Sephiroth Challenge

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The title screen for the Sephiroth Challenge

The Sephiroth Challenge was a limited-time challenge for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate which allowed players to unlock the fighter, stage, and songs of Challenger Pack 8 prior to its official release date. It was announced in Mr. Sakurai Presents "Sephiroth" on December 17th, 2020, and ran from December 17th-22nd, 2020. It was available only if the Challenger Pack or Fighters Pass Vol. 2 were purchased. The mode can still be played if the game is not updated to Version 10.1.0.

After selecting between Easy, Normal, and Very Hard difficulties from a menu based on the menu design of Final Fantasy VII, complete with sound effects from the original game, and choosing a fighter, the player must defeat Sephiroth in a one-on-one Stamina match in the Northern Cave with all items and the Final Smash Meter off. The player has 150 HP while Sephiroth has 100 HP in Easy, 150 HP in Normal, and 200 HP in Very Hard. The stage is in its normal form on Easy and Normal modes and its Ω form on Very Hard mode. The difficulty also controls the amount of damage Sephiroth will deal and receive: ×0.965 damage dealt and ~×1.32 damage received on Easy, ×1.325 damage dealt and ~×1.08 damage received on Normal, and ×1.45 damage dealt and ~×0.84 damage received on Very Hard.

Defeating Sephiroth on any difficulty unlocks him for use immediately and presents a victory screen showing the time elapsed in the fight. The player will also be able to push the Y button to "Share", this will automatically have the Nintendo Switch system take a screenshot, and pull up the screen that allows players to post Switch screenshots on social media platforms. The challenge can be freely retried and replayed throughout the allotted time frame, although Sephiroth himself cannot be selected by the player even if he has already been unlocked.

When entering the mode, the character select screen plays Main Theme of FINAL FANTASY VII. During the battle itself, One-Winged Angel plays on Easy and Normal, while Advent: One-Winged Angel plays on Very Hard.

Gallery

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  The menu to select the difficulty, with checkmarks besides them to indicate they've been cleared.

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  The Sephiroth Challenge cleared on Very Hard.

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  The Sephiroth Challenge as seen from the Main Menu.

In other languages

Language	Name	Meaning
Japanese	セフィロスチャレンジ, Sephiroth Challenge	—
English	Sephiroth Challenge	—
French	Le défi de Séphiroth	Sephiroth's challenge
German	Sephiroth-Herausforderung	Sephiroth Challenge
Spanish (PAL)	El desafío de Sefirot	Sefirot's challenge
Spanish (NTSC)	El desafío de Sephiroth	Sephiroth's challenge
Italian	La sfida di Sephiroth	Sephiroth's challenge
Chinese (Simplified)	挑战萨菲罗斯, Challenge Sephiroth	—
Chinese (Traditional)	挑戰賽菲羅斯, Challenge Sephiroth	—
Korean	세피로스 챌린지, Sephiroth Challenge	—
Dutch	Krachtmeting met Sephiroth	Showdown with Sephiroth
Russian	Вызов Сефироту	Sephiroth Challenge

Trivia

• Initially, Sakurai planned to have the mode playable once; those who failed to win would lose the ability to unlock Sephiroth early. This idea was eventually scrapped.
  • Sakurai stated developing the mode was difficult but a fun challenge.
• This mode along with Challenger's Approach are the only modes in Ultimate that would no longer be available at some point. In this case, Sephiroth Challenge is no longer available after the formal release date of Sephiroth.
• Unlike other single-player modes, such as Classic Mode or World of Light, moves for the player and Sephiroth can stale.