Nintendo finally put a whole bunch of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate roster rumors to bed on Wednesday, revealing two new characters and three more Echo fighters in a 30-minute Direct presentation. Now that the dust as settled, we figured it was worth taking a look back at some of the biggest leaks from over the past two months to see what was true and what wasn’t. ## Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Roster Rumors: The stuff we got right Two of the biggest rumored new characters turned out to be legit. Nintendo led the presentation by revealing Castlevania’s Simon Belmont (and unceremoniously killing Luigi), and closed the entire thing out with a surprise reveal of Donkey Kong’s archenemy, King K. Rool. To be honest, we didn’t really see that last one coming. Sure, King showed up on a lot of speculative lists for the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Roster, but that mostly seemed like wishful thinking. The biggest actual clue was a trademark next to his name in a 2015 digital video game listing, suggesting Nintendo had bigger plans for the evil alligator several years ago. As for Simon, that really wasn’t much of a shock. The vampire killer’s name showed up regularly in leaks, and trusted video game tipster Vergeben even said any leak that didn’t include Simon was probably fake. Then, the night before Nintendo’s big reveal, they accidentally spilled the beans, all-but-confirming that Simon would be joining the fight. Additionally, Dark Samus, a new Echo version of the original Samus Aran character, also showed up in various leaks and rumors prior to the official reveal. But, if we’re being real, we never put much faith in what felt more like a fan request than an actual leak. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Roster Rumors: The stuff we got wrong (for now) Of course, there were plenty of leaked characters that didn’t show up in Wednesday’s Nintendo direct. Vergeben also emphatically claimed that Isabelle from Animal Crossing would join the game, and she wasn’t even mentioned. There was also no new Gen 7 Pokémon, and no Waluigi — though the mustachioed Mario villain may have gotten an extremely subtle shoutout depending on who you ask. There were also a few new Echo fighters that we definitely didn’t see coming. Richter Belmont, Simon’s brother, came as a total surprise. Chrom (an Echo of Roy from Fire Emblem) was also a shock. To be fair, the current roster is still by no means definitive. We still have five long months to wait until Super Smash Bros. Ultimate actually launches, and if history is any indication there will be plenty more chances for Nintendo to reveal more new characters before then. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate launches December 7 on Nintendo Switch.<doc-sep>[Update] As rumored, Super Smash Bros Ultimate will include Simon and Richter Belmont, who will join the roster as an Echo Fighter. Dracula's Castle has also been confirmed as a stage. Chrom and Dark Samus have also been confirmed as Echo Fighters. [Original Story] Later today, a Super Smash Bros Ultimate focused Nintendo Direct is going to be aired, and there's a very good chance that new characters will be revealed. And it seems like there will be another highly requested character among them. Super Smash Bros Ultimate DLC Character Pyra/Mythra to Release Today The Super Smash Bros Ultimate Official YouTube Channel has been posting recently new tracks which will be included in the game. The Galaga music update, which has been uploaded to the channel last week, has been recently renamed as Bloody Tears / Monster Dance, a clear reference to the Castlevania series, making it highly likely that Simon Belmont, main character of some of the entries in the series released on Nintendo consoles, will be revealed later today. Last month, Masahiro Sakurai discussed Ridley and the Inklings, the new characters announced for the game so far. I think both Inkling and Ridley, each for their own unique reasons, are very different in a 1-on-1 match and in a 4-player match. A unique feature of the Inkling is the ability to increase the damage dealt by inking their opponent. This means that in a 4-player match, there are those who had been inked, and those who haven’t, so you’ll need to think about who to target, and how long this effect will last. But in a 1-on-1 match, the opponent is obviously inked, so you don’t really have to think about those things. Ridley has a down special that deals massive damage in one hit, provide you hit them with the sweet spot, but this is actually pretty hard to hit in a 1-on-1 match. But in a 4-player match, it sometimes just works. Ridley is shaping up to be a character where the action you take based on the situation around you becomes an important factor. I think it’s fine to decide what a character’s forte is, or what kind of strategy to use with them based on your fighting style or likes and dislikes. But I feel that to have characters that are completely different not only by themselves, but also depending on the number of opponents they are facing, is deep. