The Hero Draws Near!
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is huge. Not just in terms of hype and importance and sales potential, but just in terms of sheer stuff. The Nintendo Switch mascot fighter features over a hundred stages, nearly a thousand songs, and too many Pokemon and items and Assist Trophies to think of crammed onto a cartridge you can plan on the go or on a TV. When you have as many big franchises as Nintendo, putting them all in one game will make that game is very big boy indeed.
But the biggest, most exciting thing about Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is its mind-blowing, heartwarming roster of playable characters. Fighting games pride themselves not just on the strength of their mechanics but the strength of its fighters, especially in a crossover fighters like this. And Super Smash Bros. Ultimate crushes all rivals by including every single playable character from the across the four previous games in the twenty-year-old series. Include the new combatants and so far we have over 70 fighters to wrap our heads around. We’re excited, but we’re also intimidated. So to get ready for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, every day, character by character, we’re creating the ultimate guide to all of its characters. Today’s fighter: Hero.
Who Are They?
In case the name “Hero” isn’t descriptive enough, this character is the protagonist of the legendary Dragon Quest series of RPGs. Actually, between the four different character skins, Hero can be one of four different heroes from different games in that franchise including Dragon Quest III, IV, VIII, and the recent Dragon Quest XI coming soon to Nintendo Switch.
Smash History
Hero is the second paid DLC character of the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Fighters Pass. He was announced at E3 2019 and released at the end of July following a charmingly low-budget livestream presentation from Sakurai. Given the sheer popularity of Dragon Quest in Japan, along with the convenient Dragon Quest XI co-marketing opportunity, Hero was easy to predict but still exciting to see come to fruition.
What Looks New in Ultimate?
As with other RPG characters in Smash Bros., Hero’s Dragon Quest battle system has been adapted into this fighting game in a really fascinating and potentially overpowered way. He can charge three of his special moves, enhancing his recovery and attack potential. His smash attack can randomly trigger a critical hit for extra strength. His Down special randomly summons four out of nearly twenty additional special moves with a variety of effects. However, these are all limited by a magic meter that recharges pretty slowly unless you’re already hitting your opponent.
Our Hopes?
Dragon Quest is a hugely important and influential series, especially in Japan. It essentially invented Japanese role-playing games, paving the way for the likes of Final Fantasy and Pokemon. Plus the Akira Toriyama art makes this the closest we’ll probably get to Goku being in Smash Bros. But please, we’re begging you, NO MORE ANIME RPG SWORD BOYS IN SMASH BROS. PLEASE!
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is available now. Read our review of this majestic video game pageant. And for more check out cool Switch games to play that aren’t Smash Bros., because those definitely exist.
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