Nintendo reveals ‘Kingdom Hearts’ Sora as final Smash Bros. DLC
“Super Smash Bros.” has been one of the most iconic video gaming series for generations of gamers. Seeing the various iterations developed for different gaming platforms over the years, the original "Super Smash Bros." from 1999 for the Nintendo 64 has come a long way. It is crazy to think about how that original version contained only twelve playable characters. Since then, iconic characters from various Nintendo and non-Nintendo franchises have joined the crossover fighting battle royal including Metroid, Sonic, Pokémon trainer and PAC-MAN, to name a few. Nintendo’s latest announcement marks the end of an era as Sora from the fantasy video game series “Kingdom Hearts” will be the final playable character for downloadable content, or DLC, to be added to “Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.”
Sora, from the Kingdom Hearts series from "Square Enix," is the 82nd and final “Super Smash Bros. Ultimate” fighter, bringing a bittersweet end to an amazing journey for Smash fans worldwide. The “Kingdom Hearts” game series is a bit of a cross-over in itself between Final Fantasy and Disney characters — who all come from their individual worlds themed around their respective movies or cartoons, including “Toy Story,” “Nightmare Before Christmas” and “Pirates of the Caribbean.” While the series may not be the biggest or most successful, it has always had a dedicated cult following and was extremely popular on PlayStation 2 on Nintendo DS.
This is exemplified perfectly by the manner in which Sora was selected to be the final addition to the franchise within a list of candidates including iconic characters like Goku from “Dragon Ball Z” and Master Chief from “Halo.” When introducing Sora on Oct. 5, Smash Bros. game director Masahiro Sakurai recalled a community poll that ran from April to October of 2015. Fans voted in a completely open-ended ballot for the video game character — regardless of the franchise — they wanted to see most in Super Smash Bros. The winner of that poll was none other than Sora, but after years had passed, fans were convinced that the poll would no longer be a factor in the selection process. Sora became the 12th new DLC fighter to be added to the latest version of “Super Smash Bros. Ultimate” since Piranha Plant from “Super Mario” was added in January 2019.
Since the announcement, Nintendo has already released a character reveal trailer where we see the key-wielding swordsman take his place among all the other Smash brawlers. The trailer also gifted fans with some gameplay footage to get a better look at what the young hero will bring to the arena. From what we can tell, Sora appears to be a nimble and skilled airborne and melee fighter, even if his attacks are slightly slower than other sword-wielding characters like Lucina or Marth. His special abilities include fire, lightning and ice magic attacks and a vertical spiral move that is a bit like Link's spin attack. All of this suggests that Sora will be an exciting addition available to Smash players and familiar enough to be able to pick up relatively quickly while still bringing his own distinct playing style.
While many fans within the Smash community are confident that “Super Smash Bros. Ultimate” will not be the final installment in the famed gaming series, it is a bit surreal to think that there will be no more new DLC characters to look forward to for a long time, if ever. Nonetheless, Smash players most likely won't stop enjoying the epic showdown that is “Super Smash Bros. Ultimate” anytime soon. It is truly fitting that a fan poll determined the final character added to the “Super Smash Bros. Ultimate” roster, given that the game has meant so much to its community of fans, and will surely continue to do so for years to come.