At least it was a short wait. Nintendo dropped the surprise announcement for Smash Bros. Ultimate’s seventh DLC fighter yesterday on Twitter, touching off a furious 24 hours of speculation on just who would be the next timeless video game character to take part in Nintendo’s popular brawler.
At 10 AM this morning, a short presentation revealed that it would be Steve from Minecraft that will join the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate squad.
Minecraft is certainly a monumental game worthy of commemoration in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, but this is still a surprise move for Nintendo. All previous rumors pointed at Devil May Cry’s Dante or even Tracer from Overwatch. It’s also Microsoft’s first IP to enter into Smash Bros. Could Master Chief be next?
We’ll save speculation for later, but for now, let’s talk about the trailer. Steve, Alex, Enderman, and Zombie (which all appear to be pallette swaps) will all have the same creative abilities that players have come to associate with Minecraft–specifically, they’ll be able to create blocks from thin air and stack them wherever they want. According to game director Masahiro Sakurai, this simple trick required every map in the game to be re-coded to allow block placement.
“Even I didn’t think this day would come,” noted Sakurai in the short presentation following the announcement. Apparently, the work needed to implement Steve and crew into Smash Bros. was immensely difficult, with Minecraft’s signature creation abilities requiring rebalancing and re-working of many of Smash Bros. Ultimate’s systems.
Besides making blocks, it looks like Steve can also create weapons and even food to heal. At least one scene made it clear that these food items are actually droppable, so if you manage to knock Steve out you’ll be able to steal his lunch.
Other moves like laying lava and TNT blocks appear to be related to smash attacks, but we’ll have to wait until Saturday for the full details. A second presentation will air on October 3 at 10:30 AM EST (7:30 AM PST) that will give us the full lowdown on Steve’s (and crew’s) abilities.
Source: Nintendo
