Let's be honest for a second. When most people see a patch note for a game that’s nearly eight years old, they expect a whole lot of nothing. Maybe a minor bug fix. Perhaps a "stability" update that does absolutely nothing you can actually feel. But Super Smash Bros. Ultimate 13.0.4 was different. It wasn’t a massive content drop like the Sora reveal, and it didn't add a single new fighter to the roster. It was a technical maintenance patch, sure, but for the people still grinding out local tournaments and online ladders in 2026, it was a quiet lifesaver.
It fixed things. Specifically, things involving amiibo and some weird, lingering technical glitches that had been bugging the community for a while.
The patch dropped during a weird time for the Smash community. We were all settled in. The meta was "final." Or so we thought. Nintendo had basically said, "We’re done," after Sora arrived in late 2021. Then, out of the blue, version 13.0.4 arrived to remind us that someone at Nintendo still has the keys to the server room.
Why version 13.0.4 mattered more than you think
You might remember the Sora amiibo release. It was a big deal. For a long time, Kingdom Hearts fans weren't even sure if a Sora amiibo could exist because of the nightmare of licensing between Disney and Square Enix. When it finally hit shelves, the game needed to actually know what to do with it. That is the primary "why" behind the existence of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate 13.0.4. Without this update, that little plastic figure of everyone's favorite Keyblade wielder was basically a paperweight.
It wasn't just about the toy, though.
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Nintendo also used this opportunity to sweep the floor. There were these tiny, nagging issues with how the game handled spirit data and certain online interactions that had cropped up after years of hardware iterations on the Switch. If you’ve ever had a game crash because of a weird spirit combination in a vault battle, you know how annoying that is. This patch smoothed those edges. It's the kind of invisible work that makes a game feel "premium" even years after the hype has died down.
The Sora amiibo and the "Final" piece of the puzzle
The big headline was the compatibility. Sora was the last fighter added to the game, and consequently, his amiibo was the last one produced for the Ultimate lineup. When you scan that Sora amiibo in version 13.0.4, the game recognizes the "FP" (Figure Player) and lets you train it up to level 50 just like the others.
Some players actually found that the Sora AI is surprisingly cracked. It uses the "Magic" neutral-B cycle with a level of precision that's honestly a bit tilting if you're playing casually. This update ensured that the AI logic for Sora was properly integrated into the game's ecosystem. It wasn't just a "skin" change; it was a functional data update.
I’ve seen some debate in the forums about whether or not the patch touched fighter balance. People love to hunt for "shadow buffs." They’ll spend hours in training mode frame-counting a Kazuya jab or checking if Steve’s minecart takes more fuel.
Here is the cold, hard truth: 13.0.4 did not change the competitive tier list. Steve is still arguably the best character in the game. Sonic is still annoying to chase. Ganondorf is still struggling at the bottom. Nintendo has been very disciplined about not touching the balance since the 13.0.1 patch, which was the last time we saw actual "buffs and nerfs." This version was purely about technical integrity and peripheral support.
Technical stability and the ghost of online lag
We have to talk about the netcode. Everyone knows Smash Ultimate’s online play isn't exactly "rollback" quality. It's delay-based, and it can be rough. While Super Smash Bros. Ultimate 13.0.4 didn't magically give us 0-frame latency, it did provide some under-the-hood fixes for the shop and the spirit board.
There was a bug—sorta rare, but real—where the game would hang if you tried to update certain spirit teams while a background download was happening. Fixed. There was a weird glitch with how the game reported tournament results to the Nintendo Switch Online app. Also fixed.
It's the small stuff.
If you're a casual player, you probably didn't even notice the download finished. It was tiny. But if you're a collector, this was the "Completionist Patch." It represented the finality of the Smash Ultimate project. With Sora finally integrated as an amiibo, the mural was truly complete. Every single character on that massive, sprawling artwork now had a physical counterpart that functioned in-game.
What this means for the future of Smash
Some people saw 13.0.4 as a sign of life. "Maybe we'll get a Bonus Fighter 13!" No. Sorry to break it to you. That's not happening. Masahiro Sakurai has moved on to other projects (and his excellent YouTube channel), and the team has largely dispersed.
What this patch actually signifies is Nintendo’s commitment to keeping the game "clean" for the long haul. Smash Ultimate is a legacy title. It’s the "Greatest Hits" of gaming history. By releasing 13.0.4, Nintendo ensured that the game would remain stable as the Switch transitions into its successor's lifecycle. It’s about preservation.
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Think about it. We’re in an era where games get delisted or broken by OS updates all the time. Smash is too big to fail. This patch was a "tuck-in" to make sure everything was tidy before the developers turned out the lights on active development.
How to make sure you're up to date
If you haven't played in a while, your Switch should prompt you. But if it doesn't:
- Hover over the Smash Ultimate icon on your home screen.
- Press the plus (+) button.
- Select "Software Update" and then "Via the Internet."
- It should take about thirty seconds.
If you're still on version 13.0.3, you won't be able to play online with anyone else. The game forces a version match. Also, your replays from older versions might become "incompatible." This is a classic Smash problem. If you have a clip of you hitting a nasty 0-to-death combo on your friend, you better convert that to a video file before you hit the update button, or it’s gone forever. The game "replays" the inputs, it doesn't record a video, so when the underlying code changes—even slightly—the inputs might not line up anymore.
Practical Next Steps for Players:
- Convert your replays now: If you have high-tier gameplay footage saved as data, use the in-game "Convert to Video" tool before updating, or you'll lose them.
- Sync your Sora Amiibo: If you're a collector, ensure you're on 13.0.4 before trying to register your Sora figure, or the console will give you a communication error.
- Check your Spirit List: Some players reported that certain DLC spirits finally appeared more frequently in the vault shop after this update—worth a look if you're still trying to hit that 100% completion mark.
- Refresh your local setup: If you run tournaments, make sure every setup is on 13.0.4. Mixed versions at a local are a nightmare for logistics and can cause desyncs if you try to move save data between consoles.
It wasn't the "Geno is finally here" patch. It wasn't the "we fixed the lag" patch. But Super Smash Bros. Ultimate 13.0.4 was the "we care enough to finish it right" patch. In a world of broken launches and abandoned live-service games, there’s something kind of respectable about that. It’s the final polish on a monument that took years to build. So, update your game, scan your Sora, and get back to the ledge. The meta isn't going anywhere.