Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Update 3.0: Joker Joins the Fight
Masked Madness
Smash Ultimate’s latest update is out now, and the first paid DLC character has entered the fight.
Joker is Here
Fans of the Persona series have been excited for this one for a while, and the time is finally here: Joker has joined the gang. After many were underwhelmed by Piranha Plant’s impact on the game upon their addition, fans hope that Joker has that oomph that everyone’s favourite floral friend failed to achieve. He’s additionally brought with him a new stage: Mementos. It even changes colour and theme based on which Persona series song is playing.
Players who have purchased the DLC from the Nintendo eShop will be able to play as the gun-toting schoolboy (surely that’s illegal) immediately, as well as playing with the numerous changes Nintendo have added to the 3.0 patch. Full details are available here, but the most important changes are outlined below.
Video Editing
In a change that many content creators will be delighted to see, fight films can now be edited in-game, using a built-in tool that allows players to cut up and stitch together their fight replays. Nintendo plan on updating this even further too, so watch out Adobe. They might just put you out of business.
Stage builder
A feature we all knew was coming, Ultimate players now have access to tools allowing them to create their own fighting arenas. This appears to be a far more comprehensive creator than what players got in Brawl and Smash 4, allowing the drawing of unique shapes using the Switch in handheld mode, whilst also adding in a significant number of hazards and quirks that were not available in previous titles. There are also layered design options, so you can put decoration in the foreground and background to really make those creations pop. These stages can be shared online, and I’m sure Smash players are far too mature to make dick-shaped stages en-masse.
Buffs and nerfs
As in every major update, Nintendo is trying to balance out the game by altering characters’ abilities. Full information can be seen in the patch notes, but I’m just going to point out that they did not need to nerf Ganondorf and King Dedede, they only did it to spite me, and me specifically. It happens to the best of us though, and at least my man Kirby has received some copy ability buffs just in time for Joker’s entry, which will allow Kirby to shoot a real-life gun. Just as Sakurai intended.
That’s the thrust of the update, though. If you beat my Ganondorf now, I refuse to accept that it was a fair fight, and will complain constantly forever. Or maybe I’ll just start maining Donkey Kong instead.
