| Super Smash Bros. All-Stars (Switch) | |
| Developer(s) | Nintendo
HAL Laboratories Namco-Bandai |
| Publisher(s) | Nintendo |
| Producer(s) | Masahiro Sakurai |
| Platform(s) | Nintendo Switch |
| Genre(s) | Fighting |
| Series | Super Smash Bros. |
| Predecessor | Super Smash Bros. for 3DS
Super Smash Bros. for Wii U |
| Successor | N/A |
| Release Date(s) | May 10, 2019 |
| Age Rating(s) | T for Teen |
Super Smash Bros. All-Stars (known in Japan as Great Fray Smash Brothers: Champions) is a game released for the Nintendo Switch in 2019 and the fifth (or sixth) installment in the Super Smash Bros. series. Boasting itself as the biggest Smash game ever, it was developed by Nintendo, HAL Laboratories, Namco-Bandai, and published by Nintendo. This is the first Super Smash Bros. game without series creator Masahiro Sakurai directing, though he was still involved in production.
Gameplay[]
Super Smash Bros. All-Stars is a fighting game. The core gameplay is the same as previous games, involving "ringing out" fighters by knocking them off of the stage, with subsequent hits to a player increasing the amount of distance they fly. Instead of a health bar, numbers (represented as percentages) go up, not down, and the higher the number gets, the farther a player will get launched. Whoever KOs the most players while being KO'd the least wins.
Each character has similar movesets- every character has at least one jump, a shield, and basic ground attacks, basic aerial attacks, strong ground attacks, grabs and throws, and a Final Smash, a super move done by collecting an item called the Smash Ball (or in certain modes, filling up the Smash Bar).
Items with various properties appear throughout the match, giving an advantage (or sometimes disadvantage) to the player who collects them. In addition to online and offline co-op and competition modes, there are a variety of arena and single-player modes, though most all will also accept two players.
This game has the most variety of characters, settings, stages, and modes in any game in the series, and tries to appeal to both casual players by being a party game and competitive players by having options for more chaotic scenarios able to be turned off.
Also of note are amiibo, which return to this game. Amiibo fighters, AI-controlled fighters that learn as they are fought against, are one aspect of amiibo functionality. Another aspect is using it to store fighters edited with custom moves, along with custom music and custom stages to be taken on the go.
Modes[]
SMASH[]
| Mode Title | Description |
|---|---|
| Basic Smash | The most basic way to play. Players can select any character they've unlocked, change settings, and battle on any stage they've unlocked with no consequences or responsibilities. For a first in the series, the game will remember option settings when this mode is exited out of. Options for this mode include:
|
| 8-Player Smash | 8-player Smash returns from Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. Up to 8 characters can battle on a selection of the game's full stage roster, usually with no hazards. All rules applying to basic smashes can also be edited through this mode. |
| Buddy Smash | A new mode exclusive to this game, All-Star Smash is a stock battle where each stock can have a different character (for example, when Mario is KO'd, the played respawns as Link). There can be a maximum of 5 characters before stocks begin to loop. This can also be customized to use time, stamina, or coin battles. |
| Special Smash | Special Smash is a bonus mode that can be edited with settings just like the previous two, though it is restricted to 4 players maximum. Special Smash options include:
|
| Tournament | Between 4 and 64 players can create a tournament with custom rules from any of the options above, along with options for legal stages and characters. Tournaments can be held online or offline with even only 1 player against CPUs. There is also an option to have characters locked or be able to switch between matches, and to have Best of 3 matches and Round-Robin style tournaments (replacing the rotation mode from Brawl). |
| Players | Players can view their personal stats based on names, select default colors and costumes for fighters, set custom moves, custom controls, and make Mii fighters. |
ARENA[]
| Mode | Description |
|---|---|
| Classic Mode | Based on the 1P game from the original Super Smash Bros., this pits the player's chosen character against 12 stages of opponents, each with a specific theme. The opponents are random, and certain stages have modifiers. After the first 10 stages, the eleventh stage is a 1 on 1 fight against the chosen character's rival. Upon defeating the first 11 stages, the player will face Master Hand, and on higher difficulties, Crazy Hand and Master Core. Up to two players can tackle this challenge together. |