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate launches on Nintendo Switch on December 7th.<doc-sep>It sounds like Simon Belmont will be cracking his whip in Smash Bros. A new third party franchise seems to be coming to Smash Bros., but don’t read on if you don’t want today’s Nintendo Direct spoiled… Capitol riot probe commission blocked from being created by Republicans At first glance this may seem a fairly vague kind of leak but there really isn’t any explanation for it other than Castlevania is now part of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. The leak came about from what seems to be a mix-up with the naming of music files on the official Smash Bros. YouTube channel. Fans on Reddit noticed that the video for Galaga’s music had its name changed to Bloody Tears/Monster Dance, even though the music itself was still Galaga (it’s since been changed back again). What’s Bloody Tears and Monster Dance, you may ask? Well, they’re two famous tracks from Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest on the NES – the first entry in the series that was a Metroidvania style title instead of a straight action game. At the very least this suggests that a Castlevania character, probably Simon Belmont, is in the game but for months now it’s been rumoured that he’s a fully playable character. The leak offers no proof of that though, and it’s possible he or another character could just be a trophy assist such as the recently revealed Bomberman (also a Konami character). Nothing from Castlevania has ever been in Smash Bros. before but there is a Nintendo Direct scheduled for 3pm today, where it’s widely assumed that at least one new character will be revealed. There have also been consistent rumours that a new Castlevania game is coming to Switch, possibly as a part of the new ‘R’ line of retro revamps and possibly also including a compilation of older games. The Nintendo Direct is dedicated to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, but it wouldn’t be hard to also sneak in a new Switch exclusive Castlevania annoucement as well. Email gamecentral@ukmetro.co.uk, leave a comment below, and follow us on Twitter<doc-sep>
After months of speculation, Nintendo finally put the rumors to rest. Simon Belmont of the Castlevania games will officially be joining the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate roster. The third-party newcomer was announced during a Nintendo Direct presentation on August 8, but the company actually leaked its big reveal just a few hours earlier. Nintendo announced the news with a well-produced video at the start of the Direct, in which Simon shows up to protect Luigi from a spooky ghost (sidenote: did Luigi die in this video). Simon’s primary weapon is a metal whip with a long range of attack. He can also throw holy water, along with other special attacks. Nintendo Nintendo Aside from Simon Belmont, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate also adds Richter Belmont, also from Castlevania, as an Echo fighter version of Simon. There’s also a new Castlevania stage featuring music from the series and various monsters, including rare appearances from Dracula. Nintendo Additionally, the company announced two more Echo fighters: Chrom and Dark Samus. Chrom comes from the Fire Emblem series and plays like Marth and Roy. Meanwhile, Dark Samus is a variation of the classic Metroid Prime hero. Finally, at the very end of the Direct, Nintendo revealed one more new fighter: King. K Rool. The Donkey Kong villain is a long-rumored addition to the Smash Bros Ultimate roster with heavy attacks similar to DK himself along with a Blunderbuss gun and a helicopter-backpack for recoveries. Nintendo Simon Leaks Early Late last night, Nintendo appeared to change the title for one of the music tracks from the Super Smash Bros. YouTube channel to “Bloody Tears/Monster Dance,” two well-known songs from Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest that launched on the NES in 1987. Nintendo quickly corrected the mistake, but it was too late. Of course, the addition of Simon Belmont to the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate roster isn’t exactly a surprise either. The vampire killer has been at the center of plenty of leaks and rumors when it comes to new characters for Nintendo’s fighting game franchise. One trusted leaker even went so far as to say that you should trust any other leaks that don’t include Simon. With another Nintendo Direct on the books, the company is doing a great job of building hype for Smash Bros. Ultimate. But with five months still to go before the game actually launches, there’s plenty of time for even more roster additions — and the rumors and leaks that precede them. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate launches December 7 for Nintendo Switch.