With most of Nintendo’s top-selling Switch titles now upgraded or reissued for the new hardware, attention naturally turns to the one major holdout: Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. As the third best-selling game on the original console, its absence from the Switch 2 lineup feels temporary at best. Given Nintendo’s recent pattern of re-releasing enhanced editions—such as the Animal Crossing: New Horizons Switch 2 Edition—it seems increasingly likely that Smash Bros. will receive similar treatment rather than an entirely new sequel in the near term.
A hypothetical Super Smash Bros. Ultimate: Switch 2 Edition could serve as both a bridge and a technical refresh, allowing Nintendo to extend the game’s life while delaying the question of what comes next for the series. That approach would also give Masahiro Sakurai or any future director time to rethink how to follow up a game that already assembled nearly every major character in Nintendo’s history.
If a Switch 2 edition does arrive, the most critical upgrade would need to happen online. Despite being the strongest online experience in Smash history, Ultimate’s delay-based netcode lags behind modern standards. Most fighting games—from Street Fighter 6 to Guilty Gear Strive—now rely on rollback netcode for smoother, more consistent performance. Converting Ultimate to rollback would require a major overhaul, but precedent exists: Dragon Ball FighterZ, another Bandai Namco–co-developed title, recently made the switch with success.
Visual and technical upgrades would also be expected. On the Switch 2, Ultimate already benefits from faster loading times, but visual output still caps at 1080p docked and 720p handheld. A proper upgrade to 4K docked and 1440p handheld—while retaining a stable 60 frames per second—would bring the game in line with current console standards and justify its rerelease. Even a balanced 1440p/60fps target would likely satisfy most players.
As for roster additions, while 82 fighters already make Ultimate one of the largest crossover lineups in gaming, new characters would be essential to market a Switch 2 version. Fan-favorite requests like Waluigi or Geno could finally appear, while modern icons such as Zagreus or Melinoe from Hades, Crash Bandicoot, and The Tarnished from Elden Ring would reflect Nintendo’s evolving partnerships and contemporary gaming trends. Urshifu from Pokémon represents another plausible addition, tying in with newer generations introduced since 2018.
Whether Nintendo chooses to revisit Ultimate or move directly into a new chapter, the demand for a revitalized Smash experience on the Switch 2 is undeniable. A polished re-release would not only celebrate one of the console’s defining titles but also set a higher bar for online performance and visual fidelity in Nintendo’s multiplayer catalog.
