Nintendo’s signature beat-em-up fighting platformer Super Smash Bros. Ultimate has just earned a high honor.
As of this month, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate has etched its place in the record books, becoming the highest-selling fighting game of all time. Nintendo has disclosed a total sales number of 15.71 million copies sold worldwide. That title was initially held by 1991’s Street Fighter 2.
That game held the record of 15.5 million units. However, it should also be noted that it accomplished that feat by releasing seven different versions of the game over a number of years. Smash Bros. Ultimate captured the top spot in less than one year and with only one version on one platform.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate released in December of 2018 to rave reviews from long-time fans of the franchise and newcomers alike. This fighting game pits characters from classic Nintendo properties like Mario, Link, Kirby, and Fox McCloud against one another in free-for-all style combat.
Over the years, Nintendo has added more of its own characters along with a slew of third-party warriors to the game’s ever-growing roster. In fact, two of the most popular characters in the game are none other than Street Fighter’s Ryu and Ken. That means Ryu and Ken will continue to be characters in the highest-selling fighting game of all time.
This is not the first record set by Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
Last year, shortly after its release, it became the fastest-selling Nintendo game of all time, moving more than 12 million copies in just three weeks.
Smash Bros. Ultimate is also the second highest-selling title on the Nintendo Switch console.
It just beat out Super Mario Odyssey, with 15.38 million copies sold, and Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild which sold 14.54 million copies. It trails Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, which has a solid grasp on the best Switch seller title at more than 19 million copies.
What’s more, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate has cemented the legacy of the entire Super Smash Bros. franchise as the best-selling fighting game franchise of all time. In the two decades since the original Super Smash Bros. was released for the Nintendo 64 console, players have purchased more than 53 million Smash Bros. copies.
To put that in perspective, Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter, Tekken, and Dragon Ball all have sold somewhere between 45 and 47 million copies each.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate was officially released on December 7, 2018 for the Nintendo Switch Console and features a massive fighter roster of 74 playable characters.
