Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Every fact on this page applies to update 13.0.5, the one version tested. Other versions may behave differently.
No emulator needed: Super Smash Bros. Ultimate runs natively on the Apple chip. How nxnative compares with emulators
Running through nxnative
How Super Smash Bros. Ultimate runs
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate plays on the iPhone, offline. It is a large Game: when the project developers last published sizes, its iPhone app came to about 17.5 GB.
How it runs
Tested on the Mac through the opening movie, the title, the first launch's DLC unlocks and Challenges board, the main menu, the rulesets, and stage and fighter select. Two-player battles on Frigate Orpheon, Big Blue, Great Bay and Find Mii ran at 60 fps, and quitting a battle to its results and starting another both work.
Each fighter's moves live in separate code modules that the game loads when the fighter appears and unloads afterwards. nxnative prepares all 98 of them when you Pack, so new fighters load the same way they do on the Switch.
Tested with update 13.0.5 together with its 99 DLC licences. A recent fix makes the game see all 99 of them instead of 64. Whether the DLC fighters then show up in character select, and whether an iPhone app built with the fix behaves the same, has not been checked yet.
Controls
The Packed app starts in the 2D touch layout. The layout button at the top centre switches layouts in game. For a fighting game, a connected controller is the comfortable choice.
Good to know
- Online play is not available; the project developers list the game as offline.
- At about 17.5 GB, the Packed app may be too big for some sideloading setups. nxnative's packing script can keep the game files out of the app with
--romfs separate; see the install guide. - Tested with update 13.0.5. The base game (1.0.0) on its own does not get through Packing yet, and other updates have not been checked.
Known issues
- Offline only. Online play is not available.
- Whether DLC fighters appear in character select has not been verified.
Packing command
Run this in your nxnative folder on the Build Mac. Replace the game folder and the keys path with your own. Add --platform mac-app to get a Mac app instead of an iPhone and iPad app.
python3 scripts/build_ipa_from_nsp.py ~/Games/super-smash-bros-ultimate -k ~/keys/prod.keysFAQ
Does Super Smash Bros. Ultimate work with nxnative?
Yes. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is tested with nxnative on update 13.0.5.
Which iPhone, iPad or Mac do I need to play Super Smash Bros. Ultimate?
An iPhone 15 Pro or newer (A17 Pro chip or later) or an iPad with an M1 chip or later, on iOS or iPadOS 26 or later, or a Mac with Apple silicon. iPads with the A17 Pro chip (iPad mini) have the iPhone 15 Pro's chip but are untested by nxnative. Packing needs a Mac with macOS 26.6 or later and Xcode 27.1.
Is Super Smash Bros. Ultimate included?
No. Neither this site nor nxnative includes any game. You Pack Super Smash Bros. Ultimate from your own copy of the game, with keys dumped from your own Switch.
Does online play work in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate?
Online play in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is not confirmed to work, so do not count on it.
