Summary
Echo Fighters is the newest addition introduced inSuper Smash Bros Ultimate. It’s a fancier new name for clones already designed sinceSuper Smash Bros Melee. They were much simpler before with modified stats and animations. The purpose of Echo Fighters is to expand existing fighters’ playstyles.
Since everyone is here, the clones in the previous entries have returned with new movesets. Their new fighting styles aren’t fully different from those of their inspired fighters due to similar attacks and special moves. While they feel like semi-echoes, they greatly differentiate the experience with certain expertise.
14Peach & Daisy
Royal Echoes
Daisy echoes Princess Peach as the easiest pair for players to transition. She offers little variation to expand Peach’s playstyle since they have the same moveset and float mechanic. Their only differences are seen through their animations, including a different colored Toad. Daisy is designed like an extra costume slot for Peach, making them similar toStreet Fighter 2Ken and Ryu.
They did have one difference in the earliest versions ofSuper Smash Bros Ultimateinvolving their down-special. Exclusively for opponents at higher percentages, Daisy could use her turnips for KO confirms, unlike Peach who throws her harder for KOs. This small difference was suddenly removed in update 3.0, balancing their designs as intended.
13Simon & Richter
Brave Echoes
Richterfollows his relative ancestor, Simon, with the same moves to zone the opponent. Both Belmonts use their whips and tools exactly how the ancestral family fights inCastlevania. They only differentiate through their taunts and down special.
Holy water is the most essential tool for Belmonts to confirm a KO. The multi-hit move is elemental based depending on the fighter. Simon’s down special is fire-based, igniting explosives like grenades much easier. Richter’s special doesn’t ignite as much since it’s aura-based. This is only greatly significant for Olimar when dealing with elemental weaknesses and strengths with his Pikmin, specifically red and blue Pikmin.
12Pit & Dark Pit
Divine Mirrors
Dark Pit mirrors his rival counterpart Pit, making them the most accessible, all-around fighters. He has the same combo routes as his mirrored rival with their disjointed, multi-hit attacks. Even most of their specials are the same, letting them recover back to the stage with Palutena’s guidance or land with defending, reflective shields. Their only differences rest within the other two specials: side special and neutral special.
The Pits’ neutral and side specials are used similarly except with different attributes. Neutral special lets the angels shoot distant light arrows while side special makes them charge for a close-range powerful punch. Pit’s specials are weaker, though his arrow can curve better while his arm launches the opponent up, making them vulnerable for juggles. Dark Pit’s specials are stronger, though his arrows can’t curve as well to catch a diagonally angled opponent. His side special does launch the opponent horizontally for effective KOs, though the dark angel must be facing toward the closest blast zone. Facing away only pushes the opponent back, resetting neutral which doesn’t bring too much benefit for the Dark Pit.
11Samus & Dark Samus
Replicating Bounty Hunters
Dark Samus is the replica copy of Samus, but more menacing. Since it copies the bounty hunter, they use arm cannons, bombs, and missiles to handle their opponents at long range. A notable difference is that their arm cannon is elemental based since Samus is fire-based while Dark Samus is electrical. Electric moves give better impact when struck, but can give back more recovery lag for the user during attack clank interactions.
Other distinct factors include their animation, which is a lot greater than expected. Dark Samus is much floatier than Samus, letting it linger more in the air. This makes creepy fighters more effective with advanced techniques like reverse special to mix up their movement. A flaw to its neutral stance is that it has a bigger hurtbox than Samus when jumping and rolling since Samus uses her ball form to shrink herself.
10Legend Of Zelda
The Three Heroes
The Hero of Legends is passed down through multiple representatives in Super Smash Bros, leaving the swordsman skills up to Link, Young Link, and Toon Link.The three heroessimilarly wield their swords with great coverage and power like forward-tilt and up-air. They even use back air and nair as their combo starters and safe pressure tools. While they are different fighters, how they wield their tools is very similar.
