There’s nothing quite like Super Smash season. Whenever a new Smash Bros. is right around the corner, the gaming community more or less takes on an event like atmosphere. It’s not hard to tell that each new installment in the series will wash over us all in a wave of pure hype as we spend hours upon hours unlocking characters, reacclimating to our GameCube controllers, and angrily posting about tier lists online. As expected, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate’s release has brought that same energy to the community yet again with rave reviews crowning it one of the greatest games of 2018- and arguably the best game in the franchise.

Although Sakurai revealed most of the game’s content through multiple Nintendo Directs leading up to the title’s release, there was an alarming amount of content that was kept hidden from us. For whatever reason, despite the apparent transparency, the Nintendo Directs did not reveal everything. Of course, this is for the best. Who doesn’t like a video game with a couple of secrets up its sleeve? If anything, the openness has only made these secrets shine brighter. Naturally, they’re also more obscure than ever and some will have you wondering why they weren’t selling points in at least one Nintendo Direct.

25 You Need To Unlock Everyone

Not everyone watches every single Nintendo Direct. The franchise has gotten big enough to the point where it’s simply unrealistic that most of the fanbase, casual or otherwise, will tune in for every Direct. As a result, a key few will boot up the game for the first time only to discover they need to unlock almost everyone.

And we do mean everyone. 

Taking a page from the very first game in the series, Ultimate only starts you out with the original eight characters. You’ll need to unlock EVERYONE, and we do mean everyone. As was the case with previous entries, there are multiple ways to unlock characters, but not without their caveats.

24 The Ten Minute Timer

Versus mode has always been a sure fire way of unlocking characters fast while getting to know the roster. Typically, characters unlock after a set few matches. Considering the new roster is so large, however, and the starting roster is so small, players would need to play Versus quite a long time to unlock everyone.

Nintendo’s solution to this problem is a bit of a double-edged sword. While the Versus counter is no longer necessary to unlock characters, everyone is on a ten-minute timer. This means you’ll be unlocking characters every ten minutes no matter what. While this will make unlocking easier later on, it’ll be a bit of a pain starting out.

23 World Of Light Is A Full On Story Mode

In light of Ultimate having a story mode, many fans were wondering just how much it would lift from Subspace Emissary. Previously, the series’ only full-fledged story mode told a complete narrative with twists and arcs. Moving forward, many fans simply assumed Sakurai would return to the Adventure approach.

SSE, eat your heart out. 

Thankfully, World of Light is more in-line with Subspace than it is with Adventure. Characters level up, there’s an equipment element, and the story plays a massive role from start to finish. It’s far more expansive than Subspace Emissary ever. Considerably longer, too!

22 World Of Light Is Long

Where Subspace Emissary could be completed in roughly ten hours (with about an hour or two of post-game,) World of Light’s main campaign takes roughly twenty to complete and allegedly features forty hours of full content. Not only is this just an unprecedented amount of content for the franchise, this may very well make World of Light the single longest story mode in a fighting game. Regardless of how you feel about a full-blown story mode, there’s no denying that Nintendo went all out with providing a worthwhile single-player experience.

21 All Battlefield And Omega Stages Are Identical

The inclusion of Omega and Battlefield stages has been a welcome sight for competitive fans of the series. Regardless of the stage, fans can now choose “fair” stages that match every possible aesthetic the franchise has to offer. Gone are the days of genuinely needing to play Final Destination or Battlefield for a “proper” fight.

Final Destination is whatever you want it to be. 

At the same time, this inclusion has put into question the notion that not every Battlefield or Omega variant might actually offer an “optimal” arena. Thankfully, from looking at the blast area of each variant, we can safely say that every Omega stage and every Battlefield stage is identical.

20 Squad Strike

Although each Nintendo Direct made sure to overload the fanbase with more information than they could possibly consume, Sakurai did keep a few secrets up his sleeve. Most specifically, Squad Strike, one of the few brand new modes to grace the franchise. In Squad Strike, players can form a team of different fighters to compete in one battle ala a battle royale. Each elimination shuffles to the next fighter until one squad is left standing. It’s actually quite reminiscent of how certain Events in Melee worked.

