Some releases arrive slowly and grow over time. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate did not need that. Released on December 7, 2018 for the Nintendo Switch, the game took less than a week to appear at the top of Amazon United States’ list of 2018’s best-selling games, ahead of titles that had been on sale for months, such as Super Mario Party and Red Dead Redemption 2.
The result did not come out of nowhere. In November 2018, Nintendo had already said Ultimate was the most pre-ordered game in the history of the Switch and of the series itself. Interest had been building since March of that year, when a Nintendo Direct showed the first teaser. At E3 2018 came the name and the date, along with the promise that became the game’s motto: every fighter from every previous Smash would be back.
For fighting game fans, the package impressed with its quantity and coherence. Directed by Masahiro Sakurai, with development split between Bandai Namco Studios and Sora Ltd., Ultimate brought together 74 fighters at launch, the 63 from previous games plus 11 newcomers, about 103 stages and more than 900 songs. There was also the World of Light adventure mode, with its own story and the Spirits system, for those who prefer to train alone before facing other people.
What came next
Leading Amazon was only the beginning. In 11 days, the game passed 3 million copies sold in the United States, and critics followed: a 93 on Metacritic and IGN’s Best of 2018 awards for best Switch game, best fighting game and best multiplayer. Ultimate became the best-selling fighting game of all time, surpassing Street Fighter II. By March 31, 2025, it reached 36.24 million. Calmly and consistently, it became a reference for an entire generation of players.
Source: Eurogamer.
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