Super Smash Bros. Ultimate has earned critical acclaim and some fantastic sales since its launch around the world last Friday - but also criticism for its scrappy online multiplayer modes.
Super Smash Bros.
A chaos of details and features come together for one of the Switch's most generous - and exhilarating - games.
Key events
10th December 2018
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is Switch's biggest UK launch yet
13th September 2018
8th August 2018
Nintendo confirms Castlevania crossover, King K.Rool and plenty more for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is Switch's biggest UK launch yet
And the best launch ever for the series.
Smash Bros. Ultimate has punched its way to the top of the UK charts, with the best ever launch for the series and the best ever launch for any Nintendo Switch game.
In its first weekend of release, Smash Bros. Ultimate sold more physical copies than Zelda, Mario, and even the combined sales of Pokémon Let's Go Pikachu and Eevee.
It's also the best UK launch for any game in the Smash series - more than 300 per cent higher than the game's Wii U version, and more than 60 per cent higher than Smash Bros. Brawl on Wii.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate player recreates Evo Moment #37
Ken you believe it?
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is packed with Nintendo fan service - as you'd expect (for more, check out our Super Smash Bros. Ultimate review). But it's also got a lot to offer for Street Fighter fans - including one thing you wouldn't expect.
Where, exactly, to start with a game like Super Smash Bros. Ultimate? Maybe it's in one of the 74-strong roster of fighters, such as newcomer Isabelle, who has the same propensity for getting shit done here as she does in her native Animal Crossing series. She's savage, a flurry of toy hammers and candy umbrellas plus a fishing rod used to reel in her opponents, and for her final trick she calls in the muscle, summoning Nook and co who immediately construct their town hall over your poor foe.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate review
Developer: Sora/Bandai Namco/Nintendo
In one of the more unexpected announcements at this year's Game Awards, Nintendo has revealed that Persona 5's Joker will be the first paid DLC character to be added to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate post-launch.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate will give Pokémon players a neat freebie
Unova one for the collection.
Eevee for Smash? Not quite - but the true star of Pokémon Let's Go is due to make some sort of debut in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
Nintendo scraps controversial Creators Program, making life easier for YouTubers
It wasn't a smash hit.
Nintendo is finally shutting down its controversial Creators Program after three rocky years packed with criticism from YouTubers.
Win a Smash Bros. edition Switch in Nintendo Life's Smash Battles Live tournament
UPDATE: Streaming live tonight!
Update: Today's the day! Nintendo Life's Alex and Arekkz will do battle, live on YouTube and Twitch at 7PM. Don't forget to tune in to see who picks Kirby, therefore automatically making them Sakurai's favourite to win.
Nintendo has spent the weekend trying to scrub Super Smash Bros. Ultimate spoilers from the internet, after early copies leaked last Friday and the game was subsequently pirated online and shared in the usual illegal places.
Nintendo has released an amiibo figurine for every character in the most recent Super Smash Bros. games. Maybe you have a Samus sat on your shelves at home, or a Donkey Kong on your desk at work.
Like a round of punches on a sprinting Fox McCloud, the Super Smash Bros. series' various campaign modes have always been hit and miss. Brawl's memorable Subspace Emissary, where your favourite characters teamed up in cutscenes offering the kind of fanservice Avengers movies now feast on, also forced you to slog through lacklustre side-scrolling stages. Smash on 3DS had the decent but forgettable dungeon crawler Smash Run, while Smash on Wii U had board game Smash Tour - the less said about that the better - and now Super Smash Bros. Ultimate has World of Light - possibly the strongest offering yet.
Nintendo to remove Native American references in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
"This does not represent our company values today."
Nintendo has pledged it will make changes to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate after an outcry surrounding Native American character designs in the game.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate ditches Trophies for Spirits
Incineroar, Ken and Piranha Plant playable.
Today's final Super Smash Bros. Ultimate info dump has arrived - and it was as enormous as predicted.
Watch today's Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Nintendo Direct
They're all here.
Nintendo's final briefing on Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is due to go live at 2pm UK time today - and you can watch it just below.
There's another Smash-Bros-themed Nintendo Direct happening this week
And a Treehouse presentation to follow.
