage, you can also notice all of the accurate details of the rest of the Great Plateau by scrolling the camera around.
17 An Out-Of-This-World Secret Found In Yoshi’s Island
In the Yoshi’s Island stage that originally debuted in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, you can find a really cool secret with the pause camera. Very high up above the stage you’ll find a moon that is outside normal gameplay view, but that isn’t just any regular video game moon.
That is the moon where a boss battle occurred between Yoshi and Raphael the Raven in Super Mario World 2:Yoshi’s Island on the SNES.
You’ll even notice the two stumps located on the moon that were used to attack Raphael. It is awesome how Super Smash Bros. Ultimate will even make detailed references towards less memorable boss battles like this one.
16 Know What Characters Can Use Tether Recovery
Tether recovery has been a staple in Super Smash Bros. games since Melee. It is an alternative method to recover that only certain characters can use. It’s best used as a way to combat edge guarding opponents. As mentioned earlier, Link no longer has his hookshot so he can no longer tether recover, other than that, all of the other characters that had previously had a tether recovery still does.
Additionally, Luigi can now use a tether recovery with a mid-air grab. Isabelle is one of the new characters who can tether recover by using her fishing rod side special attack. Finally, both Simon and Richter Belmont can tether recover, but it is done with their side aerial attack.
15 When Getting Knocked Back, Don’t Jump Right Away
While we are on the topic of recovery, when getting launched off the stage, most players’ first instinct would be to use up their second jump to start heading back. In many cases, that can be your biggest mistake. If you are coming back downwards to a stage, you are much more vulnerable to mid-air attacks or edge guarding, especially to aggressive players who like to use spikes or meteor smashes that will send you straight down on contact. The safest way to get back to the stage is to let yourself fall below the edge, and then recover upwards to the edge. That way it would make it a bit more risky for opponents to be aggressive as you recover back.
14 It Really Is Best To Think Melee When Playing Ultimate
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is as close to Melee as the series has ever been. The game speed in particular is very similar, but that’s not all. One of the main adjustments to the gameplay mechanics is that you only get to use one air-dodge once again. This is important to remember if you are trying to adjust from being able to use multiple air-dodges in the previous games. Those who have been very invested in Melee might have heard about the glitch technique known as Wavedashing, yes it is possible to wavedash in Ultimate, but it isn’t as effective as Melee due to the slowdown if dodging is used repeatedly.
13 An Explosive Additional Recovery For Certain Characters
You can be very creative in with how certain characters work throughout the Super Smash Bros. series. In this case, some characters can have an additional recovery method. In the case of all three Links, as well as Snake, you can use one of their special moves to give you a better recovery.
If need be, each of these characters can use their explosive down-specials to hit themselves, allowing them to regain use of their up-special recovery.
With Young and Toon link the bombs will have to be pulled out as soon as you get launched, eventually, should you not make it back the bomb will go off, and allowing you to use Spin attack again. With Link and Snake, you’ll need to detonate your explosives as soon as you drop them.
12 Save Your Smash Tickets Until You Need Them
In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, the difficulty scale in Classic Mode is a bit different than in past games. You can start your classic mode run only as high as 5.0 but you can increase that intensity by efficiently clearing each level. One of the game’s challenges is to finish with the max rating of 9.9 and you can’t use a hammer on the challenge. If you have to continue after being K.O., your intensity level will drop a bit, making it virtually impossible to reach 9.9.
However that is where Smash Tickets come in, they will allow you to continue without lowering the intensity.
Smash Tickets are not very common though so it is best to use them sparingly. When would be the best time to use them? It would be ideal to use them late in your Classic Mode run if you are doing very well, like if you are in the upper 8s in your 6th battle or in the mid 9s during your final battle.
11 Link’s Bombs Are An Amazing Defense Tactic
Link’s bomb special is one of the biggest changes to his moveset adapting to his equipment from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of The Wild. Now you’ll have to manually detonate the bombs just like how they are used in the source game. However, what you may not realize yet is just how sturdy these bombs are. They can take quite a bit of a hit without exploding, enough to shield you from some of the strongest range attacks. A fully charged shot from Samus, Dark Samus, Mewtwo, and Lucario would not cause Link’s bombs to explode, so they can be useful in defending against long range fighters.
10 Dungeon Man In Smash Ultimate?
What is probably one of the best hidden secrets in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate lies within Magicant. This Earthbound stage was originally in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS, but in Ultimate, it received a very nice makeover. In fact, it is so well detailed that there is a certain someone hidden within the walking dungeon that occasionally appears on the bottom of the stage.
Within the eyes towards the back, you’ll see none other than the self-proclaimed dungeon master Brick Road, A.K.A. Dungeon Man!
This isn’t noticed under normal gameplay as only the very top of the Dungeon Man itself is seen. You’ll only notice this appearance if you pause and use the camera.
9 Take Time To Master Perfect Shielding
One of the newest abilities that all fighters can use in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is the ability to parry attacks with a perfect shield. A perfect shield parry is done by pressing the shield button just as you are about to be hit and releasing it right as the attack connects. You’ll know you pull it off with the distinctive sound and pause it makes. You’ll have a good second to counter your foe with an attack of your own. This is a fantastic technique to master if you are going up against an aggressive opponent (and if you don’t use one of the many characters with a counter move.)
8 Other Ways To Earn Points In Timed Battles
While most people playing Super Smash Bros. Ultimate will be using stock rules, there are those who don’t mind to play timed battle rules. For those who do, there is one major thing that you’ll have to know that wouldn’t apply to stock battles. You can earn points by knocking out certain Assist Trophies. Not every Assist Trophy can be knocked out, just the ones that run around a stage to attack other opponents like Knuckles, Isaac, or Alucard. Also, you don’t have to even knock them off the stage; sometimes just putting a lot of damage can work too. This also applies to certain stage hazards like Metal Face in Gaur Plains.
7 A Hidden, But Obvious Warning In The Mushroom Kingdom
The Mushroom Kingdom level is one of the most significant levels in Super Smash Bros. as it was the first ever level to be based on classic 8-bit games. Now there are multiple levels of the sort like 75m, Mario Bros. and Balloon Fight. What likely haven’t notice in the Mushroom Kingdom level is what appears in the outer border of the stage.
If you look either to the far left or the right with the camera, you’ll notice a warning sign implying that you should not venture into the void of darkness that follows.
Obviously, that is the blast zone, but it is a stage detail you won’t ever notice in normal gameplay. Perhaps that is because the blast zone could represent glitchy rooms of old video games of the past? We may never know.
6 Now We Know Where Ness Trains With His Bat
Ness’s forward smash attack features him swinging for the fences with his bat and has been one of the best forward smashes from any character in the Super Smash Bros. series. Not only is it a very good launching attack, but it can also reflect any kind of projectile back at the user.
So where would Ness get his batting practice in? If you go to Onett and zoom all the way out with the camera, you’ll notice a part of a baseball diamond located at the center of the map, right in front of where the fighters do battle.
