Official Next Smash - Speculation & Discussion Thread

[Shinuto]

How many new omers do you expect in smash first reveal assuming it's not some small teaser like ultimates with only one being inkling.

 

[Wario Wario Wario]

This whole Rambi thing actually got me thinking on something I've thought about for a while: what is more important to a moveset: unique powers, or body/weapon movement? To me, when I think about a moveset, my first thought typically goes to air attacks before anything else, and then specials come last after even grabs, and I find that non-special attacks are most interesting when there's some kind of interesting shape to either a character or weapon, or even just a personality or more subtle power (non-offensive ability or generic effect - think Ness kinda floating around and creating little non-descript psychic effects) that comes through when attacking.

 

[AreJay25]

How many new omers do you expect in smash first reveal assuming it's not some small teaser like ultimates with only one being inkling.

Probably 3, much like Smash 4's. Two Nintendo characters and one 3rd party.

 

[The Stoopid Unikorn]

Add in the connection of Toad literally running the Toad Houses in Super Mario Bros. 3

Not just Mario Bros. 3 but also the entire New SMB series (though the first one is by technicality since Toadsworth runs them, who isn't the Toad but rather a Toad), 3D Land and 3D World. Toads being suppliers of power-ups is recurring enough that it makes a lot of sense to steer a Toad moveset that way.

 

[Thegameandwatch]

How many new omers do you expect in smash first reveal assuming it's not some small teaser like ultimates with only one being inkling.

Probably 1-3 like how Smash 4 had 3 characters revealed in the same time frame (Villager, Megaman and Wii Fit Trainer).

The first trailer will probably show graphical enhancement since the Switch 2 will be more powerful.

 

[Gengar84]

I’m cool with dropping the whole Dixie argument. I think the animal buddies idea could be fun. If you don’t, that’s cool too. No need to drag it out any further.

To change the subject, this is what I’d go with for Jinx’s base and alts for Smash. The first is her design from 2XKO, which is basically a hybrid between her game design and Arcane. The next two are her two main designs from Arcane.

 

[TheFirstPoppyBro]

Smash 6 is most likely not coming this year.
But 2026 is still a big posibility, just probably not early '26.
I don't see why 3D Mario, Pokemon Gen 10 and Smash 6 can't all come out in 2026, honestly. Switch 1 had MK8D, ARMS, BOTW, Odyssey, Splatoon 2 and Xenoblade 2 in 2017, that was stacked as **** looking back.

I think Smash will start its marketing next year and if it's anything like Smash 4's it'd take about a year or so is the main reason I personally don't think Smash would be next year. Of course I also think it started development in about mid-2024, so that also plays a part in it since 2027 would give it at least two and a half years of dev time, probably closer to three years or so. Not confirmed of course, but I've said for a while that that makes the most sense to me.

But even if you make the marketing Dojo wise go faster than 4's, since there are more veterans to confirm and likely more newcomers (a more standard amount) that each need a time to show off their trailers (and unlike in 4's dual release case probably wouldn't wait until after release to show them), I feel like it'd basically equalize the time taken.

 

[LiveStudioAudience]

The really interesting question at this point is what will launch with the Switch (presumably in summer/fall) beyond Mario Kart? 3D Zelda might be some ways away given the relatively recent launch of Tears of the Kingdom, Metroid Prime 4 will be a cross-gen game (and the series has rarely done ridiculously big numbers), the next Pokémon may be closer to a holiday release, and the Animal Crossing team has been busy with Splatoon. The obvious answer would be 3D Mario, but it's been close to 30 years since a Nintendo system launched with a new three-dimensional Mario release and there might be some synergy in play with the Mario movie as far as timing.

I guess I'm just curious if they go the obvious route with Mario or if something else is in store.

 

[Perkilator]

The really interesting question at this point is what will launch with the Switch (presumably in summer/fall) beyond Mario Kart? 3D Zelda might be some ways away given the relatively recent launch of Tears of the Kingdom, Metroid Prime 4 will be a cross-gen game (and the series is rarely done ridiculous numbers), the next Pokémon may be closer to a holiday release, and the Animal Crossing team has been busy with Splatoon. The obvious answer would be 3D Mario, but it's been close to 30 years since a Nintendo system launched with a new three dimensional Mario release and there might be some synergy in play with the Mario movie.

I guess I'm just curious if they go the obvious route with Mario or if something else is in store.

Whatever the case, I’m sure they’ll at least make an entirely new IP to demonstrate mouse mode, like how they made ARMS to demonstrate the Switch 1’s Joy-Con tech.

