Piranha Plant lands on Smash Bros. Ultimate, with a lot of tweaks to gameplay

Piranha Plant has landed: the first DLC character for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate has finally come to Nintendo's fighting game, and is ready to rustle some bushes.

Available for free to those who pre-ordered Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Piranha Plant must be claimed  by players before midnight on January 31 to be downloaded - though the character will also be available for purchase further down the line. 

As the game's 75th fighter, it marks the first DLC character to hit the latest Smash Bros. title on Nintendo Switch, with Persona 5's Joker set to follow later in 2019.

A potted plant may not seem like the best fit for an action-packed fighting game, but Nintendo certainly likes to play by its own rules. You can see some of Piranha Plant's moves in the video below, or get playing immediately if you managed to download it in time.

Plant patch

While we knew Piranha Plant would be landing on Super Smash Bros. Ultimate around this time, what surprised us was the full breakdown of patch notes alongside the update.

Nintendo is famously tight-lipped about its operations, and tends not to lift the lid on development updates in the way games like Fortnite or PUBG do. But Nintendo has used the update to make a number of tweaks to character's movesets, and it only seems fair to warn players that the roster's strengths and weaknesses have been rebalanced.

Several characters have 'reduced vulnerability' on certain special moves, meaning they'll take less damage if hit in the middle of an attack - while others have increased attack ranges for other moves. 

Fans of Lucas will be glad to see increased electrical damage, while fans of Incineroar may groan at the increased distance of his Up Special - which so easily throws players off the stage as it is. Most of these changes will be minute though, and many players may not even notice the difference. 

You can read the patch notes in full on Nintendo's website.

• Super Smash Bros. Ultimate: how to unlock every character
• Or read our full Super Smash Bros Ultimate review