With the announcement of a downloadable content (DLC) Fighter’s Pass back in December of 2018, one of the characters Super Smash Bros. fans were clamoring to get into the game was the duo of Banjo and Kazooie. Their appearance in “Super Smash Bros. Ultimate” marked the characters’ first appearance on a Nintendo console since “Banjo-Tooie” (2000),  bridging the relationship between two rival companies. With all of that being said, how do they stand up as a fighter and what does the new DLC have to offer?

The stage that Banjo and Kazooie come with, Spiral Mountain, is wonderfully crafted and a magnificently detailed ode to the original Nintendo 64 games. The stage also includes new remixes from the “Banjo-Kazooie” games, the Spiral Mountain remix in particular being composed by the original games’ composer, Grant Kirkhope, but also a couple of tracks taken directly from the original games. The stage itself spins around, shifting the terrain along with it, which is a first for the “Super Smash Bros.” series, but not ideal for competitive play. Luckily, there is always the option to play on the Battlefield or Omega forms of those stages.

As for the fighter, Banjo and Kazooie are nothing too extraordinary. They have decent mobility, an alright grab game and mostly lackluster aerials. However, their recovery options are not lackluster in the slightest, giving them a lot of flexibility on how to get back to the stage. Their side-special, Wonderwing, does massive damage if players do not predict it in time, so one must be careful when throwing out specific moves around Banjo. Their down-special, Rear Egg, can be a very useful projectile, especially as an edge-guarding tool and also for combos. If dropped on an opponent’s head at high percentages, it can true combo into their side-special, if spaced properly, usually leading to an automatic K.O.

Top players have varying opinions on the fighter, with Gonzalo Barrios (ZeRo) saying that they could possibly be bottom of high tier or top of mid-tier and Juan DeBiedma (Hungrybox) saying the fighter straight-up sucks. Regardless, that will not mean that players will not continuously have fun with this inclusion on the roster, as that is one thing that most players can agree on.

Along with Banjo and Kazooie, Terry Bogard from “Fatal Fury” was announced as the fourth fighter in the first DLC Fighter’s Pass, which came as no surprise to anybody who had been following leaks. Without knowing that information, however, it is a very surprising conclusion, considering that Terry is not a strong fan favorite in the Smash community. On the other hand, what surprised everyone was the announcement of more fighters on the way. This has led to even more speculation to what characters could possibly join the roster, from the likes of Crash Bandicoot to Geno from “Super Mario RPG: The Legend of the Seven Stars.”

 The one addition to Smash that shocked everyone the most, however, was the inclusion of the “Undertale’s” Sans as a Mii costume for Mii Gunner. The “Super Smash Bros.” series creator Masahiro Sakurai stated that Sans was a heavily requested character, though most of that was meme culture becoming a reality. It is still astounding that Sakurai made “Undertale” representation possible, even including the popular music track “MEGLOVANIA.” With all of these new features and all of the content still on the horizon, “Super Smash Bros. Ultimate” is shaping up to be what seems the largest crossover in entertainment history.

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