A chaos of details and features come together for one of the Switch's most generous - and exhilarating - games.
Key events
31st January 2019
14th December 2018
Does Super Smash Bros. Ultimate deliver a generational leap for Switch?
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
Nintendo is deleting what it deems inappropriate Super Smash Bros. Ultimate stages
As row over removal of a trans rights level intensifies.
As expected, Nintendo is moving to delete what it deems inappropriate user-generated Super Smash Bros. Ultimate levels after the stage creator feature went live earlier this week.
THIS ARTICLE IS NOT SAFE FOR WORK, OBVIOUSLY.
Joker from Persona 5 comes out today for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is getting a stage builder mode, according to the blurry corner of a new Nintendo trailer.
Last night, eagle-eyed fans spotted gameplay in the latest Smash trailer was actually from an upcoming build of the game - one which lists the stage builder mode on its main menu.
It's not a huge surprise - Smash Bros. Brawl for Wii and Smash Bros. for Wii U both included the feature, which allows players to construct their own levels using pre-existing objects - but it's something Nintendo has stayed silent on adding so far.
"I just get an IV drip and go to work like normal"
Nintendo fans are still concerned about the health of Smash Bros. boss Sakurai.
Super Smash Bros. creator Masahiro Sakurai has fans concerned about his health once again, after describing how he hooks himself up to an IV drip to continue working on Nintendo's multi-million selling series while sick.
Nintendo Switch sales smashed it over Christmas
But will still miss its own ambitious targets.
Nintendo bossed the Christmas sales season with an impressive set of hardware and software sales - but this still wasn't enough for the company to meet its own ambitious targets.
Switch hardware sales were up almost 20 per cent year-on-year, game sales were up 100 per cent year-on-year, and all of Nintendo's new releases were hits.
Super Mario Party has now sold 5.3m copies, Pokémon Let's Go Pikachu and Eevee notched up a combined 10m copies, while Super Smash Bros. Ultimate sold a whopping 12.08m just in its first month.
Super Smash Bros Ultimate 2.0 is live, introduces first DLC character and a bit more besides
Welcome to the Piranha club.
Super Smash Bros Ultimate has just got its most significant update to date, with version 2.0 landing and introducing an all-new character.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate nearly featured Decidueye instead of Incineroar
Also, Sakurai addresses his lack of Arms.
Avian archer Decidueye almost made the cut for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, series boss Masahiro Sakurai has revealed.
Nintendo Switch the fastest-selling US console this generation
But no longer the fastest-selling ever.
The Nintendo Switch is the fastest-selling video game system in the US this generation, according to data-counter NPD. From launch in March 2017, through to November 2018, Nintendo's hybrid console sold more than 8.7 million units.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is the fastest-selling Nintendo home console game in Europe ever
Some good resultimates.
We already knew it was doing well from the UK figures released last week, but it seems Super Smash Bros. Ultimate's success knows no bounds.
A glitch has been discovered in the recently released Super Smash Bros. Ultimate for Nintendo Switch, and it takes the fan service the series is famed for to a terrifying conclusion.
Charles Martinet has received a Guinness World Record for the most video game voiceover performances as the same character - 100 as Mario.
Digital FoundryDoes Super Smash Bros. Ultimate deliver a generational leap for Switch?
How Ultimate compares to the last-gen Wii U and 3DS titles.
With Switch the single platform it needs to focus on for its latest game, developers Namco Bandai and Sora Ltd. are able to create the most feature rich entry in Super Smash Bros. series yet. Graphically speaking, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is the best-looking game in the franchise: its 75-strong cast and many stages get revamped textures and lighting compared to the Wii U release of four years ago. It also succeeds as a sequel to two previous versions, by offering the de facto home console successor to Wii U, and more impressively, a stark upgrade over 3DS' visuals on the handheld side. Over the last week we've pored over the game from every angle, figuring out what makes - and breaks - the game next to these two versions. It's a remarkable achievement, but is it truly the greatest Smash title ever made?
First, let's acknowledge the sheer scope of the project. Weighing in at 14GB, Ultimate contains every character, mode and stage from the series' history - including previous absentees like Ice Climbers and Solid Snake. Notably, the Wii U and 3DS removed Ice Climbers, with HAL's determination to keep roster parity between the two machines. It's understood the 3DS struggled to render two characters per player - a technical limit that meant the home console version also missed out. On Switch? Well, everything is reinstated - though some aspects of the game still make Ice Climbers a tricky proposition. More on that later - but the bottom line is that this version at least gives you that option, along with many more, to play Smash however you like.
But with the new Ultimate, what's changed, and what stays the same? Compared to the Wii U version, there's a big distinction in the method of lighting. Director Masahiro Sakurai and his team could easily have rested on their laurels and handed in a direct port from Wii U to Switch - and for some that would have been enough. But instead, they've gone much further. For a start, its lighting model is drastically overhauled, giving every stage a starker, more vibrant appearance. Both current and last-gen versions run at a native, fixed 1920x1080 on your TV, by the way - but the new lighting gives Switch a brighter, cleaner presentation.
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. 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!
