
Most people can get their hands on the full roster after 2-3 hours of doing this, but if you're good at knocking opponents out fast you can do it in as little as 1.5 hours. Keep doing this in a cycle and you'll cut down a significant chunk of the time it'll take to unlock characters. Feel free to change the rules of that quick match to make it faster, such as requiring just one knockout to win.

If you're pressed for time, here's a quick rundown on how it works:

YouTuber Austin John discusses it in detail in the video above if you're a more visual learner. While Nintendo didn't intend for there to be a quick path to salvation, gamers have already found early ways to speed up the random encounter system.
