Steel Diver (universe)

The Steel Diver universe (, Steel Diver) refers to the Super Smash Bros. series' collection of properties that hail from the Steel Diver series of naval combat games developed and published by Nintendo.

Franchise Description
For decades, Shigeru Miyamoto had a desire to create a realistic flight simulation game. While he did end up making, he was not personally satisfied with the flight mechanics and believed the simulation aspects were not realistic enough. Miayamoto eventually had the idea of making a submarine simulation game, as they were big and bulky like a passenger aircraft. The game was originally planned for the Nintendo DS, with development progressing all the way to having a playable demo at E3 2004. However, development stalled for several years due to scheduling conflicts and Miyamoto being unable to adequately create his vision on the hardware. Development picked up again when the internal specifications of the Nintendo 3DS became known company-wide, which were much more compatible for the game. Development shifted to the new system and the game was re-revealed at E3 2010 as a launch title. The game officially released in North America on March 27, 2011 and in the rest of the world in May of that year.

The game mainly consists of the player piloting and operating various submarines, strategically maneuvering through the water and taking down the enemy naval fleet without getting sunk yourself. The controls are a series of simulated sliders and dials that must be interacted with on the bottom touch screen to move and fire weapons like torpedos. The game also has several modes, including the main campaign of a secret militia taking down a rogue nation and their navy, time trials of missions, a mode where the player has to aim the periscope and fire torpedos called Periscope Strike, and a competitive mulitplayer mode called Steel Commander. The game received a mixed reception upon release, with most complaints being about the lack of focus between a simulation and an action game, as well as the overly slow and monotonous pace.

In June of 2013, Nintendo announced that a sequel to Steel Diver was in the works. They also confirmed that this would be the first free-to-play game the company would make. the game, titled Steel Diver: Sub Wars, eventually released world-wide on Nintendo eShop of February 13, 2014. As promised, the local and online multiplayer mode and the first two campaign missions were offered as part of the Free version, with the rest of the content locked to the paid version. The game shifted perspective to be more akin to a first person shooter, with a faster pace and leaning more into the action elements of the previous game. These changes were praised and the game was received better than the previous entry because of them.

In Super Smash Bros. 4
The universe makes its debut in the Smash series with an item and two trophies, one of which exclusively appears in.

Item

 * Steel Diver: The Steel Diver item debuts in this game as a torpedo-firing, miniature version of the Blue Shark submarine. It also has a trophy in both versions of the game.

Both Versions

 * Steel Diver


 * Steel Diver Subs

In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
The universe reappears in Ultimate with a new track and a spirit, along with the item returning from Smash 4.

Items

 * Steel Diver: Returns as an item in this game.

Music

 * : A direct port of a theme from Steel Diver: Sub Wars, a free-to-play 3DS game.

Spirit
BlueShark appears as a spirit.


 * Item:
 * Steel Diver appears as an item.
 * Trophy:
 * The Steel Diver subs appear as a trophy.
 * Spirit:
 * Blue Shark appears as a spirit.


 * Music:
 * "": Mission theme sourced from this game.

Trivia

 * Steel Diver is the only universe introduced in Smash 4 to have debuted on the Nintendo 3DS whose first game received a physical release on launch.