19 Amiibo Cannot Unlock Characters

If you’re the type of player who’s itching to use your Amiibo fighters out of the gate, feel free but just understand that you Amiibo won’t be unlocking characters for you. This means your Amiibo fighting a CPU to train will neither unlock you someone new nor will tapping the Amiibo of a locked character. It might seem a bit disappointing, but part of the game’s charm is the fact that you need to chip away at most of the roster yourself. Besides, it’s not like the game is prohibiting you from using your Amiibo fighters outright.

18 Classic Mode Will Keep Unlocking Characters

In previous games, not every romp through Classic Mode would net you characters. The first few would, but sooner or later you’d find yourself needing to complete a few characters in a row before unlocking anyone new. This time around, though, you’ll get a new character every single time you play Classic.

Just keep chugging away at Classic. 

When it comes down to it, with the enormous roster at play, there simply was no way that Smash Ultimate could justify specific unlocking criteria for every single character, especially since players would only have access to the original eight starting out. The way it is now is the only way to ensure players don’t lose their mind building their roster.

17 The Logistics Of Mii Fighters

In their debut appearance, Mii Fighters were a bit of an oddity. Despite the appeal of having a highly customizable fighter, the game outright barred them from online play. It was a crippling oversight that completely ruined their reputation and thrust them into complete obscurity for the rest of 4’s competitive run.

Thankfully, Sakurai recognized the damage of having such an alluring character with no means of online play front and center. Rather than keeping things as is, Mii Fighters can now participate in online battles. Of course, their height and weight are no longer customizable in order to keep hitboxes static, but it’s a fine enough trade-off.

16 There Are Over 1,000 Spirits (And Almost 100 Are Pokémon)

It goes without saying, but Spirit mode is filled to the brim with Spirits. These are spirits from the franchise we’ve come to know and love, franchises that are shrouded in obscurity, and franchises that have almost nothing to do with Nintendo. Naturally, there are over 1,000 Spirits to collect.

What did you expect? 

Unfortunately, a solid 10 or so percent of them are all Pokémon. To be honest, this does make sense in a certain light. The Pokémon franchise is absolutely massive with such a huge roster. It’s only fitting that 100 slots are dedicated to the Pocket Monsters. You may not like it, but it’s not like Nintendo can’t keep patching in new Spirits.

15 Cloud IS In World Of Light

Leading up to the release of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, someone “leaked” a rumor that Square Enix forbade Nintendo from including Cloud in World of Light. Considering how stingy the company was with lending Nintendo music, it’s not totally uncalled for. Thankfully, this ended up being untrue. Cloud does in fact play an actual role during World of Light. Unfortunately, it’s not much of a role at all, but he is present and fully playable. Always double check your leak sources.

14 The Challenger Approaching Menu

Surprisingly, Challengers in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate are harder than they’ve ever been. Perhaps it’s because all but eight characters need to be unlocked, but you’re going to need to endure quite the gauntlet to unlock everyone. As a result, the game includes a failsafe should you fail too often.

Get cozy with that menu. 

Upon losing to three different Challengers, you’ll unlock an option under Games & More to rematch Challengers you’ve lost to. You don’t get to choose who you fight- and they’re in the order you initially lost to- but it is a fantastic workaround to just running through Classic mode or Versus all over again.

13 Classic Mode Is Personalized

The series’ Classic modes have been losing their luster with every installment since Melee. Starting with Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Classic began to go on too long, offer too little, and generally undo most of the goodwill the franchise’s single-player side has gained. By Smash 4, there was sincerely little to appreciate.

Somehow, against all odds, Smash Ultimate fixes this problem and offers the single greatest Classic mode to date. Each character has their own personalized campaign, (some even have unique final bosses,) linking back to their main game in some way. Young Link’s, for instance, has him fighting every Hyrule based character and ends with him fighting off Ganon in his beast form. What’s not to love?

