Since Super Smash Bros. Ultimate’s release in 2018, there have been five downloadable fighters released – six if you count the free DLC Piranha Plant. However, despite the inclusion of the now classified ‘echo fighters,’ none have appeared as DLC.
While most characters have unique movesets, echo fighters have identical moves with slight variants in speed, weight, damage and of course name. Thus far, the only ones are Daisy, Dark Pit, and Dark Samus – with a chance more will be added in the future.
Considering they are near copies of existing fighters, the cost and time to produce an echo is much lower than a totally unique character. Naturally, originals are what members of the community want, but what if Nintendo announced a special package separate from the Fighters Passes and Challenger Packs… Who would make the cut?
There’s quite a few to choose from, given the massive roster that Super Smash Bros Ultimate boasts, so here are five echo fighters (or alternate costumes) we want to see added to the game.
Zack Fair – Cloud
Just as Daisy is a copy of Peach’s moveset, Zack Fair from Final Fantasy 7 could copy Cloud’s.
Zack was the protagonist in the Final Fantasy prequel Crisis Core, so he even has a bit more power to his name than other already existing fighters.
Just like Cloud, Zack would wield the Buster Sword, though it may be nice to see some of the Limit Charge mechanics altered in power and replaced with a better standard recovery.
Given Final Fantasy’s history on Nintendo, adding another representative, even through echo form could be a nice finishing touch.
Demise – Ganondorf
The Legend of Zelda series is long overdue for their next fighter, but sadly it’s not looking like there will be a new one any time soon. That said, Demise from Skyward Sword could add more villain representation while keeping design costs down.
Amusingly, while Ganondorf entered Melee as a clone of Captain Falcon before becoming a unique character in his own right, the demon king himself would now be the template for an echo fighter.
At the end of Skyword Sword, a defeated Demise promises to be reborn and is multiple times, as Ganondorf. As such, the fighter would have a replica of Ganon’s moves, though perhaps with some slight variants in power for variety.
It would be nice, for instance, if his neutral B and up tilt were more useful in some capacity instead of taking an incredibly long time to charge up, giving your opponent time to react.
ROB 64 – ROB
Truthfully, this fighter may make more sense as an alternate costume, but it would be a fun way to introduce yet another Star Fox character to the game without it being similar to Fox, Falco, or Wolf.
Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest updates on Esports, Gaming and more.
As you may recall, ROB 64 is the robot who controls The Star Fox team’s primary craft – Great Fox. The character, who debuted in Star Fox 64, was already based on the NES accessory as a bit of a meta inclusion by Nintendo themselves.
However, in order for the character to really be properly added as an Echo Fighter, either his legs would need to be removed or some additional animation work could be needed.
Aside from that, ROB 64 would be a nice, easy way to bring another Star Fox character to Smash Ultimate.
Ken (Street Fighter 2010)
Street Fighter 2010 is one of the most intense NES games ever designed, even crazier is the fact that it has so little to actually do with the fighting game title.
In the Japanese version, the player takes control of a character named Kevin Straker while in the English localization, Kevin is changed to Ken, and the story implies he’s the same Ken from the Street Fighting circuit.
While it would be completely preposterous to suggest the Ken/Kevin be added as an Echo Fighter, given the fact his moves would be so different, the idea of Ken having an alternate Street Fighter 2010 costume could be amazing.
It may have been the English translation that connected Kevin to Ken, but it’s not like the North American version of games haven’t helped introduce new lore to a franchise before, despite being something else entirely such as with Mario 2 and Doki Doki Panic. Speaking of which…
Birdo – Yoshi
Birdo first debuted in Doki Doki Panic and has gone on to be a series regular in Mario games such as Mario Kart.
As is the case with many on this list, a lot of series lack representation and the Yoshi series is no exception.
Since the original Smash Bros on Nintendo 64, Yoshi hasn’t received a companion character of any sort. Birdo could be the perfect way to expand his representation, the cast of fighters, and who knows – maybe be a nice buff to Yoshi mains too.
The only move that would need to be changed up would be the neutral B by replacing Egg Lay with some sort of egg-based projectile.
With so many fighters in the game, there’s honestly endless possibilities. With DLC going until at least 2021, hopefully we’ll see more in the way of echo fighters and costumes from Nintendo.
