With a whopping 74 playable characters (and six DLC characters on the way), Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is bound to feature a fitting fighter for everybody. Of course, finding that perfect fighter can be a taxing process for someone who is just starting to play the game. This is especially true considering that, of the huge roster of characters, only eight are available from the very beginning (along with the Mii Fighters, which can be created as soon as the player chooses). Nevertheless, there are several methods for unlocking the remaining 63 characters, some of which are faster than others. This article will go over each of these methods which players can employ in order to bring their roster up to its maximum size.

Smash:

The primary way to unlock characters is simply to play Vs. matches in Smash mode. As in previous titles, a character will appear after a match, and the player must defeat that character in a fight in order to unlock them. However, in Ultimate, characters do not appear after a set number of games. Instead, characters appear after ten minutes of playtime in Vs. mode.

However, there are ways to get around this ten minute buffer period. The in-game timer will be reset by either closing and reopening the game or changing the in-game language. Therefore, the quickest way to unlock every character is to do the following: play a match, defeat the new character afterwards, change the in-game language, and repeat. This method should allow players to gain access to the full cast in just a few hours. Of course, players who are unconcerned with unlocking characters quickly can simply play out Vs. matches and expect a new challenger every ten minutes.

By using this method, characters will be unlocked in the following order:

Ness

Zelda

Bowser

Pit

Inkling

Villager

Marth

Young Link

Wii Fit Trainer

Ice Climbers

Captain Falcon

Peach

Ryu

Ike

Jigglypuff

King K. Rool

Sonic

Simon

Zero Suit Samus

Little Mac

Isabelle

Shulk

Lucina

Wario

Ridley

Pokémon Trainer

Lucario

Daisy

Roy

King Dedede

R.O.B.

Falco

Luigi

Pichu

Richter

Lucas

Diddy Kong

Meta Knight

Snake

Ganondorf

Corrin

Mega Man

Bayonetta

Toon Link

Rosalina & Luma

Incineroar

Sheik

Olimar

Pac-Man

Dark Samus

Wolf

Mr. Game & Watch

Robin

Dark Pit

Cloud

Duck Hunt

Ken

Greninja

Chrom

Mewtwo

Bowser Jr.

Dr. Mario

Palutena

Classic Mode:

Another way to unlock every character is to play through Classic Mode. Playing through Classic Mode with any character will cause a character to be unlocked. The character which is unlocked will be determined by the character the player uses. However, rather than each character producing a different character, there are “unlock chains” based around the starting roster. For example, playing through Classic Mode as Mario will allow you to unlock Sonic. Then, playing through Classic Mode as either Mario or Sonic will allow you to unlock Bayonetta, and so on and so forth. The available unlock chains are as follows (note: certain characters appear in multiple unlock chains and therefore can be unlocked through different series of Classic Mode playthroughs):

Mario → Sonic → Bayonetta → Little Mac → Ike → Luigi → Roy → Dr. Mario → Olimar → Bowser

Donkey Kong → Bowser → Pokémon Trainer → Rosalina & Luma → King Dedede → Sheik → Greninja → Diddy Kong → Duck Hunt → Sonic

Link → King K. Rool → Ice Climbers → Simon → Meta Knight → Snake → Young Link → Richter → Toon Link → Sonic

Samus → Inkling → Wii Fit Trainer → Pit → Incineroar → Dark Samus → Cloud → Wario → Dark Pit → Sonic

Yoshi → Lucario → Marth → Ryu → Ganondorf → Lucina → Ridley → Chrom → Ken → Sonic

Kirby → Ness → Jigglypuff → Pac-Man → Zelda → Robin → Corrin → Lucas → Palutena → Sonic

Fox → Captain Falcon → Zero Suit Samus → Peach → Falco → Daisy → Bowser Jr. → Wolf → Mewtwo → Sonic

Pikachu → Villager → Shulk → R.O.B. → Mega Man → Isabelle → Mr. Game & Watch → Pichu → Sonic → Bayonetta

World of Light:

The final, and most time-consuming, method for unlocking characters is to play through the game’s Adventure Mode, World of Light. As the player embarks through the World of Light, they will come across and be forced to battle against different fighters. As they defeat and unlock these characters for Adventure Mode, they will also become playable in the main game. Characters are located in a set position on the world map, and players have a bit of free will in choosing which paths they go down, and therefore which characters they unlock in what order. However, this method can take over 20 hours, so it is not recommended for anyone looking to try out every character quickly.

Whether a player wishes to start playing all of the characters as quickly as possible, or prefers to unlock them more naturally, following any of the steps in this article will allow players to pick from the complete roster in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Though the quickest method available can be a bit tedious and the longest method may seem daunting, players will certainly find their efforts worthwhile in no time upon unlocking all that Smash Ultimate has to offer.