Super Smash Bros. Ultimate August Direct: Every Announced Fighter, Stage, And More

Nintendo spent most of the company's E3 2018 Direct promoting Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, the newest entry in the acclaimed fighting franchise. Touting that every character from the four previous Super Smash Bros. games would be included in the new title, fans wondered if Ultimate could possibly get any bigger. Nintendo's August Direct proves that it can.

The Super Smash Bros. Ultimate August Direct was filled with announcements. Nintendo showcased trailers for entirely new fighters and also advertised new Echo characters, items, stage transformations, and more. If you happened to miss the Direct, read on for our written compilation of all of the most noteworthy announcements.

New Trailers, New Fighters

Two brand new fighters are joining the fight in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. The first is Castlevania protagonist Simon Belmont. Simon brings his trademark whip and collection of items to Ultimate, giving him a mid- to long-range combat style that seems to be a slower, but more powerful variation of Zero Suit Samus.

The second new fighter to join Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is King K. Rool, the archenemy of Donkey Kong. This giant croc lumbers about the stage to deliver powerful close- to mid-range attacks. He can also throw out his crown like Link's boomerang or deflect physical attacks with his large belly.

New Echo Fighters

The August Direct also announced three new Echo fighters. Echo fighters are clones of certain Smash characters. Their moves are virtually the same, but they offer slight variations to the original character, such as speed or attack power. For example, Wii U's Super Smash Bros.' Dark Pit is an Echo fighter of Pit in Ultimate.

The first new Echo character announced at the August Direct is Richter Belmont--who echoes his ancestor Simon. Fire Emblem: Awakening's Chrom is now an Echo fighter of Roy and Metroid Prime 3: Corruption's Dark Samus is an Echo fighter of Samus.

Transforming Stages

You will be able to activate "Stage Morph" when picking a battlefield in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Doing so can cause the overall theme of a stage to change in the middle of a fight. During the August Direct, Nintendo showcased how a Metroid-themed stage suddenly transformed into one based on The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword.

So Much Music

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate includes more than 800 music tracks for you to listen to. Music is now categorized by game series instead of by stages, so you'll have the option of choosing which tracks play--and how often each one does--for each stage.

Items And Assist Trophies

New items and assist trophies are being added to Ultimate as well. The most notable addition is Rathalos, the massive fire-breathing dragon mascot of the Monster Hunter franchise.

Limited Edition

Nintendo knows how most fans want to play Super Smash, so a GameCube controller comes included in a limited edition bundle of Ultimate. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Limited Edition also comes with an adaptor that lets you hook up to four GameCube controllers to your Switch.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate launches for Nintendo Switch on December 7.