Unlock requirements are rarely stated plainly in-game, which is why how to unlock more characters in smash gets searched so often. Below is the actual condition, plus the fastest way to satisfy it.

The condition behind how to unlock more characters in smash is specific, which is why playing more does not help. The advice that sounds too simple is usually the part that actually matters. Doing the condition twice never helps, though plenty of guides imply otherwise. Offline play occasionally delays the check until the next time you connect.

Straight to it

The unlock fires on a specific condition rather than on progress in general, so aim directly at that condition instead of playing more.

How to tell it worked

The requirement for how to unlock more characters in smash is shorter than the folklore that has grown around it. Whether the unlock behind how to unlock more characters in smash can be missed permanently is worth settling before you go any further. It is worth reading the whole section before starting, even though nobody ever does.

The version you are running matters more than the platform you are running it on. Check the collection screen rather than your inventory to confirm it registered. Progress made before starting the relevant quest sometimes does not count, which catches people out.

The quickest way to meet it

The difference between a smooth run and a frustrating one usually comes down to preparation, not skill. People searching how to unlock more characters in smash have often already met the requirement without the game saying so. If the item is account-wide, you only need to do this once ever. The requirement is usually a single flag rather than a score, which is why extra effort changes nothing.

There is a point where more preparation stops helping, and it arrives sooner than people expect. Community spreadsheets are more reliable than forum threads for this specific kind of question. Most reports of how to unlock more characters in smash not working turn out to be the check not having run yet.

Is it worth the effort

Achievements and in-game unlocks sometimes track separately and disagree with each other. A change that helps one setup can quietly hurt another, which is why one-at-a-time testing pays off. Some unlocks check on load rather than continuously, so restarting is a real diagnostic step. The reward is often less transformative than the effort implies, and that is worth knowing beforehand.

If a guide describes a grind, it is probably describing a different unlock with a similar name. Most of the frustration here is avoidable, and almost none of it is about reflexes. The confirmation is easy to miss if it appears during a loading screen.

What it changes once you have it

The interface rarely distinguishes between not unlocked and not yet displayed, and those are different problems. Where a counter exists but is hidden, doing the condition in one session removes all ambiguity. People often blame the game when the actual cause is a setting they changed weeks ago.

Anything gated behind a seasonal event genuinely can expire, unlike most unlocks. Where a counter is visible, trust it over any guide including this one. What worked last season may still work, but it is worth confirming before committing an evening.

What the requirement actually is

Where difficulty is part of the requirement, it is stated explicitly rather than implied. Some conditions only evaluate when you return to a hub area, which makes them look broken. There is a fast way and a safe way, and they are not the same thing.

Doing the condition for how to unlock more characters in smash twice never helps, though several guides imply it does. Cloud saves occasionally lag behind local ones, which can hide an unlock that already happened.

  • Do it on a focused run rather than mid-story.
  • Try it solo if a co-op attempt did not register.
  • Restart fully after a change rather than trusting a quick reload.
  • Do the boring preparation step, even when it looks skippable.
  • Make sure a seasonal version of the requirement has not replaced the standard one.
  • Verify you have actually started the quest that tracks it.

Avoid these

  • Doing the condition after a point of no return that locked it off.
  • Treating a comment thread as more current than the official notes.
  • Checking the inventory instead of the collection screen and concluding it failed.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need to finish the story first?

No, though a few things are simpler afterwards. Where progression matters, the relevant step says so.

Do I need any add-ons or third-party tools?

No. Everything described here works with the game as installed, which also means nothing breaks when the next patch lands.

Is there any risk to my save?

Not from the steps above. Backing up first is still sensible if the game makes it easy, purely because it costs nothing.

Why do other guides say something different?

Most of them describe an earlier version, and a few describe a method that worked once and was never re-tested.

Try it, note where it diverged, and the second run will take a fraction of the time.