 

[BrawlX10]

How many new omers do you expect in smash first reveal assuming it's not some small teaser like ultimates with only one being inkling.

Honestly, I’d say it depends on how many non-echo base game newcomers are in the next Smash Bros. If it's around 6, like in Ultimate, then probably just 1 newcomer will be revealed in the first trailer (only Inkling was shown in Ultimate’s first trailer).

However, if the next game introduces more, say 10 or even more, then 2 newcomers are possible, similar to Smash 4, which revealed both Villager and Mega Man in the first trailer. Smash 4 also had 12 non-echo newcomers (or 15 if you include Mii Fighters). While Wii Fit Trainer was revealed the same day, it was in a separate video, so 3 newcomers could be a possibility, though it's less likely.

Brawl is an interesting case because it had a lot of base game newcomers, and that’s likely why the initial trailer showed 5 newcomers.

My possibly unpopular opinion is that it's unlikely we’ll see such a massive newcomer roster in the base game again, like Brawl (15, or 18 if you count transformations) or Smash 4 (12, or 15 with Mii Fighters, not counting Echoes). I’m expecting around 8 non-echo newcomers in the base game. Of course, Sakurai might surprise us and add 13 new characters, but I just don’t think that’s as likely as some people expect.

 

[ninjahmos]

What if they played this for Toad's reveal trailer if he ever gets in?

 

[fogbadge]

What if they played this for Toad's reveal trailer if he ever gets in?

or they could use toad's theme for LM, one of the mario kart tracks from one of his tracks or even the captain toad theme

 

[KingofPhantoms]

The really interesting question at this point is what will launch with the Switch (presumably in summer/fall) beyond Mario Kart? 3D Zelda might be some ways away given the relatively recent launch of Tears of the Kingdom, Metroid Prime 4 will be a cross-gen game (and the series is rarely done ridiculous numbers), the next Pokémon may be closer to a holiday release, and the Animal Crossing team has been busy with Splatoon. The obvious answer would be 3D Mario, but it's been close to 30 years since a Nintendo system launched with a new three dimensional Mario release and there might be some synergy in play with the Mario movie.

I guess I'm just curious if they go the obvious route with Mario or if something else is in store.

This might be an opportunity for Nintendo to break that trend. If you don't count the remake of 3D World and Bowser's Fury, it's been a long time since we've gotten a completely new mainline 3D Mario game, comparable to the gap of time between Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Sunshine being released. I could easily see them be cooking up a brand new entry in the Mario series to go with the Switch 2's release. Splatoon meanwhile recently ended it's line-up of new content to my understanding, so it wouldn't be unfeasible for them to release a new game either with or shortly after the Switch 2's release.

With that said, if it's not Mario, and it still sounds a bit unlikely to me, I could see a new Kirby potentially being a launch title instead. Kirby's only become a stronger franchise than it already was in recent years, and most of the other Nintendo franchises are either already getting new games for either the Switch or both the Switch and Switch 2 soon (Zelda, Pikmin, Fire Emblem,, Pokemon and Metroid), have long windows of time and inactivity between new games being released (mainly Pikmin and Animal Crossing) or are more or less dormant (primarily Mother and Starfox, and F-Zero to a very slightly lesser extent thanks to F-Zero 99).

And then there's Donkey Kong, which is also quite popular, but hasn't gotten a fully new game in a long time, either, and compared to Mario which is at least getting spin-offs, and other franchises which either got a new game fairly recently or will be getting a new game soon, we have no idea what it's status is whatsoever. Is it possible we could get one as a launch title? Maybe, but we have no indication of whether or not there's even a new game for it currently in the works, made more complicated by the fact that Retro is busy working on Prime 4.

My best bets are a 3D Mario or a new Kirby game, but it's possible they might just rely on Prime 4 and Mario Kart as their mainline launch titles.

 

[Cyberfire]

The really interesting question at this point is what will launch with the Switch (presumably in summer/fall) beyond Mario Kart? 3D Zelda might be some ways away given the relatively recent launch of Tears of the Kingdom, Metroid Prime 4 will be a cross-gen game (and the series has rarely done ridiculously big numbers), the next Pokémon may be closer to a holiday release, and the Animal Crossing team has been busy with Splatoon. The obvious answer would be 3D Mario, but it's been close to 30 years since a Nintendo system launched with a new three-dimensional Mario release and there might be some synergy in play with the Mario movie as far as timing.

I guess I'm just curious if they go the obvious route with Mario or if something else is in store.

