A guide to Super Smash Bros. Wii U/3DS's many alternate costumes

Olimar

Red: Could this be a reference to Olimar's similarities to Mario?
Green: And this one is meant to reference Luigi?
White: --
Alph: Just as he did in Pikmin 3, new protagonist Alph takes over the second half of Olimar's alt costumes.
Alph in Green: A tribute to Alph's Pikmin 3 costar Charlie.
Alph in Pink: Another Pikmin 3 tribute, this one to Brittany.
Alph in Red: --

Pac-Man

Blue: Every one of Pac-Man's costumes with winged boots is a reference to the Magic Boots power-up from Pac-Land.
Yellow: --
Black: --
Purple: --
White: --
Red: --
Polka Dots: --

Palutena

Pink: --
Yellow: --
Green: --
Blue: --
Hot Pink: This is a reference to her fellow goddess, the rather annoying Viridi.
Black: Her dressed as her nemesis from Kid Icarus, Medusa.
Purple/Pink: A tribute to Uprising's sassy archfiend, Hades.

Peach

Red: --
Yellow: This look is the closest you'll get to Daisy being playable in Smash Bros.
Blue: --
Green: A secret message of her love for Luigi? Nah...
White: --
White/Red: Her Fire Peach look from when she finally got to pick up the Fire Flower in Super Mario 3D World.
Black/Gold: --

Pikachu

Red Hat: Pikachu dons the hat of Red, the lead trainer in the first Pokemon game.
Green Bandana: The headband worn by the star of Pokemon Emerald.
Blue Goggles: Pichu wore these same goggles as an alt in Melee.
Backwards Yellow Hat: The headwear of the boy trainer in Pokemon Gold/Silver.
Party Hat: --
White Bandana: --
Red Cap With Sunglasses: The standard headgear for the male protagonist in Pokemon X and Y.

Pit

Yellow: --
Pink: --
Green: --
White: --
Black: The look that would inspire the creation of Dark Pit, who is now a separate character.
Light Blue: --
Pink: --

Rosalina

Pink: A reference to fellow royalty, Princess Peach?
Yellow: A tribute to Daisy?
Teal: --
Red: --
Purple: --
Black: --
White/Red: A reference to her Fire Rosalina transformation from Super Mario 3D World.

Sheik

Red: --
Blue: --
Purple: --
Green: --
Black: --
Gold: --
White: The only obvious reference of all Sheik's alts, this one looks like Tetra from Wind Waker.

Shulk

White: All of Shulk's alternate colors represent his Xenoblade costars. This one is for Fiora...
Black: This one is Dunban...
Orange: This is Reyn...
Blue: This is Sharla...
Pink: This is Melia...
Yellow: And this one is Riki.
Swimsuit: And this one is just so Shulk can show off his bangin' bod.

Sonic

Purple: --
Light Blue: --
White: A reference to Silver, space hedgehog?
Black: A basic recreation of Shadow the Hedgehog?
Yellow: --
Green: --
Orange Shoes: The brighter blue is meant to remind you of Sonic's original design?

Henry Gilbert

Henry Gilbert is a former GamesRadar+ Editor, having spent seven years at the site helping to navigate our readers through the PS3 and Xbox 360 generation. Henry is now following another passion of his besides video games, working as the producer and podcast cohost of the popular Talking Simpsons and What a Cartoon podcasts.