And once again, Nintendo wins E3… with a single game.

Once again, Nintendo went without a proper conference at E3 in favor of another Nintendo Direct. This is standard fare for them, by now. But even so, there’s always a lot of speculation surrounding what the next Direct will actually include. This year’s E3 Direct had a lot of hype, considering reveals at the last E3, and over the course of the last several Directs.

To be fair, Smash Bros. wasn’t the only hotly anticipated game to make a showing, this time. One such example was the recent reveal of Pokemon: Let’s Go Pikachu! and Pokemon: Let’s Go Eevee! The two games were the first games properly featured during the Direct. There was also the major reveal of a new, main series Fire Emblem game for the Nintendo Switch Fire Emblem: Three Houses. Xenoblade fans also got a treat as new story DLC was revealed for Xenoblade Chronicles 2. But make no mistake. This was a Smash Bros. party. And many did they pull out all the stops.

The game features the return of every fighter to ever appear in a Smash Bros. title, all the way back from the N64 original. This includes the Mii Fighters, all of the last game’s DLC characters, and absentees from previous games, such as Solid Snake and Ice Climbers. The Final Smash mechanic has been streamlined and tons of other new items, assist trophies, and Pokemon have been added.

But the fans of this franchise care about one thing above all else – new fighters. And are there any? Oh yes. Perhaps least interesting and still incredibly fun is the addition of Daisy. She was brought in as an example of something called an “echo fighter,” which are basically the fighters like Lucina and Dark Pit, who are basically just different versions of other fighters in the game with slightly tweaked abilities. From there is the next most interesting addition – Inkling. After the reveal in a recent Nintendo Direct, it’s official. Splatoon’s success has warranted to the addition of Inklings to the game, complete with a ton of unique moves and a fun-looking playstyle, involving a bit of resource management.

But the biggest character reveal was saved for last. Right when it looked like things were winding down, Sakurai closed things out with a look at a new addition to the roster that fans have been begging for – Ridley. And it. Was. Glorious. Not only does he appear extremely fun to play, but he even comes with a Meta-Ridley skin.

Longtime fans will probably appreciate another major feature of the game. It’s compatible with GameCube controllers. Something about Smash Bros. just doesn’t feel right without them. The best part, however, is that the wait isn’t long for the game. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate drops on December 7, 2018.