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GamesRadar
Technology
Scott McCrae

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate on Nintendo Switch 2 has fixed the most annoying bit of loading the fighting game has to offer, even without a proper next-gen update

Banjo and Kazooie next to the Duck Hunt Duo in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

If you, like me, main someone in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate who was added in that game (either at launch or as DLC), you will know firsthand that the costumes take forever to load in. Some games, like Smash – despite not getting an official Switch 2 update – are running better right away on Nintendo Switch 2. So despite breaking Mii Fighters somewhat, the new console has remedied the game's most annoying problem.

Obviously, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate's gigantic roster is the main selling point, and is undeniably impressive, but a symptom of that roster is that it was too big for the original Switch to load everything quickly. Usually when you select a character in-game you can tap the shoulder buttons to cycle through alternate costumes for them.

However, Smash Ultimate seems to load these in based on where in the roster they are, so if you play as someone introduced in the original game like Mario or Donkey Kong, you won't really notice, but if you pick a character like King K. Rool or a DLC fighter like Terry Bogard, you'll find that pressing the button to change skin results in a blank screen for a hot minute while the game loads it in.

Twitter user LittleMacMainKO (who would normally have to wait a fair amount since Little Mac is fighter number 49), immediately booted up their new console to test out Smash, and noticed that Ultimate's annoying issue is gone, with all alternate costumes now loading in instantly, regardless of character.

The user also notes that load times in general are faster across the board in Smash Ultimate, including the tediously long boot up time the game has on the original console. Of course, a Nintendo Switch 2 Edition of Ultimate that finally adds Dante and an actually interesting Zelda rep would be far more appreciated (but more realistically another Fire Emblem, Pokemon, and Xenoblade rep to ruin my life).

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet speedruns are in a different league on Switch 2, with a day-one attempt already coming in around half an hour faster than the old world record.

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