Due to the shocking announcement that all fighters in Super Smash Bros. history will be joining the roster of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, it shouldn't come as a surprise that the new game will be light on brand new characters making their introduction to the franchise.

In early March, Nintendo announced plans to bring the Super Smash Bros. franchise to the Nintendo Switch. Details were expected to be withheld until E3 2018 and after a long wait, Nintendo finally unveiled Super Smash Bros. Ultimate during today's Nintendo Direct presentation. The biggest and most exciting reveal surrounding the new game is that it will include every character ever to be featured in a Super Smash Bros. title.

Super Smash Bros. series creator and Ultimate director Masahiro Sakurai discussed the game during the E3 2018 Nintendo Direct and talked about how the game's immense roster will affect the number of new fighters to be introduced in Ultimate. According to Sakurai, adding in all previous fighters was their top priority, which means that there may be significantly less new characters in the upcoming installment.

"We made including every single fighter ever our number one goal, so I'm kind of hoping you're not expecting too many new challengers."

So far every Super Smash Bros. sequel has introduced a slew of new challengers. Melee doubled the size of the original roster, Brawl introduced Wario, Diddy Kong, the Pokemon Trainer, and third party characters Solid Snake and Sonic the Hedgehog. Super Smash Bros. for the Wii U and 3DS added Pac-Man, Megaman, Greninja, and a ton of new characters through DLC, so it would certainly be a major shift if Ultimate goes in a different direction.

Cover for Super Smash Bros Melee

However, this doesn't mean that an absence of several new fighters would be a disappointment. As Sakurai expressed during the presentation, packing 68 characters into one game is a massive undertaking. So it's understandable why a game that features all mainstays of the franchise, DLC characters, and forgotten fighters from past installments would include only a small number of new challengers.

That being said, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate will at least feature some new characters. Splatoon's Inklings were revealed to be joining the fight in the game's announcement trailer. Metroid's Ridley, a monster who was once said to be too large to work in a Super Smash Bros. game, is also getting in on the action. Princess Daisy, a classic Mario character, is finally joining the series as an "Echo fighter" to Princess Peach, which means that she'll have a similar design and moveset. A few more characters may be announced prior to release.

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Super Smash Bros. Ultimate launches December 7, 2018 on the Nintendo Switch.

Source: E3 Nintendo Direct [via EventHubs]