Here's everything we learnt about Super Smash Bros in last night's Nintendo Direct

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Last night, Nintendo unleashed an incredible amount of new data about the upcoming Super Smash Bros games for 3DS and Wii U.

You can watch the epic 40-minute Nintendo Direct broadcast above or just check out the facts below.

The Nintendo 3DS version of Super Smash Bros will be released this summer. The Wii U version will follow at the end of the year.

There will be a 3DS-exclusive single-player and multiplayer mode called Smash Run.

You'll be searching a dungeon-like maze of levels (filled with enemies from various Nintendo games), hunting for power-ups that augment your attributes like attack, defence, and speed.

Then, after five minutes, you'll take your fighters and your power-up stash into a final, free-for-all battle.

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Classic fire Pokemon Charizard (and his Mega Evolution) and recent water critter Greninja will be new playable fighters in Super Smash Bros.

Click on their names to see their Smash Bros Dojo profiles.

Masahiro Sakurai confirmed that the 3DS and Wii U versions of Super Smash Bros will have the same roster of fighters, but the stages will be completely different and almost all are exclusive to one version or the other.

The 3DS game will boast stages like Link's train from The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks, Rainbow Road from Mario Kart, Gearudo Valley from Ocarina of Time, Prism Tower from Pokemon X and Y, a Super Mario 3D Land level, the living room from Nintendogs, and Arena Ferox from Fire Emblem: Awakening.

The familiar Smash Bros stage Battlefield will appear on both versions of the game, but will look different on each console.

On the 3DS version, each stage will have two pieces of background music. The Wii U version, however, will boast a treasure trove of songs for each stage. Also, you can set the likelihood of each classic tune being heard.

Sakurai says that "there are going to be elements that link the 3DS and Wii U versions", but we won't hear about those until a later date.

The 3DS edition will boast a level called Reset Bomb Forest from Kid Icarus: Uprising, Tortimer Island from Animal Crossing: New Leaf, Donkey Kong stage Jungle Japes, an 8-bit Balloon Fight level, and a stage based on 3DS mini-game Find Mii (or StreetPass Quest in Europe).

Just like the Wii U version, you'll be able to play the 3DS version of Super Smash Bros online.

You can play with friends or strangers. And while there aren't any rankings, there will be matchmaking based on skill. There's also a new stat called Global Smash Power, which is used to assess a player's ability and rank all fighters accordingly.

When you're not playing with pals, you can choose 'For Fun' or 'For Glory'. This was shown in the Wii U version, and it's not clear whether the details will be the same on 3DS.

The former has random stages, all items, Smash battles only, and only your wins are recorded. The latter will stick you on the Final Destination stage; turn off items; let you play one-on-one; and will record your wins and losses.

You can no longer be anonymous online, as your Nintendo Network ID name will be shown when playing over the web.

Nintendo is also working on measures to cut out jerks who leave matches midway, relentlessly target one opponent, repeatedly commit suicide, or use cheats. Said jerks may find themselves temporarily banned from online play.

Classic items like the beam sword, bumper, smart bomb, motion-sensor bomb, and POW block will appear.

As will new items like Skyward Sword's beetle; a fire bar from the Mario series; a back shield, ore club, and X bomb from Kid Icarus: Uprising; a bombchu and fairy bottle from the Zelda games; a Hocotate bomb from Pikmin; the jet pack from Pilotwings Resort; and a steel diver from, erm, Steel Diver.

It's not yet know whether some items will be exclusive to certain versions of the game.

Assist trophies, which are characters from the Nintendo universe who can be summoned to disrupt the fight, will return. And Sakurai hopes to put in "as many as possible".

They include - deep breath - Andross from Star Fox; Knuckle Joe from Kirby; Lyn from Fire Emblem; Skull Kid and Midna from The Legend of Zelda; Mother Brain and Dark Samus from Metroid; Ashley from WarioWare; Chain Chomp from Mario...

Inhale!

Waluigi, Dr Wright from Sim City, a Nintendog, Saki Amamiya from Sin and Punishment, Isabelle from Animal Crossing, Elec Man from Mega Man, Pong clone Color TV-Game 15, and Devil from Devil World.

As ever, this Smash Bros game will feature Pokeballs. These will cause random Pokemon to appear and cause chaos on the battlefield. New Master Balls cause rare and legendary critters to emerge.

Confirmed Pokemon in Super Smash Bros include Meowth, Electrode, Eevee, Staryu, Metagross, Fennekin, Meloetta, Gogoat, Entei, Deoxys, Palkia, Kyurem, Victini, Keldeo, and Xerneas.

Fighters will no longer be able to transform mid-battle - outside of Final Smash attacks and Pokemon Mega Evolutions.

So, while Samus's power suit used to fly off when she used her zero laser - transforming her into Zero Suit Samus - that will not happen in this new version.

Instead...

Metroid vixen Samus will be playable in two forms, once again. You can fight in her classic Power Suit or strip down to something more comfortable and play in her spandex bodysuit as Zero Suit Samus.

She has a pair of jet boots to boost her strength and improve her recovery ability.

Princess Zelda's alter ego Sheik (sorry! Spoiler alert from, like, 15 years ago) is now a playable fighter, instead of a special move for Zelda. He's got burst grenades for splash damage, and a new acrobatic kick technique nicknamed "bouncing fish".

To replace Sheik, Zelda's down special attack summons a Phantom (from Phantom Hourglass) for attack or defence.

Bizarre green dinosaur Yoshi will return, Sakurai has confirmed. He now stands upright (Yoshi, not Sakurai), and is even stronger. He still encases his enemies in gigantic rolling eggs, too (again - Yoshi, not Sakurai).

Fighters that have appeared in past Smash Bros games will gain some new moves and attacks.

Kirby has a new charged hammer attack called "hammer flip", and his Final Smash is an "ultra sword" attack that will slice through anything. King Dedede now throws spiky Gordos instead of Waddle Dees.

Lucario has stronger aura attacks and deals more damage when hurt. Plus, Lucario now has a Mega Evolution version that deals extra damage.

Olimar will only be able to have three Pikmin at a time, but he now plucks them in a fixed order so you can plan your attacks.

Pit's gliding mechanic has been nerfed, and Final Smash uses the three sacred treasures from Kid Icarus: Uprising.

When playing locally or online with friends, you can customise each fighter's moves to change its attacks. We'll hear more about this in the future.

Rosalina, from Super Mario Galaxy, can fire out her Luma buddy and control its attacks remotely. She also lobs out star bits; can use a gravitational pull to draw in nearby items and enemy shots; and uses shooting stars for her Final Smash.

Punch-Out!! pugilist Little Mac is extremely powerful on the ground, but he's an utter weakling. He has an exclusive power meter that lets you do a "K.O. uppercut" when it's filled. His Final Smash is a transformation into Giga Mac.

The Animal Crossing Villager shoves incoming items into his pocket; rides or fires Lloid like a rocket; and grows a tree that tumbles onto enemies. His Final Smash involves Tom Nook and family building an explosive house.

Mega Man can slide, spin, punch, and unleash various moves borrowed from his Robot Master rivals. His Final Smash makes various Mega Man variants - including his Mega Man X and Mega Man Legends versions - appear to all attack at once.

The male and female Wii Fit Trainers can breath deeply to boost attack power, and can salute the sun to project a solar beam.

Most elements of the Nintendo 3DS version, including all the fighters, will run at 60 frames per second. Some assist trophies and Pokemon, however, will move at 30 frames per second.