Smash Bros. Ultimate has an antiquated unlock system, but fans still want to play the game the way Nintendo intended. This is how they’re having it both ways.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate ’s scale is both a blessing a curse, especially since players have to unlock characters and levels before they can be used in battle. That’s not rare for fighting games, but the amount of unlockable content in Ultimate is staggering: only eight of the 74 characters are available when you begin playing.
This issue could have been mitigated by a game mode that allows the use of all the characters and levels as long as you stick to playing with other human beings in local matches — an option that would also have helped tournament organizers — but Nintendo didn’t include that option at launch. That we’re aware of, at least.
This indicates that Nintendo has strong feelings about how players are meant to experience the game, and that experience includes a trickle of characters that are unlocked at a particular pace.
But player reaction to the unlock system shows that some fans want to try all the characters right away… while also enjoying Nintendo’s sense of pacing. And they’re coming up with a strategy to have it both ways.
There is already a method for speeding up the rate at which you unlock characters, and you can read our guide right here if you want to hit the ground running.