Nintendo has announced that it's hosting another Nintendo Direct this week - and that, once again, it'll be entirely focussed on the imminent Super Smash Bros Ultimate.
Animal Crossing for Nintendo Switch finally confirmed
Before that, Isabelle joins Super Smash Bros.
Nintendo has at last announced an Animal Crossing game for Switch. It's coming in 2019.
During tonight's Nintendo Direct, the company also confirmed series mascot Isabelle - your doggy secretary - will be playable in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Woof!
Up until now, Animal Crossing has only been represented in Nintendo's big crossover brawler by Villager, the generic player character. He (or she) debuted in Smash Bros. for Wii U and 3DS.
Smash Bros. fans reckon Nintendo killing Luigi was a sneaky hint
At Ultimate's blurred-out secret mode.
Last week, Nintendo stunned the world by killing off Luigi during its Super Smash Bros. Direct. Now, some fans think the shock death of Mario's brother was actually a clue pointing to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate's under-wraps secret mode.
Nintendo confirms Castlevania crossover, King K.Rool and plenty more for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Simon Belmont coming as new fighter - plus more from today's Direct.
Nintendo just wrapped up a Smash Bros. Ultimate Nintendo Direct where it went into more detail on its big fighter, confirming the Castlevania crossover that introduces Simon Belmont as a new fighter plus plenty more.
Belmont, who made his debut on Nintendo hardware back in 1987, will wield his whip as a signature item and the Grand Cross forming his Final Smash, and his echo fighter - a character with a similar moveset but a different skin - will be none other than Richter Belmont, from Rondo of Blood amongst other Castlevania games.
Belmont will also have his own stage, Dracula's Castle, which features cameos from the vampire himself. It'll be one of 103 stages in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, which is an all-in bundle of everything that's ever featured in the series and plenty more besides.
There's a Smash-based Nintendo Direct coming this week
Birdo reveal inbound?
Nintendo's just announced that a new Direct will air later this week, with the focus firmly on Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as new information on the forthcoming Switch title is revealed.
First off, the GameCube controller is the best controller Nintendo's ever made (sorry, N64!). Mine put up with hundreds of hours of SoulCalibur 2 button-mashing and it never broke sweat. And while I never played Smash Bros., I know one of the reasons Melee is still so popular today is because of the GameCube controller.
Here's where you can watch the Nintendo UK VS Super Smash Bros Ultimate Invitational later today
Show starts at 6pm BST.
Nintendo UK's Versus (VS) event is now live, showcasing Nintendo's range of competitive games.
German game boxes have long been blighted by the USK - the country's local game rating board - and its ginormous logo.
Nintendo appears to have pulled Solid Snake's arse from Smash Bros. - and the person behind Snake's iconic voice isn't happy.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Nintendo's biggest game of 2018, will be playable for the first time in the UK next month.
Bomberman is the star of today's Super Smash Bros. blog post, which shows off more of how the explosive Assist Trophy will work.
It's hard to imagine Super Smash Bros. Ultimate being the final entry in Nintendo's ridiculously popular fighting series, but it's also hard to imagine what else Nintendo could now do to better it. Without any need to reinvent itself, what else can Smash do but simply get bigger?
Following the earth-rending megaton that was Ridley's reveal as a playable character in the upcoming Super Smash Bros Ultimate for Switch, Nintendo has announced that he'll be getting his own amiibo too.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate for Nintendo Switch includes every character from the series so far
And yes, GameCube controller support.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is the name of the game's new series entry for Nintendo Switch. It contains fan-favourite request Ridley, from Metroid, for the first time. And it will include support for the fan-favourite GameCube controller.
Nintendo E3 2018 conference live report
I hope you like Smash! All the news as it happened.
I hope you like Smash! All the news as it happened.
Nintendo's annual E3 presentation will be broadcast at 5pm UK time on Tuesday 12th June and centre on the upcoming Super Smash Bros. game for Nintendo Switch.
Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo Switch playable at E3
Challengers approach.
Nintendo's newly-confirmed Super Smash Bros. for Switch will be playable at E3 in June. That's just three months away!