Super Smash Bros: The Complete Guide to Nintendo's Biggest Brawler

Super Smash Bros is Nintendo's crossover fighting series where Mario, Link, Pikachu, and dozens of other gaming icons fight it out on floating stages. Instead of draining a health bar, you build up your opponent's damage percentage and knock them clean off the stage. It's simple to pick up, brutal to master, and five games deep.

The newest entry, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (Nintendo Switch, 2018), packs 86 fighters including DLC — the largest roster in fighting-game history — plus more than 100 stages and over 1,000 music tracks. Whether you're booting up your first match or you've been playing since the N64 days, this guide covers every game, how matches work, the fighters, and the competitive scene.

Quick facts

• First game: Super Smash Bros, Nintendo 64, 1999
• Latest game: Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Nintendo Switch, December 7, 2018
• Main entries: 5 (N64, GameCube, Wii, 3DS/Wii U, Switch)
• Biggest roster: 86 fighters in Ultimate (74 base + 12 DLC)
• Created by: Masahiro Sakurai; developed with HAL Laboratory and later Bandai Namco Studios
• Copies sold: nearly 34 million for Ultimate alone — one of the best-selling fighting games ever

Every Smash game, in order

Super Smash Bros. (1999, Nintendo 64). The one that started it. Twelve fighters — eight from the start (Mario, Donkey Kong, Link, Samus, Yoshi, Kirby, Fox, Pikachu) plus four unlockables (Luigi, Captain Falcon, Ness, Jigglypuff). It introduced the damage-percentage system and breakable-target minigames. Japan got it on January 21, 1999; North America on April 26.

Super Smash Bros. Melee (2001, GameCube). The roster jumped to 26, movement got much faster, and advanced techniques like wavedashing and L-canceling made it a lab monster. Melee sold over 7 million copies, making it the best-selling GameCube game ever, and it still anchors the competitive scene more than two decades later.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl (2008, Wii). The roster grew to 35 fighters (39 if you count Zelda/Sheik, Samus/Zero Suit Samus, and the Pokémon Trainer's trio separately). It added The Subspace Emissary, a full side-scrolling adventure mode, and — for the first time — third-party guests: Solid Snake from Metal Gear and Sonic the Hedgehog. Online play debuted here, rough edges and all.

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U (2014). Fans call it Smash 4. Fifty-one fighters on disc plus seven DLC, for a total of 58. The 3DS version (September/October 2014) was the series' first portable outing; the Wii U version (November/December 2014) added 8-player Smash. DLC brought Ryu, Cloud Strife, and Bayonetta into the fold.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (2018, Nintendo Switch). "Everyone is here" — every fighter from every past game returned, plus newcomers like Inkling, Ridley, King K. Rool, and Isabelle. The base game holds 74 fighters, and two Fighters Passes plus Piranha Plant added 12 more: Joker, Hero, Banjo & Kazooie, Terry, Byleth, Min Min, Steve, Sephiroth, Pyra/Mythra, Kazuya, and Sora — the final reveal on October 18, 2021. World of Light, its single-player adventure, spans a massive map full of Spirit battles. Over 100 stages, 1,000+ tracks, and nearly 34 million copies sold by the end of 2023.

How a Smash match actually works

You don't KO anyone by emptying a health bar. Every hit raises your opponent's damage percentage. The higher the number, the further they fly when you connect. At some point a good smash attack sends them past the blast zone — the invisible boundary around the stage — and they lose a stock.

Most matches use stock rules (each player gets a set number of lives) or time rules (most KOs when the clock hits zero wins). Controls stay dead simple: one attack button plus a direction. Flick the stick for a smash attack, tilt it gently for a tilt, and press B with a direction for special moves. Getting back to the stage after being launched — the recovery — is half the game. Your up-B special is your lifeline; miss it and you're done.

The Smash Ball is the item everyone chases. Break it and your fighter glows, ready to unleash a Final Smash — a cinematic super move that can wipe a whole lobby. Other items keep things chaotic: Poké Balls release Pokémon, Assist Trophies summon characters like Waluigi and Shovel Knight, and the Bob-omb does exactly what you'd expect.

Stages matter as much as fighters. Final Destination is a flat platform — the go-to for pure skill matchups. Battlefield adds three floating platforms and defines most competitive play. And yes, you can turn stage hazards and items off when you want a serious fight.

The fighters

Roster depth is Smash's whole identity. All-rounders like Mario and Kirby are great first picks. Speedsters (Sonic, Fox) rush you down. Heavies (Bowser, Ganondorf, King K. Rool) hit like trucks but recover slowly. Sword users (Marth, Lucina, Link) control space with their blades. Zoners (Samus, Snake, Min Min) pepper you from across the stage. Pick whoever looks fun — you'll learn the matchups by playing.

Echo Fighters share a moveset with another character but tweak the details: Daisy echoes Peach, Dark Samus echoes Samus, Ken echoes Ryu. Mii Fighters let you build your own Brawler, Swordfighter, or Gunner with custom moves. And third-party guests are everywhere now — Mega Man, Pac-Man, Cloud, Joker, Steve, Sora. It's the one place these universes collide.

Single-player: more than just versus

Classic Mode is the series staple: a gauntlet of fights ending in a boss. Ultimate remixes it so each fighter gets a themed ladder — Mario's is a colorful platforming tribute, for instance. World of Light is Ultimate's sprawling adventure, where you free possessed fighters across a giant map. Spirits, equippable power-ups drawn from gaming history, add a whole collection and team-building layer.

The minigames are classics in their own right. Home-Run Contest has you beat a sandbag as far as possible with a bat. Break the Targets (Target Blast in Smash 4) tests movement precision. All-Star mode throws the whole roster at you with limited healing. There's enough here for months without ever touching multiplayer.

The competitive scene

Smash grew into a genuine esport on the back of grassroots tournaments. Melee never really died — events like Genesis still draw huge crowds, and its players pioneered techniques the developers never intended. Ultimate took over the spotlight with majors like Evo, with top players grinding matchups across all 86 fighters.

Tournament rules are standardized: typically 3 or 4 stocks, 8 minutes, no items, a small list of legal stages. Players strike stages before game one, then the loser picks the next stage. It's a different world from a casual item-filled free-for-all — and honestly, both are worth playing.

FAQ

How many characters are in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate?
86 fighters counting Pokémon Trainer as one — 89 if you count his three Pokémon and Pyra/Mythra separately. That includes all 12 DLC fighters, with Sora as the final one.

Which Smash game should I play in 2026?
Ultimate on Switch. It has every fighter, every stage that matters, and an active player base. Melee is the pick if you want the deepest competitive scene and don't mind older hardware.

Is a new Smash game coming?
Nothing official. Sakurai wrapped up his work on Ultimate with the Sora amiibo release in early 2024 and has said he's moving on. Fans speculate, but Nintendo hasn't announced anything.

Can you play Smash online?
Yes — Ultimate's online supports quickplay matchmaking, private battle arenas with passwords, and tournaments. A Nintendo Switch Online membership is required.

Start smashing

Grab a controller, pick Mario, and set your first match to 3 stocks on Battlefield. You'll lose your first few games — everyone does. Then something clicks, and you'll understand why this series has been going for 27 years. This site is a fan-made guide with no ties to Nintendo (see our disclaimer), built for players who just want straight answers about the games. Check the about page to see what we're about.