First and foremost: You gotta download the update.
If you've turned on your Nintendo Switch since Tuesday evening and booted up "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate," the console has likely already alerted you to the necessary update.
If you haven't, you'll be prompted to download the update the next time you do turn on the game. For me, it took about one whole minute to download the update, install it, and reboot the Nintendo Switch.
So, what's in the update? 1. The big new character, Piranha Plant from the "Super Mario Bros." series.
No, before you ask, you don't have to do anything to unlock Piranha Plant — it simply shows up as the newest addition to the game's massive character list.
With Piranha Plant, the game's roster hits 75 total playable characters.
Of note: You have to buy "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate" on Nintendo Switch before January 31 in order to unlock Piranha Plant for free (here are all the details). It will otherwise cost money to unlock at some point in the future.
2. A few new additions to the game's single-player story.
The game's "World of Light" mode is one of the biggest additions to the series in years, and Nintendo is supporting it post-launch in Update 2.0.0.
Here's the full list of changes, care of Nintendo:
"You can now play Spirit Board with up to four players. Select the spirit you want to challenge on the Spirit Board, and then go to Party → Fighter to select the number of people who will play. When playing with multiple people, you will lose the battle if any player is KO’d.
The following spirits will now appear in the Shop.
- Partner Pikachu
- Partner Eevee
- Dice Block
- River Survival
- Golden Dash Mushroom"
3. One major gameplay change: Pushing both jump buttons will make you "short hop."
Despite the madness of any given "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate" match, there's a shocking level of nuance to movement and control in the game. Take the so-called "short hop," for instance.
You could push one of the jump buttons to make your character jump, or you could very lightly push one of the jump buttons to make your character do a short hop. And what's a short hop? It's exactly what it sounds like — a shorter version of the usual jump.
It's a small difference, but can make a major impact during gameplay. And now, it's easier than ever before to pull off — after update 2.0.0, the short hop is now able to be triggered by pushing both jump buttons at the same time. More than anything else, this offers novice to amateur players a chance to try out something they may have only seen occasionally from opponents.
4. A ton of little changes to the game's many, many characters.
If you're a crazy person about "Super Smash Bros." like I am, you'll be thrilled to learn that Nintendo finally — finally! — issued a massive, detailed list of changes for each character that was altered in the big update.
There's nothing groundbreaking in the list; it's a lot of little stuff, spread across a massive roster of characters. What is groundbreaking is that Nintendo actually told people the specifics of the changes this time — something fans have wanted for years.
To check out that full list, head to Nintendo's site right here.