I think it'll be Donkey Kong, and the 3D Mario will launch later in the year.

 

[TheFirstPoppyBro]

The really interesting question at this point is what will launch with the Switch (presumably in summer/fall) beyond Mario Kart? 3D Zelda might be some ways away given the relatively recent launch of Tears of the Kingdom, Metroid Prime 4 will be a cross-gen game (and the series has rarely done ridiculously big numbers), the next Pokémon may be closer to a holiday release, and the Animal Crossing team has been busy with Splatoon. The obvious answer would be 3D Mario, but it's been close to 30 years since a Nintendo system launched with a new three-dimensional Mario release and there might be some synergy in play with the Mario movie as far as timing.

I guess I'm just curious if they go the obvious route with Mario or if something else is in store.

I mentioned it briefly yesterday I believe, but I could see Luigi's Mansion 4 doing something like that. Nintendo acquired Next Level Games in 2021, Mario Strikers was 3 years ago, and Luigi's Mansion 3 did really well (14.25 million copies), plus the Dark Moon remaster was done by Tantalus Media instead of NLG, and considering Next Level's other main thing is Punch-Out which I don't really expect to see here, I think a new Luigi's Mansion is about all they COULD be working on. The original Luigi's Mansion was also a launch title, so it wouldn't even be the first time lol

I dunno that it'd be a really huge system pusher or anything, but it's a pretty popular series that I could see being a launch title or at least very early on.

 

[Cyberfire]

I mentioned it briefly yesterday I believe, but I could see Luigi's Mansion 4 doing something like that. Nintendo acquired Next Level Games in 2021, Mario Strikers was 3 years ago, and Luigi's Mansion 3 did really well (14.25 million copies), plus the Dark Moon remaster was done by Tantalus Media, and considering Next Level's other main thing is Punch-Out which I don't really expect to see here, I think a new Luigi's Mansion is about all they COULD be working on. The original Luigi's Mansion was also a launch title, so it wouldn't even be the first time lol

I dunno that it'd be a really huge system pusher or anything, but it's a pretty popular series that I could see being a launch title or at least very early on.

Luigi's Mansion 4 is happening for sure. The dev cycle on one of those games surely can't be that long, wouldn't be surprised if it's already done and they are saving it.

 

[KingofPhantoms]

I mentioned it briefly yesterday I believe, but I could see Luigi's Mansion 4 doing something like that. Nintendo acquired Next Level Games in 2021, Mario Strikers was 3 years ago, and Luigi's Mansion 3 did really well (14.25 million copies), plus the Dark Moon remaster was done by Tantalus Media instead of NLG, and considering Next Level's other main thing is Punch-Out which I don't really expect to see here, I think a new Luigi's Mansion is about all they COULD be working on. The original Luigi's Mansion was also a launch title, so it wouldn't even be the first time lol

I dunno that it'd be a really huge system pusher or anything, but it's a pretty popular series that I could see being a launch title or at least very early on.

I can't believe I forgot to consider Luigi's Mansion. The series only seriously picking up steam and becoming it's own IP in more recent years, but Dark Moon was a big success and 3 was an even greater one, so I could also see Luigi's Mansion 4 either being a launch title or being released shortly after the Switch 2 itself does.

I'd also love to see the next game in the series be an early game for the Switch 2, too. The first Luigi's Mansion was my introduction to the Mario franchise as a whole, and I always appreciate seeing the man in green get more respect and time in the limelight. Far as I'm concerned, the more Luigi's Mansions, the better.

 

[Kirby Dragons]

I don't think an actual monster from Monster Hunter will be playable. The most iconic two have size and shape issues, and I doubt they'd go with a lesser known one even if it has a more suitable body shape.

Monster Hunter should be the only character from the series to be considered, but if the Monster Hunter team doesn't want hunters in the spotlight, I can imagine the Smash team respecting that. And if that's the case, we just won't get a playable Monster Hunter character.

 

[GoldenYuiitusin]

We'll get Rajang and it will acknowledge the thumbs up meme.

 

[The Stoopid Unikorn]

We'll get Rajang and it will acknowledge the thumbs up meme.
View attachment 400769

I pressed liked because I thought it was funny, then it dawned on me that by doing that, I'm giving it a thumbs up

 

[NonSpecificGuy]

Luigi’s Mansion 3 selling 14 MILLION copies is till so bizarre to me. The game is obviously quality and beautiful but Luigi’s Mansion of all games selling that much when it was previously dead for a decade between 1 & 2 blows my mind.

