With Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS rapidly approaching release in Japan, game director Masahiro Sakurai is running out of time to make any major reveals. As a result he's taken the opportunity to unveil another new fighter for the two titles, though this one is a little surprising.

The new character is Alph, who is essentially a clone of Olimar. He was one of the heroes of Pikmin 3, and Sakurai-san emphasized that he's a standalone character; you can see the details below.

Pic of the day. The hero from Pikmin 3, Alph joins the battle!! He has pretty much the same set skills as Olimar since he's basically just his variation. He can't use Rock Pikmin either.

They are different characters, so they each get their own title treatment on the character-selection screen. See? It says Alph.

So there you have it — this wasn't necessarily the new character reveal that we were expecting. Let us know what you think in the comments below.