Today is Super Smash Bros. Ultimate's three-year anniversary!

Nintendo shared the news on Twitter, asking the Smash community if they can believe it's been three whole years since the launch of the newest Smash title. While it may not be as old as Super Smash Bros. Melee, Ultimate is still already a classic fighting game that has shaped the Smash scene. 

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate history

Super Smash Bros Ultimate came out in 2018 but the planning started all the way back in December of 2015, three years earlier. The full development began after Smash 4's final DLC was revealed with the goal of including every single character from previous games. 

The giant roster upon Ultimate's launch earned the tagline "Everyone is Here," even though some players pointed out that Waluigi wasn't there, a running meme that has never died despite never being that funny. The Smash team was also clearly unfazed by the joke, deciding against adding Waluigi as a DLC character. 

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate was developed by Bandai Namco Studios and Sora Ltd, which also helped with Super Smash Bros. Wii U and Nintendo 3DS. Masahiro Sakurai, Kirby's father, returned as the Game Director. With the team already in place, Ultimate was a lot easier to work on than Melee, which built their team from the ground up. 

Sakurai stated that this latest Smash title was the last request he received from former Nintendo President Satoru Iwata. He passed in 2015. Sakurai felt determined to create the game to the best of his abilities even though he knew it would be very complicated due to the production and licensing challenges. 

Sakurai decided to build the game off of pre-existing game systems to make the process a bit smoother. But all returning characters' abilities had to be re-balanced to work in Ultimate. He also had to think of how to add the additional fighters, including Ridley, who fans had been asking for. Sakurai had to come up with ways to make Ridley fight upright and fit within the game. 

Nintendo first teased Ultimate's release in a Nintendo Direct in March 2018. The full reveal happened in June at E3. The giant roster immediately won over the Smash community, who reacted with a crapton of hype upon seeing the complete trailer. 

Despite Ultimate's crappy internet, the game has continued to be a success. Over 25 million copies of the game have been sold. In fact, it's often the only reason people buy the Switch. The competitive scene has also continued to thrive. Not even Nintendo can ignore it any longer. 

There may be no more DLC fighters on the way, but the game is just as popular and exciting as ever before. Sakurai can now finally take a road trip with his cat as the Smash community continues to enjoy one of the most successful fighting games of all time.