The Super Smash Bros. series is adding more fitness characters, as the next Super Smash Bros. Ultimate event involves characters from Ring-Fit Adventure coming to the Spirit Board.
Nintendo was printing money during the DS/Wii era, but one of the most surprising success stories during this time was Wii Fit and Wii Fit Plus. Wii Fit was a fitness game that required a specialized Wii Balance Board in order to function. When considered as a single game, Wii Fit and Wii Fit Plus are the eighth best-selling video game of all time. It's for this reason that the Wii Fit Trainer made her/his way into Super Smash Bros. 3DS/Wii U, as well as returning in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is adding spirits based on another popular fitness game. The Nintendo Versus Twitter account has revealed that the next event will include three characters from Ring-Fit Adventure, who will appear as spirits that the player can battle against and claim for themselves.
Ring-Fit Adventure has been a surprise hit for Nintendo, as it has already sold 2.17 million copies around the world, even though it requires the Ring-Con peripheral to work. Nintendo has had trouble keeping Ring-Fit Adventure in stock, especially in Asia, where it's almost impossible to find a copy of the game outside of costly second-hand sites.
The Ring-Fit Trainees feel like a natural fit for being Echo Fighters for the Wii Fit Trainer in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, yet Masahiro Sakurai and his team will only be adding new DLC characters in the next (and final) round of updates. Sakurai has stated in the past that Nintendo has chosen the DLC characters for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (like Bylteth), so it's possible that Ring-Fit Adventure characters could make their way into the game in the future. We can only hope that this event is enough exposure and that the future DLC slots are being saved for more worthwhile characters.
The Ring-Fit Adventure event in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate will run from March 13 to March 18, 2020.
Source: Twitter