With “Smash 4” at the end of its lifespan, fans of the series were wondering what is on the horizon within the action-packed crossover fighter. The wait is finally over. Masahiro Sakurai, the director and designer of the Smash Bros series has blessed fans with a new ultimate installment in the series. He has dubbed it Super Smash Bros Ultimate. This new game has every fighter in the franchise’s history making a return as playable characters. Fighters such as Pichu from Melee,  Brawl is bringing back Wolf, Pokemon Trainer, and Snake. Every character from Smash Bros for Wii U will also return. In total there are 55 returning.

Sakurai adds a slew of new fighters with every new game. The reveal trailer showed Inkling from Splatoon, and Ridley from Metroid games. Simon Belmont from the Castlevania series joins the fight as well. King K, Rool from Donkey Kong Country, is belly flopping in. Isabelle from Animal Crossing is ballooning into the fight. Dark Samus, Chrom, Lucina, and Richter Belmont are Echo fighters of Samus, Roy, Marth, and Simon respectively. If every single fighter is added up, the roster is 68 and there are still more to come.

In every Smash game there are a few new mechanics that make the game feel new. This upcoming game is putting an ultimate spin on it. Directional air dodge is back from Smash Bros Melee. Perfect shielding now occurs at the end of shielding a move, and Stage Morph is a new feature in the game. It allows you to play two stages and every so often it will transition to the next stage. With over 100 stages it’s shaping up to be crazy. Chargeable final smashes are appearing in the new game as well. Previously, the only way to unleash your final smash was to turn the items on, but since items are not played at the competitive level, this addition will shake the game up dramatically. Classic mode is back from Melee. A mysterious new mode is also coming.

Sakurai has done the impossible; every character, almost every stage, mechanics from every past Smash game and some new ones, new music, and new fighting modes. Ultimate is a great name for this game, it has everything. This game will go down as one of if not the best game in the series. You can get this game on Dec. 7 2018 or preorder it before that to have delivered on the day it comes out.