Nintendo announced its final roster update for Super Smash Bros, revealing that Sega’s gun-toting Umbra Witch Bayonetta will join the cross-franchise brawler as a playable character next year on the Wii U and 3DS.
Super Smash Bros. series creator Masahiro Sakurai announced that Bayonetta won her spot in the Super Smash Bros. cast by popular vote, beating out fighters from previous games in the series and ranking in as the single most-wanted “negotiable and realizable character” worldwide.
Bayonetta boasts her own unique collection of moves and abilities, making her a formidable opponent. Throughout the course of each match, Bayonetta can take down foes using her four pistols, powerful melee attacks, and time-warping abilities that allow her to temporarily slow down rival characters. For her show-stopping Final Smash move, Bayonetta summons a gigantic demon that clamps down on opponents with its massive teeth.
Bayonetta is a combo-based character who can string together several quick attacks in a row, similar to how she controlled in the original Bayonetta games. Upon starting a combo, players can take to the air and juggle their opponents for multiple successive hits. Bayonetta also brings her “Bullet Arts” gunplay mechanics into battle, allowing players to extend their combos by holding down an attack button at any point.
The Super Smash Bros. series has featured many playable guest stars from non-Nintendo franchises over the years, starting with Sega’s Sonic the Hedgehog and Metal Gear’s Solid Snake in 2008’s Super Smash Bros. Brawl for the Wii console. Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and 3DS continued the trend with the introduction of Street Fighter’s Ryu earlier this year, and a downloadable content pack released this week adds Final Fantasy VII‘s Cloud Strife as a playable character.
Nintendo revealed that Corrin from the upcoming Fire Emblem Fates will also join the Super Smash Bros. roster next year. Bayonetta and Corrin will launch as playable characters for Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and 3DS in February of 2016.