What significantly sets them apart is their specials. Each hero uses bombs, arrows, and boomerangs with varied range and power. While Toon Link and Young Link excel with their speed, arrows, and boomerangs, Link is the best with his remote bomb. Unlike the other younger heroes with bombs exploding on hit, Link can detonate his bomb at any time. This gives him the best pressure tool of the other two heroes while offering him advanced, damaging combo routes.
9Lucina & Marth
Echoes Of Caution
Lucina closely follows Marth’s swordsmanship with notable changes to their swords. Marth’s sword is much longer compared to Lucina’s with its tipper. Perfectly distancing himself from the opponent rewards him with extra damage and knockback. This does force Marth mains to always find the sweet spot, which forces a cautious playstyle when facing fighters of various sizes and different hurtbox shifting.
Lucina’s sword has no tipper mechanic, making her playstyle more straightforward and consistent than the tipper swordsman. This does cost her range and KO power, which hinders her damage output and fatal blow opportunities. Despite her standard design, she’s still one of the best fundamental swordsmen.
8Villager & Isabelle
Hardworking Fighters
Along with Villager is Isabelle who was invited to join the roster with their hardworking tools. Tom Nook’s coworkers bring multiple utensils for their zoning preference like Lloyd and slingshot. They even have some close-range options like turnip, bug net, and umbrella. What makes Isabelle a different fighter compared to Villager is how she utilizes her moveset.
Villager is designed as a better long-range zoner whereas Isabelle depends more on set-ups. Villager has more options to contest the enemy at a distance with his Lloyd and slingshot. He can even plant a tree to protect himself against other projectiles, strengthening his neutral game. Isabelle uses her specials like Lloyd and fishing rod to trap the stage, relying on the element of surprise. Her setups excel greatly during her advantage when the opponent is on the ropes.
7Mario & Dr. Mario
Same Man, Different Degrees
Dr. Mario was a direct clone of Mario sinceSuper Smash Bros Melee.Since then, he distanced himself away from his counterpart to become his own fighter. His current design is stillreminiscent of Mariosince they have only two notable differences: down-air and down-special.
The two Marios fight with the same moves, yet each attack produces a different reward. Mario is quicker with his attacks sending opponents upward for more consistent vertical combos and KOs like his up-air to up-special. Dr. Mario’s attacks like up-air send opponents more horizontally, carrying them to the side blast zone. He even has a unique feature that makes his neutral-air stronger near its end rather than its startup like Mario’s neutral-air. Dr. Mario sacrifices his speed for power like Ganondorf, making him rely on just a few interactions to earn the match’s momentum.
6Pikachu & Pichu
Shocking Pair Of Mice
Pichu is aSuper Smash Bros Meleeveteran who grew a lot from his original counterpart, Pikachu. Thetwo Pokemon are quick fighterswith the same special moves to showcase their great neutral and speed. While Pichu plays similarly to Pikachu, his whole moveset provides a great cost.
Both fighters have similar neutral, though Pichu offers a better advantage with his moveset. He is a bit smaller and quicker, especially when using his special moves unlike Pikachu expanding his hurt box. Compared to Pikachu, Pichu brings more power to its attacks, though raises its risk with its self-damaging electricity. This makes certain whiffed attacks, including his normals, more committal due to his growing damage. This flaw only worsens since the Pichu is lighter, making him launch more easily when whiffing too many electric attacks.
5Roy & Chrom
Echoes Of Aggression
Chrom and Roy are aggression incarnates, showcasing their great neutral game through speed and disjointed attacks. Their main difference involves their sword’s designs since Roy’s weapon has a sweet spot at the hilt, rewarding him greater damage at close range. His mechanic is straightforward, though the characters’ varied hurtbox shifting makes his rewards inconsistent and complex, unlike his echo. Since Chrom has no sweet spot, his combos are easier and more consistent to land without relying on distance, including his finishing blows.
Another big difference between the swordsmen is their up-special. Unlike Roy’s arch-angle attack like Marth and Lucina, Chrom’s up special is similar to Ike’s for a higher vertical attack. This lets him catch enemies in the air over him easily while having a huge hitbox in front of him. A small flaw is its inability to snap to the ledge, leaving him exposed.
