Since its release, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate has become more than just a fighting game. As its popularity mounted and more characters from other game developers have joined the roster, the game (and larger series) has become a celebration of video games. As more characters are added, fans can explore each fighter's story and branch out to new game series and genres. There are a wide variety of sword, melee and other characters that may sometimes look similar, but, beneath the surface, are entirely different gameplay-wise.
During a recent livestream breaking down new fighters, Xenoblade Chronicles' Pyra and Mythra, Super Smash Bros. and Kirby creator Masahiro Sakurai revealed an interesting fact about one classic fighter's signature ability. According to Sakurai, Kirby's copy ability attacks are actually stronger than the original attacks he copies.
While many in the fighting game community knew this already, for many fans, this was an interesting and previously unknown detail. The creators at Nintendo are masters of subtlety, and there are often details that go undiscovered until years later. Kirby's hidden strength is a great example of that, and Sakurai's reasoning for it speaks to a larger and under-appreciated part of developing a game like Smash Ultimate.
Because Kirby cannot chose which attack to copy (only to use Copy in the first place), the damage boost is meant to compensate. Using Copy can be a risk, especially if a player isn't familiar with the character they are facing off against. However, boosting Kirby's damage makes taking this risk more appealing, thus providing some balance to the game.
Balancing a game, especially one with a huge roster like Smash Ultimate, is an enormous undertaking. No two fighters are exactly the same, and even most Echo Fighters have some differences from the characters they're based on. Still, each one needs to stand a chance in a fight, and no individual fighter can be so overpowered that they become the obvious or only choice for victory.
Additionally, each fighter comes from another game, bringing their background, legacy and physical attributes with them into Smash. For example, King Dedede and Bowser are both heavy characters who like to throw their weight around. Naturally, their damage output for slam attacks is much larger than a slam attack from Link or Mario. However, to make up for this particular advantage, they are slower-moving than lighter characters.
For many fans, the best part about Smash is having characters who would never otherwise interact fight one another. This means that fighters must both be accurate representations of their source material and also balanced against one another. This takes a lot of work, with tiny details and nuances like those used for Kirby's Copy ability making the game work. And that work deserves more praise.