12 New Game Plus

With such a long story mode- and with branching paths and everything- it’s not unusual to crave some replay value. World of Light is utterly massive and its RPG elements only make it more enticing. So enticing, in fact, the development team had enough foresight to recognize that a New Game Plus would do wonders for the mode. Upon finishing the game, you can boot back up and power through World of Light with all your progress carrying over. In many ways, WoL is a proper RPG.

11 Custom Moves Are Back (For Mii Fighters Only)

Custom moves were the biggest selling point of the last game in the series, to the point where it seemed the franchise was heading in a direction of genuine individual identity. Unfortunately, said mechanic was horribly implemented and fans rejected it outright. Coming into Ultimate, no one really wanted to see said moves return but, alas, they did.

It's honestly better this way. 

Instead of removing custom moves altogether, Sakurai decided to take a unique middle ground. They are indeed back, but only for Mii Fighters. With only Mii Fighters working with custom moves, the traditional fighters are left as is and the few fans who made use of the mechanic can actually put it to decent work without feeling like their efforts are in vain.

10 Data Is Tied To Your Profile

Back in the old days, it was easy to carry your roster with you. With the Nintendo 64, you simply needed your Super Smash Bros. Cartridge. With the GameCube, you simply needed your memory card. With the series back on cartridge, you’d assume we’d be back to the Nintendo 64 era, but things have changed in the past few years.

When it comes to the Nintendo Switch, cartridges truly do not matter. They’re simply a base for the game. All information is on the system itself. Kind of. All your data is attached to whatever profile you’ve played the game on. Regardless if you’re playing on the same console, switching to another profile will start you off fresh with no carried over data.

9 You Can Unlock Everyone In About An Hour

Not digging the fact you have to unlock virtually the entire roster? Upset over the fact that Versus mode effectively locks you into ten minute intervals where you’re forced to wait around before unlocking new characters? Use this one special trick to get everyone in around an hour!

Gaming the system has never been more justified. 

Seriously, this actually works. In Versus, make a rule set where CPUs are Lvl 1 and fights end in one stock. When you defeat an opponent and unlock a character, head to the main menu, turn off the game, and boot it back up. The timer will be reset and you can unlock characters at a rapid pace- far faster than anyone anticipated.

8 Waluigi Is A Spirit

Fret not Waluigi fans, although your man in purple may not be a playable fighter, he’s the next best thing: an assist trophy. Maybe that isn’t enough for you, though. Maybe you want more from Waluigi, and why wouldn’t you? He is arguably Nintendo’s most captivating character, acting as a mirror to humanity itself.

Lucky for you, Waluigi is also a Spirit. Not only can you watch him wreak havoc with a tennis racket on the battlefield, you can embody the essence of Waluigi. Train him, feed him, love him. Waluigi is a Spirit of love, of life. He is the embodiment of what it means to be human. He’s also just a decent Spirit.

7 Make Sure You Have Space For Replays

In such a bombastic game, you’re going to want to save your matches. Battles get absolutely ferocious, and such a large roster means you’ll be experimenting quite often. Every now and again, you’ll stumble upon a fight you’ll want to save either because it showed you at your best or because you need to study your opponent’s power.

32gb simply isn't enough space. 

While this is all well and good, the Nintendo Switch can only hold up so much space and games are only getting bigger in size. Moving forward, you’re absolutely going to want an SD card of sorts- especially if you want to save your replays. These beasts will eat up your data fast. Strongly consider buying a dedicated one just for matches.

6 Shields Take Roughly 10 Seconds To Recharge

Shields are one of the most useful tools at your disposal, but also one of the most underutilized. Next to grabs, very few casual players actually make good use of either their shields or grabs. If you want to play competitively, make sure you understand how to use both. Most importantly, how to use your shield.

Your shield is an incredibly beneficial tool, but be warned- it will break. It’s not a matter of if, but a matter of when. Sooner or later, you’ll hold onto that shield too long and it’ll collapse. When it does, get ready to wait roughly ten seconds as it recharges. It doesn’t sound like much, but ten seconds without a shield is quite dangerous.