The last few DLC character announcements for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate have left the fanbase polarized; first, Byleth was revealed to be the last character of first Fighter’s Pass, which got a lukewarm reception. Luckily, this was offset by the announcement that more characters would make their way to Ultimate in a second Fighter’s Pass.
And the first one is coming in June, as a representative of Arms, the Nintendo fighting game. The announcement has left people both excited and confused, as Nintendo didn’t specify which character from Arms would be the next DLC character.
There is speculation on which character will be the official representative for Arms; Spring Man, the “main” character of Arms is already an Assist Trophy in Ultimate, although it has happened before where Assist Trophy characters would go on to become playable. There is also Ribbon Girl and Twintelle, two very popular characters from the game. But ultimately, it’s all up in the air until more news is released by Nintendo.
Arms has had an interesting relationship with fans since its release for the Nintendo Switch in 2017. The game was well received and has sold more than two million copies. The style of fighting game, using extendable arms to do punching, throwing and blocking all in a 3D arena, allowed for Nintendo to bring their own innovative twist to the 1 vs. 1 fighting genre. The unique style of the game was praised, although it was noted to have a very high learning curve, an unusual trait for Nintendo games.
There hasn’t been much talk of Arms since its initial release, although the game maintains a small yet dedicated competitive fanbase; it was notably included a main title at the EVO Japan 2018 tournament where it brought it over 300 entrants which, while still small in comparison to Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and Street Fighter V events, revealed that the game’s playerbase can show up in force when needed. The sales of the game indicate it could become a staple franchise for Nintendo so long as they keep the formula fresh; this DLC character could be a way of reintroducing the series to new fans.
There has been much speculation as to how the character will play in Ultimate, which is evidently much different than the 3D environment of Arms. The extendable arms being the trademark of the game, it’s expected that the character will rely on the arms’ range as an effective zoning tool. We can also expect specials to reflect the various arms attributes from Arms. While purely a guess, a ranged character with some heavy power would make a lot of sense for any Arms representative in Ultimate.
In any case, we’ll keep a close eye on any new development regarding the Arms character, and we’re sure to see some interesting stuff as soon as the character is released in June just like we did when Byleth dropped. Perhaps the Arms character can shake up the meta in the same way that Joker has.
Arms is free to play for Nintendo Online Members until April 6th.