Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Gets Labo VR Support

By Noah Friscopp

Cardboard Reality

Labo VR is one of the many crafting kits available under the Nintendo Labo brand, where you can craft toys, musical instruments and other gaming gear primarily out of cardboard. Most of the other packages are a little more unique to Nintendo like fishing poles, a robot pack, and even a fully working piano keyboard, but Labo VR is Nintendo’s attempt at tackling virtual reality at a low cost. Some games already have Labo VR support like Super Mario Odyssey and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild most famously, but now another one of the Nintendo Switch’s best games is added to that list. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate now has Labo VR support. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate seems like the perfect match for Nintendo's new handmade VR headset, so let’s see exactly what you can do in the new mode.

Nintendo Labo: VR Kit + Super Smash Bros. UItimate

Watching Battles from the Front Row

Nintendo Labo VR’s other Toy-Con kits contain several unique features to standard VR headsets like a blaster, high flying bird, a camera to let you live out your cardboard fueled fantasies like becoming an ocean photographer and even an elephant trunk! All of these Toy-Con projects are pretty unique with their own mini-games attached to them, but the mode for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is relatively basic. In the new mode, you can view matches from the perspective of yourself being inside many of the game’s arenas to get a view of the battlefields that you usually wouldn’t be able to in normal gameplay. “Dozens” of stages are supported, but unfortunately, you can only watch matches played by computer-controlled fighters and play against three other CPU characters yourself in timed games. No big multiplayer battles in VR, but it might be a bit difficult to play in this mode anyway. This mode is mainly for the fun of feeling like you are there in person watching a round of Smash unfolding right in front of you.

What’s Next?

Putting VR modes into existing Nintendo games is undoubtedly cool, but what about designing full games around VR? Imagine a Pokémon game where you can view the arena from above, or a Pikmin VR game where you control the armies of Pikmin from the perspective of the tiny astronaut explorer Captain Olimar, or what about a new Wii (or Switch) Sports all from the perspective of your own eyes? The possibilities are truly endless with VR, and Nintendo’s massive cast of characters and series’ are all prime and ready to be used in this new perspective. Only time will tell if we will see more games down the line that make more use of the technology, but in the meantime, there is a steady release of support for existing Nintendo Switch games to enjoy. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate's Labo VR mode is available now. 

Share Your Thoughts

What about you? What kind of Nintendo games would you like to see in VR? Are you going to check out Smash Bros.’ mode? Let us know below!