 

[fogbadge]

Luigi’s Mansion 3 selling 14 MILLION copies is till so bazaar to me. The game is obviously quality and beautiful but Luigi’s Mansion of all games selling that much when it was previously dead for a decade between 1 & 2 blows my mind.

never underestimate the nostalgia of millennials

 

[Thegameandwatch]

Luigi’s Mansion 3 selling 14 MILLION copies is till so bazaar to me. The game is obviously quality and beautiful but Luigi’s Mansion of all games selling that much when it was previously dead for a decade between 1 & 2 blows my mind.

I think the second game being 3DS was also because of the 3D which was planned for the first game on GameCube.

 

[LiveStudioAudience]

With Luigi's Mansion 3, something that's a bit underrated I think is that it has some of the best across the board appeal of any Switch game. It has enough depth in its environments for experienced/exploration-oriented players to dive into but is still remarkably friendly to younger players/newbies. The number of parents that bought the game because they knew either their children would really dig it and/or they could play the game with their kids is ridiculously high.

It's like a Nintendo take on old school family friendly adventure games, just with more direct interaction with the environment via Luigi's tools than a point & click as well as semi-action with enemies/bosses.

 

[RileyXY1]

The really interesting question at this point is what will launch with the Switch (presumably in summer/fall) beyond Mario Kart? 3D Zelda might be some ways away given the relatively recent launch of Tears of the Kingdom, Metroid Prime 4 will be a cross-gen game (and the series has rarely done ridiculously big numbers), the next Pokémon may be closer to a holiday release, and the Animal Crossing team has been busy with Splatoon. The obvious answer would be 3D Mario, but it's been close to 30 years since a Nintendo system launched with a new three-dimensional Mario release and there might be some synergy in play with the Mario movie as far as timing.

I guess I'm just curious if they go the obvious route with Mario or if something else is in store.

There's also the fact that this year is Mario's 40th anniversary. I think that the possible 3D Mario game we might get this year might also be a way for them to celebrate this massive anniversary.

 

[Swamp Sensei]

Speaking of Luigi's Mansion 3... What content from that game should be in Smash?

 

[GoldenYuiitusin]

Speaking of Luigi's Mansion 3... What content from that game should be in Smash?

Gooigi.

 

[TheFirstPoppyBro]

Speaking of Luigi's Mansion 3... What content from that game should be in Smash?

I think Luigi should have Gooigi as an alt tbh. Not like a full set of colors or anything, just one, kind of like how Yoshi has Crafted Yoshi only not terrible because Gooigi is peak.

Also I feel like it should get some music obviously, though I'm not sure exactly what tracks outside of like probably the main theme or a remix of it?

And I feel like it could get a stage, though that depends on if Sakurai and co. don't make one of the new game that might show up pretty soon lol

 

[KingofPhantoms]

Speaking of Luigi's Mansion 3... What content from that game should be in Smash?

More Polterpup in general.

 

[Kirby Dragons]

Ignore this.

 

[Thegameandwatch]

Speaking of Luigi's Mansion 3... What content from that game should be in Smash?

Probably a new stage and Gooigi as a skin.

There is already content from that game since Luigi’s grab which was revealed in Simon’s trailer in the now removed August Smash direct was from Luigi’s Mansion 3 before its announcement.

 

[LiveStudioAudience]

I'd love a shifting stage that goes to various sections from the Last Resort in LM3. If they could somehow do a context of Smash fighters in a giant hotel elevator that moves to different floors of the building (shops, museum, dance hall, TV studio) they could have a lot of fun with it.

 

[GoldenYuiitusin]

Nah, make Gooigi an Echo, complete with uncanny movements and goo balls instead of fire (because fire is a weakness).

 

[Gorgonzales]

I'd want Gooigi as a Special Move for a character whose moveset focuses around the Poltergust (either a redesigned Luigi or ideally a playable E. Gadd), who can deploy him like a puppet or meat shield.

Gooigi being his own character doesn't terribly excite me, even as an echo.

 

[dream1ng]

I’m cool with dropping the whole Dixie argument. I think the animal buddies idea could be fun. If you don’t, that’s cool too. No need to drag it out any further.

To change the subject, this is what I’d go with for Jinx’s base and alts for Smash. The first is her design from 2XKO, which is basically a hybrid between her game design and Arcane. The next two are her two main designs from Arcane.
View attachment 400755View attachment 400756View attachment 400757

Guessing Sakurai would opt for the og design (with the chest wrap if need be for good boys and girls) as the default - it's from the "main game" and he seems to lean more towards the classic design for third-parties when they have multiple well-known ones (though obv not as a rule), with the Arcane one as an alt.

