Super Smash Bros. Ultimate: 7 Awesome Costume Origins
Seven stories behind some of the more interesting palette swaps and special outfits.
Smash Brothers digs deep into the celebrated lore of Nintendo. Half the fun of playing Smash is unearthing every reference, nod, and homage buried in the myriad stages and assist trophies. No opportunity to celebrate the legacy of the world’s most beloved publisher is wasted, and there’s even quite a bit of history contained in the costumes and colorations of the Smash Brothers characters. Here are seven stories behind some of the more interesting palette swaps and special outfits.
Dark Link
Dark Link’s origins go waaaaay back to the oft-misunderstood NES masterpiece, Zelda II: The Adventure of Link. I still remember being a little kid and defeating the huge “final” boss at the end of the epically-difficult Great Palace and heading outside to claim the Triforce, only to be attacked by my own shadow! Since that first appearance as the big bad, Dark Link has evolved into a staple of Zelda storytelling, from a mysterious opponent in Ocarina’s Water Temple to a fever-dream nightmare in Twilight Princess.
Family Computer Robot
In a time when US toy sellers weren’t interested in video games, R.O.B. the Robot Operating Buddy was a way for Nintendo to sneak their exciting new NES into American stores. But R.O.B. had a Japanese cousin, the Family Computer Robot, a red-and-cream colored peripheral that played the same two games robot games sold in the American market.
Waluigi
Depending on who you ask, Waluigi fans have suffered either far too much or not nearly enough. Many of them are quite vocal in the desire to see their terrible Camelot-conceived wannabe in Smash, which makes the optional purple Luigi color scheme all the more trollish on Nintendo’s part.
Blue Bowser
Bowser’s blue Smash coloration is a nod to another long-forgotten Famicom character. Sometimes referred to in the US as Bowser’s Brother, this palette-swapped version of the Koopa King appears in Super Mario Brothers 2 (Japan)... aka the Lost Levels. He’s only blue in the original Famicom ROM... he looks like normal Bowser in the SNES stateside re-release. Note that some sources imply that Bowser’s Brother and Fake Bowser may, in fact, both be the same fraud, but as Bowser’s Brother functions at a mechanically distinctive level from the Fake Bowsers in games this interpretation is questionable.
Meta Ridley
One of the oldest official video game minibosses, Ridley died in Metroid and Super Metroid, but then got better and became a sort of Frankenstein-robot-cyborg in Metroid Prime. One of Ridley’s selectable Smash Ultimate costumes invokes his steely-yet-fleshy alternate form. Meta-Ridley has made appearances in several Metroid and Smash Games, including Metroid Prime Pinball. The part-beast-part-machine Space Pirate should not be confused with Mecha Ridley, who’s an entirely different all-metal menace.
Little Mac Wireframe
Punch-Out!! Didn’t begin with Mike Tyson. Two years before a Nintendo console hit US shelves, players were punching stereotypes in arcades in The Big N’s first boxing game. There’s some contention about whether the main fighter in Punch Out arcade is actually Little Mac, but what is clear is that the protagonist sports a green motif evocative of everybody’s favorite pernicious pugilist.
Most of the action in the arcade game takes place from a distinctive camera angle directly behind the player’s boxer, and the top half of the player’s fighter appears as a transparent green wireframe model to allow for greater visibility. Mac’s wireframe Smash skin is a homage to these arcade origins.
Dark Suit Samus
Don’t get Dark Suit Samus mixed up with Dark Samus, a completely different character and echo fighter with roots in the Metroid Prime series. The Dark Suit (a dim metal-hued outfit with orange faceplate) is a power-up for Samus Aran in Metroid Prime 2 which allows her to survive in hostile environments. Samus’ dim alternative Smash coloration is inspired by the Dark Suit’s design.
There’s a lot more to spot in Smash Bros when you’re not busy pummeling Pokemon or clobbering Kirby. Let us know what you spot, and remember: winners always keep items on. For more on Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, check out how to unlock all characters, and all character locations in World of Light.
Jared Petty produces Red Dead Radio: The Read Dead Redemption Podcast, the quiz show Contestants Are You Ready, the video essay series Hop, Blip, and a Jump, and the storytelling podcast Pockets Full of Soup. He's a host at Kinda Funny Games and a frequent contributor to IGN. He mains R.O.B. and is not ashamed. Follow him on Twitter @pettycommajared and on Instagram @pettycommajared.
