What You Didn't Know Was In Smash Bros. Ultimate

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is the culmination of nearly two decades' worth of fighting game evolution, honed to what fans hope is the closest they'll get to perfection. The game's roster is stacked, featuring an unheard-of amount of fighters at launch with even more coming over the course of the next year. There are more stages, assist trophies, moves, items, and game modes than any game in the Super Smash Bros. series that has come before, and that's before considering all new systems like Spirits on top of it all.

With an almost overwhelming amount of sheer content, the new Smash Bros. is filled to the brim with not-so-hidden gems that gamers might have missed. With that in mind, we've compiled a list of just some of the awesome things you might not have known you could do in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate looks like it might be the deepest version of the game fans have ever gotten, which is big news for a community that has longed for a more stable competitive scene since the glory days of Melee. What a lot of people might not immediately notice about Super Smash Bros. is that it's a very technical series despite featuring a lot of goofy fighting matchups. Sure, Bowser versus Pikachu is a ridiculous proposition, but both players can win if they play tight enough.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate will bring back directional air-dodging, which will only serve to make the game even more technically complex. Directional air-dodging essentially serves two purposes: one, it will let players land more safely, more often, which will hopefully make for some higher tension matches; and two, it will reduce the number of feel bad moments newer players experience when they are close to the edge of the stage and falling in the air.

It might not seem like a lot, but knowing you can use directional air-dodges is a huge boon to any player. It's also one of the mechanics that many people loved in Super Smash Bros. Melee, so its triumphant return in what is supposed to be the best game the franchise has ever produced couldn't be better timed.

One of the earliest disappointments in many Smash Bros. players' careers is the discovery that you can't charge Samus' hand-cannon beam while she's falling through the air. While it isn't something that people have necessarily been clamoring for, the addition of that functionality would definitely make for a lot more flashy moments in future Super Smash Bros. Ultimate video clips.

That's probably why Nintendo chose to quietly add that ability, then. Everything we've seen suggests that the newest Super Smash Bros. is aiming to be as visually pleasing as possible, with as many big, clippable plays available to skilled players as it can cram in. That's going to include the ability to charge Samus' hand-cannon while she's in the air, although she will be vulnerable while doing so.

Although it isn't the most well-known change Ultimate is making, it could be a big one. It's not just Samus, either: other charged attacks will be available as characters are falling in mid-air or jumping, now, and it's a dynamic that fans will need to start watching out for in matches they would never have had to sweat otherwise. Overall, it's another change that is exciting, if not the most competitive, since charging attacks in the fast-paced pro scene is just asking to lose a stock on the spot.

One of the biggest points of contention for any Super Smash Bros. players is which maps the battles will be played out on. While Hyrule Temple and the sub-section affectionately referred to as Hyrule Fight Club are a casual staple, the maps are so varied and different in their design philosophy that many players have love-hate relationships with them.

Now, players won't have to settle on just one map per stock battle. A new mode called Stage Morph is debuting in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate that's going to allow players to select multiple stages prior to a fight. Then, during the fight, the stages will begin to shimmer and then morph into different choices, switching up the environment on the fly and ensuring no one will have a homefield advantage for too long.

It's yet another decision from Nintendo that shows the developer has learned a lot over the years. It's unlikely Stage Morph will be for everyone, but that's not the point; it's just more flexibility in a game that is overloaded with choice. It's also something that fans will appreciate the longer the game goes on post-launch as a bit of variation on the usual modes we've come to expect from the series.

A perfect shield, previously known as a powershield until Super Smash Bros. Brawl, is a technique that sees a player activate their full shield so that it connects with an incoming attack on its first few frames. If it's done correctly, the character takes no shield damage and then has a chance to counterattack while their attacker remains stuck in hit-lag.

Perfect shields changed in a subtle way in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, however. Players now only achieve perfect shields by releasing their shield button at the right moment, instead of activating.

Both players experience hit-lag after the execution of a perfect shield. While the player who executed the perfect shield will recover first, it's still another change that makes the technique even more difficult to execute than it already was.

There are few things as frustrating in a casual game as a tight fight being decided by an assist trophy at the last minute. Assist trophies are a lot of fun, and introduce even more characters to a game already teeming with them, so many fans who play low-stakes Super Smash Bros. leave them in their gameplay setups.

While some assist trophies have been able to have their moves manipulated via player interaction, very few of them historically have been able to be knocked out. That's different in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, where gamers are finally able to take a swing at iconic assist trophies like Skull Kid.

Interestingly enough, assist trophies won't just be KO targets: players will actually get a point for KOing them in-game for a nice little bit of stat padding. The fact that most of them can be KOed is already a nice bit of hidden information that makes for some even more interesting games of Ultimate.

One of the harder elements of Super Smash Bros. games in the past has been mastering how a character's special attacks work. In prior iterations, there were only minute visual cues that allowed players to know Cloud's limit gauge was where it was supposed to be, or that Robin still had magic left to cast spells. That's obviously fine at higher levels, where players know their characters inside and out, but it was very daunting for newer players looking to pick up a roster member like Cloud.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate makes things a lot simpler for players. Robin's magic, Cloud's limit break, and other characters who have similar attack styles will all have on-screen visual indicators. That removes the guesswork from equation, with the added benefit of giving commentators in tournaments a better idea of where a duel is currently positioned.

It's a small change, and it was glossed over when Nintendo announced it, but it's one that once again improves the quality of life of players in-game. That's a recurring theme in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, and it all combines to make for the most comprehensive, accessible Smash Bros. title ever.