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

Kirby

Yellow: A reference to the early plan to make Kirby yellow, as well as the second player's character from Kirby's Dream Course.
Light Blue: Looks like the Ice Kirby power-up.
Red: Echoes his coloring as Fire Kirby.
Green: His coloring after gaining the Plasma power-up in Kirby Super Star.
Grey: Recreates his appearance in Kirby's many Game Boy games.
Orange: --
Purple: Is this what Meta Knight looks like without his mask?

Red: The Goron Tunic Link wears to survive in lava-filled temples.
Blue: Link can breathe underwater when wearing this Zora Tunic.
Purple: One of the alt colors from the Four Swords spin-offs.
Yellow: --
Black: Clearly he's been replaced by Dark Link, his evil twin.
White: The tunic Link wears at the start of Skyward Sword.
Black/Yellow: Link's Fierce Deity transformation from Majora's Mask.

Little Mac

Yellow Gloves: Mac's outfit during Punch-Out!!'s Title Defense Mode.
White: Possibly referencing a coloring glitch for when Little Mac wins in NES Punch-Out!!
Blue/Red Gloves: His outfit during the World Circuit Challenges.
Blue: --
Orange: --
Blonde: Mac is looking fierce in this tribute to the Super Punch-Out!! protagonist's hair style.
Pink Sweatsuit: Mac's clothing during the iconic training sequence in the NES version.

Little Mac (Wireframe)

Green Trunks: All the wireframe looks reflect Mac's appearance in the original arcade release of Punch-Out!!
Red and White Trunks: --
Black Trunks: --
Blue and White Trunks: A wireframe version of his World Circuit look.
Blue Trunks and Gloves: --
Yellow: --
Blonde Hair: A reference to Super Punch-Out!!'s wireframe look.
Green: The reverse of his classic workout gear.

Lucario

Purple: --
White: --
Grey: --
Teal: Perhaps a reference to his pre-evolved form, Riolu.
Blue: --
Green: --
Pink: --

Luigi

Orange/Blue: An imitation of Mario's color scheme in Pinball for NES.
Pink: Luigi's outfit from the first Wrecking Crew games.
Light Blue: --
Green/White: A recreation of the powered-up Fire Luigi.
Purple: Obviously a tribute to his evil clone, Waluigi.
Yellow/Blue: Perhaps a reference to his appearance in the original Mario Bros. for arcade?
Orange/Blue: --

Mario

White/Red: The iconic Fire Mario look.
Light Blue/Pink: A recreation of Mario's look on the cabinet art for the arcade version of Mario Bros.
Purple/Yellow: Mario is poaching the style of his clone, Wario.
Grey/White: This is the outfit he wore in the Japan-only Wrecking Crew '98.
Green: Looks like Luigi, specifically his appearance in the first Mario Bros. title.
Red, White and Blue: This patriotic design is what he wore in NES Open Tournament Golf.
Purple: After doing Wario, why not make the set complete by copying Waluigi?

Marth

Red: Fire Emblem's standard enemy coloring.
Green: Fire Emblem's coloring for ally characters.
Black/Yellow: --
White: References Leif, the star of a Japan-only Fire Emblem release.
Blue and White: This is the look of Eliwood, another Fire Emblem character not known outside of Japan.
Yellow: The partner color from Fire Emblem franchise.
Blue/Purple: A tribute to Roy, his fallen comrade.

Mega Man

Red/White: Each of Mega Man's alts is based on a different power-up from his many games. This is the combo he wears when summoning his robo-dog, Rush.
Green/White: This is for the Leaf Shield.
Orange/Yellow: The Metal Blade outfit.
Blue/White: This could apply to the Water Shield, Ice Slasher, and many other special abilities.
Green/Yellow: This one applies to the Slash Claw.
Red/Yellow: These outfits are for assorted power-ups, like the Flame Sword and the Magma Bazooka.
Black/Yellow: And lastly, this color combo is used for the Thunder Beam.

Meta Knight

White: Looks like Kirby's Paladin, the holy knight of the franchise.
Red: --
Green: --
Black: A tribute to Meta Knight's earliest appearance in the concept art for Kirby's Adventure.
Pink: This is a cute joke to make it look like Kirby is dressed like Meta Knight.
Purple: It imitates the appearance of the Galacta Knight from Kirby Super Star Ultra.
Black/Grey: This one is meant to look like Dark Meta Knight from Kirby and the Amazing Mirror.

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.