After yesterday's massive reveal of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, let's go through the confirmed Zelda contents. The short version: almost everything is back and it looks better than ever!
We got all Zelda characters that used to be in past Smash games, including all three different versions of Link: Link, Young Link and Toon Link. But all Zelda characters have been visually overhauled based on different games now:
Sheik's new design seems to be based on the Sheikah stealth armor set from Breath of the Wild, but the rest of the redesigns should be quite clear.
Ganondorf went back to basics with his Ocarina of Time and Melee design. He even uses the infamous sword from the Spaceworld 2000 demo now, which was a much wanted change in the character. And the new Ganon Final Smash looks amazing. The Ganon from Ocarina of Time is still the scariest one.
Link himself was updated based on Breath of the Wild, as expected from the first teaser of the game. He didn't get changed as much as expected, however, the most notable change is the Remote Bomb. The Ancient Arrow Final Smash looks also great.
Young Link seemingly hasn't changed much from Melee and hopefully he will turn into Fierce Deity Link as his Final Smash. With Ganondorf being a full Ocarina of Time rep again, it would have been nice, if they had at least changed Young Link's appearance and items based on Majora's Mask.
Toon Link seemingly seems to be the one, who has changed the least. He still got the old Final Smash and everything, but this was to expected, if Link gets changed more and more. So, Toon Link is there for the classic Link experience. In this sense they also could have altered Young Link somewhat more.
Last but not least, we have Zelda with a design from A Link to the Past and A Link Between Worlds. She looks really lovely, which was a much needed change after her grim look from the previous game. The explanation, why she is fighting rather than the Zelda from Breath of the Wild, was rather silly, because we never saw Zelda fight in those games either. It's simply that the magic spells fit a classic Zelda better than the Breath of the Wild one, where they would have to update her using the Sheikah Slate or technology. But the new Zelda looks great and it adds to the variety, so this was probably a good choice.
In terms of Zelda stages, it also looks like we're getting all of them back. Smash Wiki lists by now a total of 80(!) sighted retro stages, where the following are from the Zelda franchise:
The only one that still wasn't shown, is Pirate Ship. It's one of my favorites and also was DLC for Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, so I would be surprised, if this one was left out intentionally. So, it's probably there as well.
The new stage, the Great Plateau Tower, looks really cool as well. Using the Great Plateau as a stage in some form was a natural choice, because the view of Hyrule there is amazing and everyone is familiar with it. But utilizing the Sheikah Tower there was a very smart move, because this way they could also feature the Sheikah technology.
This certainly looks like a great additions and if we also get Pirate Ship back, we would have a stage from all the major 3D Zelda games.
The demo has a selection of costumes, where the absence of a Hilda alt for Zelda is noticeable. However, we also saw that Ridley would be getting a Meta Ridley alt. Unless that was an Echo, which they probably would have announced already, it's possible that the characters will have more alternates than what was in the demo, probably stuff to unlock. Still, it's thinkable that Hilda might become an actual Echo for Zelda in this game or even her own character.
It's not likely that one-shots in the series like Midna will ever become playable, but since Hilda is basically the mirror version of Zelda, she would feel more meaningful and also look great next to the new Zelda as well.
Of course it's possible that either Tingle or Skull Kid get promoted from being Assist Trophies to actual fighters, like it was the case for Little Mac. Tingle appeared in many Zelda games as a side character and also was the star of four of his own games. Skull Kid appeared in multiple Zelda games as well and was basically the main villain of Majora's Mask. So, there is some character potential here.
As for moveset potential, things maybe don't look as good, which is probably why they were Assist Trophies in the first place and might even stay that way... These roles also fit them quite well. Skull Kid is a prankster, where him screwing with the fighters makes a lot more sense than him being a fighter himself. But in the end they could potentially make anyone playable and it comes down to popularity, where at least Skull Kid should have a good chance.
Tetra remains as a possibility, where they could have withheld the Pirate Ship stage intentionally, because it's going to be her stage now (Toon Link gets to ride the Spirit Train). And it would be nice to have at least one more character in the Toon Zelda style. (But it also could be Tingle, who gets added in his Wind Waker incarnation and uses the Pirate Ship stage as a home stage.)
Impa is a candidate that's mentioned quite often, but she doesn't feel all that likely. They could use her younger Skyward Sword version, but for the most part she's an old woman during the series, who "imparts" information, and she never was as relevant to make it into Super Smash Bros., to be honest. She could also be squeezed into an Echo role for Sheik, as many suggest.
But overall the Zelda franchise got six characters already and we probably shouldn't expect a new one just now. Hilda as an Echo seems like the likeliest candidate at the moment, because Echoes don't need as much effort and she would fit the concept quite well.
As for Assist Trophies, I would love to see Hestu doing his dance party. The four Champions could become Assist Trophies as well, making use of their individual abilities. This would actually be pretty sweet. But the real Assist Trophy material are probably Guardians, crawling over the stage and targeting other players with their laser beams.
With stages, it's possible to get a "Lorule Castle" stage as a counterpart to the Hyrule Castle one. It would be the home of a potential Hilda character. Both Hilda and Lorule Castle would represent A Link Between Worlds, which is an important Zelda title and didn't really get anything in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS, sadly.
We got all Zelda characters that used to be in past Smash games, including all three different versions of Link: Link, Young Link and Toon Link. But all Zelda characters have been visually overhauled based on different games now:
- Link (Breath of the Wild)
- Sheik (Breath of the Wild?)
