These 5 fighters need a new Final Smash in the next Smash Bros. game
With Super Smash Bros. Ultimate turning seven years old not too long ago, we’ve reached this sort of impasse within the series. Many are wondering where it’s headed next and how could it possibly be surpassed – especially given that Ultimate will be playable on Nintendo’s new hardware via backwards compatibility. We think the most likely solution is a new Smash game with fewer characters and stages, but with reworks and new moves provided to its veterans. One aspect of each fighter that could use a refresh are their Final Smashes. These powerful and cinematic moves are the cornerstone of each fighter’s moveset – in casual play, that is. But to this day, some fighters’ Final Smashes are outdated or no longer accurately represent them. We’ve come up with five particular characters who need new Final Smashes in the next Smash, as well as ideas for what those new attacks might look like.
Mario
When you think of underwhelming Final Smashes, Mario will probably eventually come to mind. He’s pulled off all sorts of ultimate attacks in his own series, and his Final Smash references exactly none of those. It’s called Mario Finale, and it’s simply a gigantic blast of fire that spirals forward and drags victims along with it. You could say it’s inspired by Mario’s fire attack from Super Mario RPG, but the move is generic to the point where it’s tough to say for sure. Given the release of The Super Mario Bros. Movie, it makes the most sense to have Mario’s Final Smash be based on a Super Star of some sort. The problem is, the Super Star is already an item in-game. That said, the Super Star merely gives the player a yellow glow and invincibility. Maybe Mario’s Final Smash could turn him into Rainbow Mario, like in Super Mario Galaxy and the movie, and actually deal damage to opponents and increase his movement speed. That’d be much more faithful to the games than Mario Finale, which to our knowledge he never actually performs in any title. The ideas don’t stop there, either – Mario could also utilize Wonder Seeds, the Giga Cat Bell from Bowser’s Fury, or even a special Bros. Attack with Luigi if you wanted to reference the RPG series.
Bowser
Whereas Mario’s Final Smash is underwhelming, that isn’t the case with Bowser. His Final Smash transforms him into Giga Bowser, a bigger, stronger, and more monstrous version of himself with a design original to the Super Smash Bros. series. In Brawl and Smash 4, you can directly control Giga Bowser for a short period of time. In Ultimate, you transform into Giga Bowser in the background and throw a punch. This one’s tricky – Giga Bowser is not a canon transformation for Bowser in any Super Mario game, which means his Final Smash technically isn’t relevant to his character. That said, Giga Bowser is important to the greater Smash series; by now he’s a staple of the franchise of sorts. You could argue to keep Giga Bowser as-is, but if you wanted something more faithful, you could have Bowser transform into Fury Bowser. He could throw a punch like he does now, which would make his transformation into Fury Bowser purely visual. Or you could have him attack the stage with fire or his shell!
Young Link
You could say that all three Links need Final Smash updates, and we’d agree – but Young Link needs it most. That is, if he appears in the next Smash game at all. Right now, his Final Smash matches Toon Link and formerly Link – it’s Triforce Slash, a rather generic sword attack that ends with high knockback. Triforce Slash sort of made sense for Link and Toon Link in Smash 4 as both those incarnations of Link are connected to the Triforce in some way. However, since Young Link is based on Ocarina of Time, he does not yet have access to the Triforce in any capacity. We think it’d be neat to see Young Link completely reworked to be centered around Majora’s Mask with a Final Smash based on Fierce Deity Link. A transformation Final Smash that lets you control him would have the most appeal, but those were done away with in Ultimate. Maybe just a momentary transformation with a similar slashing attack?
Kirby
Kirby’s Final Smash isn’t bad at all, and it was reflective of his abilities in his own series at the time. The Ultra Sword only appears in Kirby’s Return to Dream Land and its remake, though. Because of that remake, however, you could argue to keep Ultra Sword intact because it’s still relevant. There are other neat Final Smashes Kirby could make use of, however. Robobot Armor, Hypernova, the Star Allies Sparkler from Kirby Star Allies, and Mouthful Mode from Kirby and the Forgotten Land are just a few examples. King Dedede’s Final Smash has been changed with every Smash game, so it stands to reason that Kirby’s could be updated again to reflect his abilities in whatever the newest Kirby game is at the time.
Peach
Peach’s current Final Smash, Peach Blossom, puts opponents to sleep and spawns a bunch of health-restoring peaches. That’s not as imaginative as it could be, and with the relatively recent release of Princess Peach: Showtime, now’s a perfect chance to change Peach’s Final Smash. You could do a Final Smash sort of like Mega Man’s and have all of Peach’s transformations from the game attack all at once or you could change it to the final transformation Peach utilizes in that game (no spoilers). Daisy could use a new Final Smash as well since Daisy Blossom is even less relevant to her character and it’d differentiate her from Peach a little more. Maybe something involving the spin-off games she appears in could work, like Mario Kart or Mario sports.
Which characters do you think need new Final Smashes? Do you agree with our list, or do you think we excluded a fighter in dire need of an update? Feel free to let us know in the comments down below. In the meantime, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is available now, and you can check out the official website for it right here.
