Fans have campaigned for SpongeBob SquarePants to appear as a playable character.
Every installment to the series has seen an increase of playable characters. Super Smash Bros. (1999, US release) allowed twelve, all of which are still accessible in the following games; Melee (2001) allowed twenty-six; Brawl (2008) had thirty-nine; Wii U has fifty-four, including seven downloadable characters.
The battle stage Miiverse is a generic stage featuring only three elevated platforms. However, in the background appear pictures of fan art of the characters you're fighting with.
The last game of the series to feature the involvement of Satoru Iwata before he passed away in July 2015.
Contains 58 playable characters (including DLC).