The next Smash Bros. game needs these new and returning features

Previously, we discussed a list of characters we could potentially see in the next Super Smash Bros. game on Nintendo Switch 2. Continuing from that idea, new fighters alone might not be enough to differentiate it from Ultimate, which is part of why we think the next Smash game will be all-new rather than an enhanced port. A new Smash would need to retain Ultimate’s focus on high-quality gameplay and movement options, but it would also have to include plenty of new and returning modes to set itself apart as a wholly different experience from the Nintendo Switch title.

Here are some of the modes and features we’d like to see added to the next Smash Bros. game. While we don’t have an announcement of any sort right now (nor any confirmation that a new game is even in development), one would think that there’ll eventually be an announcement, even if it’s far in the future.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate has a decent amount of single-player content. But that’s just it – it only has a decent amount of content compared to past games. In terms of which title had the most content for those playing alone, we’d give that to Super Smash Bros. Brawl. While the gameplay wasn’t nearly as refined as Ultimate’s, it had plenty of options. The Subspace Emissary remains the most popular story mode in Smash, so let’s start with that. Going back and replaying Subspace now, it’s clear that there’s something special there – but it could use some refinement. The levels, while wholly unique to this mode, do start to drag on after a while, and being forced to play around and platform as some of the slower characters in the game can feel like a slog.

World of Light from Ultimate, on the other hand, has very few (if any) unique levels of its own. All of the “stages” are Spirit battles against CPUs, kind of like if you were playing a regular match. For one, we think the next Smash should have a story mode more like the Subspace Emissary. Characters in Ultimate are generally much faster and more fluid than in Brawl, and playing a Brawl-inspired story mode with unique levels and an overarching story would be incredibly appealing as a main selling point.

But people don’t love Subspace for the gameplay alone – they love it for the character interactions. Way back in the day, creator Masahiro Sakurai mentioned that he took issue with players watching the Subspace Emissary cutscenes online, as he felt they were a reward of sorts for playing through the game. Though we see where he’s coming from, we personally disagree – people went wild over the few fully-animated cutscenes present in World of Light. Cute or silly character interactions in cutscenes can easily go viral, which encourages more people to buy the game or even buy a Nintendo Switch 2 if it wasn’t originally on their radar. A fresh new story mode with tons of character interactions and at least decent gameplay would go a long way in making the next Smash stand on its own and apart from Ultimate.

Continuing on with single-player features, one returning feature that definitely won’t happen (but would be nice) is trophies. These take a colossal amount of work, mainly because the character descriptions have to be translated for every language of the game. If you don’t already know this, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate removed trophies entirely and replaced them with Spirits, which are essentially still images of characters with no descriptions. As much work as they are, trophies are kind of a “break to the action” of sorts. Though most competitive players probably won’t touch trophies (understandably), it’s nice to go through the list and read up every once in a while. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate actually cut many more previous modes – event matches, Target Tests, and boss battles, which is interesting considering how many bosses are in this game. Those are all things we’d like to see return – event matches and boss battles in particular are great filler modes for single-player content without having to create a ton of new assets. We’re always open to new single-player modes too, not just returning ones.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate definitely took a step in the right direction regarding its online play… for the most part. Battle Arenas are a fine system, and they let you dynamically change most match rules on the fly. However, the game’s actual netcode leaves something to be desired. There’s a universal delay of at least a few frames, plus lag frames if the user’s internet connection isn’t completely reliable. This makes online Smash feel much different than offline Smash, which makes practicing for real-life tournaments and such via online matches a little bit difficult. The next entry should absolutely improve the netcode. Sakurai has previously stated that rollback netcode was considered for Ultimate, but that the side effects were too large. Items in particular would be quite difficult to handle with rollback netcode active, so maybe the next game could bring back “For Fun” and “For Glory”, with the latter being itemless rollback netcode? Having two different types of netcode is probably far too much to expect, though, but it’s still an idea nonetheless. The ability to play modes like Squad Strike and especially Smashdown online would be great, too. Right now you can only play them locally, which is a shame because they’d both be great fun online with other players.

To wrap things up, there’s one more mode that would be fun to see – Smash Run from Super Smash Bros. on 3DS. In this mode, up to four players traverse a huge unique map defeating enemies and collecting power-ups. When the timer runs out, all four players bring their collected buffs into a match that determines the winner. This mode was fairly well-liked and really suited the Nintendo 3DS’ portable nature, and it’d be a great time-waster on a new Smash game for Switch 2. Online play for Smash Run is ambitious, but it’d be a nice departure from standard Smash matches. Smash Tour from Super Smash Bros. for Wii U is far less popular than Smash Run. We’ve seen people say they want to see Smash Run again, but we’ve never seen anyone say they want to see Smash Tour return. Considering these are essentially the only two modes that make Smash 4 unique, we’re not sure if the developers would bring them to a new entry. It can’t hurt to speculate, though!

What modes, features, and mechanics do you most want to see in the next Smash game? Do you agree with some of our choices, or is there something we missed? Feel free to let us know in the comments down below.

In the meantime, you can check out the official website for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate here.