| Endless Classic | A variation on Classic Mode with more randomness in terms of opponents and stages. This is similar to the standard Classic Mode but there is an unlimited number of rounds that slowly get harder and the player is challenged to survive as many rounds as possible. Battles against various bosses are on every 10th round. Up to two characters can play. |
| All-Star Mode | All-Star Mode pits the player against every character in the game, with breaks inbetween each round where limited healing items are available. This mode is only unlocked whenever every character save Metal Mario is unlocked, or when the "Unlock Pass" DLC is downloaded. |
| True All-Star Mode | True All-Star Mode is identical to regular All-Star mode, but must be unlocked by unlocking every character including Metal Mario, and every alternate costume character and boss is fought as well. This mode is not unlocked by the "Unlock Pass" DLC. |
| Adventure Mode: Smash Universe | Adventure Mode can be completed with 1 to 2 players. In the plot, a mysterious villain has merged every Nintendo world together and sent minions throughout all of them. In a Metroidvania style platform game, the player will explore the worlds merged together with the goal of recruiting an army to fight the villain. This mode is partially based off of the Great Cave Offensive, but instead of finding treasures you must find Smash Keys, taking the place as MacGuffins to unlock doors further into the world, and beat fighters you discover. There are also RPG elements such as NPCs in themed worlds that sell items and upgrades or ask for quests. |
MINIGAMES[]
| Mode | Description |
|---|---|
| Smash Run | Smash Run returns from Super Smash Bros for NIntendo 3DS. Unlike the previous iteration, all four players are on the same large map and can interact with one another. Four players will run around a giant stage defeating enemies from Nintendo series to receive power-ups that boost stats. After 5 minutes, the four players will be transported into a match with random settings (special Smash, stock, time, stamina, etc), a minigame, or a boss battle, and use their power-ups to try and be the victor. During the stage portion, random events might happen like Bullet Bill storms, enemy fests, bosses attacking, and so on. |
| Stadium | Stadium is a collection of various minigames based on the Smash Bros. formula.
|
| Events | 100 special scenarios and challenges with all sorts of unusual tasks and win conditions. Each event can be completed on easy, medium, and hard. |
VAULT[]
| Mode | Description |
|---|---|
| Trophies | From the Trophies menu, there are options to visit four areas.
|
| Replays | View matches that have been recorded and saved. |
| Gallery | View screengrabs taken of matches. |
| Videos | View various videos, including pre-release trailers, how-to-play, the cutscenes for each character in Classic Mode, the cutscenes in Smash Universe, and special selected cutscenes and trailers from previous Smash Bros. games. |
| Customize | Edit names, controls, custom moves, custom characters, palettes, and so on. |
| Sound Test | Listen to any of the music tracks in the game at leisure, or sound clips from fighters. The likelihood of music playing on a stage can also be edited. |
| Stage Builder | Create stages. Select from 1 of 4 sizes (small, medium, large, and giant, for 8-player battles) and choose backgrounds and textures. Stages can now only be made by stretching and resizing rectangles and squares, with connections and overlaps between them to create more variety. Tapping on two points will create a ramp or stairs between them. Pass-through platforms can also be placed. Stages can also be turned into walk-offs or remain hovering. Various parts exist, some of which must be unlocked, such as:
|
| Challenges | A massive board with lists of objectives to complete at any point during the game. Some are easy (play 20 matches), some are harder (beat All-Star with all characters), and many are character-specific. The rewards are usually trophies, but certain challenges unlock characters or stages. |
| Options | Edit options such as deflicker, auto-update, controls, volume, and so on. |
ONLINE[]
| Mode | Description |
|---|---|
| Smash | Choose to Smash either With Friends in a private room with custom rules, or With Anyone under standard Stock or Time rules. Under With Anyone, either For Fun (with items and hazards) or For Glory (without) can be chosen, and finally, the number of players (1v1, 2v2, Free for All or 8-Player Smash) can be chosen. One can also spectate other matches. |
| Smash Run | The same as standard Smash Run, but online. |
Characters[]