For Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Nintendo has decided to make every character that was ever introduced to Smash a playable character. Some characters will receive some changes though to make them more fun to play, bring them closer to their most recent game or so they fit better with the other characters in the game. In this article, we will go over the 5 biggest changes that were made to characters and why they matter.
Link
Link is starting off the list, he has received a new outfit to bring him in line with his Breath of the Wild game, which now features the blue coloring that we got used to. His playstyle also received some changes which can have a major impact on the way he’s played. First of all, his Final Smash has been updated so that he now unleashes an ancient arrow upon the enemy.
The biggest change though comes with the introduction of the remotely detonating bombs. This will give the players a much better and c onsistent timing on when they want to have their bomb explode and could lead to new combos that were previously not possible.
Pokémon Trainer
Pokémon Trainer is back since his last appearance on the Wii U and has received a very minor change that will have a very major impact on his playstyle. You can now Switch your Pokémon midair and without penalty. If you’re the kind of player who only wants to play as a single Pokémon than you’re in luck as this isn’t penalized anymore either.
This creates so many more dodge options for the Pokémon Trainer. When a finishing move is about to land you can now switch Pokémon so that the attack will miss completely. You can also switch midair if the current Pokémon you have sucks at getting back to the stage. This small tweak will leave a big impact on the Pokémon Trainer’s playstyle. Expect to see a huge difference between experienced and amateur Pokémon Trainer players. You can also play as female Pokémon trainer now.
Palutena
Palutena was first introduced in Super Smash Bros WiiU and she was rather hard to play, albeit a lot of fun. For her new iteration, they have decided to streamline all of her special moves so that they are easier to pull off, and so that you will be able to create more consistent combos with her.
The other change comes in the form of her downward special. Previously it would create a barrier that when hit would unleash a counterattack upon the enemy. Now they made it so that it also works as a reflector, meaning that it will hit back projectiles. This counter has long been seen as the worst counter in the game due to the extremely long windup time of the ability. A change in the ability’s effect might mean that they’re also changing some numbers, although we won’t know for sure until the game is released.
Donkey Kong
The loveable gorilla has finally received a change to that hideous final smash that he had before. Instead of pulling out his congas and turning Smash into a rhythm game, he now unleashes an enormous amount of punches in a short timeframe. Nintendo is changing all ults to be more instant so DK’s old one had to go, which nobody will be sad about. It also fits better with his personality as DK always finishes levels in his own games with a series of rapid punches.
He also gains two minor changes where his Spinning Kong special attack gains faster momentum the longer it continues. His powerup punch can now also be charged in the air to give him some more playstyle options. The last change is probably the only thing we will see in competitive play as Final Smashes are not in most tournaments and staying in Spinning Kong for too long will get you heavily punished by the enemy.
Ganondorf
The scariest villain of all time has not received the biggest changes gameplaywise, but more a few fun novelty changes. The gameplay changes that he did get though is that he now has a sword that uses for attacks. The sword extends his reach a bit and hit incredibly hard. He will still be a slow but heavy fighter though so it doesn’t change his playstyle all that much.
The fun changes are that his entire appearance will be based on his Ocarina of Time appearance, including huge nose and all. Although this doesn’t do anything gameplaywise, as a huge Nintendo fan it just warms my heart. Previously Masahiro Sakurai would ensure that all Zelda characters would be from the same game but he has decided to just pick his favorite appearances this time and I couldn’t be happier. His final smash still works the same as before, but instead of turning into a giant boar he now turns into the Ganon from the final Orcarina of Time fight.
