We review products independently, but we may earn affiliate commissions from buying links on this page. Terms of use.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (for Nintendo Switch)

 & Will Greenwald Principal Writer, Consumer Electronics

Our team tests, rates, and reviews more than 1,500 products each year to help you make better buying decisions and get more from technology.

Our Expert
LOOK INSIDE PC LABS HOW WE TEST
65 EXPERTS
43 YEARS
41,500+ REVIEWS

Smashing

Combat is fast, satisfying, and varied. While each character has a limited number of moves, they all feel unique and apply to very different situations.

All the Warriors

This is the biggest Super Smash Bros. roster yet. In fact, it might be the biggest fighting game roster ever (not counting homebrew Mugen games). This is not the full character select screen.

New Fighters

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate introduces King K. Rool (Donkey Kong Country), Incineroar (Pokemon), Inkling (Splatoon), Isabelle (Animal Crossing), Richter and Simon Belmont (Castlevania), and Ridley (Metroid).

Battle Arenas

Battle Arenas are waiting rooms for up to eight players, where matches rotate between them. They can be one-on-one, two-on-two team battles, or three- or four-player free-for-all fights, with different rules for which players get shuffled out of the match so someone who's been waiting can join the next one.

World of Light

World of Light is a massive single-player campaign for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate that can easily last 12 to 20 hours.

Modifiers

The World of Light mode takes the form of hundreds of different battles scattered across a giant map that looks like a patchwork of different video game locations. Here, you'll fight spirits controlling characters in the game, often with different variables affecting each match.

Fighting Spirits

You recruit every spirit you beat and can equip them to give yourself new powers and abilities.

Spirits

You can find spirits from the famous (Metal Gear REX from Metal Gear Solid) to the incredibly obscure (Yakuman Player, the box art from the Japan-only Game Boy mahjong game Yakuman).

About Our Expert

Will Greenwald

Will Greenwald

Principal Writer, Consumer Electronics

My Experience

I’m PCMag’s home theater and AR/VR expert, and your go-to source of information and recommendations for game consoles and accessories, smart displays, smart glasses, smart speakers, soundbars, TVs, and VR headsets. I’m an ISF-certified TV calibrator and THX-certified home theater technician, I've served as a CES Innovation Awards judge, and while Bandai hasn’t officially certified me, I’m also proficient at building Gundam plastic models up to MG-class. I also enjoy genre fiction writing, and my urban fantasy novel, Alex Norton, Paranormal Technical Support, is currently available on Amazon.

The Technology I Use

Where to start? I have a standard IT-issued Lenovo Thinkpad for writing and editing, supplemented with an iPad Air and an 8Bitdo Retro Keyboard when I want to write on the go. I also have a Lenovo Legion Go as a platform for running Portrait Displays’ Calman software and controlling the Klein K-10A colorimeter, Murideo SIX-G signal generator, and Leo Bodnar 4K Video Signal Lag Tester I use for testing TVs. 

For gaming, I use a Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X, and a GeForce 5080-equipped MSI gaming laptop. I like collecting retro games as well, and have an Analogue Pocket and a ton of classic consoles and portables. Photography is another interest, and I use a Sony A7 IV when I’m shooting products and events, and a Fujifilm X-Pro3 for my own attempts at visual creativity. And for reading and writing, I’ve become partial to the Kobo Sage for books and the ReMarkable 2 with Type Folio.

When it comes to phones and tablets, I’m pretty platform-agnostic. I use a Google Pixel 8 for my phone and an iPad Air for a tablet. Android, iOS, and iPadOS are all totally fine, but I need a Windows PC. MacOS just isn’t for me.

Read full bio