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
The menu to select the difficulty, with checkmarks besides them to indicate they've been cleared.
The Sephiroth Challenge cleared on Very Hard.
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.[1]
- 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.
- Following the mode’s release, “speedruns” of the challenge became a minor trend within the community, with the fastest victory known being 1.5 seconds.
References
