Don’t sell your Wii U just yet people. Nintendo held a surprise direct on Thursday after announcing it only a day before. This Direct was centered around upcoming switch and 3DS games. At the very end of the direct, Yoshiaki Koizumi announced that there would be one last announcement. And then it finally happened, Nintendo shocked the world by showing a trailer for Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo Switch, and that it would release this year. Even more shocking is the reveal that the Inklings from Splatoon would be featured as new characters. Needless to say the hype is very real, but it might be even more real than we may have anticipated.
Most of the speculation leading up to the reveal was that this game would be a port of Smash 4. But after analyzing the trailer several times, more evidence points to this game being something more than just a simple port. With this new information, let’s take a look at why Smash for Switch could possibly be Smash 5.
The cast
The first piece of evidence is a pretty simple one. Inklings are revealed to be coming to smash as we see them standing in front of a flaming Smash Bros. logo. Standing in front of this logo are silhouettes of familiar characters to the franchise, although we can’t clearly make them all out from the trailer.
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Next we get a closer look at two characters in particular and this is where the speculation really begins. We see a close up of Mario hidden in the shadows as well as Link. But the Link we see is clearly modeled after his appearance in Breath of the Wild. Now some might just see this as an alternate costume. But many believe this is Nintendo hinting at this being a new entry and not just a port.
Another important aspect is the fact that it would be a bit unusual for new characters to be included in Smash 4, two years after the final DLC. The Inklings being confirmed for the game points more in the direction of a new game rather than a port. The character silhouettes of other characters have also caused speculation about new characters, but this one is a bit too shaky to go deep into.
More evidence
Looking even deeper into the trailer shows more evidence of a new entry. At the end of the trailer a Super Smash Bros. logo appears on the screen. This logo however is different from the one shown for Smash 4, which adds to the evidence of a new game.
Youtube
Another interesting find was the text copyright info at the bottom of the screen. The copyright date listed was 2018, and also said original game, which isn’t indicative of a port. One thing that could discredit the copyright date however is Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is just a Wii U port with new content. But the trailer for it has a copyright date for 2017, even though Mario Kart 8 released in 2014.
One of the biggest reasons people believed Smash 4 would be ported to the switch is timing. There is usually a long wait in between Smash games. The wait between Brawl and Smash 4 was over six years, but there is a catch. Series creator Masahiro Sakurai stated that Smash 4 only took 2.5 years to develop. An interesting fact about Sakurai is that developing the smash games was a very heavy undertaking for him. The Development cycle for Melee and Brawl took a lot out of Sakurai and he promised to never out himself through that hellish process again. Even bigger is the fact that Sakurai confirmed on Friday that he has been quietly working on the Smash Switch day after day.
Final Verdict
There is so much to speculate on when it comes Smash for Switch. It could be a new game, or it could be a deluxe version of Smash 4.
There is a plethora of evidence pointing towards both but it is a bit too early to make a concrete conclusion. If I had to guess, I would say Smash for Switch is going to be like Splatoon 2. Basically I think it will be Smash 4.5, Smash 4 with new content and a few tweaked mechanics. This game very well could be Smash 5, but the less than four year wait between it and Smash 4 don’t have me convinced. Whatever this game may be, we can finally sleep at night knowing Smash for Nintendo Switch is coming this year.
one More thing…
Lastly I want to give a bit of advice to readers and Smash lovers. FOR CHRIST SAKE DON’T SELL YOUR WII U! Believe me if Smash 4 wasn’t a Wii U game my Wii U would’ve been gone years ago. The Wii U for a lot of people is their Smash Bros machine and nothing else, so I know they’re ready to get rid of it when smash for switch comes out. But doing so would be a very bad idea in my opinion. The Wii U sold so poorly in its short lifespan that the switch outsold it in less than a year. Meaning that there aren’t many Wii U’s in the wild, which could make them extremely rare in the future.
I think that unless you get a crazy good deal from someone, that you should hold on to your Wii U, as it could become a collectors item some day.Finally, If smash for switch truly is Smash 5, that means the Wii U will be the only way to play Smash 4. And I would hate for Smash 4 to be forgotten with the Wii U.
Do you think Smash Switch will be Smash 5? Feel free to comment what you think below!
Featured image courtesy of EventHubs.
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