Everything shown during the Smash Ultimate Steve & Alex presentation

Only a few days after the initial reveal of Minecraft’s Steve and Alex in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, producer Masahiro Sakurai walked us through Fighter Pass 2’s newest arrivals. There were also a few unrelated announcements, one of which is bound to disappoint more than a few Smash Ultimate players.

Naturally, most of the presentation was spent showing off Steve and Alex — plus Zombie and Enderman — and they’re looking to be an interesting inclusion in Smash Ultimate. Their moveset is incredibly unique, with Sakurai stating that his team had to rework existing stages to make the building mechanic work properly.

Steve and Alex, unlike most fighters in the Smash series, have had little changes to their appearance and animations. Instead of giving them joints and fully animated facial expressions like in Minecraft: Story Mode, Sakurai and his team have stayed faithful to Steve and Alex’s classic appearances. They really stand out from every other fighter, even when compared to the bizarre Mr. Game & Watch.

This isn’t quite the case for their abilities, many of which being tweaked to better fit the fast-paced nature of Smash Ultimate. Steve and Alex still have access to many of Minecraft’s tools, with the sword, axe, and pickaxe being used for most of their basic attacks. A few other items also make their appearance, including flint and steel for their down tilt, along with a fishing rod and pistons for grabs. They have some decent attacks at their disposal, but for the most part it’s nothing too outrageous.

Steve and Alex’s specials, however, are another thing entirely. This is where mining, crafting, and building all come into play. In fact, all three of these are tied to the B button, which does something different depending on where you stand. Standing in an open area? You mine. Standing next to a crafting table? You… craft. Jumping? You build. It’s a lot to keep track of, but succeeding with Steve and Alex requires proper use of all three aspects of the B button.

All of this is tied into the resource system, as you mine different materials to craft tools and blocks. You even need materials for certain attacks, so you’re basically encouraged to mine whenever possible. It’s something that will take time to get used to, since different resources are required for different types of tools, and also certain attacks. Even Steve and Alex’s down special can make use of another material, redstone, to set up pressure plates for remote TNT detonation.

If that wasn’t enough, they have access to a glide that works similarly to Meta Knight’s in Brawl, and a speedy minecart that can trap opponents and throw them off the stage’s edge. While many DLC characters like Joker and Terry have had their own unique mechanics to contend with, this is on a whole different level. One thing’s for sure though; Steve and Alex are an exciting addition to the Smash Ultimate roster, whether you’re a Minecraft fan, or just someone who wants to try out another interesting fighter.

Steve and Alex release October 14 in Europe, priced at £5.39/€5.99 if you don’t plan on getting Fighter Pass 2. They come with a new stage, Minecraft World — which also has six different randomly selected variants — and seven songs to choose from.

And now for the unfortunate part: Mii Fighter costumes. This is where characters are effectively de-confirmed as DLC fighters. There are three Minecraft costumes to go with Alex and Steve, along with Bomberman, and Gil from Tower of Drauga. Bomberman was already relegated to an assist trophy so we didn’t expect him to make it into Fighter Pass 2, but the Travis Touchdown costume is not quite what we had hoped for the protagonist of Suda51‘s No More Heroes. At the very least, it’s better than no representation at all.

All six costumes will be available alongside the release of Alex and Steve on October 14, costing £0.70/€0.80 each.

Finally, Sakurai revealed some samples for the remaining Fighter Pass 1 amiibos. Banjo & Kazooie, Terry, and Byleth will all be making their amiibo debuts some time in 2021. Unfortunately, it looks like female Byleth wont be getting her own amiibo, though this could change by next year.

All in all, this was another informative Smash Ultimate presentation. Here’s hoping that Sakurai gets to hang out with his team for the next DLC fighter reveal.

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