I also think the other design not originating from a game would only further compel Sakurai to not have it as the default.

But if Riot was insistent on the opposite, I don't see Sakurai pulling a "if you make me use Ghostly Adventures I will cut Pac-Man".

I think Smash will start its marketing next year and if it's anything like Smash 4's it'd take about a year or so is the main reason I personally don't think Smash would be next year. Of course I also think it started development in about mid-2024, so that also plays a part in it since 2027 would give it at least two and a half years of dev time, probably closer to three years or so. Not confirmed of course, but I've said for a while that that makes the most sense to me.

But even if you make the marketing Dojo wise go faster than 4's, since there are more veterans to confirm and likely more newcomers (a more standard amount) that each need a time to show off their trailers (and unlike in 4's dual release case probably wouldn't wait until after release to show them), I feel like it'd basically equalize the time taken.

It's increasingly uncommon to see Nintendo games announced more than a year before their release, and unless the schedule is barren or lackluster without it, I don't think Smash will prove an exception. I know it used to have very long pre-release wait times, but I think between Nintendo's changing tactics, Sakurai's previous distaste expressed towards how early Smash has been revealed as well as having to spend time updating the DOJO/PotD, as well as what I'm expecting will be a somewhat small base with a greater focus on continued DLC makes me predict something akin to Ultimate's release again, being revealed less than a year before release.

In fact if the game were to hypothetically release holiday 2026, I could see a very similar timeframe play out to Smash in 2018.

I also doubt there will be more newcomers in 6's base than 4's given the latter wasn't made with DLC planned in advance.

 

[TheFirstPoppyBro]

I also doubt there will be more newcomers in 6's base than 4's given the latter wasn't made with DLC planned in advance.

When I put "a more standard amount" in parentheses, I was referring to more standard than Ultimate's 6, not more newcomers than Smash 4's like 12-15.

 

[Gengar84]

Guessing Sakurai would opt for the og design (with the chest wrap if need be for good boys and girls) as the default - it's from the "main game" and he seems to lean more towards the classic design for third-parties when they have multiple well-known ones (though obv not as a rule), with the Arcane one as an alt.

I also think the other design not originating from a game would only further compel Sakurai to not have it as the default.

But if Riot was insistent on the opposite, I don't see Sakurai pulling a "if you make me use Ghostly Adventures I will cut Pac-Man".

Yeah, I think that’s why they’d go with her 2XKO design as the default. It’s basically her classic game outfit with Arcane’s top. So it addresses the “good boys and girls” issue while keeping a lot of the original design. I think her two Arcane outfits make a lot of sense as alts like they did with Cloud’s Adventure Children outfit.

 

[dream1ng]

Yeah, I think that’s why they’d go with her 2XKO design as the default. It’s basically her classic game outfit with Arcane’s top. So it addresses the “good boys and girls” issue while keeping a lot of the original design. I think her two Arcane outfits make a lot of sense as alts like they did with Cloud’s Adventure Children outfit.

Though... that's a spin-off. I don't think Sakurai would opt for it, and I don't know if Riot would push for it over the Arcane look.

For the default I think it's either going to be Sakurai going with the original outfit (it already has a "censored" version), or Riot insisting on the Arcane look. The other will probably be an alt, and I think 2XKO would be lucky to be a second alt, but in all likelihood may just be the inspiration for a palette swap.

When I put "a more standard amount" in parentheses, I was referring to more standard than Ultimate's 6, not more newcomers than Smash 4's like 12-15.

Gotcha

 

[The Stoopid Unikorn]

Ignore this.

bottom text

 

[Gengar84]

Though... that's a spin-off. I don't think Sakurai would opt for it, and I don't know if Riot would push for it over the Arcane look.

For the default I think it's either going to be Sakurai going with the original outfit (it already has a "censored" version), or Riot insisting on the Arcane look. The other will probably be an alt, and I think 2XKO would be lucky to be a second alt, but in all likelihood may just be the inspiration for a palette swap.


Gotcha

Oh really, what’s the censored version? I assumed that’s essentially what her 2XKO design is. As long as I get the Arcane designs in some way, I’m cool with them as alts.

Oh I see it now. They added the white bandaging under her top. Yeah, this is actually the best option for the base outfit since it’s more distinct from the ones in Arcane. The two Arcane outfits would be great alts.