Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is the most ambitious Smash entry to date, and as a result, there are more unlockable fighters than ever before! The base roster starts with just eight characters – Mario, Donkey Kong, Link, Samus, Yoshi, Kirby, Fox, and Pikachu – and the other 66 must be manually unlocked. Luckily, there are more than a few ways to do this; that being, each method takes quite a bit of time and none of them stand out as the “fastest” strategy.
Versus Matches
All 66 unlockable fighters can be recruited in World of Light, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate’s single-player campaign. Additionally, they can be unlocked just by playing versus matches! They appear in a set order: Ness, Zelda, Bowser, Pit, Inkling, Villager, Marth, Young Link, Wii Fit Trainer, Ice Climbers, Captain Falcon, Peach, Ryu, Ike, Jigglypuff, King K. Rool, Sonic, Simon, Zero Suit Samus, Little Mac, Isabelle, Shulk, Lucina, Wario, Ridley, Pokémon Trainer, Lucario, Daisy, Roy, King Dedede, R.O.B., Falco, Luigi, Pichu, Richter, Lucas, Diddy Kong, Meta Knight, Snake, Ganondorf, Corrin, Mega Man, Bayonetta, Toon Link, Rosalina & Luma, Incineroar, Sheik, Olimar, Pac-Man, Dark Samus, Wolf, Mr. Game & Watch, Robin, Dark Pit, Ken, Greninja, Chrom, Mewtwo, Bowser Jr., Dr. Mario, and then Palutena. Phew. Continue playing versus matches and the corresponding character will appear as a new challenger! You can even play 1-stock versus matches and immediately KO yourself to increase the counter.
Classic Mode
If you’re looking to unlock a specific fighter straight away, try playing Classic Mode! Each unlockable character is placed in one of eight groups, and each of these groups is connected to one of the starter characters. As mentioned before, this includes Mario, Donkey Kong, Link, Samus, Yoshi, Kirby, Fox, and Pikachu. By clearing Classic Mode with one of these characters, new ones can be unlocked.
- Mario unlocks Sonic, Bayonetta, Little Mac, Ike, Luigi, Roy, Dr. Mario, and Olimar.
- Donkey Kong unlocks Bowser, Pokémon Trainer, Rosalina & Luma, King Dedede, Sheik, Greninja, Diddy Kong, and Duck Hunt.
- Link unlocks King K. Rool, Ice Climbers, Simon, Meta Knight, Snake, Young Link, Richter, and Toon Link.
- Samus unlocks Inkling, Wii Fit Trainer, Pit, Incineroar, Dark Samus, Cloud, Wario, and Dark Pit.
- Yoshi unlocks Lucario, Marth, Ryu, Ganondorf, Lucina, Ridley, Chrom, and Ken.
- Kirby unlocks Ness, Jigglypuff, Pac-Man, Zelda, Robin, Corrin, Lucas, and Palutena.
- Fox unlocks Captain Falcon, Zero Suit Samus, Peach, Falco, Daisy, Bowser Jr., Wolf, and Mewtwo.
- Pikachu unlocks Villager, Shulk, R.O.B., Mega Man, Isabelle, Mr. Game & Watch, and Pichu.
For example, if you wanted to unlock Olimar, clearing Classic Mode with Mario (or any of the other characters in his group) a total of eight times would do the trick. Using this method, you can unlock any fighter you want by determining which group they’re in! Please note that any purchased DLC fighters are automatically added to the roster and do not need to be unlocked. For more Super Smash Bros. Ultimate content, feel free to join our Discord community!
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