You want it quick? Here's the list for you!

There are always new players jumping into Smash Ultimate, and if you’re recently one of them, you might have gotten a big shock when you first opened the character select screen. For this game, the developers decided to go with the very old-fashioned route of having you start with only the 8 original characters of Smash 64, and you’re meant to unlock the rest. With over 70 characters in the base-game (meaning pre–DLC, you have to pay for the rest), that can be quite overwhelming. So, if you’re struggling to unlock characters, or simply want to have them all as quickly as possible, this is the list for you!

5. World of Light

World of Light Character Locations & Guide - Smash Ultimate

Smash Ultimate fulfilled a fan request of having a new adventure mode, after there was none in Smash 4. Though it’s not as exciting or fleshed out as Brawl’s, World of Light is a fun single-player journey that has you face various different video-game characters in the form of Spirits. Doing so, you run into actual Smash fighters which you can beat to unlock, and make them playable in any other mode. Though this is a fun way to do it, especially if you’re playing by yourself, it’s the 5th of this Top 5 because it’s definitely the longest road to take. The characters are spread far across the board-like map, and you might take up to 40 hours to find them all. 

How to do it: 

• Go to Spirits mode in the main menu, then hit Adventure. 
• Play the game by moving around the map defeating Spirits, and beating Smash fighters when you run into them. 

4. Battle It Out

Super Smash Bros Ultimate Workshop | The Ultimate Beginner's Guide

This is about as simple as it gets, but sometimes simple is effective. If you have a group of friends or family members to play with, one of the quickest ways to unlock characters is just to have long-play sessions with them in standard Vs Mode (Smash mode on the menu). No matter which mode you’re in, the game is always tracking your inputs, meaning the buttons you press and how many of them. As the amount of player inputs build up, challenger fights get triggered, and when you finish a match in Smash mode, the unlockable characters appear to fight you. If you beat the challenger, you get them in your roster. Of course, if you have multiple players, more people are doing inputs, meaning these challenger fights can happen as quick as every 10 minutes. 

How to do it:

• Go to Smash in the main menu, then Smash again. 
• Create your preferred ruleset. 
• Call up some friends, and have fun!

3. Classic Mode

Classic Mode Unlocking Explained

If no one is available, and getting the characters fast is more important, than these next methods are for you. Another single-player mode in Ultimate is called Classic mode, and through it you can unlock all characters in the base game (pre-DLC). Classic mode will have you go through a set of interesting and unique battles that are based around the character you’re using. The cool thing about doing it this way, is that every time you finish a Classic mode run, you can get a challenger fight at the end, no matter the difficulty. So you could put it in the easiest difficulty, finish one as quick as 5 or 10 minutes, and get a challenger fight once you’re done. This is a fairly quick way to do it, while still having fun, and seeing the different creative Classic mode battles the game has to offer. 

How to do it:

• Go to Games & More in the main menu, then select Classic Mode.
• Select a character.
• Select 0.0 intensity for quickness. 
• You must play each of the starting characters 8 times in order to unlock everyone. For example, playing Classic mode with Mario 8 times will unlock 8 new characters, but the 9th time will not, you have to switch to another one of the original starting characters (the 8 characters the game starts with). 
• You can also continue with the newest unlocked character for variety’s sake. For example, if Mario unlocked Sonic, doing a run with Sonic will unlock the next one, and so on, until you finish Mario’s 8. 
• Pikachu is the exception, through whom you can only unlock 7 characters. 

2. It’s Mashing Time

Smash Ultimate - Unlock All Characters Mashing

Now, let’s say, you have no one around to play with, and you also don’t care about having fun. You just want to have these characters as fast as humanly possible. Well, here’s the thing; remember how I said that the game tracks player inputs? And player inputs trigger challenger fights? What you can do is literally make a 30-minute timer battle with a level 1 CPU, and pretty just do as many inputs as possible. Run back and forth, duck, spam attacks, whatever. It’s tedious, and quite mind-numbing, but by the time you’re done, you should have most, if not all, challenger fights triggered. This means that every 10 minutes (that’s an obligatory cooldown) you can boot up a standard fight, fall off the stage and self-destruct, and you will get a challenger fight. If you’re willing to slog through the 30 minute match, this is very quick, and you can do other things with your 10 minute breaks if you’re a busy person.

How to do it:

• Go to Smash in the main menu, then Smash again. 
• Create your ruleset. In Style, select Time, and put at least 30 minutes. 
• Select your character against a Level 1 CPU
• Mash as many inputs as the game allows. 
• Every 10 minutes come back to the game, and play a 1-stock match, instantly fall off the stage, and you will get a challenger fight. 

1. Close The Application

How To Unlock Every Character In Super Smash Bros Ultimate Quickly & Easily! Insane Exploit!

This is, overall, one of the best strategies of unlocking characters, and it can function in tandem with most of the other strategies here, but it’s best when paired with the mashing strategy. Either way, it is the most optimal addition to any method of unlocking characters quickly, which is why it’s number 1. Say you’re playing Classic mode, or you’re having fun with friends, or you wanted to immediately test yourself and you’ve been playing online. Either way, like explained before, you’ve been building up inputs for challenger fights, and when you finish a fight in standard Vs mode, you will get a chance to unlock a challenger. However, once you do, you have that pesky 10 minute cooldown. What you can do is, the moment you beat the challenger, close the Smash Ultimate application in the Switch main menu. When you boot it back up, and finish another Vs mode fight, you will get a new challenger fight, ignoring the obligatory 10 minute wait.

How to do it:

• After beating a challenger, press the Home button on your controller.
• Press the X button, and close the application. 
• Boot it back up. 
• Go to Smash mode, then select Smash again. 
• Start a 1-stock fight with a CPU, and fall off the stage immediately.
• As long as you’ve built up enough inputs, via the mashing method or any other, you will get another challenger fight immediately. 

You may also be interested in:

• Smash Bros Ultimate Guide for Beginners and Advanced Players
• Smash Ultimate Best Characters [Smash Ultimate Tier List]
• [Top 10] Smash Ultimate Best Spirits That Are OP
• [Top 10] Smash Ultimate Best Amiibo
• [Top 10] Smash Ultimate Best Air Game
• [Top 10] Smash Ultimate Best Aggressive Characters
• [Top 10] Smash Ultimate Best Beginner Fighters
• Top 10 Best Smash Ultimate Players
• Top 5 Smash Bros. Ultimate Tournaments in The World
• Smash Ultimate Tournaments List (All Major Tournaments To Watch)
• 10 Best Smash Ultimate Custom Stages