Super Smash Bros. Ultimate just got a lot more goth. In today’s Smash-focused Nintendo Direct, Nintendo revealed the original Castlevania vampire hunter Simon Belmont to the huge roster of playable fighters. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is arriving exclusively to Nintendo Switch on December 7.
As a courtesy warning to any Luigi fans out there, the reveal trailer gets a tad graphic.
Simon Belmont wields his signature whip, which is a bit slow but features the longest reach in the game of any fighter. As a nod to the old series, the whip can also be controlled independently. Belmon’s move set features all his famous subweapons from the Castlevania series, including the throwing axe, cross, and holy water. His Final Smash, Grand Cross, involves hurling enemies into a coffin.
Along with Simon Belmont comes descendant vampire hunter Richter Belmont, which is an ‘echo fighter’ of Simon, which translates to a fancy reskin with unique voice and animations. The other major protagonist of the series, Alucard, will appear as a new Assist Trophy.
The Belmons come with their own stage, Dracula’s Castle . It’s the darkest stage in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and features many spooky bosses and enemies from the series, such as Dracula and Death.
Around the time of Symphony of the Night on the original PlayStation, Castlevania became known for its killer orchestral-metal soundtrack. Dracula’s Castle will feature 34 tracks, including classics and new songs.
In addition to Simon/Richter, Donkey Kong villain King K. Kool joins the cast. He can wields his blunderbuss and can fire cannons, as well as throw his boomerang-like crown.
The Direct also revealed two new echo fighters, Chrom (an echo of Roy) and Dark Samus (Samus, duh). Echo fighters can be shown as different fighters on the select screen, or overlayed on top of each other.
Newly announced stages include the Garden of Hope from Pikmin, Magicant from Earthbound, the Unova Pokémon League, and New Donk City Hall from Super Mario Odyssey. You can also play all the classic stages from the first Smash game, Super Smash Bros. on the Nintendo 64.
The total number of stages in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is 103, nearly twice as much as the last Smash Bros. game. Each stage can also be battled in Battlefield and Omega forms, and they’re all available right from the beginning. For context, the original Super Smash Bros. had nine total stages.
There are still more Smash details to come, as the Direct teases an entirely unannounced mode on the main screen. It’s most likely an all-new single player mode.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is easily one of the most anticipated games of 2018. It releases on Switch on December 7.
