Happy second week of July, Smash fans. The previous week of updates from the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Blog was rather uneventful. The posts consisted mostly of known fighter updates.

However, arguably the biggest news of the week about Smash Bros. came from Nintendo’s Japanese website. Thanks to translation from NintendoEverything we learned that fighters who weren’t in Smash for Wii U/3DS will be getting Amiibo. This means cut characters like Ice Climbers, new characters like Ridley, and even echo fighters like Daisy will be getting made into Amiibo for the upcoming Smash Bros. Ultimate.

Now that the important news is out of the way, it’s on to bigger and better things. Let’s talk about space birds, swordsmen, and swordsboys.

Everyone’s second or third favorite fighter from the Star Fox series is back with plodding vengeance. Falco has fallen considerably from his glory days in Super Smash Bros. Melee. on the GameCube. According to the Smash Back Room tier lists—which are created by top players and tournament organizers—found on ssbwiki.com, Falco has dropped from one of the top two fighters in Melee to one of the worst in Smash for Wii U/3DS. His sluggish movement and telegraphed attacks are to blame here. Falco used to be known for being the heavier, slower, easier to control version of Fox, but still with plenty of kill power.

The infamous Landmaster was finally retired by team Star Fox. It never made sense for Falco to say, “personally, I prefer the air” and then proceed to drive a tank around the stage. As excruciatingly annoying as the Landmaster was, it’s nice to see a more streamlined Final Smash at Falco’s disposal. Just like the other changed Final Smashes it lets you pull of the attack and get back into the action in no time at all.

With some changes to Falco, here’s to hoping that this blue space chicken can return to his former glory in Ultimate.

7/3: City Race and Kongo Place

The music from the fan-favorite City Trial mode in Kirby Air Ride was revealed last Tuesday. Kong Falls also made its return as a playable stage.

This version of the City song from the City Trial mode is a bit slower tempo than the original, which is uncommon for most Smash Bros. remixes. However, the orchestral musical style shines through and gives the track an overall fuller sound. I’m sure in some dark, depraved corner of the internet a craven will hide behind his veil anonymity and spout nonsense about this track being a clue to the existence of Smash Run in Ultimate because of the similarity to City Trial. It makes sense for Sakurai to include Smash Run, but this song doesn’t point to anything.

Kongo Jungle from Melee had not been seen or heard from for nearly 17 years until it reappeared as Kongo Falls during E3. The Kong’s were filled with excitement and couldn’t help but put on a show for you. Here is some exclusive footage of the concert:

7/4: After (1)7 Years Young Link Returns to the Battle! Oh and Krystal is there.

Young Link’s extended absence has come to an end after going AWOL in Brawl and Wii U/3DS.

I was about to say he got muscled out by Toon Link, but I realized that’s hardly the truth. I’ve found that many people like to follow headcannon about the fighter viability/possibility when it comes to Smash Bros.

The important thing is that one of the most iconic versions of Link is back in Smash. Young Link is often associated with Ocarina of Time but more so Majora’s Mask since he’s the main character. When I think about that fact all I can do is wonder why he doesn’t have any skills that are signatures of his moveset in Majora’s Mask. The ability to use the bow as a child is the only trait that Young Link adopts from that game. By no means is he a boring character, but a more distinct moveset is preferable.

Well they sure dashed the hopes of Krystal’s fans pretty quickly this time around. Krystal seemed like she was in the running to be a fighter since Brawl. Unfortunately, she fell short of the mark yet again and mucks it up as an assist trophy with the likes of Knuckles and Bomberman.

Pokémon Trainer is finally back from Brawl, and this time you can choose between the male or female trainer. The roots of my love-hate relationship with this fighter go deep. I loved getting to play as three different characters in one, but the switches were too slow and you would essentially get punished for switching. Now the switches are fast, and your team has one pool of damage percentage. This is a much-needed upgrade to one of the most popular fighters in Smash.

Please welcome back everyone’s favorite scrawny, sassy blue-haired hero king back to the stage. Marth’s aloof attitude in Smash perfectly matches his ease of control and stylish movement.

The speed buff to Marth’s dancing blade is one of the biggest changes to his moveset. This looked like it was a considerable upgrade to one of the expert swordsman’s relatively slower moves. However, on the Japan Time Podcast, ZeRo shared that the sluggish startup on the move made it essentially a non-factor.

Thank you for checking out the Super Smash Blog summary for the last week. Click here to see last week’s article, and check out what Andrew Marcus wants to see in Super Smash Bros.Comment down below what you think about some of these new announcements, and if you enjoyed what you read like CoG on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.