Whenever a new character has been added to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, one exciting aspect of their inclusion has always been what music tracks they will bring from their respective game series. Whether it be a decent handful or a ton of them (like the whopping 50 tracks that accompanied Terry), there’s always been a decent selection of new tracks to battle to. Fortunately, Kingdom Hearts fans have quite a bit to look forward to when Sora arrives later this month.
Admittedly, the Kingdom Hearts music list is somewhat limited. Not only is it lacking any new arrangements and any music associated with the Disney worlds, but the nine available tracks are all from the first Kingdom Hearts game, meaning no music that originated from any of its sequels - including Kingdom Hearts 3.
Still, fans can’t complain about the music on offer. Kingdom Hearts’ music has always been considered one of its best aspects, especially with legendary composer Yoko Shimomura responsible for most of it. For anyone new to the series, here’s a rundown of every song that will be added to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. And for established fans, there will be some additional context for each track in case anyone needs a reminder for when the tracks play in the original game.
Night of Fate
A frequent and recurring piece of music throughout the series, Night of Fate is one of the first battle themes fans ever became acquainted with. That’s because this is the music that plays during Kingdom Hearts’ opening section. When Sora’s home of Destiny Islands begins being swallowed by the darkness and the invading Heartless, this music plays as Sora fights his way through the hoards with his newly acquired Keyblade. Afterwards, it also played during Sora’s first visit to Traverse Town and the boss fight against Leon (aka Squall from Final Fantasy 8). It was brought back for several other games, including Chain of Memories and Re:coded.
Destiny’s Force
During the Heartless invasion of Destiny Island, Sora finds himself fighting a particularly big Heartless called Darkside, a boss fight that has frequently appeared throughout the Kingdom Hearts games in one form or another. Whenever players have to fight this thing, Destiny’s Force is usually the music track that accompanies it. It’s accompanied other boss fights too throughout the first game, as well as prequel game Birth by Sleep and the interquel 358/2 Days.
Shrouding Dark Cloud
Another boss theme, Shrouding Dark Cloud is usually reserved for fighting unique Heartless enemies. Aside from the first game, it made brief appearances in 358/2 Days, Re:coded, and Dream Drop Distance. While Birth by Sleep didn’t feature the Heartless, the track was used there too for specific sections, including a boss fight against Zack Fair from Final Fantasy 7: Crisis Core.
Hand in Hand
Hand in Hand is possibly one of the most iconic music tracks in the whole Kingdom Hearts series. Originally, it served as the battle theme for Traverse Town and a new arrangement simply called Hand in Hand -Reprise- appeared during the credits. The song has been brought back several times throughout the series, either during cutscenes, minigames, or even menus in the case of mobile game Kingdom Hearts Union χ. This is technically the only song to receive a new arrangement for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. If Sora wins a match, his victory theme is a new version of Hand in Hand, composed by Yoko Shimomura herself.
Blast Away! -Gummi Ship II-
In Kingdom Hearts, Sora, Donald, and Goofy would travel between worlds in the Gummi Ship. These sections were fully playable and were more akin to a classic arcade shoot ‘em up. This track is one of the songs that would play during these segments. Why only the second version is included without the first or third versions is anybody’s guess. Although, curiously enough, this version of the song did appear once more after the first game as one of the songs in a Birth by Sleep rhythm minigame.
Hollow Bastion
This one’s pretty self-explanatory. With Hollow Bastion being the series’ stage representation, it makes sense to include the music that plays when exploring the world in Kingdom Hearts. This track was re-used for Chain of Memories and Re:coded, and received a new arrangement for Kingdom Hearts 2.
Scherzo Di Notte
Italian for Joke at Night, Scherzo Di Notte is Hollow Bastion’s battle music. Since Hollow Bastion itself makes multiple appearances throughout the series, this music has always accompanied it, meaning it was guaranteed for an appearance in Smash Bros.
Fragments of Sorrow
Much like Night of Fate and Scherzo Di Notte, Fragments of Sorrow is a world specific battle theme. In the first game, it plays during the End of the World, the final location that Sora and co. must fight their way through to reach the final boss. This music was likely chosen because of how the Hollow Bastion stage will change to the Dive to the Heart area as matches near their end. Funnily enough, this music plays during the Dive to the Heart section in Kingdom Hearts 2 when players are actually controlling a different character: Roxas, an important figure within Kingdom Hearts lore with strong ties to Sora.
Destati
The Italian word for awaken, this is another one of the more iconic pieces of music in the series. Destati is also one of the first tracks new Kingdom Hearts players will hear, as it plays during the game’s opening Dive to the Heart section. Several Kingdom Hearts songs are heavily based on Destati, including Fragments of Sorrow and a number of final boss themes.
Dearly Beloved -Swing Version-
While the Sora DLC only comes with nine songs, there is a bonus track available to anyone who bought the Kingdom Hearts Melody of Memory rhythm game for Switch. Players with save data will unlock that game’s version of Dearly Beloved, which is a nice little bonus on the part of Nintendo.
Dearly Beloved can be considered the main theme of the entire series, as it has appeared in every Kingdom Hearts game as the music that plays at the main menu. The Melody of Memory version stands out for being more upbeat and influenced by jazz.
Sora releases for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate on October 19th. The game is available on Nintendo Switch.