With no future Fighters Passes planned for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, fans can look toward the next entry in Nintendo's hit series for ways it could improve. Given its ambitious scope, the title after Super Smash Bros. Ultimate will need to pull out all the stops to improve upon what it offered.
One of the improvements Ultimate made was to create a new classification dubbed "Echo Fighters" to help refine its roster and account for fighters who were similar to others. It was a decision that allowed Nintendo to introduce new Smash Bros. fighters without needing to go the extra mile of fully rebalancing the game and its other characters. The next entry needs more Echo Fighters to capitalize on this category and flesh out the roster by including a range of characters who deserve their own invites.
The Current State of Echo Fighters in Smash Bros.
Since Ultimate made the ambitious decision to include all previous fighters in its roster, by the final count it had 89 playable characters (including Echoes), which is almost double Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U. Condensing the roster to make it more user-friendly likely motivated the creation of Echo Fighters, especially when they are typically seen as near clones of their original characters.
Currently, there are only seven Echo Fighters on the roster, and more similar examples such as Lucina for Marth or Princess Daisy for Peach set a standard that not all Echo Fighters need to reinvent their functionality in order to feature in the game. Some do bring new mechanics or moves with them, such as Ryu and Ken or Simon and Richter Belmont, but this was never been to an extent where they would be better considered a entirely different character, even for the competitive Smash Bros. scene.
Smash Bros. Needs More Echos Going Forward
Thanks to Ultimate setting the stage for all previous fighters to rejoin the roster, Nintendo could add in plenty of new characters or team up with other studios, though this sets a high bar for games after Ultimate to reach. By increasing the number of Echo Fighters, Nintendo could kill two birds with one stone. Not including the seven characters with Echo Fighters already, Nintendo has 75 other fighters it could drum up Echos for, with likely more on the way due to each entry bringing new playable characters in their base games and DLC.
With this in mind, it becomes a question of which characters could have an Echo, and what those new characters would look like. Fans have already expressed an interest in some obvious and compelling examples, such as introducing Jeanne from Bayonetta as an Echo Fighter for Bayonetta herself, or even Dixie Kong as an Echo Fighter for Diddy Kong. However, the choices don't stop there, as Shadow could replicate Sonic the Hedgehog; another range of Pokemon starters for Pokemon Trainer; Ms. Pac-Man for Pac-Man; Roxas for Sora; or even an updated Zelda from Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity.
Even characters who didn't make it to Ultimate's final roster could still find their way into the next entry in the Smash Bros. series. For instance, Shovel Knight could make a return as a playable character rather than an Assist Trophy, with an easy Echo Fighter being their counterpart Black Knight from the main Shovel Knight game. Even fan-fueled rumors of Crash Bandicoot joining the game could bring Coco Bandicoot as an Echo Fighter, should Nintendo reach an agreement with Activision. The possibilities are endless provided Nintendo is up to the challenge.
Challenges to Introducing New Echos Fighters
The biggest obstacle to new characters joining Smash Bros. is typically not Nintendo's drive, but wider legal issues. The best example came when Sora from Kingdom Hearts was confirmed for Ultimate, which had plenty of criteria for how he would appear in-game. Likely every character not directly owned by Nintendo undergoes the same process, dependent on the studio's bargaining power. Fans should remember when Cloud was added to Smash 4 with a dearth of music from Square Enix. Some Echo Fighters might not be owned by the same studios, such as Ms. Pac-Man originally not being created by Bandai Namco, which would complicate their inclusion.
Not just that, but certain Echo Fighters might not be as reputable as the original characters they're based upon. While a new version of Zelda is overdue, it remains to be seen whether Breath of the Wild's Zelda is as popular as her Twilight Princess or new Link Between Worlds version. It could also be a matter of whether Nintendo wants to invest time and energy into bringing similar characters to the series when its focus could be spent on newer, more interesting characters instead. Each entry has always brought new fighters, so Echoes could likely be placed on the back burner unless Nintendo decides otherwise.
As with many Nintendo games, the choice will remain with the studio if it wants to pursue Echo Fighters further. It would be a shame if Nintendo quietly dropped the idea after establishing Echo Fighters in Ultimate, as this proves an easy and accessible way of introducing characters without reinventing the wheel. However, with the future of the series left hanging and no news that Nintendo could return to the Smash Bros. franchise anytime soon, it remains to be seen whether a new entry will make it to players at all, with or without more Echo Fighters.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is available now on Nintendo Switch.