- Zelda (A Link to the Past / Between Worlds)
- Ganondorf (Ocarina of Time)
- Young Link (Ocarina of Time)
- Toon Link (The Wind Waker)
Sheik's new design seems to be based on the Sheikah stealth armor set from Breath of the Wild, but the rest of the redesigns should be quite clear.
Ganondorf went back to basics with his Ocarina of Time and Melee design. He even uses the infamous sword from the Spaceworld 2000 demo now, which was a much wanted change in the character. And the new Ganon Final Smash looks amazing. The Ganon from Ocarina of Time is still the scariest one.
Link himself was updated based on Breath of the Wild, as expected from the first teaser of the game. He didn't get changed as much as expected, however, the most notable change is the Remote Bomb. The Ancient Arrow Final Smash looks also great.
Young Link seemingly hasn't changed much from Melee and hopefully he will turn into Fierce Deity Link as his Final Smash. With Ganondorf being a full Ocarina of Time rep again, it would have been nice, if they had at least changed Young Link's appearance and items based on Majora's Mask.
Toon Link seemingly seems to be the one, who has changed the least. He still got the old Final Smash and everything, but this was to expected, if Link gets changed more and more. So, Toon Link is there for the classic Link experience. In this sense they also could have altered Young Link somewhat more.
Last but not least, we have Zelda with a design from A Link to the Past and A Link Between Worlds. She looks really lovely, which was a much needed change after her grim look from the previous game. The explanation, why she is fighting rather than the Zelda from Breath of the Wild, was rather silly, because we never saw Zelda fight in those games either. It's simply that the magic spells fit a classic Zelda better than the Breath of the Wild one, where they would have to update her using the Sheikah Slate or technology. But the new Zelda looks great and it adds to the variety, so this was probably a good choice.
In terms of Zelda stages, it also looks like we're getting all of them back. Smash Wiki lists by now a total of 80(!) sighted retro stages, where the following are from the Zelda franchise:
- Hyrule Castle (64)
- Hyrule Temple (Melee)
- Great Bay (Melee)
- Bridge of Eldin (Brawl)
- Gerudo Valley (3DS)
- Spirit Train (3DS)
- Skyloft (Wii U)
The only one that still wasn't shown, is Pirate Ship. It's one of my favorites and also was DLC for Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, so I would be surprised, if this one was left out intentionally. So, it's probably there as well.
The new stage, the Great Plateau Tower, looks really cool as well. Using the Great Plateau as a stage in some form was a natural choice, because the view of Hyrule there is amazing and everyone is familiar with it. But utilizing the Sheikah Tower there was a very smart move, because this way they could also feature the Sheikah technology.
This certainly looks like a great additions and if we also get Pirate Ship back, we would have a stage from all the major 3D Zelda games.
What else could there be?
The demo has a selection of costumes, where the absence of a Hilda alt for Zelda is noticeable. However, we also saw that Ridley would be getting a Meta Ridley alt. Unless that was an Echo, which they probably would have announced already, it's possible that the characters will have more alternates than what was in the demo, probably stuff to unlock. Still, it's thinkable that Hilda might become an actual Echo for Zelda in this game or even her own character.
It's not likely that one-shots in the series like Midna will ever become playable, but since Hilda is basically the mirror version of Zelda, she would feel more meaningful and also look great next to the new Zelda as well.
Of course it's possible that either Tingle or Skull Kid get promoted from being Assist Trophies to actual fighters, like it was the case for Little Mac. Tingle appeared in many Zelda games as a side character and also was the star of four of his own games. Skull Kid appeared in multiple Zelda games as well and was basically the main villain of Majora's Mask. So, there is some character potential here.
As for moveset potential, things maybe don't look as good, which is probably why they were Assist Trophies in the first place and might even stay that way... These roles also fit them quite well. Skull Kid is a prankster, where him screwing with the fighters makes a lot more sense than him being a fighter himself. But in the end they could potentially make anyone playable and it comes down to popularity, where at least Skull Kid should have a good chance.
Tetra remains as a possibility, where they could have withheld the Pirate Ship stage intentionally, because it's going to be her stage now (Toon Link gets to ride the Spirit Train). And it would be nice to have at least one more character in the Toon Zelda style. (But it also could be Tingle, who gets added in his Wind Waker incarnation and uses the Pirate Ship stage as a home stage.)
Impa is a candidate that's mentioned quite often, but she doesn't feel all that likely. They could use her younger Skyward Sword version, but for the most part she's an old woman during the series, who "imparts" information, and she never was as relevant to make it into Super Smash Bros., to be honest. She could also be squeezed into an Echo role for Sheik, as many suggest.
But overall the Zelda franchise got six characters already and we probably shouldn't expect a new one just now. Hilda as an Echo seems like the likeliest candidate at the moment, because Echoes don't need as much effort and she would fit the concept quite well.
As for Assist Trophies, I would love to see Hestu doing his dance party. The four Champions could become Assist Trophies as well, making use of their individual abilities. This would actually be pretty sweet. But the real Assist Trophy material are probably Guardians, crawling over the stage and targeting other players with their laser beams.
With stages, it's possible to get a "Lorule Castle" stage as a counterpart to the Hyrule Castle one. It would be the home of a potential Hilda character. Both Hilda and Lorule Castle would represent A Link Between Worlds, which is an important Zelda title and didn't really get anything in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS, sadly.
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